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Researchers are using a technique called simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) to develop helmets that rescue workers can use to navigate through heavy smoke. The helmet features an infrared laser scanner and software that bounces signals off walls and uses that data to create a map of the surrounding area.
With a history of giving great impressions reaching back to CES, expectations for Mitsubishi's 65in LaserVue TV are high. It's the first laser-powered TV, with completely new rear-projection technology that makes for richer, more accurate colours and significantly lower power consumption. Josh Quittner of Time Magazine got to take one home for a while to drool over/in front of it and, well, that's exactly what he did.
Apparently the laser alarm clock idea, where you stop your clock's incessant ringing by shooting a bullseye with a laser gun, was popular enough to warrant a second coming. Bandai will be releasing its new version, titled Gun O' Clock, on November 15th in Japan. Gun O'Clock lacks the little man from the original, but features two wake-up modes: Normal and Hard. Normal mode means you only have to hit the target once to put the clock on snooze. With Hard mode, you'll have to hit it five times. Is that frustrating or secret agent awesome? I can't really tell. [Bandai via Geek Alerts]
Sony has teamed up with the Max-Planck Institute in Germany to create a flexible, translucent display that creates 3D multi-colour images from laser beams. The all-organic screen uses a chemical reaction called photoexcitation to render images, where energy moves from the lasers to the screen and "turns on" the photons to emit light.
How do you make a wireless transmission that is as fast or even faster than most fiber-optic data passages? With laser beams of course! According to a Technology Review piece, super smart people at Battelle research in Columbus, OH figured out a way, using millimeter wave technology, to send data at speeds up to 20 gigabits per second. They even field tested 10 Gbps at up to 800 meters. Even accounting for Ohio's unnervingly flat terrain, this is several hundred times farther than a wireless transmission of that bandwidth had ever reached before.
Even though the blank media companies have been touting 200GB Blu-ray discs for years, mostly as part of the psy-ops war against HD-DVD, the largest discs today's players and burners can handle are dual-layer 50GB blanks that burn at up to 8x. A new 450 mw blue laser diode unveiled by Sanyo, however, will enable players to read and burn four-layer 100GB discs at up to 12x speeds. Actual drives with the new laser are still probably a year or two away. [Computerworld]
Here's the first look at the final version of the deadly XM25. We learnt this morning about the weapon's destructive power, but now we have all the details, starting with the key for its destruction power, a built-in fire-control system that can program each of the weapon's 25 millimeter rounds wirelessly, in real time, so soldiers can take down enemies around obstacles:
We know that a few of you use laser pointers for board meetings, but the majority of you probably pulled that whole laser-on-the-screen trick at movie theatres when affordable versions first hit. But the problem with the latter application, other than annoying yours truly, was that shining a laser at Tom Cruise's face did nothing to interact with the film, like reveal the green face of Xenu.
In the 2009 defence authorisation bill approved last week, the US Senate called for the defence industry to get serious about bringing laser weapons like Boeing's Advanced Tactical Laser system (pictured) to the battlefield. The bill allocated more funds to laser programs large and small--from green lasers used to temporarily blind individual troops called "dazzlers" to the giant ATL-like cannons used to fry tanks or incoming missiles from the sky. In short: the emperor is here on visit, and he is not happy that this battle station is not yet operational. [Washington Post]
In a panel at GigaOm's Mobilise conference today, Motorola VP of Applied Technology Fred Kitson revealed some prototype display technologies they have in the works, confirming the company has more on the mind than the damn RAZR. One phone prototype Kitson described involves an embedded projector that made use of 3 lasers that project on a wall, while another makes use of a headset display. He also made mention of home displays that could automatically detect your phone as you move into a target range, and dedicate a portion of that screen to your mobile.
