Advances in Computers thread

[ScienceRocks]

New e-paper can be written on like a whiteboard
New e-paper can be written on like a whiteboard

By repurposing and updating an e-paper technology from the 1970s, researchers from the University of Tokyo have created a cheap but tough new electronic display that can be written on with a magnet. This new e-paper could be used in low-cost, lightweight electronic whiteboards as well as traditional classroom blackboards, and its creators hope that it will eventually reduce our dependence on real paper.

The e-paper came about by modernizing a technology created in the 1970s called "twisting ball displays." The twisting ball part of the name comes from how bicolored microparticles move around on an elastic silicone sheet when sandwiched between two parallel electrodes. The particles change color and exhibit different charge properties in each hemisphere, and this causes them to rotate in the same direction as the electric field. If you change the direction of the voltage, the display changes color.

 

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Graphene champions the next generation 3D display technology

Moving holograms like those used in 3D science fiction movies such as Avatar and Elysium have to date only been seen in their full glory by viewers wearing special glasses.
Now researchers at Swinburne University of Technology have shown the capacity of a technique using graphene oxide and complex laser physics to create a pop-up floating display without the need for 3D glasses.

Graphene is a two dimensional carbon material with extraordinary electronic and optical properties that offers a new material platform for next-generation nanophototonic devices.

 

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Team develops faster, higher quality 3-D camera
49 minutes ago by Amanda Morris

Enlarge

When Microsoft released the Kinect for Xbox in November 2010, it transformed the video game industry. The most inexpensive 3-D camera to date, the Kinect bypassed the need for joysticks and controllers by sensing the user's gestures, leading to a feeling of total immersion into the game. Microsoft sold 8 million Kinect units within 60 days, making it the fastest-selling electronic device ever.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-04-team-faster-higher-quality-d.html#jCp

 

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New WiFi system uses LED lights to boost bandwidth tenfold

Researchers at Oregon State University have invented a new technology called WiFiFO (WiFi Free space Optic) that can increase the bandwidth of WiFi systems by 10 times, using optical transmission via LED lights.

The technology could be integrated with existing WiFi systems to reduce bandwidth problems in crowded locations, such as airport terminals or coffee shops, and in homes where several people have multiple WiFi devices.

Experts say that recent advances in LED technology have made it possible to modulate the LED light more rapidly, opening the possibility of using light for wireless transmission in a “free space” optical communication system.

 

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Hands Omni haptic glove lets gamers feel virtual objects
By Richard Moss
April 27, 2015
5 Pictures

While virtual reality has progressed leaps and bounds in the past few years, with motion-based inputs and a plethora of promising VR headsets close on the horizon, our ability to actually feel what we see in virtual worlds remains limited – especially in the consumer space. But a team of engineering students at Rice University is trying to solve this problem with a haptic glove that lets you feel virtual objects and environments like they're actually there.

 

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Affordable, Light-Speed Supercomputer One Step Closer

An affordable supercomputer which works at the speed of light, can fit on a desk, run on a domestic power supply and help solve some of humanity's biggest problems is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Speaking exclusively to Newsweek, the company behind the development of an optical processor, Optalysys, has announced a working prototype, which uses laser-beams refracted through liquid crystal displays to compute mathematical functions at light-speed.

However, the prototype model isn’t hitting supercomputer speeds just yet - it’s currently just a little more powerful than a Playstation 3. Optalysys plans on delivering processors that are more powerful than today’s fifth fastest computers by 2017, which will be used for projects requiring the analysis of vast amounts of data, ranging from weather forecasting to genome sequencing. By 2020 it wants to deliver a computer 500 times faster than the current fastest in the world, Tianhe 2.

 

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Optalysys prototype proves optical processing technology will revolutionise Big Data analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Cambridge UK optical processing business Optalysys Ltd, has announced that they have successfully developed a demonstrable prototype that can process mathematical functions optically in a scaleable, lensless design.

Optalysys optical processing systems will “turbo-charge” existing computers by performing processor-intensive tasks at much faster rates and with a significant reduction in energy consumption. The prototype is portable and has a footprint similar to a desktop computer. The technology has the potential to achieve Exascale processing levels by 2020.

