AIR TIME-SPACES: NEW METHODS FOR RESEARCHING MOBILITIES
The conference begins tomorrow - and as a taster we have this photo taken from an airplane by Elly Clarke.
See Abstracts
Thursday, September 28, 2006
AIR TIME-SPACES
AIR TIME-SPACES: NEW METHODS FOR RESEARCHING MOBILITIES
The conference begins tomorrow - and as a taster we have this photo taken from an airplane by Elly Clarke.
See Abstracts
The New Mobility Agenda
I think this self-organizing collaborative network called The New Mobility Agenda will be a useful site to keep an eye on. This network seeks to have an impact on transport-related public policy in cities in the USA and across the world.
Mimi Sheller has also recently been invited to serve on the International Advisory Board, and Mimi is also affiliated with CeMoRe - naturally deserves a link on this site!
Mimi Sheller has also recently been invited to serve on the International Advisory Board, and Mimi is also affiliated with CeMoRe - naturally deserves a link on this site!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Second-fastest sports car runs on batteries
CNet News reports on Second-fastest sports car runs on batteries how electric cars are far superior to traditional petrol/gas cars in performance and fuel efficiency - yet the problem/issue is still the cost - they are too expensive for the average car buyer:
'"You can't make cheap electric cars. You can now make good ones, but not cheap ones," he said. "While everyone wants efficiency, no one wants to pay for it. It's like selling safety...You've got to offer your customers more than energy efficiency."'
Yet how long will it be until the large commercial manufacturers take interest - after peak oil??
'"You can't make cheap electric cars. You can now make good ones, but not cheap ones," he said. "While everyone wants efficiency, no one wants to pay for it. It's like selling safety...You've got to offer your customers more than energy efficiency."'
Yet how long will it be until the large commercial manufacturers take interest - after peak oil??
Technology Trends
Two interesting points to comment on from Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends :
- 25 September 2006: Run, elephant, run!
You know that elephants can weigh several tons and move at 15 miles per hour (25 kph). But do they really run? And can they help us to design and build better walking robots? John Hutchinson, who works for the Royal Veterinary College in the UK, thinks so and wants to prove it. He has equipped elephants in UK zoos with sensors and is recording their movements with six infrared motion analysis cameras, each taking 240 pictures per second. But don't think he just wants to improve animal welfare. He also trying to help us -- who have legs and feet similar to elephants -- to early identify arthritis. But read more...
- 20 September 2006: Implantable wireless biosensors
Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center are developing implantable living chips to monitor patients wirelessly and in real time. These tiny devices will integrate living cells with electronics to become literally 'living chips.' They could be used in a few years to better test new drugs or to control other implanted devices, such as an insulin pump, to detect patients' changes and react to them. But read more...
- 25 September 2006: Run, elephant, run!
You know that elephants can weigh several tons and move at 15 miles per hour (25 kph). But do they really run? And can they help us to design and build better walking robots? John Hutchinson, who works for the Royal Veterinary College in the UK, thinks so and wants to prove it. He has equipped elephants in UK zoos with sensors and is recording their movements with six infrared motion analysis cameras, each taking 240 pictures per second. But don't think he just wants to improve animal welfare. He also trying to help us -- who have legs and feet similar to elephants -- to early identify arthritis. But read more...
- 20 September 2006: Implantable wireless biosensors
Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center are developing implantable living chips to monitor patients wirelessly and in real time. These tiny devices will integrate living cells with electronics to become literally 'living chips.' They could be used in a few years to better test new drugs or to control other implanted devices, such as an insulin pump, to detect patients' changes and react to them. But read more...
