Source: Samsung
Tags: Mobile Technology
ARCHITECTURE
Hovering above the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies, the recently opened ‘Glacier Skywalk’ offers visitors a breathtaking experience (Photo: Brewster Travel Canada)
Back in 2011, the original designs for the Glacier Skywalk received attention after winning the Future Projects Category Award at the World Architecture Festival. Three years on the project is finally complete and the cliff-edge walkway and awe-inspiring observation deck are now open to the public, providing spectacular views of the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies.
The Glacier Skywalk incorporates a meeting area, free viewing area, cliff-edge walkway and observation deck. The award winning design features an impressive curved glass-floored walkway, which is suspended 280 m (918 ft) above the Sunwapta Valley. The ambitious project was completed by the design build team PCL Construction Management, engineering firm Read Jones Christofferson and Sturgess Architecture for Brewster Travel Canada.
“In developing our design, we carefully considered what would maximize the impact of the site for visitors while respecting the environment,” says engineering firm, Read Jones Christofferson. “We wanted to push the limits of the sense of exposure offered and quickly decided that the best way to approach this would be to construct a glass floored walk area. We want people to feel as if they are suspended in the air over the Sunwapta Valley floor.”
Similar to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the engineering firm decided to curve the glass walkway in an effort to offer additional views and a thrilling experience seemingly beyond the structural supports. The design features an intricate cable suspension system that reduces the appearance of the supports and thus gives users the sense of danger as they walk above the dramatic landscape.
“When contemplating material choices and construction methods, we took into consideration the local site restrictions, the importance of blending the structure into the natural surroundings, long term durability and ongoing maintenance requirements, budgetary considerations, as well as the expressed desire for a rapid construction time,” says Read Jones Christofferson. “Weathering steel was selected because the bulk of the structure can be substantially fabricated off-site; it is very durable, has limited maintenance requirements and will naturally blend in with the surrounding geology.”
The total cost to complete the Glacier Skywalk, including consultation, environmental monitoring and assessment, planning, design and construction, was approximately CA$21 million (approx. US19 million).
Apart from the Glacier Skywalk, visitors to the Jasper National Park can also jump on board a huge Ice Explorer and go out onto the surface of an ancient glacier, They can also take in the Northern Lights, which are best viewed in the winter months, with stargazers benefiting from the fact that the Park is the second largest dark sky reserve in the world.
The Glacier Skywalk is open daily from May to October, with tickets prices set at CA$24.50 for an adult and CA$12.50 for a child (under 16).
Tags: Architecture
ARCHITECTURE
An innovative self-service sexual health clinic has opened in Soho, London, where anyone can be screened free of charge six days a week, while only waiting six hours to get their results back. The NHS Dean Street Express clinic was designed by Penson architects and features a high-tech system that allows patients to log themselves in, before being given a self-test kit and shown to a screening room. The clinic is also home to the first on-site Infinity machine, which quickly tests all samples and allows for results to be sent back to the patients within six hours of testing.
“Anybody who needs a quick sexual health check-up can benefit from the self-service clinic,” Penson architects tells Gizmag. “No appointment is necessary and it’s open to all members of the public, regardless of age, sexual orientation or whether you’re a resident of the area.”
Drawing inspiration from luxury hotels and restaurants, Penson architects designed the clinic to resemble anything but a medical facility. Designer fittings and artwork litter the facility and the four screening rooms have been designed around different aspects of the surrounding Soho areas; including fittings and elements from famous shopfronts and photography of iconic landmarks.
“We like to think we captured the essence of Soho pretty well,” tells Penson. “We love the photography that lines the walls in the downstairs waiting area. All of the images are of the Soho area and were taken by nurses who work at the clinic.”
The self-service clinic comes equipped with a series of iPads located in the reception area, which allows patients to log themselves into the system, before being sent through to one of the four screening rooms. Each patient is given a kit to facilitate a variety of self-service tests: such as collecting urine samples or mouth swabs. However, patients wishing to complete HIV and other blood test will be personally seen by an onsite medical practitioner. This unique semi-automated system means the medical staff have more time to focus on testing samples and getting results back to their patients as soon as possible.
Inside the screening room, demonstration videos explain to the patients how to complete the test themselves. Once they have prepared the test samples all they need to do is insert them into an air-tight capsule and place it into a vacuum tube which shoots it through to the lab for testing. Six hours later patients will then receive an SMS text message with their results and instructions on how to make a follow-up appointment if treatment is required.
“Personally we love the pneumatic vacuum systems that carries samples from the screening rooms to the lab for testing,” tells Penson. “It was great fun to design something so futuristic and for all the right reasons.”
Dean Street Express Clinic is open Monday to Saturday til 7pm and the video below demonstrates how the self-service facilities work.
