In a world already packed with devices that need to be recharged or plugin in, this wire-and-battery-free switch saves some trouble and turns the energy of the user’s own motion into its own unlimited power source.

Developed by Panosonic, the switch generates power through users and can trigger anything around you from lights and fans to computers and music players. Imagine walking into a room or sitting down at your desk and having your devices and lamps turn on around you all automatically.

Additional functions can be activated by physically tapping the switch but moving it is not essential – even ambient surrounding activity can charge the device, like opening doors or jostling surfaces. Easy setup and installation are possible thanks to the lack of wiring and while the device is a prototype it can presumably be programmed to various functions in time and on demand.

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From floating bonsai trees to levitating gadgets, hovering household items is all the rage, and now you can lift your smartphone with a similarly elevated form of design (and all while it charges!).

The OvRcharge floats your device using magnets, and has magnetic cases available for phones that would not float on their own devices.  As you phone charges, it hovers and spins slowly over the stand.

To be fair, this is absolutely a functionally useless gimmick, but you can’t have function without fun, so for fans of floating ‘stuff’ it can be a dynamic addition to your decor collection. The makers seem to have worked out both the wireless charging and magnetization issues.

“Wireless power transfer is around for years, wireless energy transmitted to  electrical load from a base or transmitter. Energy is sent through waves and on other end  an inductive coupling to electrical device, which can then use that energy to charge batteries or run the device. There are some drawbacks are in this technology like power loss and distance limitations but still that’s enough for the magic.”

“The two primary issues involved in magnetic levitation are lifting forces: providing an upward force sufficient to counteract gravity, and stability: ensuring that the system does not spontaneously slide or flip into a configuration where the lift is neutralized.” No smoke nor mirrors, just good old fashion wireless charging and magnets.

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Mind-controlled drones are no longer a thing of science fiction fantasies, now that real working prototypes can be steered with thoughts relayed via a skullcap wirelessly connected to a computer.

Brain activity is calibrated to the user and a series of over 100 electrodes interpret the data, turning it into a physical response, thanks to work done by Arizona State University researcher named Panagiotis Artemiadis (Human-Oriented Robotics and Control Lab director).

At the intersection of mechanical and aerospace engineering, his work on machine-brain interfaces has made it possible for minds to guide otherwise-unmanned aerial vehicles. And not just one drone: up to four can be moved around in a swarm, which makes it possible for this technology to enable even more complex navigation than a traditional joystick would permit.

Users imagine what they want the drones to do, and watch them perform on the monitor. The trick is that there may not be a single brain pattern that maps to one movement initially, but for any given user repetition calibrates the system anew. Operating multiple drones creates redundancy, too, allowing a swarm or fleet to carry out a mission even if one of its units fails.

One of the engineers on the project responded to a question about whether this is truly mind control: “The computer reads brain wave patterns. When the pilot wants to send the drones back and forth, the computer recognizes a certain set of brain wave patterns and – using Bluetooth – sends a wireless signal to the drones. So, yes, the brain actually controls the movement of the drones.”

The post Mind Control: Wireless Cap Lets Your Brain Fly Real Drones first appeared on Gajitz.

Putting sensors into brains is a difficult and dangerous process, in some cases requiring tethers to keep track of them or invasive surgery (with infection risk) to remove them, hence the development of this small dissolvable device to relay data then disappear when it is done.

The transient sensors can measure pressure, temperature, pH, motion, flow, and specific biomolecules, transmitting their results wirelessly back to doctors. Proposed and tested (so far in rats) by Rory Murphy of Washington University School of Medicine and John Rogers’ group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the system employs a biodegradable, silicon-based material that can be coated with materials that break down at different rates, allowing variable lifespans for sensors.

Currently, the devices can last for days in various biofluids, then dissolve harmlessly when the coatings wear through. Dissolvable molybdenum wires are used to make wireless transmission possible. Next steps include: optimization, further testing and ultimately clinical trials – the creators hope to have these in non-test humans within the next few years.

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Apple has filed for a patent on a deceptively simple looking design, a possible harbinger of a near-future Apple Ring that would respond to voice, gestures, touch and would interface with other devices wirelessly.

The device could be used to collect biometric data, giving users feedback about their health or exercise program and obviating the need to use smartphone, wristwatch or other larger wearables currently serving that function. It could even be used to track hand movements, transcribing note-writing actions into digital documents.

From the patent: “A user controls an external electronic device with a finger-ring-mounted touchscreen that includes a computer processor, wireless transceiver, and rechargeable power source. The ring is worn on a first finger receives an input from a second finger, selects one of a plurality of touch events associated with the input, and wirelessly transmits a command associated with the touch event to the external electronic device.”

While many concepts and lower-tech prototypes exist, this device clearly aims to become the defacto miniature in the wearables department, able to do more than most real or proposed devices of similar size and function. If realized, this would clearly be the one true ring to rule them all.

The post iRing Wearable: Apple Patents Tiny Touchscreen Smart Ring first appeared on Gajitz.