Video-hyperlinking
Smartmobs links to an article from The Economist titled 'From hypertext to hypervideo' that writes:
"the rise of the web transformed hypertext,which allows readers to click on a word in one document and be transported to another,from an obscure concept in computer science to a familiar, everyday technology. Might hypervideo—which lets viewers click on a moving image to call up a related clip—be on the verge of a similar transformation? This nascent development, also called video-hyperlinking, makes it easy to link together segments of online video in novel ways".Further,"as the amount of video available online increases, so do the possibilities for linking clips together. Someone watching a documentary about the 20th century, for example, could click on the face of John F. Kennedy and be directed to newsreel footage of him. Further clicks might lead to the trailer for “Thirteen Days”, a film about the Cuban missile crisis, to an interview with protagonist-actor Bruce Greenwood, and to a film promoting tourism in Hollywood. Just as hyperlinking disrupts the traditional structures of written text, the same is true of video.But sometimes a hyperlinked structure makes more sense than a linear narrative.
Researchers at the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany, for example, have developed a system called ADIVI (a name derived from “add digital information to video”). Siemens, an engineering firm, plans to use it to enhance online-video technical manuals, so that technicians can click on a particular component or system to summon up more detailed video clips. The researchers call this “telescoping”. In contrast, at viewmagazine.tv, a website that is experimenting with hypervideo, the term “drilling” is used to describe the ability to click on a talking head during a sound bite to summon an entire interview. Such disagreements over terminology emphasise just how new the technology is. Clickable areas in video clips, for example, are variously called tracked objects, hotspots, and tagged pixels. Another area of uncertainty is the etiquette of linking to other people's clips. Hypervideo can either redirect viewers to another site and automatically start a clip on that site at a desired scene, or display video from elsewhere within their own websites. This practice, known as “hotlinking”, is controversial, since the owner of the clip that is linked to may not be properly credited".
The world of 'Ubiq' is getting closer with developments in hyperlinking... blogjets please?
"the rise of the web transformed hypertext,which allows readers to click on a word in one document and be transported to another,from an obscure concept in computer science to a familiar, everyday technology. Might hypervideo—which lets viewers click on a moving image to call up a related clip—be on the verge of a similar transformation? This nascent development, also called video-hyperlinking, makes it easy to link together segments of online video in novel ways".Further,"as the amount of video available online increases, so do the possibilities for linking clips together. Someone watching a documentary about the 20th century, for example, could click on the face of John F. Kennedy and be directed to newsreel footage of him. Further clicks might lead to the trailer for “Thirteen Days”, a film about the Cuban missile crisis, to an interview with protagonist-actor Bruce Greenwood, and to a film promoting tourism in Hollywood. Just as hyperlinking disrupts the traditional structures of written text, the same is true of video.But sometimes a hyperlinked structure makes more sense than a linear narrative.
Researchers at the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany, for example, have developed a system called ADIVI (a name derived from “add digital information to video”). Siemens, an engineering firm, plans to use it to enhance online-video technical manuals, so that technicians can click on a particular component or system to summon up more detailed video clips. The researchers call this “telescoping”. In contrast, at viewmagazine.tv, a website that is experimenting with hypervideo, the term “drilling” is used to describe the ability to click on a talking head during a sound bite to summon an entire interview. Such disagreements over terminology emphasise just how new the technology is. Clickable areas in video clips, for example, are variously called tracked objects, hotspots, and tagged pixels. Another area of uncertainty is the etiquette of linking to other people's clips. Hypervideo can either redirect viewers to another site and automatically start a clip on that site at a desired scene, or display video from elsewhere within their own websites. This practice, known as “hotlinking”, is controversial, since the owner of the clip that is linked to may not be properly credited".
The world of 'Ubiq' is getting closer with developments in hyperlinking... blogjets please?
Killer bear
A teddy bear has been implicated in 2,500 deaths...
...Of trout, that is. State officials say a teddy bear dropped into a pool at a Fish and Game Department hatchery earlier this month clogged a drain. The clog blocked the flow of oxygen to the pool and suffocated the fish:
'Hatcheries supervisor Robert Fawcett said the bear — who was dressed in yellow raincoat and hat — is believed to be the first stuffed bear to cause fatalities at the facility.' Read full report here
Okay, this isn't strictly 'new mobilities', I was just seeing if anyone was awake...
