Blog about visual technology
Posted on May 4th, 2010 by Marcela.
Categories: new, Products, Technology, useful technology, more, not 24 hours, Screens, 3 d, education, corporative, events, media, Markets.
MIT Technology Review names 10 technologies that will change the World
Here we are in the Information Age. Never before has the flow of ideas, innovation and new technologies been so strong, so much so that it’s hard to imagine what the world will be like in 10, 20 or 50 years time. So which of today’s fledgling technologies will have a fundamental impact on the way we live our lives in the future? MIT’s Technology Review has turned its attention to this question with the release of its annual list of 10 emerging technologies and it makes thought provoking reading.
Technology Review 2010 TR10 - technologies likely to change the world
Solar fuel. Joule Biotechnologies’ Noubar Afeyan has created genetically engineered microorganisms that can turn sunlight into ethanol or diesel — a feat that could allow biofuels to compete with fossil fuels on both cost and scale. http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=563
Mobile 3-D. Recent box-office hits like Avatar and Up have added to the growing popularity of 3-D movies. Julien Flack of Dynamic Digital Depth is leading the charge to take 3-D mainstream not only on TVs, but also smart phones and mobile devices, through a technology that can convert existing 2-D content to 3-D on the fly. http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=559
Dual action antibodies.Genentech’s Germaine Fuh has found a promising way to fight conditions like cancer and AIDs through dual-action antibodies that give patients two drugs for the price of one, offering the promise of drugs that work better and cost less. http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=560
Real-time search. Amit Singhal is leading Google’s quest to mine social networks for up-to-the-second search results that offer the same relevance and quality of traditional Web searches. http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=556
Light-trapping photovoltaics. By depositing nanoparticles of silver on the surface of a thin-film cell, Kylie Catchpole of the Australian National University has found a way to boost the cells’ efficiency — an advance that could help make solar power more competitive with fossil fuels. http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=558
Engineered stem cells. James Thomson of Cellular Dynamics and the University of Wisconsin has potentially revolutionized the way we screen drugs and study disease by providing a way to make — in the test tube — any kind of cell from patients with different diseases. http://www.technologyreview.com/article/25152/
Social TV. People are already trying to combine their social networks with TV, using laptops and smart phones to comment on live events like the Oscars or the Olympics. MIT’s Marie-José Montpetit is working on social TV — a way to seamlessly combine the active experience of social networks with the more passive experience of traditional TV viewing. http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=564
Green concrete. The production of cement is responsible for about 5 percent of global carbon emissions. Novacem’s Nikolaos Vlasopoulos has created a cement that is a carbon “sink” rather than a source. His innovation could greatly reduce the global carbon emissions that result from cement production. http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=562
Implantable electronics. Tufts University’s Fiorenzo Omenetto is developing implantable electronic devices that can be used to deliver drugs, stimulate nerves, monitor biomarkers, and more. And once they’ve done their job, they almost completely dissolve away. More info here or http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=557
Cloud programming. At the University of California, Berkeley, Joseph Hellerstein is creating better software for building cloud applications, and this could herald a new wave of applications for social media analysis, enterprise computing, or sensor networks monitoring for earthquake warning signs. http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=561
More info on each of the 2010 TR10 (and previous years) is now online and will be featured in the May/June edition of Technology Review.
Posted on April 28th, 2010 by Marcela.
Categories: new, Technology, more, not 24 hours, education, critical decisions, Markets.
The idea of tailoring architecture to the requirements of a prison is by no means new - most famously the Panopticon design by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham has been the blueprint for many prisons since the late 1800s.
A new Vertical Prison concept is not as draconian in its ambitions with its aim of rehabilitating prisoners by allowing them to remain a part of society and allow them to contribute to it, while using height as a wall to separate them from it.
The Vertical Prison was designed by Malaysian architecture students Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze, and took first place in eVolo Magazine’s annual Skyscraper Competition. Their project examines the possibility of creating a prison-city in the sky, where the inmates would live in a “free” and productive community with agricultural fields, factories and recycling plants that would be operated by the offenders as a way to give back to the community and support the host city below them.
Recognizing that many prisons are nothing more than a school for criminals, the prison design aims to rehabilitate inmates by invoking a sense of community. In allowing the prison to become a part of the community and form a symbiotic relationship with the it, the designers also believe that the social stigma of a prison would be softened resulting in greater acceptance of inmates and a better chance they will be given another opportunity upon re-entering society after their incarceration.
The Vertical Prison employs a modular design to maximize flexibility. A girder box structure is used to house a variety of different units and form a communal space. Inmates are housed in Cell Units that themselves can be customized with different “loopholes” or openings appropriate to the behavior or level of danger of the inmate. Depending on its location within a city the prison could include Agricultural Units to grow food for the city, Industrial Units to help in the recycling of industrial waste or Juvenile Units to scare kids straight.
