An unobtrusive language translator

The internet and smartphones have made it much easier to converse with people who speak different languages to you, with services using these technologies providing both instant text-to-speech and speech-to-speech translation options. Sigmo, a simple Bluetooth device which uses existing online translation services to translate from one language to the other and back again in real-time, is designed to be the middleman in the equation, thus removing the need to constantly shove your smartphone in people's faces.

The Sigmo prototype is a small square box that features a microphone, speaker, an on/off button, and first and second language buttons. Rather than performing any translating wizardry of its own, Sigmo pairs with a smartphone (iOS and Android devices will supported out of the box, with plans for more to be added later) via Bluetooth and relies on existing online translation services such as Google Translate to do the bulk of the work.

It cannot be claimed that Sigmo is quite up to the standard of the Universal Translator from Star Trek, but it's a step in that direction. Through the use of an accompanying app provided to buyers for free, users would be able to translate between 25 supported languages. These include English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese, but the Sigmo team says this number will automatically increase as online translation services roll out updates.

Continue reading on Gizmag. Images from Gizmag.

Vocalize sounds without your voicebox

Nic Wallenberg's The Human Speaker is a curious electrical collar that allows you to vocalize electronic sounds without using your voicebox. Usually when singing or speaking, vibrations originating in the voice box are transported up the throat to the mouth, before emanating from the lips as sound waves.

The Human Speaker works much the same way, except the collar, rather than voice box, is the source of the vibrations. The pitch of the notes that emerge is determined by the collar, which, Wallenberg writes, can produce up to two notes at a time. Wearers can manipulate the sound with their mouths much as they would normally.

Wallenberg points out that the two-note limit can be cheated if you have multiple collars, or access to a camera and some video-editing software, apparently, judging from the below.

Continue reading on Gizmag

A hands-free gesture device

Forget about Kinect that limits gestures to a fixed location (i.e., your living room), Myo is a muscle-gesture wristband that is a completely hands-free gesture input devices. This product looks a lot like the muscle-gesture computing that came out of Microsoft Research a few years back. Nonetheless, it's pretty cool.

"In the future we’re all going to be robot-human hybrids with the help of wearable computers. We’ve already seen Google Glass, the search giant’s augmented-reality glasses, and now the latest Y Combinator startup to come out of stealth, Thalmic Labs, is giving us a wrist cuff that will one day control computers, smartphones, gaming consoles, and remote-control devices with simple hand gestures.

Unlike voice-detecting Google Glass, and the camera-powered Kinect and Leap Motion controller, Thalmic Labs is going to the source of your hand and finger gestures – your forearm muscles. “In looking at wearable computers, we realized there are problems with input for augmented-reality devices,” says Thalmic Labs co-founder Stephen Lake. “You can use voice, but no one wants to be sitting on the subway talking to themselves, and cameras can’t follow wherever you go.” Continue reading on Wired.

Image from Myo.

A suit that alters your world

Designer Maxence Parache has created Hyper(reality), which alters the perception of our environment using an augmented reality helment, an interactive glove and a Microsoft Kinect system. The experience allows you to navigate through a 3D environment as if you're in an entirely new world.

The experience is composed of a helmet with high definition video glasses, an Arduino glove with force sensors that controls the 3D view, and a harness for the kinect sensor. Designed and implemented for museum curation, Hyper(reality) allows the user to experience the architecture and various collections in an immersive and multi-sensory way.

Continue reading on Yanko Images from maxenceparache.com

Growing light

[gallery] I instantly fell in love with this project by Jordy Rooijakkers (TU/e Industrial Design) for Philips Lumiblade Creative Lab, which is a Growing Light that responds to touch. Caress the light or tap it gently and it reacts by subtly transforming into a new illuminating form.

In the wearable tech field, designers have been exploring this type of physical transformational behavior in garments. A few include the following. However, I have yet to see any explorations that incorporate movement AND light in this way.

• Ying Gao's Walking City garments that respond to movement, wind and touch
• Hussein Chalayan's shape-shifting runway collections
• Jae Kim's experiments with kinetic and mechanical garments

More info at Behance.net Images from Behance.net

Wireless display in your contacts

[gallery]Technology from STMicroelectronics for a Swiss medical startup points the way to integrating a display in a contact lens. The lens includes a wireless MEMS sensor that acts as a transducer, antenna and mechanical support for additional read-out electronics Not only does the lens integrate display possibilities, it's aimed to enable better management of glaucoma that is tailored to the individual patient.

We have a strong focus on developing and manufacturing wireless sensor networks for diagnostics and other applications in medicine. This wireless, self-powered, on-body sensor will be used in a product that promises to greatly help the millions of people at risk and suffering from glaucoma. Sensimed’s imaginative application perfectly illustrates how, by working with healthcare experts, we can combine two different disciplines and know-how, along with our manufacturing infrastructure, to improve the health and wellbeing of people all over the world.

Said by Benedetto Vigna, General Manager of STMicroelectronics’ MEMS, Sensors and High Performance Analog division.

Continue reading on Embedded Images from Embedded