...Of trout, that is. State officials say a teddy bear dropped into a pool at a Fish and Game Department hatchery earlier this month clogged a drain. The clog blocked the flow of oxygen to the pool and suffocated the fish:
'Hatcheries supervisor Robert Fawcett said the bear — who was dressed in yellow raincoat and hat — is believed to be the first stuffed bear to cause fatalities at the facility.' Read full report here
Okay, this isn't strictly 'new mobilities', I was just seeing if anyone was awake...
Digital Planet September 25 2006
This week's Digital Planet visits the Mobile Content World Conference and Exhibition in London:
'Gareth Mitchell and Bill Thompson try out the latest multiplayer mobile games but can the graphics of the desktop really work on your handset? And when it comes to picture quality will the same be true of mobile TV? Gareth Mitchell explores the untapped market of the over fifty-fives. Many industrialised countries will soon have more elderly people than teenagers, but has the technology industry realised this? To find out listen here
'Gareth Mitchell and Bill Thompson try out the latest multiplayer mobile games but can the graphics of the desktop really work on your handset? And when it comes to picture quality will the same be true of mobile TV? Gareth Mitchell explores the untapped market of the over fifty-fives. Many industrialised countries will soon have more elderly people than teenagers, but has the technology industry realised this? To find out listen here
Monday, September 25, 2006
The Future of Border Security
Washingtonpost.com takes a look at technologies for border security in their piece 'Firms Vie to Provide the Future of Border Security' which discusses how 'The Department of Homeland Security is expected within days to name a winner in a competition that could permanently change the way the United States conducts surveillance, apprehension and detention operations along its northern and southern boundaries.'
The proposals include:
- Northrop Grumman Corp: the sky above the Rio Grande would be thick with drones.
- Cellphone maker Ericsson Inc: would focus instead on giving Border Patrol agents wireless devices capable of receiving live video.
- Boeing Co: would build high-tech towers, lining the borders with 1,800 of them.
- Lockheed Martin Corp: blimps are a big part of the solution.
- Raytheon Co: the key is letting agents watch incidents unfold on Google Earth.
Now this admits a cross-over from military to civil 'space': "Overall, the proposals lean heavily on technology developed for the battlefield. "We're transferring things that are military today into a civil implementation," said Bruce Walker, a Northrop Grumman vice president who has led the California company's efforts"
The battlefied lines are blurring...
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Airport security meets science fiction
This CNet news post 'Airport security meets science fiction' looks at the latest technologies in airport security, such as:
'A passenger walks up and stands on a platform. That underlying platform emits a radio frequency signal into the traveler's shoes, checking for explosive molecules. The passenger also presses a button in front of him, which takes a sample of finger oil and analyzes it for bomb residues within seconds. An iris and fingerprint scanner verifies the person's identity.
Tying all these sensors and X-rays together is a communication protocol GE hopes to establish as a standard in airport security.
GE created an algorithm called Detection Systems Fusion Protocol (DSFP), which calculates the probability of threat detection. The system would show a "threat probability meter," which estimates the likelihood of a threat or false positive for security officials.'
Enhanced movement and mobility with greater security efficiency - looks like the plan.
'A passenger walks up and stands on a platform. That underlying platform emits a radio frequency signal into the traveler's shoes, checking for explosive molecules. The passenger also presses a button in front of him, which takes a sample of finger oil and analyzes it for bomb residues within seconds. An iris and fingerprint scanner verifies the person's identity.
Tying all these sensors and X-rays together is a communication protocol GE hopes to establish as a standard in airport security.
GE created an algorithm called Detection Systems Fusion Protocol (DSFP), which calculates the probability of threat detection. The system would show a "threat probability meter," which estimates the likelihood of a threat or false positive for security officials.'
Enhanced movement and mobility with greater security efficiency - looks like the plan.
In 2026 You'll Own a Car That Can't Crash
Popular Science has an insightful article titled 'In 2026 You'll Own a Car That Can't Crash' that looks into the possibility of an accident-free future emerging in car transport through cutting-edge technologies:
'The key to the crash-free future is vehicle-to-vehicle communication, or V2V. Some advances that would make V2V possible are already on the way. Increasingly sophisticated GPS will soon allow you to pinpoint your vehicle’s precise location at any given moment, and stability-control systems that track your car’s speed and direction are even now feeding such information to onboard computers. The primary remaining challenge is finding the means to communicate that data to cars in your projected path.
