Spectrum: 3-D Goes Mobile

3-D Goes Mobile

Occipital, a San Francisco tech firm, raised more than half a million dollars in just three days to develop and market a 3-D scanner for mobile devices. The company’s Structure Sensor attaches to an iPad or other device, allowing users to capture three-dimensional models of rooms, scan objects or play augmented reality games.
Source: inhabitat.com

Pulling the Plug

It’s easy to sign up for Web services, but what happens when you’re ready to ditch Dropbox or toss TweetDeck? Figuring out how to disconnect from these accounts can be tough, but JustDelete.me can help. The site offers a massive directory of links that take you directly to the page where you can cancel your account. It even warns how hard the online process will be — from “easy” for services like Grooveshark to “impossible” for Picasa — making JustDelete.me an indispensable tool for digital life.  Source: lifehacker.com

Spotting Polluters

Spanish scientists have developed technology that “sees” toxic tailpipe emissions as vehicles pass by. At the heart of the system is a modified infrared multispectral image camera, equipped with an internal wheel of lens filters. As the camera views the passing traffic, that wheel turns at high speed, allowing several different bands of light to be imaged independently for each vehicle. The result, say scientists working at Spain’s Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, is emission signatures for individual cars.  Source: gizmag

Safer for Seniors

Wireless sensor technology developed by University of Utah electrical engineers may help senior citizens live in their own homes instead of nursing homes. The system detects falls using an array of wireless sensors placed around the perimeter of a room. Sensors are placed at two levels corresponding to someone standing or lying on the floor. As each sensor in the array transmits to another, anyone standing — or falling — inside the network alters the path of signals sent between each pair of sensors.  Source: Newswise