12 Dec, 2007
When you picture your perfect seaborne vacation it probably didn’t look as permanent as hanging out with Luca Debrazi. But if you’re dying for the experience, between cement shoes and $10k a night, I’d take a room at the Hydropolis Underwater Hotel any day.
The idea of building a hotel set in the deep blue isn’t a new one. For years the novelty of undersea accommodations has been battled out, with resorts like the Poseidon Mystery Island in Fiji and the Hydropolis in Dubai trying to take the cake. Yet alas, as it is with most innovative architecture these days, you’ll need to take a trip to Dubai to experience the magic first hand. Even though an official opening date has yet to be announced, they’ve raised the $550 million and have recently overcome ecological concerns during construction.
Although they won’t be amongst the first in undersea restaurants, such as the Ithaa and Red Sea Star – which are both 16 feet below sea level, they’ll be offering a lot more. Along with fine dining in its restaurants and bars, it will also feature a grand ballroom, shopping mall, a cosmetic surgery clinic, and a marine biology lab.
All 220 suites will offer the utmost luxury that would make even Jules Verne blink. That might be because his novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea didn’t go so far as to suggest a petal-like retractable roof for open-air events. He also left out the train that will connect you to tunnels in an above land station, where you’ll check-in to your room at 65 feet below sea level.
This may be the first to open, but the designers have plans to open similar underwater projects in several different locations around the globe. Further footage isn’t available as of yet. But if you need a concept video to quench your thirst you can watch this one from its rival, Poseidon in Fiji, which is scheduled for opening in Mid-2008.
Watch the future as it unfolds:
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10 Dec, 2007
Armed with a headset that can sense breathing patterns, heart rate, blink rate, temperature and motion, San Fransisco based Emsense says it has your thoughts down to a science.
Their technology centers around an electroencephalography sensor (EEG) on the forehead and an algorithm that has been built upon three years of market research. Metrics are analyzed in real-time while participants watch ads and play video games.
One of the biggest problems with market research is being able to track the visceral responses that consumers will have during an ad campaign. When asked to rehash their experience of any sort of stimuli they often frame it differently from how they emotionally reacted. As Emsense puts it, “consumers do not make decisions in a purely rational, linear fashion. Emotion has a huge and predominant impact. [Our technology] provides a complete second by second mapping of viewer response.”
But if consumers aren’t logical what suggests that a map of responses will yield to a purchase? Sure, you can see the exact moment when a participant is responding positively. Yet is it possible to gather enough data and change the ad to invoke a sale?
Skeptics counter that this approach may not be much better than self-reporting. Even with all those metrics and a great algorithm it may just be another tool to use during the formulation of a campaign. They also complain that this type of technology has not been properly researched and the data needs to be peer-reviewed in journals before it’s taken seriously.
While the naysayers gather, Emsense and its army of MIT graduates soldier on. They have twenty two patents to date and repeat customers. By the time peer-reviewed research is available for scrutiny they may already be deep into profits, but only time will tell.
5 Dec, 2007
Growing up in Southern California you see a lot of car chases on TV. They’re a sick sort of tradition, with an interruption to regularly scheduled programming and friends gathering around to watch. It’s the equivalent of LA’s NASCAR, the fans are looking for a wreck. The problem is they put lives at risk and damage property. Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena, CA plans to put an end to the madness.
Their new device beams microwaves from high above in police helicopters, frying the electrical systems of cars that try to flee. The prototype has been in the works since 2003. Using a powerful 300 megahertz radio frequency, it focuses radiation via a narrow beam, disabling vulnerable electrical components. For comparison purposes, the frequency of an average kitchen microwave is 2.45 gigahertz, which is less powerful. Yet just like the kitchen microwave it’s harmless to humans.
A beam lasting 50 nanoseconds is enough to fry electrical components such as wires, eventually shorting out the cars microprocessor. Four cars were paralyzed in tests from 10 to 50 feet away. That’s cutting it a little close to shoot it by chopper, but the California Highway Patrol thinks they’re up to the task.
Although people may worry that it’ll end this cherished form of entertainment, there is yet hope. After shining a light and giving a verbal warning the police intend to use it to intentionally stop vehicles where the suspect would have problems getting away on foot. Thus turning car chases into a live “Cops” episode.
It cuts down the risk to human life and property, uses amazing future tech and still has entertainment value? White Broncos, beware, the LAPD is ready for you.
[Discovery]
3 Dec, 2007
Put this harmless black box in your vehicle, U.K. insurer Norwich Union says, and we’ll lower your insurance rates. You might as well drive over your personal rights while you’re at it.
By developing an advanced tracking system, Norwich intends to reward its best drivers with rate cuts. It factors in route, time of day, braking and the age of the driver, among other things. The GPS based IVU (in vehicle unit) uploads data to a database every few seconds on the road.
The bandwidth and computing power required to sequence all that data is impressive. In fact, it resembles a highly transactional environment, just like at a phone company. Computing time, geography and then placing a price on all those variables is a tough job. So the company had to create sophisticated compression technology as an answer.
At best the pay-as-you drive system may shave off a fraction of the bill, but at what cost? You may remember another innovative technology in the US that went bad fast. OnStar is a vehicle monitoring and tracking service that offers emergency assistance, traffic information and an anti-theft device that can turn off the car remotely from the call center. Sounds like a great deal too? Guess again.
In 2003 a federal appeals court had to rule against the FBI, who were using OnStar without the owners permission as a bugging device. If it’s not creepy enough that anyone can listen in, critics believe that there is an ability to hack into the system. The hacker would gain control of the vehicle and have the ability to turn it off, just like the folks at the call center.
The U.K. government is considering instituting pay as you drive systems to replace tax discs one day. Let’s just hope this is one innovation that doesn’t make it across the pond. I don’t want companies basing their decisions on my real time data. And I sure as hell wouldn’t appreciate that data used against me one day in court.
[CNET News]