To encourage the development of V2V, the Federal Communications Commission has cleared the 5.9-gigahertz band for dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) among cars, other cars, and roadside transceivers. Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Laboratory—which helped build the autonomous VW Touareg that won last year’s Darpa Grand Challenge robotic race—recently fitted two Jettas and two Audi A3s with DSRC units and used V2V to successfully run them, platoon-style, through San Francisco. “The technology is doable right now,” says Carsten Bergmann, a VW lab manager.'
How far is V2V communication away from external communication to the vehicle - such as for the police to intervene if the car is stolen? I'm sure the technology already exists...
'The key to the crash-free future is vehicle-to-vehicle communication, or V2V. Some advances that would make V2V possible are already on the way. Increasingly sophisticated GPS will soon allow you to pinpoint your vehicle’s precise location at any given moment, and stability-control systems that track your car’s speed and direction are even now feeding such information to onboard computers. The primary remaining challenge is finding the means to communicate that data to cars in your projected path.
To encourage the development of V2V, the Federal Communications Commission has cleared the 5.9-gigahertz band for dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) among cars, other cars, and roadside transceivers. Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Laboratory—which helped build the autonomous VW Touareg that won last year’s Darpa Grand Challenge robotic race—recently fitted two Jettas and two Audi A3s with DSRC units and used V2V to successfully run them, platoon-style, through San Francisco. “The technology is doable right now,” says Carsten Bergmann, a VW lab manager.'
How far is V2V communication away from external communication to the vehicle - such as for the police to intervene if the car is stolen? I'm sure the technology already exists...
Impossibly Futuristic Cars from the Tokyo Motor Show
Some very far out designs here... yet alot of emphasis upon hybrid fuels at last year's Tokyo motor show. Here is a link to a web exclusive pictures via Popular Science.
Be warned about the one with a glove compartment to keep the dog in!
Be warned about the one with a glove compartment to keep the dog in!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
More smart 'auto' mobilities
In this CNet article it discusses how the car of the future may 'sport a fuel gauge savvy enough to tell the driver when and where it will run out of petrol, and it could recommend a nearby station for filling up. A new software development framework from start-up Encirq is helping software engineers create new applications that bring together data flowing from several sensors within a consumer device.'
I wonder if it could also lower the price of oil?
I wonder if it could also lower the price of oil?
Intelligent traffic signals
The Times reports in 'The intelligent traffic signals that could save scores of lives' how thousands of deaths (they claim) could be prevented each year by a new type of traffic light - these lights will be able to detects when a vehicle is about to ignore a red signal and so responds by delaying showing green to drivers on opposing roads. Smart indeed. The article continues by saying:
'The new technology will also reduce delays by calculating how much traffic is building up on each road and automatically adjusting the timings of the green phases accordingly.
It gives warning, however, that there would have to be strict controls to prevent drivers abusing the system. Cameras would have to be installed alongside the new lights to catch motorists who knew that other vehicles would have to wait if they jumped a red signal.
The report also proposes using the technology to shorten the time lapse between lights turning red in one direction and turning green in another. The lights would detect when all vehicles were braking sufficiently to stop in time and instantly would give a green light to opposing traffic.'
Shame we can't have smarter drivers?
'The new technology will also reduce delays by calculating how much traffic is building up on each road and automatically adjusting the timings of the green phases accordingly.
It gives warning, however, that there would have to be strict controls to prevent drivers abusing the system. Cameras would have to be installed alongside the new lights to catch motorists who knew that other vehicles would have to wait if they jumped a red signal.
The report also proposes using the technology to shorten the time lapse between lights turning red in one direction and turning green in another. The lights would detect when all vehicles were braking sufficiently to stop in time and instantly would give a green light to opposing traffic.'
Shame we can't have smarter drivers?
