Mission Impossible style smart contact lens gets US military’s attention
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As technology gets smaller the world’s first true Smart Contact Lenses get closer than ever, and there are plenty of companies hungrily watching the space. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. The bleeding edge US military research organisation Defense...
New 3D printed material heals itself after being cut in half
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF This is one of the first combinations of 3D Printing and Self-Healing materials, and it’s how many materials could be made in the future. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Recently teams of researchers showed off their self-healing computer...
Nanoscale Metalenses put Virtual Reality in perfect focus, and eliminate headsets
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s VR headsets are still low resolution and big, this technology would reduce them to just millimeters thick and make UHD resolution the norm. If wearing a Augmented Reality (AR) glasses or Virtual Reality (VR) headsets is ever to become commonplace then hardware manufacturers...
Qualcomm releases its first WiGig chipsets to push WiFi to gigabit speeds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The combination of Gigabit WiFi and 5G now mean it’s possible to ditch your traditional fiber based broadband provider, and cut another chord. Earlier this month, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced that the next generation of Wi-Fi devices will be called “Wi-Fi 6,” all but...
Batteries are passé as researchers use ambient sound to charge smartphones
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to use sound to charge our gadgets is a revolutionary idea, and it’s made possible thanks to advances in Nanomanufacturing. This could be the greatest power discovery for mobiles, ever. Apparently. So say researchers at Queen Mary University London (QMUL) in the...
Samsung gets closer to launching its first foldable smartphone
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we continue to see breakthroughs in materials electronics are starting to move to the next stage of their evolution. As smartphone fans await a trio of new phones from Samsung next week, eyes will soon be turning to what could be the Korean company’s...
Futuristic transparent electronics get closer thanks to a Swiss supercomputer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Transparent electronics will help revolutionise a variety of industries and products, and make computing even more ubiquitous than it is today. If you search the internet for images of the future of smartphones, as well as other gadgets, then it’s highly likely that included...
Boston Dynamic’s robot Spot the dog learns to dance
WHY THIS MATTERS Teaching robots to dance helps researchers fine tune robots motor skills so they can be more agile and dextrous. At IROS in Madrid, Marc Raibert from Boston Dynamics, one of the world’s most advanced robotics companies, showed a few videos during his keynote presentation. One was...
Google creates a neural network that picks out individual voices in video
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Not only does this technology have benefits for video search, but it also has surveillance and privacy implications. Recently I talked about a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancement from Hitachi that let’s its AI’s pick out and follow individuals in a crowd – something that...
Scientists 3D print Lithium Ion batteries for the first time
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to 3D print batteries means we can create batteries in all shapes and sizes which will be useful for all our new gadgets. Recently I’ve been reporting on a variety of new battery developments, from polymer batteries that can charge your electric...
New glasses will beam augmented and virtual reality directly into your eyes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Augmented Reality glasses and Virtual Reality headsets use complex computers and optics to create their effects, researchers believe they can eliminate these overheads by beaming the images directly into your eyes. Researchers have proposed a new way to build Augmented Reality (AR) smart glasses...
Drexel’s new spray on antennas can connect everything to the internet
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tomorrow’s world will be increasingly connected, and connecting old legacy devices and things has been difficult, but it’s about to get much easier. Engineers are good at making minuscule antennas. Nowadays, we can cram antennas into our smartphones or smartwatches without much trouble. But...
Can your smartphone detect when you’re depressed? This startup thinks so
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Mental health issues are growing in number but in many cases they go left undiagnosed or treated, this breakthrough could help change that. Today we can use smartphones to detect cancer, dementia, eye diseases, heart disease, illness and even inherited genetic conditions, but could...
This nano-membrane turns your skin into a loudspeaker
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Displays can increasingly be placed anywhere, and now the same can be said of loudspeakers. We all are familiar with loudspeakers; the critical element found in almost every household in one form or the other – whether they’re in smartphones, TV’s or stashed in...
Scientists have created an ultrasound patch to monitor your vital health
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Having access to ultrasound is like having a window into your body, and now it’s on a patch. Earlier this year we heard how scientists from the University of California San Diego in the US had developed a flexible ultrasound patch that allows users to see...
Windows are the perfect lens-less cameras for AI and VR headsets
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Researchers have re-thought cameras from the point of view of today’s AI’s, and what they’ve created is as innovative as it is revolutionary. Cameras used to be their own devices with lenses and film and trips to the drug store to get the pictures...
Telepathic warfare takes center stage as US military bets big on neuro tech
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s brain machine interfaces are rudimentary or require invasive surgery, this program could bring brain interfaces to the masses and be the next step in human-technological evolution. Until now the advanced and cutting edge neuroscience programs at DARPA, the self proclaimed mad science wing...
DeepMind’s AI now has human like 3D vision
WHY THIS MATERS IN BRIEF As we come to rely on robots and automated systems more in our daily lives their ability to accurately perceive our world is crucial. If I showed you a single picture of a room it’s likely you’d be able to tell me about it...
DARPA splashes $1.5bn to re-invent the way electronics are designed and made
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There is a concern that the lack of focus on developing new, advanced hardware will put US business and its military at a serious disadvantage in the future so DARPA is quadrupling its investments. There is now question that the electronics industry has been...
It’s raining cash, US startup edges closer to creating solid state “Jesus” battery
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Solid state batteries charge faster, , don’t catch fire, last longer and and are cheaper to make than their liquid Lithium Ion cousins, making them a game changer. Recently technology giants like Dyson, Samsung and Total have collectively invested $65 million in Ionic Materials, a company...
