Move your body, charge your phone

There are several ways one can harness natural energy. For example, the wind, the sun, tides and geothermal activities, and increasingly, the human body to producer energy to charge all sorts of electricity-hungry devices.

Music company Orange and GotWind, a firm specializing in renewable energy, have teamed up to create Dance Charge. Weighing 180g, you strap it around your arm. Dance Charge then uses the kinetic energy generated by your body in motion to juice up your phone.

It also uses a system of weights and magnets to produce electric current to top up the storage battery, which can later be used to charge your handset.

A prototype of the device will be shown and tested on June 27 at this year's Glastonbury Festival, the world's biggest greenfield music and arts celebration.

Credit: ubergizmo and reuters.uk

Perhaps the greenest printer of them all

It's disturbing to see trees being felled to make paper, worse when most of us just print on one side of the sheet. Although duplex printing function is slowly being introduced into more inkboxes, we still have to buy more paper when the tray is empty.

This shouldn't pose a problem for Toshiba which has developed the B-SX8R. This printer can erase the contents on the paper, ready to be printed on again. The revolutionary idea works on the basis that certain mixtures of pigments change color when heated to a particular temperature. This is different from the technology Xerox employed by using ink that fades after a period of time.

The formula used in the B-SX8R turns black at 180 degrees Celsius, but between 130 and 170 degrees it is white. So by subjecting the paper to heat, the ink "disappears".

While the trees are being saved, we have to think about our wallets--this cocktail of pigments and chemicals definitely won't come cheap. Also, the heat required to operate may make the printer consume more energy, which contributes to carbon emission. While this inkbox won't save the Earth, at least the trees can heave a sigh of relief. For now.

Via Techeblog
Photo credit: Techeblog

You could be Professor X in 2010 with this Wii

Ever imagine having abilities like Professor X from the X-Men comics? Well, T3 Magazine imagines that one day a mind-control device will come knocking on the market door. And it'll take the shape of a Nintendo Wii console.

T3 believes that in a future iteration, there will be a Wii Headset which will use our brainwaves to control our onscreen characters. It will also feature an immersive in-ear headphone for the sound effects. Meanwhile, the Wii Remote will be updated to having only one button to point and press.

Gaming via brainwave activity isn't a new or novel idea. In fact, Singapore Science Center organized a Mindball game demo a few years back. So the idea of a Wii Headset utilizing brainwaves to control isn't so farfetched.

Of course, if this follows through, then the whole point of exercising and working the accelerometer would come to nought in the near future.

Step aside face detection--now there is emotion shutter

It's kind of scary how some cameras today can determine whether or not to fire off the shutter based on external factors like a smile or a blink of the eye. More and more, control is being left to the device, and now, designer Akbiyik Volkan has conceptualized a shooter that seems to be able to function on its own and takes pictures depending on your mood and emotion.

From the pictures, the Camoria looks like it's meant to be slipped on the ear (like a hearing aid). A tiny lens facing the direction you're looking at, snaps the shot. While Volkan did not mention how he intended to make the gadget recognize emotions, we think the small bumps inside the gizmo will detect heat and maybe heart rate: Seeing your crush may make you blush; getting angry makes your heart palpitate faster.

This means the snapper will capture the moment everytime you feel an emotion. If the Camoria doesn't have a memory expansion slot, Volkan should look to implement one for those with mood swings, or at least a shock-resistant model for the Hulk.

Source and picture credit: Dvice

Sekisui House unveils state-of-the-art green home

If ever there was a dream home for environmentalists, this would be it. The 220m² "Zero mission House", announced in conjunction with the upcoming Hokkaido Toyako G8 Summit in July, will showcase the latest Japanese technologies in energy and environmental conservation.

The key feature of the Zero Emission House is its focus to minimize its carbon footprint. Developed by Japanese home builder Sekisui House, the Zero Emission House is powered by a 14.5-kilowatt capacity photovoltaic generation system (solar array) and a small 1-kilowatt wind generator. The house itself features the use of energy-saving appliances such as OLED lights, household fuel cells and a ventilation system aimed at reducing airconditioning usage while cleansing the air in the house.
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