New Institute launched in Leicester
It seems that the city of my birth has just got a little more interesting! De Montfort University (DMU) in Leicester has just launched a new institute called 'The Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT)'. The institute was launched on September 20th with a speach by Internet guru Howard Rheingold. This new institute seeks to pioneer a unique model of collaborative research in creative technologies. From the press release:
'The Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT) at DMU, headed by Professor Andrew Hugill, will act as a catalyst for research that defies the traditional boundaries of computer science, the digital arts and humanities, and is already exciting the interest of the business world.
The Institute’s work will benefit the creative industries - one of the most important sectors in the UK and the East Midlands’ economy - and it has attracted the support of Microsoft, the Leicester–based MD of ideas company Sleepy Dog, Toby Moores, renowned computer scientist Steve Grand OBE, of Cyberlife Research Ltd, and the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), as well as award-winning authors and artists.
It will develop research projects, showcase work, present lectures and seminars, and open for visitor days. Guests will be greeted by cutting-edge technology including acoustic installations, ground-breaking holography, and roaming colonies of robot creatures, including ants and dogs.
Jerry Fishenden, Microsoft’s National Technology Officer, says the IOCT will undertake some of the most exciting work he’s aware of in the UK.'
Sounds like interesting work will be done here...
Thanks to Paul B. Hartzog for pointing this out!
'The Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT) at DMU, headed by Professor Andrew Hugill, will act as a catalyst for research that defies the traditional boundaries of computer science, the digital arts and humanities, and is already exciting the interest of the business world.
The Institute’s work will benefit the creative industries - one of the most important sectors in the UK and the East Midlands’ economy - and it has attracted the support of Microsoft, the Leicester–based MD of ideas company Sleepy Dog, Toby Moores, renowned computer scientist Steve Grand OBE, of Cyberlife Research Ltd, and the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), as well as award-winning authors and artists.
It will develop research projects, showcase work, present lectures and seminars, and open for visitor days. Guests will be greeted by cutting-edge technology including acoustic installations, ground-breaking holography, and roaming colonies of robot creatures, including ants and dogs.
Jerry Fishenden, Microsoft’s National Technology Officer, says the IOCT will undertake some of the most exciting work he’s aware of in the UK.'
Sounds like interesting work will be done here...
Thanks to Paul B. Hartzog for pointing this out!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Britain's first 'talking' CCTV cameras
The Daily Mail has posted about Britain's first 'talking' CCTV cameras in 'Big Brother is shouting at you' where they write that:
'Big Brother is not only watching you - now he's barking orders too. Britain's first 'talking' CCTV cameras have arrived, publicly berating bad behaviour and shaming offenders into acting more responsibly.
The system allows control room operators who spot any anti-social acts - from dropping litter to late-night brawls - to send out a verbal warning: 'We are watching you'.
Middlesbrough has fitted loudspeakers on seven of its 158 cameras in an experiment already being hailed as a success. Jack Bonner, who manages the system, said: 'It is one hell of a deterrent. It's one thing to know that there are CCTV cameras about, but it's quite another when they loudly point out what you have just done wrong.
'Most people are so ashamed and embarrassed at being caught they quickly slink off without further trouble.'
Well... what's next: our TV's berating us for lewd in-house performances??
Cartography Updates
Cartography has posted on these new sites:
'Two new cartography /geospatial sites now grace the Internet: Cartography Online and Free GIS Data GeoBlog.
Cartography Online intends to provide news, forums and links to the cartography community. The offerings are currently sparse (since it is new) and it seems to provide some competition for existing sites (e.g. CartoTalk in particular and other news-focused geo-spatial sites). No advertsiements here (yet).
Free GIS Data GeoBlog is a blog but utilizes Blogger’s new labels (tags - something I have yet to do) to categorize geospatial data sources by geographic area. A number of data sources are already listed, most of them American. Glenn of GISUser has initiated this effort.
Thanks to Cartography
'Two new cartography /geospatial sites now grace the Internet: Cartography Online and Free GIS Data GeoBlog.
Cartography Online intends to provide news, forums and links to the cartography community. The offerings are currently sparse (since it is new) and it seems to provide some competition for existing sites (e.g. CartoTalk in particular and other news-focused geo-spatial sites). No advertsiements here (yet).
