Mercedes-Benz Self Driving Future Truck

We are living in the 21st century and have not invented self driving or exactly hover cars yet. But there is also a good news that a world known vehicle company Mercedes-Benz is going to introduce Mercedes-Benz Future Truck. 

Hopefully it would not remain a concept in the next few years because many auto engineers have revealed prototypes with autonomous technology and Mercedes-Benz is taking it step forward. 

Daimler (parent company of Mercedes-Benz) has just announced the planning to launch a self-driving truck by 2025. They named it Mercedes-Benz Future Truck, and it could bring revolution to freight distributing safely and more efficiently while lowing fuel consumption.

This Future Truck will use four radar sensors and two cameras to transmit information to the systems for adaptive cruise control like automatic braking, stability control and lane-keeping assistance.

As of right now the truck can drive itself at up to 55 mph speed, but it will be enhanced until the technology is ready to give the truck the ability to change the lanes itself. The Future Truck recently completed a drive on a section of the A14 autobahn in Germany, where the truck drove at the speed up to 50 mph in front of media, government's officials and investors.

Related: GPS Bullets for Car Chases

“Autonomous driving will revolutionize road freight transport and create major benefits for everyone involved,” stated by the member of Daimler’s Board of Managements Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard who's responsible for Daimler Buses and Trucks. 

“With the 2025 Future Truck, Daimler Trucks is once again highlighting its pioneering role in innovative technologies and opening up a new era in truck transport.”

Images via: trucknews, inhabitat, 

pd.id: Test Your Drinks To Avoid date Rape Drugs

pd.id is the solution of date rape drugs that are shockingly commonplace in nightclubs, college campuses, and parties across the world. These drugs can be odorless and tasteless, so the only way to completely avoid contamination is to refuse any drink offered to you. 

To help solving this problem, a team from Toronto is crowd-funding the pd.id — the “personal drink ID.” With a device the size of a thumb drive, anyone can test to see if a drink has been tampered with.

Using its built-in sensors, the pd.id tests the light spectrum, conductivity, and temperature of any drink. After submerging the tip of the device for a few seconds, it checks the data against a local database of drink profiles, and it lights up either a green or red LED depending on the safety of the drink. Once rinsed, the device can be used again — up to about forty times on a single battery charge.

Even better, the pd.id can be paired with iOS, Android, or Blackberry smartphones for a more in-depth explanation about what the test found. Dedicated one-time-use testing kits do exist for specific drugs, but they simply don’t offer the same utility and versatility of this reusable gadget.

Currently, the pd.id team is running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo in hopes of raising $100,000 by August 30th for a full-fledged release in April 2015. If the campaign raises $250,000, the team will partner with an “international women’s cause,” and donate 100 units. 

At the $500,000 level, the team will implement the ability to detect the nutritional content of a drink — especially useful to help diabetics detect sugar content. Finally, if the campaign raises $750,000 the team will develop an application dedicated to avoiding and reporting unsafe situations and establishments.

If you want a pd.id device for your very own, you’ll need to pony up $100 on the Indiegogo campaign, but that’s just the start. If you or your organization want to make an even bigger difference, the higher support tiers allow for hundreds of these devices to be distributed to at-risk communities. 

At the $10,000 perk tier, 200 pd.id devices will be donated to the community of your choice. At the $50,000 level, 1000 pd.id will be donated to the university of your choice for freshman orientation packages.

Whether you plan on using this yourself, giving it to your kids, or donating to college students, this device is important both culturally and practically. This tool empowers at-risk men and women, and works to thwart abusers and rapists — a truly noble goal. This isn't just a cool gadget, it could be a life changer.
source: ExtremeTech

Terminator Telescopic Contact Lens

Telescopic Contact Lens

Have you ever desired to have vision that could zoom in and out, like the Terminator? Well now maybe soon you can.

A team is working on a telescopic contact lens that is just over a millimeter thick. The lens is surrounded by a ring of movable components that magnify view by 2.8 times. As of yet, it is not able to compute the facial structure of what is being looked at but liquid crystal shutters allow the wearer to switch between normal and magnified vision. 

The contact lens was developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland and at the University of California, San Diego by Eric Tremblay and his colleagues. The research and development for the project has been funded by DARPA.

See Also: Sony QX10 Camera Gadget For Smartphones

So far the team has integrated the LCD shutter mechanism into a pair of modified Samsung 3D TV glasses. The lens has been tested on a mechanical model of the human eye and it is hoped that it won’t be too long before the LCD technology can be embedded directly into the lens itself, doing away with the 3D glasses.

According to New Scientist, the researches have said “Although the magnified images were clearly visible in our tests, acuity fell short of the design specification.” The team believe that if they can improve the refractive optics, then any diffraction related problems will be solved.

Apple Preparing Heart Attacks Prediction Sensors

According to a report, Apple is developing a sensor based wearable gadget that would be able to predict about heart attack. The effort, led by audio expert Tomlinson Holman, the creator of THX and 10.2 surround sound, can reportedly focus on the sound that blood makes as it travels through the arteries.