Transport to and from the prison is via various pods that travel along the frames supporting the prison. Transport Pods are the primary transport vehicle and can also be used for daily surveillance. Heavy Lift Pods serve as vertical lift transport for delivering cargo to market or to transport other pods to the ground. Armored Riot Control Pods are armed with both lethal and non-lethal weapons as well as airdrop capabilities for keeping prisoners in check. Medevac Pods are equipped with airlift capabilities and paramedic equipment, while the Fire Rescue Pod also has air lift capabilities and fire-fighting apparatus.
Given the cost of such a system, not to mention the difficulty any city would face in trying to convince nearby residents a prison with no walls above their neighborhood is a good idea, it’s probably not likely we’ll see any Vertical Prisons appearing on city skylines anytime soon. But kudos to the designers for giving some serious thought into an equally serious problem.
Recidivism rates among prisoners suggest the system – in the US at least and the many countries with similar systems – is not working. In California, which has the highest recidivism rate in the US, seven out of ten prisoners return to prison within three years. That translates to a tremendous burden on the taxpayer. So if the new prison concept was found to be successful, ideas like it might not be as expensive in the long run as they first appear.
Posted on January 18th, 2010 by Marcela.
Categories: new, Technology, more, media, Home Theatre, Markets.
Westminster Academy, London, England.
Martin Lupton and Luke Smith-Wightman of BDP Lighting explain the art of lighting design in school environments. using their work at Westminster Academy as a case study, they emphasise the important role of daylight, the guidelines associated with it and the need to consider electric light as an holistic element of the architecture and overall visual environment.
The current UK government is a significant way along the road of its plans to invest in the order of £2 billion in building and refurbishing schools. This offers the people who are involved in their design a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Schools that are performing poorly or schools that are housed in aged decrepit buildings are being identified and re-built. Many of the UK’s schools buildings are between 50 and 100 years old and it is likely that this wave of new schools will stand for the same amount of time. In 50 years time education may be delivered in a completely different way so this could be the last opportunity many of us have to design the lighting for a school building.
The City Academies programme has seen new schools designed and completed by several prominent architects including Sir Norman Foster and Wilkinson Eyre amongst others. When the Government began this programme it was on the basis that they firmly believed that better designed environments will encourage more positive behaviour and improved academic performance.
As lighting designers, we are part of a growing awareness of the power of light and its role in design and usability of spaces and places. Our craft is widely recognised in environments where the commercial cost of design and high quality luminaires are seen as valuable investments. In retail spaces the link between brand quality and customer spend is well established – lighting can play a key role in supporting the brand image.
In commercial offices the value of lighting to the workforce is starting to be understood but the power of lighting in creating the right impression in the reception is fully accepted. In urban spaces the links between lighting and crime, the perception of safety and the creation of a night-time economy are completely accepted. In fact, lighting designers are employed and allowed to practise their art and science where there is perceived commercial value. But what about spaces where there is social value but limited commercial value?
It could be argued that urban lighting embraces some social elements and has positive benefit on the community it serves. In schools and hospitals, two of the most socially important spaces, the lighting design is, more often than not, left to the electrical engineer or even electrical contractor.
Lighting Design: BDP Architect: AHMMWith daylight as the primary source of light, the artificial light needs to be developed to support this strategy and maximise the benefits. The opportunities to save energy and reduce maintenance must be embraced with automatic control. However, it must not be forgotten that most schools have a single in-house maintenance contractor – the caretaker – and his responsibilities will be both varied and numerous.
Maintenance must be as straight forward as possible. If a school can be designed with a minimum number of lamp types, that respond to daylight and operate only when required, then it will have a long life and be simple to maintain.
Schools are one of the most socially important spaces that we as designers, architects and engineers can be involved in. These are the places where the thoughts and behaviour of our children are developed and moulded. Lighting, both electric and natural, has a significant role to play in the quality of environment in a classroom. High levels of controlled daylight and good vertical illumination are the key design criteria for the creation of a successful classroom. However in the strive for innovation and creative design we must not forget the how these important buildings work, the length of time they are design to stand and the many different users that will inhabit and operate them.
Simplicity and robustness of operation is a fundamental requirement.
In many spaces we have come to realise that horizontal illuminance is a poor measure of design quality, and in schools in particular this is true.
Modern styles of kinaestic teaching rely on visual interaction between the students and teacher and therefore the visual focus is usually on the vertical rather than the horizontal. High levels of concentration are essential from the students and anything that can detract from this must be eliminated. It is essential that all lighting – natural and electric – is controlled and delivered into the space in a comfortable way.