Free GIS Data GeoBlog is a blog but utilizes Blogger’s new labels (tags - something I have yet to do) to categorize geospatial data sources by geographic area. A number of data sources are already listed, most of them American. Glenn of GISUser has initiated this effort.
Thanks to Cartography
Youngsters 'reliant on mobiles'
A BBCOnline post titled 'Youngsters 'reliant on mobiles'' suggests that more than nine out of 10 12-year-olds in the UK now have a mobile phone:
'Almost 80% of the young people who took part in the research said they felt safer having a mobile and that they had a better social life as a result.
On average, they send or receive up to 10 text messages a day - three times more than their parents. The Mobile Life Survey, commissioned by Carphone Warehouse, quizzed 1,250 people aged 11 to 17.
Three-quarters of youngsters have had their phone bought for them by their parents, while half have their calls paid for by their parents.
The survey found that most parents (71%) believed mobiles were a useful way to keep track of their offspring.'
A very useful way indeed of tracking 'offspring', as they put it...
'Almost 80% of the young people who took part in the research said they felt safer having a mobile and that they had a better social life as a result.
On average, they send or receive up to 10 text messages a day - three times more than their parents. The Mobile Life Survey, commissioned by Carphone Warehouse, quizzed 1,250 people aged 11 to 17.
Three-quarters of youngsters have had their phone bought for them by their parents, while half have their calls paid for by their parents.
The survey found that most parents (71%) believed mobiles were a useful way to keep track of their offspring.'
A very useful way indeed of tracking 'offspring', as they put it...
More fuel car debates
A post titled 'H2, Oh? The Electric Car May Yet Be Fueled by Hydrogen' has some good info on the hydrogen car debate - with links to follow-up the issue.
Via Worldchanging
Via Worldchanging
a Philosophical Formula for the Urge to Drive
Alan Durning of the Sightline Institute has been struggling with the issue of living a year-long car-free experiment with his family:
'Durning's most recent installment in his chronicle of carlessness expounds upon this paradox. He breaks down our illogical driving decisions like a skilled philosopher:
[W]hen you have a car at your disposal, driving it is your reflexive response to most mobility needs. And I mean this in a specific, cognitive sense. I mean that when a need that involves distance or travel comes up, you immediately think of driving the car and your brain avoids thinking about alternatives.
This may sound like a stretch. Surely, it’s a matter of convenience, not cognition. Surely, it’s an intuitive economic calculation: a weighing of costs...What if it’s not?'
A shift to car-free living seems to require some deep philosophical sessions...
Read more at 'TravelSmart and a Philosophical Formula for the Urge to Drive'
'Durning's most recent installment in his chronicle of carlessness expounds upon this paradox. He breaks down our illogical driving decisions like a skilled philosopher:
[W]hen you have a car at your disposal, driving it is your reflexive response to most mobility needs. And I mean this in a specific, cognitive sense. I mean that when a need that involves distance or travel comes up, you immediately think of driving the car and your brain avoids thinking about alternatives.
This may sound like a stretch. Surely, it’s a matter of convenience, not cognition. Surely, it’s an intuitive economic calculation: a weighing of costs...What if it’s not?'
A shift to car-free living seems to require some deep philosophical sessions...
Read more at 'TravelSmart and a Philosophical Formula for the Urge to Drive'
Digital Planet September 18 2006
On this week's Digital Planet:
'the latest hacker trend = SmiShing? Gareth Mitchell finds out more about the appearance of phishing via SMS and how to protect yourself if you receive a bogus text. Also on the show a new fuel cell that's being used in developing countries to power laptops and the latest in AI. Jon Stewart reports on this year's Loebner Prize; the annual artificial intelligence competition for the most human like, thinking computer.'
Download here
'the latest hacker trend = SmiShing? Gareth Mitchell finds out more about the appearance of phishing via SMS and how to protect yourself if you receive a bogus text. Also on the show a new fuel cell that's being used in developing countries to power laptops and the latest in AI. Jon Stewart reports on this year's Loebner Prize; the annual artificial intelligence competition for the most human like, thinking computer.'
Download here
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