Ok, so those weren’t his exact words, but that’s the spirit that Bill Gates is trying to capture. At the CEO summit yesterday, Gates showed off a new prototype designed by Microsoft. The TouchWall was demostrated by Gates, and its’ name pretty much explains it all.

Microsoft has been really touchy lately, mostly with its’ release of the Microsoft Surface computers. These tabletop computers are already available to purchase from Microsoft at $10,000 a piece. The TouchWall is a little more ambitious, as the screen measures in at 4′ 6″. TechCrunch, was able to demostrate the TouchWall, and has released a video showing off what it can do. So please enjoy, and as soon as I become a millionaire, I will definitely be making my TouchWall purchase.

The world of virtual reality has been a hot topic in the past decade. With popular movies like The Matrix, and less popular ones like Johnny Mnemonic (somehow Keanu Reeves got starring roles in both), the idea of virtual worlds has now become a staple in our society. In a very interesting article, by Bryn Nelson, we get to see just how real life virtual reality is making huge strides in advancement.

The apex of true “virtual reality” is to fool someone into thinking something is real, when it isn’t. This idea, according Michael McGuigan, is closer to realization than people know. McGuigan is a scientist working at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and is researching virtual light. With his research, the possibilities of creating the effect of natural light is possible. With this virtual light technology, they are able to create real life looking replicas of an object. These images, in studies have been able to fool people into thinking it’s the actual thing.

Creating The Glass Of Milk In This Scene Of Shrek, Was One Of Hardest Parts To Create. According To Animation Experts.

In other research, being conducted by Henrik Wann Jensen, at the University of California at San Diego, they are trying to make more realistic animation. It’s easier to create a realistic image, but to recreate real life animation is much tougher. The big reason for the difficulty comes from computing power. Creating a real-to-life animation consumes a lot of computing power. This problem is being addressed by trying to create animations by using methods that cut computing cost. Ray tracing and photo mapping are the two methods in which realistic animation can be achieved. With ray tracing, you can see how a beam of light interacts with the environment it surrounds. With photon mapping, it handles the other spectrum of how an object looks when light isn’t interacting with it.

The next stage of creating a more virtual realistic world is emulating conversation. While there have been advancements in word recognition, the next stage is picking up other forms of communication that humans give off. Roddy Cowie, a professor of psychology, is trying to setup dialogue to a computer by means of voice tone, and facial expressions instead of words. Here is Cowie’s thoughts on Oprah, and how she’s a good subject for the study, “We noticed that chat show hosts like Oprah seemed to be very good at conversation that bypassed most of the linguistic complexities. They had a repertoire of phrases that kept people talking, and even raised the intensity of their conversation, without much reference to linguistic details”

The actual system that Cowie is developing is called, the Sensitive Artificial Listener (SAL). SAL, can pickup on some facial animations, and can even pick up on different tones of voice. All of these different components, all modeled after Oprah’s linguistics.

While it looks as though we are pretty far from “The Matrix”. It’s so interesting to see how with computing technology, we can create near duplicates of our surrounding environment. It would be interesting to see how Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Van Gogh would think of us now. Because with advancements in duplicating reality through computers, we are one step closer to the marriage of art and technology.

I know it’s cliche’, but there are too many things we take for granted in life. The ability to socialize with others, living comfortably within the means of our society. These two things alone can be a difficulty for children diagnosed with autism. Crossing a street, carrying on a conversation are all hurdles that autistic children face on a daily basis.

There have been numerous studies, and research surrounding the disorder that effects 1-1.5 million Americans. An interesting development in autistic research comes by the way of virtual reality. With the advancements in video game and computer technology, virtual reality has become advanced enough as to portray a person and interact with others on a personal level. It’s the personal interaction, that researchers are using to help teach social skills and basic living skills to children with autism.

What makes virtual programs so effective with autistic kids, is the patience and predictable nature of virtual reality. Do2Learn is a strong advocate of the research linking the effectiveness of virtual reality to teach autistic children.

Here is an excerpt from the Do2Learn’s about us page that defines what they’re trying to accomplish, “Our goal as parents, educators and health professionals is to help each person communicate, survive and adapt to the bigger world around him, while respecting that all perceptions are valuable. Our hope is that this site will provide tools and solutions based on scientific research and clinical experience to help those with special learning and treatment needs. Our tools are designed to help them understand our world by:

* breaking tasks into smaller, more easily handled parts
* putting complex tasks together slowly, with guides to keep order
* repeating activities often, letting the user set his own pace
* allowing interactive customized worlds and tasks
* providing a range of ways to learn including tactile, visual, and audio material

It’s always refreshing to see how technology can really help the advancement of mankind. Autism is a very tricky disorder to evaluate and control, because there is no “cure” for the disorder. With advancements in virtual reality and our overall understanding, we can help children with autism live more successful and fulfilling lives.

