Techorati

Now use your computer with eyes

Tobii has announced they have now released their new device which allows an alternative method for controlling your PC with your eyes. The new stand-alone Tobii PCEye device now provides an easy to use, portable and accurate eye control that anyone can setup and use.
The new Tobii PCEye device makes eye control easier than ever before, and combines both full eye control technology with a stand-alone, clip-on, plug and play design. The device hangs neatly underneath the bottom of your LCD monitor and with a few seconds of eye calibration is then ready to use.

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Now sea creatures will be saved by Robot fishes

New York University researchers have developed ‘robotic’ fish that they say could save the lives of thousands of undersea creatures. The prototypes fool shoals of fish into thinking they are their ‘leader’ and have in tests changed the direction the group swims in. Researchers say that if deployed into the water, which has been affected by a toxic spill, these robots could lead marine life away from danger.
They could also help them to steer clear of man-made obstacles like undersea turbines.
Developer Dr Maurizio Porfiri said that normally mankind takes inspiration from nature to improve itself, but this time he wanted to better the lot of aquatic animals.
“Studies of schools of fish, flocks of birds and herds of animals have inspired robotic systems designed for our own applications,” the Daily Mail quoted Porfiri as saying.
“But I wanted to see if I could close the gap, bringing some of those benefits back into the natural world. Schooling fish have a rich system of information sharing,” he told Livescience.com.
“They decide when to school based on a wide variety of factors, including vision and pressure cues from other fish. By studying these cues, we can learn how school members recognise - and follow - a leader.”
Tests showed that the robot was able to track, follow and mill with the other fish in such as way as to influence their behaviour.
As of now, Porfiri has only been able to design creatures, which swim on the surface of the water, but he hopes to soon make models which can dive and resurface.
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Ford Launches Voice Control of Apps in Car

Ford, which has been trying to fast-forward its automobiles in the digital space, announced today that its 2011 Fiesta model will be the first vehicle in which smartphone apps can be voice-controlled via its in-car synching software.
One issue: Initially, Ford’s SYNC AppLink, downloadable as an upgrade, will work only with Google (GOOG) Android and Research in Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry devices.
As to the more popular iPhone from Apple (AAPL)?
“Ford will introduce AppLink on all SYNC-equipped vehicles next year, as well as provide interoperability with iPhone and other smartphones,” the auto company said in a statement.
Still, anything that stops dodos from fiddling with a smartphone while driving can’t be bad. Ford (F) has been trying mightily to differentiate itself by digitizing its cars.
In December, Ford said it would make the next generation of its SYNC-enabled vehicles into Wi-Fi hotspots, allowing drivers and passengers to connect to the Internet everywhere much more seamlessly in a moving car.
Pandora Internet radio, online talk radio aggregator Stitcher and mobile Twitter client OpenBeak are the first SYNC-enabled mobile applications.
Ford also said it is launching a developers’ network to boost the number of apps that can be used in SYNC-enabled cars.

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India Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket will blast off on July 15 evening, carrying a communications satellite transponder services for communication and forceast time, the space agency said Thursday.

Preparations for the launch of GSAT-12 is progressing well at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, about 80 km from Chennai, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement Thursday.The GSAT-12 satellite weighs 1410 kg take-off has 12 extended C-band transponders - receivers and transmitters for communication and automatic transmission of signals.

The satellite should serve the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) sector, which transmits data as a point of sale transactions or to provide Internet access via satellite and others. ISRO said that the satellite has been subjected to necessary tests at Sriharikota and was filled with propellant June 28.

GSAT-12 will be integrated with the rocket on July 3 after authorization by the Board of launch approval. According to ISRO, the four stages / motors of the rocket has been fully assembled and tests are conducted to verify the electrical systems. Regarding the sequence before the launch, ISRO has said that the rocket loaded with the second satellite will be moved to the launch pad July 10.

On 13 July, the countdown for the launch of 52.5 hours is due to start. The actual lift of the rocket should be 16:48 to 5:08 on July 15. Although the PSLV rockets are used by ISRO to launch remote sensing / earth observation satellites, has also been used for launching communications satellites into orbit geo-transfer (GTO). According to officials of ISRO, PSLV rocket that will GSAT-12-weigh over 300 tons above normal PSLV rocket weighing about 290 tons at takeoff. Do you want to talk about this? Please, go to the comments section below and let your opinion be known to the author and everybody else.

Many find the act of dialing a mobile number too tedious and time consuming. US researchers have now figured out a way that relies on thought power alone to make such calls without lifting a finger. Users wear a specially designed headband hooked up to a Bluetooth device that wirelessly sends commands to a Nokia N73 mobile phone. The technology works by responding to cues from the brain and experts believe anyone with training will be able to master the technique, the Daily Mail reports. Tzyy-Ping Jung at the Swartz Centre for Computational Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego, said the device relies on electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes on the scalp to work out what the brain is trying to say.

Jung believes it could be 100 % accurate with just a bit of training. The breakthrough is likely to create safer hands-free mobile phones to help the disabled and elderly and help out professionals in high pressured working environments. Those used in the initial experiments were between 70 percent to 85 percent accurate when trying to dial a 10-digit phone number. Thought powered computers have been around for a while, however this is the first time it has been adapted for mobile phones.

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