Intel Research Pittsburgh unveiled another year of far out, futuristic technology during its annual open house at Carnegie Mellon University this month.
Once again, the world may never be the same.
Computers that sense and respond to what we are thinking, called Everyday Sensing Perception or ESP, read our minds, assisting the physically disabled and allowing us to change TV channels by calling out commands. A roboticized wheelchair uses a Wii-like remote, moving in response to gestures. A headset picks up and decodes brainwaves, enabling the physically impaired to write.
Claytronics continues to evolve on a smaller scale with a new form of programmable matter that creates moving, physical, 3D objects using millions of tiny robotic particles called catoms. Imagine a cell phone that changes shape and becomes an earphone or teleporting your 3-D video presence to a conference room miles away.
In the realm of healthcare, computers become increasingly more efficient and computational, working to help doctors with the early detection of glaucoma and skin cancers. A tiny camera necklace counts the fast food calories eaten in a day, helping to combat obesity.
Cloud computing develops new software systems to cope with the plethora of digital data. Neighborhood-aware networking affords faster and better wireless connectivity in communities, enabling users to borrow and share bandwidth with their neighbors when needed.
“For too long we’ve had to adapt to the way our computers operate, reflects Dean Pomerleau, research scientist. “We have enough computer power now to turn that around. We can create novel new interfaces. Intel has a long range vision of the next big thing that could change the world.”
To see the latest Claytronics research in action, click
here.
The research was presented in collaboration with
University of Pittsburgh,
UPMC and
Georgia Tech.
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Writer:
Deb SmitSource: Jamal Zaghab, Babu Pillai, Dean Pomerleau, Michael Kaminsky, Lily Mummert, Intel Research Pittsburgh
Image courtesy Intel Research Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University