Category: Gadgets

The AR technology converts former barriers within the vehicle into a view of the outside world.

Drivers that pay attention to the road, follow the rules, and take a great deal of care still have a major issue working against them, which is the blind spot caused by various parts of the vehicle, but now an augmented reality based technology has been designed to help to overcome that problem.

Blind spots are created by window frames, the roof, the floor, the doors, the hood, and the trunk.

However, when augmented reality is used to turn those blocked areas into displays of the real world that is immediately outside, it eliminates those blind spots and makes it appear as though the vehicle is invisible. The idea is that it can help a driver to be far more aware of his or her surroundings, making more informed decisions about road use – such as lane changes, and parking, for example.

This use of augmented reality technology for a “transparent cockpit” was created by Keio University researchers.

The team of researchers used retro-reflectors and projectors in order to be able to give the driver the feeling that he or she was operating a vehicle made of glass, despite the fact that it was actually still made of steel, which will provide the necessary protection on the road. In this way, the image of what is immediately outside a door, or other parts of the frame of the car, for instance, is projected onto that surface, revealing whatever is behind it.

A self-illuminated display could have been an option except that it would need to be built into virtually any interior component including directly onto the doors and seats. The primary challenge is in customizing the display in order to suit the various different shapes of car components. For this reason, the researchers opted to use a projector system. In this, the entire interior of the car would be covered in a material that could function as a screen, or could at least have screens placed over top if they were not permanently attached.

In order to overcome the drawbacks of a conventional projection system, a special projector system was selected for this augmented reality experience, making it possible to see the outdoor environment through the reflection of light directly back along the path that it had just taken. That way, the correct image and its position can be seen, aimed back at the observer, regardless of whether that person is the driver or a passenger.

Cleaning a smartphone or tablet isn’t a regular, common practice, but these gadgets are constantly touched.

Aside from the occasional wipe down with a tissue or with a shirt sleeve to take the spots and dust off the screen the majority of people don’t really think twice about giving a mobile device a good cleaning. Mobile Commerce Press recently conducted a study on this weird news,  revealing that smartphones are the surface that are considered to have the largest amount of bacteria.

However, new cleaners are making their way to the market and are pointing out that our smartphones aren’t clean.

Will the marketing from these products start a new trend toward cleaning various types of mobile device such as smartphones, tablets, MP3 players, wearable technology, and others? After all, these gadgets are used by touching them with our fingers, holding them in our hands, and pressing them to our ears and faces. These are the same devices that are dropped on the ground, left on restaurant tables, and set down just about anywhere else that they will fit.

While some people believe that there isn’t all that much of a risk presented by using a smartphone in the same way that we always have, without doing all that much to ensure that it has been cleaned and sterilized, others worry that people could be making themselves sick.

That said, is a quick wipe enough to keep a mobile device clean, or are specialty products really necessary?

Within the Mobile Commerce Press study, 70 percent of survey respondents said that a mobile phone has the most bacteria on it among all of the available options. Ten percent thought that the bathtub had the most bacteria, while 10 percent said that it was the toilet handle. Five percent though the fridge handle was the dirtiest, while 2.5 percent pointed to the bathroom door handle.

According to the marketing for a product called PhoneSoap, our cell phones and other gadgets are a lot dirtier than we think they are. In fact, they say that “1 in 6 cell phones have fecal matter on them!”, which is a thought that is more than a little bit upsetting. In fact, they quote a Fox News source, saying that the average cell phone has 18 times more bacteria on it than the typical public bathroom.

Mobile devices accumulate bacteria in many different ways, from hands and faces, to all the surfaces with which they come in contact. Moreover, according to PhoneSoap, they provide a bacteria breeding ground, implying that this could make users sick, promote acne on faces, and cause other potential issues.

However, as much as it is true that cleanliness is important, some people and groups also feel that requiring a UV emitting gadget to sterilize smartphones is not a necessity and that it is merely feeding a growing fear of bacteria that is becoming commonplace. In a society where antibacterial products such as hand sanitizers and antibacterial soaps are already being overused to the point that they are making bacteria resistant to antibiotic drugs, people are always looking for new ways to feel sure that there aren’t any microbes lurking on anything that they touch. This is leading to a rise in mysophobia, that is, an excessive fear of germs and contamination.