As the physiological and biological effects of daylight become more widely understood and appreciated the reasons and justifications for high levels of daylight in schools can be enforced. Recent research indicates that high levels of daylight are a very positive contributor to academic performance and behaviour of students. Research in the USA, by the Pacific Gas and Energy Company, showed that students in classrooms with the highest daylight factors (in the order of 10%) progressed up to 20% faster on maths test and up to 26% faster on reading tests. The results of similar research in Sweden showed significant correlation between behaviour and daylight. In broad terms this research has also shown that student who attend “day lit” schools outperformed students from “none day lit schools” by 7%-14%.
Posted on December 22nd, 2009 by Marcela.
Categories: new, Products, versus is vs, Technology, dlp, l c d, lcos, useful technology, more, Screens, 3 d, plasma flat panel, rear projection, control room, education, corporative, events, critical decisions, media, Blogroll, Home Theatre, Hometech Overview, Markets.
) Eyevis - Perfect Visual Solutions
Eyevis is a leading manufacturer of large screen systems for control rooms, monitoring centres, information, communication, simulation and virtual reality. Whether in control rooms in power plants, traffic control centres, video surveillance centres, or in representative installations, everywhere where there is a need for perfect pictures and reliable functionality of the system there is hardly a way around eyevis’ perfect visual solutions.
Thanks to its many years of experience and technological advantages eyevis is the ideal partner for the realisation of complete and customised solutions. eyevis permanently uses latest technology and high-end components for all of its products, in order to fulfil the high requirements of our customers towards their large screen systems. This philosophy guarantees best picture quality and reliable performance of our products. Continuous investments in research and development guarantee a head start of eyevis in the field of large screen visual solutions.
Especially in areas like in control rooms or monitoring centres it is particularly important to have a reliable display solution since there important data information has to be visualised 24 hours per day on seven days a week. Calculable and low lifecycle costs are also an important feature of our systems.
High-end quality “Made in Germany”
Eyevis’ ambitious principle has always been the permanent further development of its product range which aspires to include the most modern technologies in perfect quality.
The result of this “state-of-the-art” philosophy is the permanent development of products which constitute cutting-edge technology in their field of application. This makes eyevis one of very few manufacturers who are able to provide complete systems –
Thanks to its many years of experience and the technological advantage eyevis is the ideal partner for the realisation of complete and customised solutions.
Continuous investments in research and development guarantee a head start in the field of large screen technology.
Best quality is our foremost concern; we want to provide our customers with most modern presentation technology at a high-quality level - this philosophy is embraced by all our staff.
Relying on eyevis, means being sure that all the customer’s requirements in the field of large screen systems can be fulfilled, in order to create a complete, unique and perfect system.
Rely on our well-engineered solutions „Made in Germany“
Direct Informatio www.eyevis.de
More Information: www.adif.es www.indra.es www.autopistas.com www.floria.com www.renovatiofloria.com www.renovatiofloria.es www.abertis.com www.abertislogistica.com
Posted on December 22nd, 2009 by Marcela.
Categories: new, Products, Technology, useful technology, Screens, events, media, Markets.
ISE 2010 to feature 100+ new exhibitors
ISE 2009 drew nearly 25,000 attendees and well over 500 exhibitors to Amsterdam on 2-4 February. Both numbers were a record for what is now Europe’s undisputed no.1 show for professional AV and electronic systems integration. ISE 2010 is set to continue the trend with another industry-defining event, packed with new product innovations, informative education sessions, and new business opportunities. Use this website to find out more about our 2010 show, and keep checking back for regular updates as the event draws nearer!
Pro-audio is just one business sector to provide a notable influx of new exhibitors. L-Acoustics, HK Audio, Sonus, Ateïs, Out Board/TiMax, Baldwin Boxall, Seeburg, Cloud Electronics and XTA/MC2 Audio are among those set to exhibit at ISE for the first time in 2010.
The growing profile of digital signage will be reflected by the creation of a second dedicated area, while automated lighting will also register an increased presence, with Martin Professional among the notable first-time ISE exhibitors.
Integrated Systems Events MD Mike Blackman commented: “No trade show can thrive without bringing new customers and new markets to its exhibitors. Right from its first showing in Geneva in 2004, this is something ISE has proved it can do. AV manufacturers are turning to ISE as a platform from which to launch their products and services into new and emerging sectors, and that is one reason why we are hosting so many new exhibitors in Amsterdam in February.”
ISE 2010 is also looking strong in terms of projected attendance. “Our pre-registration levels are already running ahead of expectations, confirming that this is the show to attend if you are looking for new opportunities in 2010,” concluded Blackman.
For more information:
• www.iseurope.org