Optalysys CEO, Dr. Nick New, explains. “Until now, meaningful optical processing technology has been impractical for a number of reasons. Advancements in liquid crystal technology now permit numerical data to be dynamically entered into an optical system at high speeds and resolutions. Several additional breakthroughs by the Optalysys team have resulted in a patented lensless design which is easily aligned to within a few microns.”

 

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Novel polarization forms promise to radically increase data speeds

New technique allows data transmitted on a single laser beam to be scaled to terabits or even petabits

As the world’s exponentially growing demand for digital data slows down the Internet and cell phone communication, City College of New York researchers may have just figured out a dramatic new way to increase transmission speed.
“Conventional methods of data transmission [that] use light … are being exhausted by data-hungry technologies, such as smart phones and cloud computing,” said Giovanni Milione, a PhD student under City College Distinguished Professor of Science and Engineering Robert Alfano, who led the pioneering experiment conducted at the University of Southern California with collaborators from Corning Incorporated, Scotland, Italy and Canada.
“So we came up with an unconventional method.”

 

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Sharetable "desktop" computer puts a PC and a second screen inside your desk
By Richard Moss
April 29, 2015
6 Pictures

Sharetable is all about simplifying interactions around a computer. Instead of having two people grappling for control, with awkward exchanges of mouse and keyboard and adjustments of screen position, it's designed to let two people work together more elegantly. Its approach is, in essence, to mirror or extend the screen across two displays on the same desk. But there's more to it. For starters, the computer is embedded in the desk. And so is one of the screens.

 

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Scientists achieve critical steps to building first practical quantum computer

IBM scientists today unveiled two critical advances towards the realization of a practical quantum computer. For the first time, they showed the ability to detect and measure both kinds of quantum errors simultaneously, as well as demonstrated a new, square quantum bit circuit design that is the only physical architecture that could successfully scale to larger dimensions.

Layout of IBM's four superconducting quantum bit device. Using a square lattice, IBM is able to detect both types of quantum errors for the first time. This is the best configuration to add more qubits to scale to larger systems. Credit: IBM Research



http://phys.org/news...al-quantum.html

 

[ScienceRocks]

Apple Watch review: Elegant, delightful ... and completely optional
By Will Shanklin
April 29, 2015
25 Pictures

After more than two years' worth of rumors, the Apple Watch is finally here. As the company's most closely-watched launch in five years, can it follow the Sasquatch-sized footprints of the iPod, iPhone and iPad? Join Gizmag, as we review the Apple Watch.

 

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HoloLens promo video gives a glimpse of early prototypes

by Richard Lawler | @Rjcc | 3hrs ago

During Microsoft's Build 2015 event earlier today it displayed a "Closer look at the hardware" promo video for its HoloLens AR headset. It's the normal fluff and info we're expecting about augmented reality, but as RoadtoVR points out, there are a few brief glimpses at earlier versions of the headset in there too, plus a look at the current unit blown apart so you can see what's inside. They're similar to the Google Glass prototypes we saw during its run up to the Explorer model, and give us an idea of how hard it is to shove all that hardware into something that might fit on a human face. Of course, it doesn't bring us immediately closer to Windows Holographic experiences in real life, but until we get our hands on one just appreciating the headset's history and technology will have to do.

 

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3 atom-thick transistor promises ultra-thin electronics

by Andrew Tarantola | @terrortola | 5hrs ago

Researchers from Cornell University announced a breakthrough in transistor technology in the latest issue of the journal, Nature. The team has reportedly developed a novel and highly efficient method of producing an experimental material known as transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD). TMD is an exceedingly thin (but highly conductive) film, which makes it useful in many high-tech applications -- everything from solar cells to flexible, wearable gadgets -- but also makes it a huge pain to produce in appreciable quantities. That is, until now.

