Here comes every stalker's dream

And every celebrity/victim's nightmare. This little camera ring by designer David Münscher with its single-button interface may be a concept model for now. But given the way things are speeding along, with camera-phones packing 5-megapixel sensors, these spycam-like shooters aren't Mission Impossible. Anytime Canon wants to pick up on Munscher's blatantly branded idea, it should be a Snap to make happen. So smile, 'cause you never know when you'll be on candid camera.

Via Yanko Design

Laser equipped Humvee pops and fizzles IEDs

Boeing has rolled out the marketing for its laser-equipped Humvee by zapping five IED-like targets on a test range at Alabama's Redstone Arsenal (PDF) in what it called "the company's ability to rapidly respond to warfighters' needs." Dubbed the "Laser Avenger," the unit consists of a 1-kilowatt solid-state laser mounted on an air-defense Humvee. It works by "shooting an invisible beam just a few centimeters in diameter and 20 times hotter than an electric stovetop" into the offending munition until it combusts internally. It then just "pops" or "fizzles" in a low-level detonation. "Boeing's investment strategy is to move some of its new directed energy weapon systems into field demonstrations, and Laser Avenger is the first one we're rolling out," Boeing's Gary Fitzmire said in a press release.

This application is hardly new. Ten years ago an ordnance disposal unit at Nellis Air Force Base was using an APC-mounted 2KW YAG laser to nix hundreds of unexploded cluster bombs on its bombing range.

In 2003, the U.S. Army deployed a ZEUS-HLONS (HMMWV Laser Ordnance Neutralization System) to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where it popped more than 200 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in six months. It even set a record by "negating" more than 50 UXOs in less than two hours.

While this and other laser units allow EOD teams to stand off at a safe distance and dispose of an IED, they still need to find it. And when it comes to that, the Avenger is just another target on the road.

The company hedged its bets by cutting up some UAVs during the demonstration in a nod to the anti-aircraft market. But as you see by the video, it's not breaking any ground there either.


Via CNET Crave | Photo credit: Popular Mechanics

Robotic suitcase that follows you

The next time you go on a trip with Tony, he'll be sitting in the cargo space of the plane. Better yet, he won't complain, won't make demands every night, and will dog your footsteps like a lovelorn puppy, short of wagging his tail. Tony is robotic suitcase developed in Russian. Whether there's a market for this remains to be seen, though you'll have to wait preeety long to get ahold of on. The developers from Robotronic.ru are testing the waters by scheduling this for sale only in 2009, and via a Russian catalog. Vy govorite po-angliyski? Speak you Russian? Pray the instructions aren't in Russian, either.

Tony sounds intriguing enough even if the photo shows a oddly impractical design. We're guessing the suitcase will also be weighed down by all that machinery. So forget packing in extra footwear.

Onboard are an internal gyroscope, light, sound and infrared detectors and sensors which allow Tony to detect stairs as well as follow you without bumping into anything. A card in your pocket allows the suitcase to track you. And if some twerp were to steal it, an alarm will sound. Though at a US$2,000 sticker shock, we'd suggest you take out a nice insurance package on Tony. Stay, boy, stay.

Via Russia IC

Virtual credit card up for real-world award

First Meta, a Singaporean firm that created a credit carding facility that's available for use in Second Life, is fishing for new virtual world denizen customers for its MetaCard. At the same time, it's also aiming to net a place in the Top 100 Global Awards for the most promising private technology company.

For a virtually virtual product from Singapore, that's a fair bit of recognition from the real world.

New computer interface: Blow on the screen

Perhaps huffing at your computer might get you somewhere if research at the Georgia Institute of Technology comes to fruition.

Shwetak Patel and Gregory Abowd from Georgia Tech have published a paper that describes how to use a computer microphone to determine where on a screen a person is blowing. The technique, which they call BLUI for Blowable and Localized User Interaction, can distinguish between the different sounds air makes depending on where the breath is directed.

"BLUI supports blowing at a laptop or computer screen to directly control specific parts of an interactive application, such as blowing at a button to activate it," the researchers said in their paper (click for PDF). The technique requires a period of "training" to calibrate the system--blowing on each region of the screen for 3 to 5 seconds.

The handsfree user interface approach could be useful for situations where a person's hands are busy, or for people who can't control computers with their hands or arms in situations where speech control is impractical. Although speech "is reasonable for complicated or command-based tasks, it is not well-suited for direct, low-level controls such as scrolling, button pressing, or selection," the researchers said.
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