2013년 12월 2일 월요일
Electronic taste could allow television viewers to sample cookery show creations
Watching celebrity chefs like Nigella Lawson or Gordon Ramsay whip up a culinary creation on television can set viewers' taste buds tingling.
But now television viewers could soon be able to sample the food for themselves with the help of new technology that can electronically recreate tastes.
Scientists have developed a simulator that uses electrodes to stimulate the taste buds on the tongue to reproduce salt, sweet, sour and bitter sensations.
The Digital State Interface also uses subtle changes in temperature to alter the taste experience.
The researchers hope that the system could eventually be used to allow television viewers to experience tastes while they are watching their favourite programmes.
Dr Nimesha Ranasinghe, an engineer at the National University of Singapore, said it could also be used in computer games or to allow people to share meals over the internet.
His team are also working on a digital lollipop that can produce all the sweet enjoyment of a real piece of confectionery but without the harm to teeth or risk of putting on weight.
He said: “Digital taste is a technology for digitally simulating the sensation of taste.
"It uses two methods - electrical stimulation and thermal stimulation to stimulate the tip of the human tongue non-invasively in order to produce primary taste sensations such as salty, sour, sweet, bitter.
"By manipulating the magnitude of current, frequency, and temperature - both heating and cooling - thus far salty, sour, and bitter sensations have been successfully generated.
"Simulating food is one of the future directions of this technology."
A prototype of the Digital Taste Interface (Nimesha Ranasinghe)
A prototype of the Digital Taste Interface (Nimesha Ranasinghe)
Previous attempts to create “taste TV” have largely been unsuccessful as research has concentrated on using chemicals released by a computer.
This means such technology requires a large reservoir of chemicals required to produce different tastes that can be mixed together and would need to be regularly replenished.
Using electrodes allows tastes to be sent digitally without the need for messy and expensive chemical interfaces.
Dr Ranasinghe said: “Using chemicals in an interactive system is unrealistic since a set of chemicals is difficult to store and manipulate.
“Furthermore, the chemical stimulation of taste is analogous in nature, making it impractical to use this approach for digital interactions.
“Therefore, it is evident that a new non-chemical approach is required to achieve digital control over the sensation of taste."
comment;
We taste with our tongue, we experience flavour with our olfactory senses, based in the space behind the nose. That's why things don't have much flavour when you've a heavy cold. Stimulating taste buds on the tongue to detect sweet, sour, etc, won't do a thing to help experience flavour. Another misleading article from the Telegraph's Lack of Science department.
2013년 11월 22일 금요일
KDDI "Smart TV Box" Cable TV STB runs Android 4.0
KDDI has announced a cable TV set top box running Android 4.0. The Smart TV Box, by Panasonic, has a customized interface and home screen, and can be controlled via the buttons or touch pad of the remote control. KDDI are also planning to include location relevant service applications, such as an online supermarket.
"On the Home screen, the main item is the program you're currently watching, and services are shown around the edges. When you slide up, the screen shows information for the family to share. For example, there's a calendar everyone can write in, to share their schedule."
"The right side of the Home screen is the usual broadcast area. With the Smart TV Box, in addition to the functions of previous set top boxes, we have customized functions such as recording, creating a system which is much easier to use.
"The Play area, on the left of the Home screen, has Video, Music, and Game categories. In Video, you can watch NicoNico Douga and YouTube as well as KDDI's pay services."
"The Application area, at the bottom of the Home screen, lets you choose and download applications from three markets: au Smart Pass, Google Play, and Cable Market."
The Smart TV Box features a dual-chip for Android and TV applications, three USB ports, an SD card slot, and a Wi-Fi access point. An external hard drive can also be used for recording. From now on, there are plans to release a full range of content, including games optimized for the Smart TV Box.
In August, KDDI and JCN will start a service trial, and cable TV companies plan to offer the Smart TV Box from autumn onward.