 

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Apple and IBM team up to deliver 5 million iPads to Japanese seniors

Apple and IBM, along with Japan Post, announced a new initiative that will see Japanese seniors receiving 5 million iPads in the second half of 2015. The program will initially launch in Japan.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/#ixzz3Yv4QLqal
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Charter Cable may follow Verizon with slimmed down bundles, offer Netflix direct

Charter Cable CEO Tom Rutledge says he's open to offering Netflix and other streaming services to the company's subscribers, and is also considering adding slimmed down TV bundles to bring back cord cutters.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/#ixzz3Yv4e0flh
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We played architect with Microsoft's staggeringly surreal HoloLens prototype
Product Review

Microsoft reaffirmed its dedication to HoloLens at BUILD 2015 by letting users experience live demos with a prototype that looks exactly like that shown on stage. We went hands on…

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Microsoft demonstrates new HoloLens prototype, talks up dedicated Holographic processor
Microsoft demonstrates new HoloLens prototype talks up dedicated Holographic processor ExtremeTech

• By Joel Hruska on May 1, 2015 at 3:13 pm

Microsoft unveiled new prototypes and details of its HoloLens project this week, and the new technology looks like it could have a profound impact on how we use computers in the future. Like the Oculus Rift, the HoloLens system is headset-based, but that’s where the similarities end. Where Oculus Rift creates entire 3D realms to explore (virtual reality), HoloLens is meant to create holographic overlays over existing objects and structure in the real world (Augmented Reality).

 

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What are HDR TVs and why is every manufacturer selling them now?

While 4K UHD is all the rage these days, the addition of more pixels isn’t the only way to make your TV sing. HDR, or High Dynamic Range, just might be the coolest new feature in TV land, and we’ll tell you all about it.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/#ixzz3ZA056wtI
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HoloLens Is No Gimmick

Today, Microsoft demonstrated how far its augmented-reality HoloLens wonderland project has come. In fact, it cemented HoloLens’s place as one of the most exciting new technologies we have—just in ways that you may never actually see.

When HoloLens debuted in January, the use cases Microsoft proffered were largely domestic; you could build (Microsoft-owned) Minecraft worlds in your living room, or have conversations over (Microsoft-owned) Skype with far-flung friends who felt a few feet away. Even WIRED’s behind-the-scenes look back then mostly comprised games and other low-stakes living room interactions. While a broad range of industries and institutions have use for augmented reality, Microsoft spent the bulk of its HoloLens introduction emphasizing the device’s consumer potential.

HOLY SHIT!!!!

 

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Multicolor meta-hologram produces light across entire visible spectrum
15 hours ago by Lisa Zyga feature

Enlarge
The multicolor meta-hologram is made of a pixel array consisting of aluminum nanorods of different lengths that produce different colors of light. Credit: Huang, et al. ©2015 American Chemical Society

(Phys.org)—There are many different ways to generate a hologram, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Trying to maximize the advantages, researchers in a new study have designed a hologram made of a metamaterial consisting of aluminum nanorods that can produce light across the entire visible spectrum, and do so in a way that yields brighter images than other methods.

 

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Memristors Helping to Build a Better Computer Brain

Computers are still quite a ways from mimicking and being just as efficient as the human brain. Our minds are capable of learning and adapting to situations without programming, storing limitless amounts of data, and making computations at fast speeds. It's also much more efficient than any laptop or desktop (try 20 Watts). The brain is a wonder of computational power, and engineers want to replicate it by creating a better neural network.
Mark Hersam from Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering explained the idea in a press release:
"Computers are very impressive in many ways, but they're not equal to the mind. Neurons can achieve very complicated computation with very low power consumption compared to a digital computer."
A team of engineers, including Hersam, have recently taken a step forward in creating a computer that mimics the human brain. Enter memristors, a resistor with the ability to remember (in a manner of speaking).

 

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Optalysys optical computing technology will underpin next-generation weather forecasting in a €4m project led by the ECMWF

Cambridge UK optical processing business Optalysys Ltd, has announced that it is part of a major collaboration project known as ESCAPE, led by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) and involving 10 other organisations.

The European Commission has favourably evaluated the proposal for ESCAPE for a €4m grant through its Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. The grant is subject to final confirmation by the Commission expected at the end of June 2015.

The aim of ESCAPE (Energy-efficient Scalable Algorithms for Weather Prediction at Exascale) is to develop world-class, extreme-scale computing capabilities for European operational numerical weather prediction (NWP). It will do this by defining fundamental algorithm building blocks to run the next generation of NWP on energy-efficient, heterogeneous HPC architectures. The project will pair world-leading NWP with innovative HPC solutions, fostering economic growth, EU business competitiveness and job creation.