Maximum PC TED2009 RSS Feed

TED 2009: Electric Cars, Ninjas and Tiny Robots That Cut You Open

Alex Castle — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:59:16 -0600

Image Credit: TED

The afternoon session at TED today wasn’t exactly a smorgasbord for those of us looking for high-tech tidbits, but there were some fascinating talks about emerging technologies that will make a major impact on the way we live our lives. So even though they're a little outside of our normal field, we’ll give you a quick rundown of some of the interesting developments.

One of the most exciting presentations of the afternoon was given by Shai Agassi, the one-time heir-apparent at SAP who gave it all up to found a company called Better Place. Better Place’s mission is to create a fossil-fuel-free transportation infrastructure, and after hearing his talk it’s hard not to believe that they can do it. His plan centers on a widespread grid of charging and battery-swapping stations that will allow electric cars a much greater operating range. Also interesting is his idea that when a person buys an electric car, they shouldn’t have to pay for the expensive battery, but rather “rent” it from his company. According to Agassi, the combined effect of this system will be electric cars that are cheaper and more efficient than their gas-guzzling brethren.

Also of note was a system unveiled by John La Grou which would see RFID tags built into appliances’ plugs and which would contain information about the maximum safe current draw of these appliances. This will allow a receiver installed in outlets to automatically shut off before a fire can begin, and to not supply power unless an appropriate plug is installed (if a kid shoves a fork in there, for instance). Earth shattering? No. But it could definitely help to make our lives a little bit safer.

Then there was a ninja. The Ask a Ninja ninja, specifically, who starred in a short, prerecorded skit which got a few chuckles from the show’s discerning audience.

After that bit of levity was a talk by Catherine Mohr, a surgical roboticist about (you guessed it!) surgical robots. Again, there was nothing particularly fascinating about the presentation, although she did unveil a new laprosopic robot which packs 3 manipulators and a stereoscopic camera into one tiny tube, making for even less invasive surgeries. The thing looks very sci-fi, and definitely gives off the impression that we’re making some pretty huge strides in medical technology right now.

That was it for new technologies that we saw at TED today, but there’ll be bunch of new talks tomorrow, so stay tuned.

TED 2009: The Sixth Sense is Actually a Minority Report-like Internet Interface

Norman Chan — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:50:59 -0600

Easily the coolest part of today’s TED event was Dr. Pattie Maes’s “Reframe” presentation on new technology interfaces. Maes, a researcher at MIT’s Media Lab, energized the crowd with a demonstration of a $350 piece of technology that her team dubs “the sixth sense.” Maes’s Fluid Interfaces research group collaborates on projects and inventions that augment the interaction between human and machine, including both visual and haptic interfaces that are far more immersive than our traditional keyboard and monitor.

Maes started by discussing the five natural senses that humans have developed over the past million years of evolution. These senses help us make important decisions in everyday life, including how we interact with other individuals and our physical environment. But arguably, the most useful stimulus we come across is information that we don’t have easy access to via these senses, such as large amounts of aggregated data and factual knowledge. Increasingly, all of this knowledge is being stored and made available online.

The question, then is whether we could develop (either naturally or artificially) a sixth sense to detect this meta-information that may exist and is relevant to our decision-making. A common response is that modern smartphones already cater to this need, with access to databases like Wikipedia and Amazon user reviews. But the cellphone interface is cumbersome because you have to manually search through google to get to the data you need – the access isn’t immediate.
Maes’s solution: an interface that doesn’t force the user to change their behavior as they access this sixth sense data. Her team created a prototype utilizing a digital webcam, battery-powered projector, mirror, and phone that costs under $350 that satisfies that requirement. Maes actually work this device on stage, which looked like a lanyard necklace with a webcam strapped to the top and a pico projector handing near the bottom.

A video showed how the device would be used in everyday situation. The user hangs the lanyard over their necks and wears colored-coded caps on each of their index fingers and thumbs (red, green, blue, and yellow). The camera recognizes these colors and allows the user to make gestures in front of them to activate certain commands. For example, the demo video showed an MIT researching gesturing a picture frame by connecting his index fingers and thumbs, and the camera automatically takes a snapshot to save on the attached cellphone.