Paper Computing technology the first step to paper-based Google Docs
http://www.diginfo.tv/v/12-0200-r-en.php
At the University of Tokyo, the Naemura Group is developing paper computing technology, which can automatically erase, copy and print hand-drawn sketches on paper.
As well as using a camera and computer, this system uses a laser and UV light, making it possible to work directly with the hand-drawn sketches using the computer.
So for example, the user can leave only the edges of hand-written characters, creating 3D like text, or draw a figure by hand and color it in automatically.
"This is one technology for truly turning ordinary paper into a display. Until now, it's been possible to project things onto paper and use it as a screen, or import things drawn on paper to PC by using a digital pen. But the first method uses light, so the results can only be seen in the dark, and with the second method, even if you can import things, you can't access them on paper from the computer."
The pen for sketching uses Frixion thermo-sensitive ink, which becomes transparent when heated, and sketches drawn by the Frixion pens are lit from behind by a laser to erase them. The ink can be erased to a high level of accuracy, at intervals of 0.024 mm.
The paper is coated with a photochromic material, which changes color when it absorbs light, and a DMD-driven UV projector with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels is used to print the image onto the paper.
"The idea is to do computing on paper. But in the future, we'd like to enable several people to create one document, like with Google Docs, actually using real-world paper while far apart. We'd also like to enhance the rendering that's possible through collaboration between people and computers. For example, by giving more detailed access than you get by hand, and enabling you to draw large areas at once."
2013년 11월 18일 월요일
How HTML5 Crashed, Burned, And Rose Again
In April of 2010, Steve Jobs penned an open
letter titled "Thoughts on Flash" in which he stated the "new
open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win".
Facebook seemingly later validated Jobs’ thought when rumor came of a major
initiative called Project Spartan that would make Facebook apps completely
based on HTML5.
HTML5 was the next big thing. The unifier.
The Holy Grail. Code once, it works everywhere. That was the promise.
Hip, Hop, Hype & HTML5
And so up rose the hype and expectations
around HTML5, the mark-up language and set of web standards promulgated by the
World Wide Web Consortium and adopted in large part over the past four years by
all major browsers.
It was during this period in 2011 and 2012
that startups emerged in publishing, gaming, financial services, etc. touting
HTML5 as a key to their offering, attracting investors who bought in and
invested big bucks to support the early adopters.
During this same period of time, the
inevitable debate began. Who will be the winner on mobile—Native Apps or HTML5?
It was framed by most as a winner takes all.
In the summer of 2012 Facebook dumped its
HTML5-based mobile app due to performance issues. Project Spartan was dead. A
few months later, Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview that "betting too
much on HTML5 as opposed to native" app development was Facebook’s biggest
mistake. Just like that, it was no longer cool to talk about HTML5. We had a
winner of the Native vs. HTML5 debate by knockout. HTML5 is dead! Long live
Native!
HTML5 & The Trough Of Disillusionment
The evolution and trajectory of HTML5
described above is very common with emerging and disruptive technologies. The
truth? HTML5 is far from dead. Gartner Research has analyzed the patterns tied
to new technology adoption and dubbed it the “Hype Cycle”. See the chart below
to get a flavor for the different stages of the cycle. HTML5 has been riding
this same curve, almost to a tee.
When HTML5 received the major hype from the
industry giants, it was still a very nascent technology with lots of holes. It
was not ready for prime time. Instead of
recognizing this fact and tempering its application, many companies
commissioned ambitious HTML5-based projects and were deeply disappointed and
critical when their expectations were not met.
Stability & Adoption
Despite the various high-profile failures,
all the benefits of HTML5 that started the hype in the first place did not
magically disappear. Over the past 18 months many of the holes in the
technology have been plugged as the operating systems, mobile browsers and
devices have advanced and gotten stronger with improved HTML5 functionality
tied to each new release. People also are replacing their smart phones fairly
often, so the majority of smart phone and tablet users now have devices much
better suited to support HTML5.
Below is a chart from the end of last year
showing the HTML5 feature progress within major browsers. It has only gotten
better in 2013.