When you hear about anything coming out of Salt Lake City, it’s generally about memories of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Now they have something else they can brag about; robotics research. In the city made of salt, is where Sarcos, a robotics research company has developed a robotic exo-suit. BBC has reported about their trip to Salt Lake, and what the robocop-esque suit is all about.

The XOS exo-skeleton, is a light weight aluminum suit that acts as a support for the user. Here is a video, released by BBC showing off different functions of the suit. The army hopes to begin production of the suits in moderation within eight years. The XOS, as you noticed from the video looks to move quite fluidly with the user’s motions. What you couldn’t see in the video is how the suit gives the user added strength and endurance. It’s these traits that the US army hopes to utilize. They also are researching ways that the suits could be used in battle, for carrying larger guns and heavier payloads.

One step closer to getting my own Gundam Suit

I can just see Dr. Evil turning his pinky up in excitement over the Large Hadron Collider. I’d venture to say that most of the general public has no idea what a particle collider is, or what it does. If the media would stop their reports of Britney Spear’s latest episode, and reported on this there would be a larger debate over its’ existence.

So what about a Large Hadron Collider, could cause such a fuss that it’s more important than Britney’s escapades? Well in the dumbest way of explaining it, there’s a small chance that the device could bring an end to life on Earth as we know it. The LHC, as most experts refer to it as, is a huge particle collider that is being built in the hills of Switzerland and France (yeah, this thing is big enough to span across two countries). It is 17 miles in circumfrence, and is buried nearly 100 meters underground. The project is spear headed, by the brilliant minds over at CERN. These people were responsible for the beginnings of the internet, and a number of scientific breakthroughs in the past 30 years.

So just why is CERN creating a device that could produce such a disastrous outcome? They are trying to research certain sub atomic particles, which before would have been considered impossible to study. More specifically, they are trying to produce, what is called Higgs boson. The theory of Higgs boson, is how massless matter develops into matter which has mass. Finding Higgs boson could lead to discovery of how the universe started, and where it is going.

The problem with the LHC, is that not even the smartest minds in the world know what this thing is going to produce. Most of the experts agree that nothing that is harmful to humans will be created. Some theories that have been speculated on is that the collider could produce micro-blackholes. Blackholes, you may have heard or seen in science fiction novels, and on the Discovery channel. While the LHC wouldn’t be powerful enough to create a blackhole as we know it, it could still produce a miniature sized one. Most experts believe that if such a blackhole were to be created, it would almost instantly breakup. But there is another side to the argument that says there is a chance that such a blackhole could get caught in the Earth’s gravitational pull, and end up enveloping the entire planet.

Walter Wagner, a nuclear safety officer, believes there’s enough chance of a catastrophic event that he has filed a lawsuit against the construction of the collider. While not completely ending the construction and research, he believes that more time is needed to asses the safety of the machine. He wants another four months to do the safety checking. Before the lawsuit, the collider was being prepped to “switch on” in May. But it looks as though that date will be pushed back to later this year, or early into 09.

I really don’t know what to think about this situation. I would like to believe all the brilliant minds that say everything is going to be groovy. But they aren’t even positive of what this machine is going to produce. So I’m not too upset about the delay that Wagner is causing with his lawsuit. But I definitely want to see what the LHC produces, I’m kind of hoping for demon aliens to pop out like in DOOM.

Anyone who has been to the beach knows how fun it is to get caught up in the waves that flow in off the tide. It’s looking like these waves provide more than just fun at the beach, they could also provide power in the future.

WaveBob and Ocean Energy are the two major companies involved with wave energy research. Their research is being conducted in Ireland, where energy produced from oceanic waves is at its’ highest. WaveBob’s energy producing prototype is constructed like a buoy. The buoy rests off the coast and absorbs the energy from the waves. Just one of these buoys is capable of producing a megawatt of power, which translates into 1,000 homes.

(Photo Credit: WaveBob)

Andrew Parish, speaks about WaveBob’s mission and what they hope to accomplish, “This is a giant leap forward for renewable energy production in Ireland . At Wavebob Ltd., we anticipate that power generated by the Wavebob will soon help to lessen our over-reliance on the fossil fuels that currently provide the majority of the world’s power. As an island in the middle of the energetic Atlantic Ocean , Ireland can be to wave-energy what Saudi Arabia is to oil. The more we exploit this unlimited natural resource, the better it will be, not just for the global environment, but also for the Irish consumers pocket.”

As of now, the technology is just in prototype form. WaveBob hasn’t even begun testing using a full scale buoy. But as of now all the research looks positive, and looks to begin commercial production somewhere around 2015. They are also looking to be able to export their wave energy to other places around the globe.