Apple's supposed sensor to monitor the sound of blood flowing, that device would probably ought to be worn on somebody's body. Therefore, this new information directly points to the continued rumors of an future Apple wearable gadget, normally stated as the iWatch.

The iWatch implications of the San Francisco Chronicle report are further backed by last week's news that Apple hired medical-device expert Marcelo Malini Lamego. What's more, a report in January claimed that Apple is also working on new health-focused apps for iOS.

If this new report regarding Apple's heart sensor research pans out — barring a surprise move by the company to enter the medical scanner bed industry — Apple's rumored iWatch will turn out to be far more broadly impactful than anyone could have guessed.

Nissan Smart Watch

Nissan is also in the era of wearable tech, with the smartwatch to connect the car and driver. It's first entry of Nissan into the wearable technologies world. Nissan will be showing off the device — dubbed the Nissan Nismo Watch — at the Frankfurt Motor Show. 

Target of the Nismo Watch are drivers of Nissan Nismo cars. Nismo is Nissan's sports car and responsible for supercars, race cars and ridiculously tricked-out performance kits.

Right now, the Nismo Watch is focusing on really specific audience and its key features are quite different from normal smartwatches, so I think its about to connecting to your car instead of connecting to your smartphone. But still its really good that Nisan is also participating in the era of such technologies. 

Here are some features of Nismo Watch:

• Connects to the car using a smartphone app as a Bluetooth Smart device. 
• Access vehicle telematics and performance data while on the track. 
• Nismo Watch will capture biometric data via a heart-rate monitor in the watch.
• Monitor the performance of car with average speed and fuel-consumption readings
• Get tailored car messages from Nissan

Nissan says that the Nismo Watch can also track and rate the user's social media performance across Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram using its Social Speed software. Klout for cars? Who knew!

The Nismo Watch is an extension of Nissan's Nismo Lab, which launched earlier this year. The Nismo Lab is a mobile laboratory that captures live biometric and telematics data from Nismo athletes during races. With the Nismo Watch, Nissan hopes to make this sort of data available to the the drivers. With any luck, this sort of technology can also be used in other areas.

In the future, the Nismo Lab wants to focus on ECG, EEG and skin temperature sensors — so that that sort of data can get passed back to athletes via the smartwatch.

The Nismo Watch comes in black, white and black and red and it was designed to look like the Nismo ring. The watch is controlled with two buttons and should get over seven days of battery life with normal usage.

Even though this might be the most niche smartwatch of all time, we also think that the idea is pretty cool. The potential here — at least in a racing scenario — is to truly connect the car with the driver, letting the driver know what's happening with the car, but also by potentially providing team members with information about factors such as heart rate and temperature.

Historically, car companies use motor-sports as a way to test the most advanced and cutting-edge technologies, some of which eventually make their way to regular automobiles. So what do you think: Could you ever imagine getting information about your car from your watch? Or what about your car getting information about you? How cool would it be if the temperature could adjust itself based on body temperature? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Via: Mashable

SoundBulb - Wireless LED Speaker Light

Its twenty first century, time to get rid of wires. Time to replace your old age speakers (abundant of wires ) with wireless LED speaker light in your living room, that is pretty awesome.

It’s not really easy to set up traditional speakers with the wires and connectors and all that crap. The Sound-Bulb is a combination light-bulb and wireless speaker system designed to solve your all problems by letting you enjoy after stickjng everything up in the ceiling or inside lamps.

It will be amusing to see homes screwing on the SoundBulb. Wireless speakers streaming music all over the place with the shimmy of disco lights; sounds eccentric! Apparently the parts of the SoundBulb are replaceable and can be upgraded from time to time. My only concern with this design is the heat factor, after all bulbs do produce a lot of heat and could be damaging to the speakers. 

Stuffed inside the form factor of a regular incandescent bulb is an array of LEDs to provide (eco-friendly!) light, with an 8-ohm speaker behind it. The speaker is connected wirelessly to your home entertainment system, and you can adjust the volume of each speaker by simply twisting the top of the bulb.

No idea when this concept might see production, but it’s a damn good idea and I’d absolutely buy a bunch of them. If they’re cheap. Which they probably won’t be. Internal diagram after the jump. 

Via: YankoDesign & Ohgizmo

Omni Touch Turns Any Surface Into A Touchscreen

Technology comes a touchscreen onto your hand, clothes, a wall, or any surface, thus you'll operate your phone while not removing it from your pocket but this technology is still un-invented :( .

Imagine a world wherever any surface might potentially become a touchscreen for your phone: your hands, clothes, a wall or table. that is the vision behind a replacement Kinect-like technology known as Omni Touch, a wearable system that comes any multi-touch interface onto everyday surfaces, reports New mortal.

Perhaps the foremost convenient facet of the technology is however it may be operated on the go, requiring no special standardization for every new surface it's used on. The system adapts simply to surfaces of most textures in 3D area, thus it works even once the surface isn't flat, like together with your hand, or maybe a bole.

The technology, that is primarily composed of a shoulder-mounted depth camera and a Pico-projector, was developed by researchers at Microsoft and could be a immense improvement over previous prototypes that would solely work on skin. A user study of the technology showed that dragging performance and bit accuracy approached the sensitivity of standard touchscreens.

