Artificial muscles – materials that act like natural muscles by contracting, expanding, and rotating – have always been plagued with limitations. Super-strong materials were too expensive, while inexpensive materials displayed low efficiency. Now it seems that an effective answer has been right in front of scientists, fishermen, and crafters this whole time: plastic fishing line and sewing thread.

A materials science research group at the University of Texas at Dallas began experimenting with these mundane material, twisting a plastic fiber under high tension until it was unable to twist any further. At that point, the material began to form a tight coil. When the plastic can’t coil any further, the coil is locked into place.

At this point, the coil can be considered an artificial muscle. When heat is applied, the molecules in the plastic coil contract and shorten with a surprising amount of power: more than 100 times that of biological human muscles of the same length and weight. The muscle is said to be more energy dense than jet engines. Moreover, the synthetic muscle is extremely durable and very inexpensive.

The process is simple and the materials are easy enough for anyone to obtain, but don’t dismiss this as merely a future high school science experiment. The applications of the synthetic muscle are varied and plentiful; they could be used in everything from robotics to textiles to ventilation systems. The only problem is that the artificial muscle is, at this point, still inefficient – but researchers are already working on improving this incredible, inexpensive technology.

The post Fishing Line Muscle is 100X Stronger Than Human Muscle first appeared on Gajitz.

The old, low-tech way of judging consumers’ interest in products was to put them in a focus group and ask them questions. However, some studies on the focus group method have uncovered a rather inconvenient fact: focus group participants often try to please the testers by saying what they think the testers want to hear. So how do you measure interest without asking for opinions? Some companies are relying on three-dimensional computer simulations of virtual stores full of virtual products, then tracking where consumers’ eyes are drawn.

Using special computer hardware and software that tracks a virtual shopper’s gaze, companies can create a sort of heat map indicating where the eyes were drawn and how long the gaze was held at each point. Some systems even use devices that measure involuntary facial expressions to gauge true emotional response to whatever the subject is looking at. The result of all of this technology is that companies are able to test out different packaging, logos, product placement and other important aspects of retail without wasting millions on prototypes and ineffectual focus groups.

The post The Eyes Have It: Marketing Tech Parses Gazes for Info first appeared on Gajitz.

Although some of us like to think of the bathroom as a technology-free oasis where TVs, smartphones and computers are banned, there are probably even more of us who happily play away on our iPads while sitting on the throne. The New York Times’ research and development lab is developing a Kinect-enabled “magic mirror” that would bring you all kinds of news and weather and, oh yeah, some ads, too – all while you’re conducting business in the loo.

While to some this might seem like an invasion of privacy, we can actually see some positive points here. Imagine getting all of the morning news while you’re shaving your face or styling your hair without cluttering up your tiny bathroom with a TV. The gadget would see what you’re wearing and make suggestions on accessories or additions – a welcome feature for people with no natural fashion sense. You could even use the mirror to exchange messages with other people in the house or leave notes for yourself.

The scary part of the mirror comes from its ability to recognize movements and objects in your home. In the video above, the mirror recognized that the user was holding a box of Claritin and brought up instructions on using the medication. Depending on how the information was used, this could be a pretty sketchy feature. Still, there are always ways to exploit technology – and this particular gadget is far from becoming a household item just yet.

The post Reflecting on the Future of Interactive Bathroom Technology first appeared on Gajitz.