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Buy Your Own Helicopter Thermal Imaging System
Posted by Jesus Diaz at 2:45 AM on November 19, 2008
At $US40,000, this Helicopter FLIR Thermal Imaging System/Infrared Imager may seem a little bit expensive, but when the eBay sellers tells you that "these units are just off a fleet-wide upgrade by a major federal government agency", the prospect of adding it to your home-made cardboard helicopter or drug-smuggling vehicle looks better and better by the second. Don't think this is your usual night vision system, however. A FLIR is much more advanced than that.
While Nintendo hasn't even announced the next Wii, a DigiTimes source claims that a company named Pixart Imaging is already set to provide Nintendo with the infrared chips for their next generation Wii device. (Pixart already supports the current Wiimote and products from Intel and Logitech.) While not necessarily the worst news, I'm sure at least a few of us were hoping for a solution to avoid those constant "point your Wiimote at the screen" error messages. Oh well, Nintendo could release the Wii2 with non-interactive, rotting banana controller and it would still sell a bajillion units. [
Here's the first look at the final version of the deadly XM25. We learnt this morning about the weapon's 
Most R/C cars are controlled by radio frequencies and a miniature steering wheel, but this car follows a dot of infrared light wherever you want it to go (similar to a cat chasing a laser). The only catches are that the car doesn't look to read throttle commands and it can only recognise light up to 5 feet away, so you can't point the beam at the top of Mount Rushmore and watch the tiny vehicle dutifully scurry its way up...yet. Running 20 minutes per charge, the complete kit goes for a reasonable $US50. [
This remote-control car has an infrared follower system built in, so you steer it simply by pointing the IR beam from the controller somewhere ahead of the car, and it works out where you want it to go. So yes, it's a simple remote control for those who can't be bothered to learn how to steer their toys with a joystick or wheel and throttle remote. Or kids. Ah... now I understand. The "magic dot" can be up to five feet ahead of the 9-inch car and it'll still work, and you get about 20 minutes of racing, cat-bothering action from one charge of its batteries. Available now for US$49.95. [
Using a first-of-its-kind direct optical energy device called Noveon, one Waltham company is hoping to stamp out toenail fungus once and for all using nothing but light. The device "utilises two discrete near-infrared wavelengths at low power" and produces no heat, according to a rep from the manufacturer, Nomir Medical Technologies. The approach could eliminate the need for expensive meds like Lamisil or Fulvicin, which work, but can cause upset stomach and liver damage. Clinical trials are set to begin soon, and the Noveon could be zapping foot fungus—and periodontal disease (think morning breath, but forever!)—very soon.
Created with lonely people in mind, Drew Burrows' INBED is an "infrared-sensitive" light projected virtual girlfriend. A sexy brunette, she's got about three tricks up her sleeve—and she does all of them from a supine position.
Despite looking like a freaky PC case-mod for your head, researchers say this helmet may serve as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. It directs low levels of infrared light at the skulls of Alzheimer's sufferers in order to combat the disease by stimulating brain cell growth.
While IR is still quite useful for certain things, transferring data between devices is something very few people still use it for. Japan's KDDI R&D labs, however, have managed to increase the transfer rate 250 times to 1Gbps with a semiconductor laser that blinks incredibly fast. Although 1Gbps is fast, it doesn't quite transfer a full CD of music in less than a second (which is 650MB). Point is, if they can manage to put this into cellphones, we'll finally be able to get our contacts over really really fast. [