And while some major technology and gaming
companies swore off HTML5 when their expectations were shattered, others
stepped up to embrace HTML5. Companies like Disney, NBCU and Viacom and brands
like Progressive Insurance and HBO. Why? Very simple—it makes business sense.
Building apps in HTML5 is cost effective and has allowed these companies to
provide engaging content to their users on mobile devices in unique ways
without sending them into the arms of Apple or Google. This was part of the initial
appeal of HTML5 and the value of that is now becoming reality.
Other technology companies like Mozilla,
Samsung, Intel and Amazon have started to develop HTML5 offerings that are now
beginning to emerge from early testing. This summer Amazon announced to the
developer community a major Web app initiative tied to HTML5. Samsung and Intel
are sponsors of the HTML5-based open source Tizen an operating system based on
Nokia and Intel’s old MeeGo project. Mozilla launched its new HTML5-based
operating system in Brazil and will be launching later in Mexico, Peru and
Uruguay.
If we use Gartner's methodology, next comes
the Slope Of Enlightenment. Companies, channels and applications are doing
things with HTML5 that nobody envisioned a few years back. For example Kik—a
popular mobile messaging app with close to 100 million registered users—bet on
HTML5 and now supports multiple forms of rich media content (videos, games,
memes) within its chat messenger service. No download required, just instant
fun.
Did all the early hype ultimately help or
hurt the progress of HTML5? Probably a bit of both. On one hand, the hype
helped bring HTML5 to the forefront and led thousands of companies (Disclosure:
mine included) to adopt it for their products and services. The early adopters
who were able to survive the downturn find themselves in enviable positions to
capitalize on their lead.
HTML5 is now close to prime time and more
and more business are looking to HTML5 to solve market challenges. When the
pendulum swung away from HTML5 in 2012, it swung pretty far and scared away
many potential innovators. How much farther along might HTML5 be if
expectations had been tempered and more companies focused on its potential
rather than its failures?
CES 2012: Tobii's Eye-Tracking Prototype Puts Your Gaze in Control
Tobii showed off it's latest prototype at CES Unveiled this year, an eye tracking technology that allows a user to control games, desktop interfaces and page scrolling purely based on the movement of your eyes
Google Lets Developers Pay To Translate Their Android Apps Into Almost Any Language
http://readwrite.com/2013/11/11/google-offers-developers-the-ability-to-pay-to-translate-their-apps#awesm=~onzi5d60wRFJYx
Mobile apps are international phenomena. So
is the Android operating system. Google knows the importance for developers to
easily extend the international footprint so today it announced that its App
Translation Service is now available to all developers.
Mobile apps are international phenomena. So
is the Android operating system. Google knows the importance for developers to
easily extend the international footprint so today it announced that its App
Translation Service is now available to all developers.
The App Translation Service was announced
at Google’s I/O developer conference earlier this year and allows for
developers to hire human translators across the world to transcribe their apps
from English into the local tongue. Want your app to be read in Farsi? Russian?
Japanese? Developers can hire a professional translator through Google Play
Services to bring their app to users’ native tongue across the world.
Google says that 1.5 million Android
devices are activated every day and the vast majority of those smartphones and
tablets go to countries where English is not the first language. As such,
Google announced at I/O a suite of localization services and techniques to help
developers be able to support true international launches of their apps such as
the ability to accept a variety of forms of payment and currency through Google
Play and to test a localized app.
It is important to note that not all
Android apps can be sold or have in-app payments for every country around the
world. Free apps are available wherever a user can access the Google Play
Android app store. If a developer wants
to charge for an app or feature or service with an app, it has to do so in
countries where Google can accept payments. That list is quite long, ranging
from Albania to Zimbabwe. Most major countries are supported, but developers
should check Google’s list of supported countries before attempting to
translate an app into a local language.
Summary; Android developers can choose to have their
apps translated and deployed all the way from Albania to Zimbabwe.
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