Source: Penson
Tags: Architecture
GAMES
Melbourne based startup Zero Latency built a wireless cooperative virtual reality environment in which you and a friend can blast – or run and hide from – zombies that seem freakishly real
“Virtual reality needs its arcade moment,” argues Zero Latency co-founder Tim Ruse. The Oculus Rift headset may be making waves around the tech sphere and zeroing in on a takeover of home entertainment, but to really experience immersion, the Melbourne-based startup aims to prove you need to add full-body motion tracking and a big space that players can move around in. No wires, no gamepads, no treadmills.
Zero Latency’s Inversion VR system includes a custom-built backpack which untethers the Oculus Rift headset and headphones from the main PC, while an array of cameras locate and track your body and a plastic gun as you walk, run, crouch, jump, scream, shoot, and hide from zombies in an actual 50 sq m (540 sq ft) space that’s mapped to the in-game environment – or rather many in-game environments, as they can switch the virtual scene on the fly.
The game is locked at a smooth 60 frames per second, with no noticeable latency (delay between your real-world action and its in-game representation). The version I tried earlier this month lacks full-body tracking, rendering you instead as a floating head with a similarly floating gun, due to processing limitations (accurate motion capture technology capable of running fast enough for the needs of Inversion VR remains prohibitively expensive). But Zero Latency is working on a compromise that will allow for G.I. Joe-style depictions of your arm, leg, hand, and torso movements.
It takes a moment to get comfortable after you’ve been strapped in, especially when it comes to loosening up and moving about freely. But it’s a great feeling to have your basic movements translate directly into the game, without any need for joysticks or button presses. Even with the big ugly pixels in front of your eyes (Zero Latency has yet to receive the new 1080pCrystal Cove Oculus Rift prototype), you soon come to accept the virtual reality laid before you as real enough to stop feeling so self-conscious.
Not that you have a lot of say in the matter once the zombies start flooding toward you. The Inversion VR experience is certainly an intense one, and it’s hard not to flee in panic-laden terror the moment a virtual zombie gets within a few feet of you. But that’s precisely the idea. Inversion VR was conceived as an arcade-style experience, with all the thrills and spills that normally entails.
Its creators are banking on it being a social experience, too. “We’ve found a lot of people like watching their friends play,” Ruse says. “They like watching what’s coming behind their friends to see what’s sneaking up on them.”
A monitor outside the play space shows what the player sees, and people can watch both this and the bizarre dance of the person inside, battling foes or exploring spaces that are invisible to the real world.
Zero Latency’s three-man team has been building the technology and a number of demo environments since January 2013, and over 200 people have now tried the beta version. The next step is opening it up to the general public.
The company is asking for 25,000 AUD (US$23,500) from presale tickets on crowdfunding site Pozible to pay for a dedicated venue (only in Melbourne, for the time being) and more equipment. Early bird Game Passes are still available at the time of writing, for 60 AUD each. If all goes well, the game launch is targeted for November.
Check out the pitch video below for more on the project’s history and goals.
Sources: Zero Latency, Pozible
Tags: Games
SECURITY AND PRIVACY
The European Court of Justice made a ruling Tuesday that will affect how search engines operate in Europe. The “right to be forgotten” was argued by plaintiffs and gives people the right to request old information be removed from search engines. The ruling only affects search results, the original link would not be removed or altered.
The ruling comes after a 2011 request from a Spanish court about EU privacy laws. Cases were brought by 180 people who were unhappy with search results. One example includes links to a 1998 announcement that disclosed disputed social security debts of Costeja González published by the La Vanguardia. The judgement is based on a 1995 data protection law that provides the right to request the removal of certain information.
Europe has stringent privacy laws that may become even more rigorous. Momentum is building in Europe to adopt an even more far-reaching privacy laws. Already under negotiation by lawmakers is a policy that includes a tougher so-called right to be forgotten, or “erasure” as it is termed in draft legislation, that also would apply to companies like Facebook.
This is a critical ruling for American companies like Google since it basically requires them to operate under different rules based on the country in which they are displaying search results. Companies will have to assume the costs and responsibility for removing links that are under complaint. Some companies like Microsoft have already gone to the trouble of making sure their contracts adhere to EU standards.
European companies have an edge when it comes to compliance and are already used to the privacy and data laws. Need to adhere to EU standards has already created some powerful partnerships between cloud providers and European tech companies.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the decision “makes grim reading for Google and will delight privacy advocates in the EU,” said Richard Cumbley, information-management and data-protection partner at UK law firm Linklaters.
Individuals will be able to request that search engines take down any web pages containing information about them when searched by name. Examples would be legal announcements and court cases.
The ruling left some room for interpretation saying that there needs to be a balance between public interest and the impact that such information can have on people’s lives.This ambiguity will make it extra difficult for companies trying to figure out whether they need to comply. European courts will now need to implement the ruling.