In another example, the user walked up to a novel in a bookstore, and held it in front of him. The camera identifies the book with either visual recognition or an RFID marker, and projects the Amazon rating on the book cover, along with relevant reader comments. The user could even open up the book and get annotated comments projected onto the pages for more detailed data.

Additional potential demoed included projecting relevant video clips on a newspaper as the user read through news stories, or even casting a web cloud on the body of someone you’re interacting with to identify their interests and occupation.

Maes noted that this Minority Report-like device was also similar to the Microsoft Surface gesture technology, with the major difference being that her team’s device is completely portable. Any surface, whether it be a wall or the palm of your hand could be turned into an interactive computing display.

The audience at TED was definitely awe-struck by the demo, giving Maes and her associates a standing ovation after the presentation. We’ll be keeping an eye out for more developments on this amazing technology as it develops.

You can read more about Dr. Maes and the Fluid Interfaces group on their official website.

TED 2009: Bill Gates Releases More Bugs into the Public

Norman Chan — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:44:25 -0600

Bill Gates (the philanthropist, not the technologist) capped off the “reboot” segment of today’s TED speeches with a presentation about two of the important global problems the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have been addressing since Gates retired from day-to-day operations at Microsoft: eradicating malaria and boosting education.

With regard to the Malaria issue, Gates noted that though the disease claims the lives of one million victims each year, this is a greatly reduced number from when Malaria was a global epidemic a hundred years ago. Now, the epidemic is centralized in poorer countries, whereas first-world nations have largely dismissed the problem. In fact, Gates noted more money was spent on developing baldness medication than on curing malaria – Malaria simply isn’t the rich man’s problem.

Gates then proceeded to release a handful of mosquitoes into the air, joking that there was no reason that only poor people should get malaria. These mosquitoes obviously didn’t carry the disease, though the surprise move drew more than a few nervous laughs from the 1,300 in attendance.

Chris Anderson, TED’s curator, drew additional laughs by proclaiming that no one should be surprised that “Bill Gates released more bugs into the public,” before conducting an interview with Gates while using an Apple Macbook Pro. Do’h.

(image via Flickr)

TED 2009: Don't Let Hardcore Porn Teach your Kids about Sex

Norman Chan — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:30:16 -0600

In between Tim Berners-Lee and Nandan Nilekani’s featured presentations at this year's TED conference, past-TED speaker Cindy Gallop announced the launch of her new website: Make Love Not Porn (NSFW, so we won’t link it). The feisty New York advertising exec, who last year gave a speech called “The Toyboy Manifesto” (about relationships between older women and younger men) started the site to debunk the myths that hardcore pornography is teaching about sex. Using some saucy language, Gallop claimed that internet pornography has become a de-facto substitute for sex education for today’s youth, and wants the site to become a open dialogue on the cultural meaning of sex. So far, the new site has only one entry.

Never a dull moment at TED indeed.

TED 2009: Maximum PC Takes You Behind "The Great Unveiling"

Norman Chan — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:14:15 -0600

If you check the list of hot topics on Twitter right now, you’ll fine #TED at the top of the list. That’s because today is the opening day of the annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference, a prestigious gathering of just over 1000 of the world’s most influential thinkers, entertainers, and futurists. This private event (registration costs $6,000, and that’s only after you’re invited) hosts a series a thought-provoking presentations aimed at stimulating the minds of attendees who are then encouraged to engage in an exchange of ideas throughout the week-long session.

Past speakers include Al Gore, JJ Abrams, and Jeff Bezos, who each gave provocative talks about their passions and innovations. This year’s lineup includes Green Auto Pioneer Shai Agassi, web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee, and one Bill Gates. The public typically has to wait several months before videos of these 18-minute long TED talks get uploaded, but we’ve received special access to the live stream of the main stage. Over the next three days, we’ll be posting recaps of tech-related talks to give you some insight into what goes on in this exclusive and enlightening forum. Keep tabs on our TED coverage by clicking this link!

(image via Flickr)