The device conjointly permits for user flexibility so much on the far side the aptitude of your phone or pill. as an example, users will opt for the position and size of the projected interface, that means that they'll alter the scale of the screen to higher suite their wants and sight. Omni Touch is additionally itself capable of showing intelligence selecting the simplest show setting, that the user does not got to readjust with every new surface.

The only inconvenient facet of the paradigm is that the bigness of the camera and projector, that area unit mounted on a user's shoulder sort of a massive parrot. the nice news, though, is that future prototypes area unit expected to be a lot of smaller, nearer to the scale of a box.

An explanation video for Omni Touch

Smartphone Booklet Concept

Smartphone Booklet Concept Designed by Ilshat Garipov

Clutch your pearls because I’m about to say something amazing – nanoparticles! Yes these tiny, near invisible objects can revolutionize the bio medical, optical and electronic fields so designer Ilshat Garipov put pen to paper and came up with the Smartphone Booklet –  a disposable phone as thin as a cardboard made possible by switching from traditional silicon to nanoparticles.

The Booklet unfolds like a pamphlet with each side representing a commonly used application or function. Manufacturers can cut it to any size and once it’s worn out, just recycle it. Don’t worry about private information because everything is served from a cloud. Power is supplied by, SURPRISE, the sun thanks to energy absorbing nanoparticles.

How close is this to reality? Unfortunately not close enough but scientists are working feverishly to find a breakthrough in this field of study so in the meantime hold on to your iPhones, Droids, Galaxies, and Luminas. - yankodesign

Designer: Ilshat Garipov

Combination of Fashion And Mobility Into An Interesting Concept

Dial (Phone) is a mobile device that can be worn on the wrist, like a bracelet. The concept mixes cutting-edge technology with reference to the products of time gone by. It invokes memories of old-fashioned dial phones.

Due to the ongoing development of technology, the mobile phone’s design becomes smaller and smaller, so the Dial(Phone) has been designed as a fashion accessory.

The circular shape and the name “Dial(Phone)” are derived from the dial phones of times past, mixing these nostalgic feelings was the intention of Jung Dae Hoon, the designer. The Dial(Phone) comes in various finishing materials, being a fashion accessory it has to represent the user’s taste. The looks of the phone vary from luxurious, sporty or elegant. 

The phone is operated by turning the dial. Once started, projected light beams are your guide indicating different characters. These light projected characters can be read if the phone is removed from the wrist and placed on the palm of the hand or on a flat surface. 

The upper part of the dial responds to the user’s touch and by pressing it, in the corresponding number, it facilitates dialing.

Black Hole Cell Phone - A Future Gadget

Technology is developing at an enormous speed and you never know what's next to come, say, for example, in 2020. But there are people who can visualize what the future would look like and what devices we might get soon.

One of those who like to contemplate about the future of technology is French designer Josselin Zaigouche who decided to design this incredible gadget, dubbed Apple Black Hole (and it's not because it will such Apple down if it hits the market). The name was probably inspired by the numerous applications one can find in Apple's device (such as iPhone and iPad).

The futuristic device uses holographic technology to help the user navigate through a myriad of programs. The device comes with a charging base, Prism and the Black Hole. 

Here's a short tutorial on the gadget: after opening your hand, the ball in the middle of the device starts levitating, allowing you to control different applications in mid-air. If you attach the gadget to the recharging base it automatically turns into a desktop device, which is really cool. Let's hope such technology will be available in the near future and hopefully it will be eco-friendly as well.

The Projector Bracelet A Future Gadget

Snowcorn is a bracelet like concept device with sixth sense which includes a built-in projector, a camera and Wi-Fi connectivity. Moreover, this device can be placed anywhere on around your neck or chest. The transparent part of this device is a screen that can show basic functions or time and more complicated controls are done by the projected UL. 

You will be able to customize it with your desired color and style. This device will allow you to scan a business card to include the person’s particulars to your address book via Wi-Fi. Another key benefit of Snowcorn is you can translate a word or phrase that is unfamiliar with you in a book.

[source: it-tech]

Future Camera D Can

Meet the D-Can, a concept camera that resembles a military-grade spotting scope equipped with long-zoom capabilities. Straying from traditional camera designs (though it’s somewhat similar to the Lytro camera), designer Jean-michel Bonnemoy believes the form factor of today’s cameras should be updated to a cylindrical design for better ergonomics. 

This concept snapper features an ISO range of 100 to 6,400 and comes with a long-zoom lens coupled with image stabilization capabilities. Its lens cap doubles as an electronic flash–capable of firing an AF-assist beam at the same time. 

When the camera’s in use, shutterbugs can either utilize a hooded magnifier to frame compositions or choose the camera’s Live View function via a high-definition LCD display. Auto focus can be further fine-tuned using the snapper’s on-board trackball. It also comes with external ports that allow users to equip the device with an audio headset, a stereo microphone, and an external power supply. 

Should the D-Can become a reality, we wonder if one would be able to store it in a pocket comfortably due to its elongated shape.

[via: t-future]