“This sounds like a landmark judgment,’’ Peter Hustinx, a top European Union official for data protection told the New York Times. “The court is saying that Google isn’t just selling adverts in Europe, but is providing content along with those services. If you are a regular citizen, it gives you a remedy anywhere in Europe for you to ask companies to take down content connected to you.”
Tags: SECURITY AND PRIVACY
US GOVERNMENTFDA gives approval for DEKA prosthetic arm controlled by muscle impulses
Prosthetics have come a long way in recent years, with many artificial limbs incorporating advanced robotic and cybernetic systems that include everything up to and including mind control. Unfortunately, for all these advances, the lack of prosthetics capable of complex motor control means that most users see them as tools rather than replacement limbs. However, that may be changing as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced approval for marketing of the DEKA Arm system, the first prosthetic arm set to hit the market that translates signals from a patient’s muscles to carry out complex tasks.
Manufactured by DEKA Integrated Solutions in Manchester, New Hampshire, the DEKA Arm was developed under DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics program that aims to develop arm prostheses with near-natural control. DARPA sees the DEKA Arm as a way of expanding the options for amputees, especially those using the split-hook hand developed in 1912. It says a lot about how far prosthetics have to go that something developed over a century ago is still so widely used.
The DEKA Arm is aimed at aiding those who are using muscle-powered prosthetics; providing them with an arm that is not only less exhausting to use, but also one with finer and more complicated control. Designed for those with limb loss occurring at the shoulder joint, mid-upper arm, or mid-lower arm, the DEKA Arm uses electrical signals from the muscles picked up by electromyogram (EMG) electrodes to control the arm. This isn’t new. The Boston Arm had similar capabilities over forty years ago.
What’s different is that the battery-powered DEKA Arm allows simultaneous control of multiple joints with ten powered movements using a variety of input devices, including wireless signals from sensors attached the the user’s feet. In addition, the hand has six user-selectable grips. That’s not bad for an arm that’s the size and weight of a natural adult arm.
DARPA says that creating the arm required eight years of work on miniaturization of motors, computer controls and sensors, as well as developing new lightweight materials that were up to the job. All of this had to be put together into a rugged package that could handle day-to-day punishment.
The FDA says that for approval of the DEKA Arm it used its de novo classification process intended for novel low- to moderate-risk medical devices that are first-of-a-kind. Based on clinical studies of 36 DEKA Arm study participants, the FDA concluded that 90 percent could use the arm for everyday tasks that previous arms couldn’t deal with, such as using locks and keys, preparing food, eating, using zippers, and brushing and combing hair. The agency also examined the arm’s software and electrical systems, and tested it for impacts and durability under exposure to common environmental factors such as dust and light rain.
The approval opens the way for DEKA to pursue a commercial release of the arm.
The DARPA video below shows the DEKA arm in action.
Tags: Health
MILITARY
Army researchers envision a fan embedded within the mask’s filtration system that uses less power, is lighter and is far less bulky than conventional respirators (Image: U.S. Army illustration)
As well as protecting soldiers from impacts, modern helmets and masks are also designed to provide protection against chemical and biological agents. Such gear requires a powered air purifying respirator to supply air, but these traditionally rely on a separate battery pack and blower unit that is connected to the mask via a hose. The US Army is developing technology for a compact self-contained mask that is not only lighter and less cumbersome, but also helps keep soldiers cool.
With an eye towards technologies that could be integrated into a next-gen mask, scientists at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center developed a fan that is embedded within a mask’s filtration system. The team says this consumes less power and is also lighter and less bulky than conventional respirators, helping to lighten the load for soldiers already burdened with heavy equipment.
Instead of a blower unit hanging off the hip or back, the new system pulls air through a filtration system on the side of the mask by a mini-blower before being directed across the nose cup, providing an even flow of cool, clean air across the face. When the user exhales, the air valve closes and the clean filtered air is diverted into the mask’s eye cavity. This over-pressurizes the face piece to prevent outside contaminants entering the mask if the seal is broken.
The Army says that test studies using a modified, commercial version of the M50 joint service general purpose mask, which replaced the M40 Field Protective Mask in the US armed forces in December 2009, was found to be more comfortable for soldiers, while maintaining equal or higher levels of effectiveness when doing things that soldiers do, such as crawling, running, firing rifles and combat maneuvers.
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s Respiratory Protection Branch says it plans to develop a number of technologies that have the potential to be integrated into next-gen helmet and communication systems. Amongst these is a mask that uses physiological monitoring to sense when the fan needs to activate and deactivate, or a mode that lets the user control various settings, such as turning the fan on or off, turning the fan on with airflow just to the eye cavity, or turning the fan on with airflow to both the eye cavity and the nose cup.
Source: US Army
Tags: Military
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