Technology – Page 17

If The End Is True, What Lies Beyond Moore’s Law?

July 4, 2011 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

UPCOMING TECHNOLOGY – Gordon Moore had said it. The transistors embedded on integrated circuits will get smaller every two years and eventually become as small as the size of an atom. So, by the time we reach that point, we would desperately need an alternative in hand to continue with the ever growing need better processors. But, what if we run out of ideas or what if we fail to find an alternative?

Take your time to browse through this beautifully poetic info-graphic depicting how the era of computers began with the invention of integrated circuits and transistors, following with the startup of the pioneers of the computer/ software technology and the eventual saturation of the possibilities where transistors could be reduced in size to fit more of them into the ICs. This may suggestively happen in the year 2023. What lies beyond is intriguing. I leave that for you to have a look at.

the end of computers — The end of computers?

PossessedHand To Help Play Any String Instrument Like An Expert

June 28, 2011 by Raj Agrawal 1 Comment

This involves your ‘PossessedHand’ picking the right notes. Sounds creepy, doesn’t it? Apparently, this device works exactly the way it sounds.

A non-invasive (external to the physical body) device, named PossessedHand, is under works that takes control of the user’s hand by electrically simulating the muscles in the forearm to move the user’s fingers. A belt is worn around the user’s forearm, which is further connected to a controlling device. This device is intended to help budding musicians play the right notes with plucking the right strings.

An illustration of PossessedHand’s working mechanism

Possessedhand is being jointly developed by the University of Tokyo, Japan, and Sony Computer Science Laboratories. For now, it’s PossessedHand is only capable of instructing and training the user’s fingers to perform the right finger movements rather than actually plucking them.

Building Electronics Out Of ‘Paper And Fabrics’

June 10, 2011 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

Nano technology will play the lead. Researchers at the North Carolina State University are working on ways to apply nano-coatings to cheap, flexible materials like textiles which have conventionally been applied and confined to inorganic materials like silicon, used for the construction of microelectronics.

conductive nanocoatings — Conductive nanocoatings

It is intended to improve the cost efficiency and flexibility of the electronic devices, well suited for application in health monitoring mechanisms. This was justified by the statements of Dr. Jesse Jur, assistant professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science, and lead author of a paper describing the research.

We’re not expecting to make complex transistors with cotton, but there are simple electronic devices that could benefit by using the lightweight flexibility that some textile materials provide,” Jur explains.

Research like this has potential health and monitoring applications since we could potentially create a uniform with cloth sensors embedded in the actual material that could track heart rate, body temperature, movement and more in real time. To do this now, you would need to stick a bunch of wires throughout the fabric – which would make it bulky and uncomfortable.

The research has been recently published in the Advanced Functional Materials issue and is funded by the Department of energy and the Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center.