Wearable augmented reality platforms like Google Glass are some of the most hotly anticipated new types of technology, but developers have only just begun to explore what they’re capable of. German start-up company Metaio wants to use your wearable AR gear to turn the entire world into your own personal touchscreen.

Metaio’s technology is called Thermal Touch, and it works by reading the heat signatures left by your fingers on real-world surfaces. The current prototype uses a standard camera coupled with an infrared camera to interact with the real world. When you touch a surface, Thermal Touch brings up context-sensitive functions with which you can interact as if they were physical objects.

Some of the applications suggested by Metaio are pointing at a map to get directions; touching a car part to get information on its repair status; touching objects in a catalog to order them; or children touching their toys to bring up novel augmented reality functions.Thermal Touch can even differentiate between a finger hovering over an object and touching it since the heat signature between the two gestures is very different.

If the technology seems too good to be true, it is – for now, anyway. Metaio recognizes the fact that there is a lot more research and work to be done in the field before technology like Thermal Touch can be widely used. The company says that infrared cameras and other sensors necessary for this technology to work seamlessly, reliably, and on a large scale will most likely be integrated in devices within the next five to ten years.

The post Augmented Reality Tech Makes the World Your Touchscreen first appeared on Gajitz.

Are you powered almost entirely by coffee? The Muki mug from coffee roasters Paulig and advertising firm TBWA/Helsinki knows just how you feel. This unique mug displays images on an e-ink display using just the power of your hot beverage. The Muki has an associated smartphone app which lets users upload their pictures which will be displayed every time the mug is filled.

Every time you fill the Muki with coffee (or any other hot liquid, though Paulig would obviously prefer you use their coffee) a new image appears on the mug’s display. The heat from the coffee creates enough energy to activate the low-power e-ink display. The electronics are in the mug’s base, which makes us think that warming your coffee in the microwave or throwing the mug in the dishwasher probably wouldn’t be advisable.

The image on the mug isn’t photo-realistic, but it is attractively stylized. The best thing about it, however, is the fact that the picture is different every time you get a new cup of coffee. As a marketing device it’s completely brilliant because coffee drinkers will likely go for more refills to see which pic pops up next.

The post Coffee as Art: Mug Uses Beverage Heat to Display Pics first appeared on Gajitz.

The Internet of Things creeps a little more into the mainstream every day. Now, a printed electronic sensor could add your supermarket meat to that meatspace network. An American company called Thinfilm Electronics has developed a stand-alone temperature tracking label that will stick onto perishable products. The sensor takes the guesswork out of dealing with temperature-sensitive products by indicating if the products have ever been exposed to temperatures outside of the safe range.

The sensors, when attached to pharmaceutical packages or perishable food, would prevent unnecessary waste and ease the minds of consumers who might wonder if that chicken was ever left in a hot truck for a few hours on the way to the store. Printing electronics in a low-voltage, battery-powered label format has plenty more uses than just monitoring temperatures. These stand-alone data trackers can give us a whole new insight into the hidden lives of everyday objects.

The post Electronic Labels Tell if Perishable Items are Still Safe first appeared on Gajitz.

There is a special kind of person who wants to know what the inside and outside temperatures are at all times, every day – we call them weather nerds. Weather nerds tend to come with a lot of unstylish equipment like weather stations and air thermometers which can really mess up a carefully decorated home. These paper thermometers, known simply as Leaf, could help weather nerds and their style-conscious cohabitants get along a bit better.

The super-thin Leaf thermometers are temperature sensitive paper shaped like leaves. When the temperature is between 68 and 77 degrees F, the leaves stay green. When it gets hotter, the leaves turn yellow; colder, and they turn brown. Although the leaves won’t give a precise temperature readout, they do give an approximation of the interior temperature. That might be enough to satisfy those folks who have a burning need to know what’s going on with the weather, even inside the house.

The post Leaf it to This Temp-Sensitive Paper to Tell the Weather first appeared on Gajitz.