A Computer that can read letters directly from your Brain..!!

The amazing drastic changes in the 20th century have took all of us into a real shock!!!The things that can't be dreamt of even are happening in real...
Functional MRI Scanners have been used in research to determine the active areas of brain.Test subject looked inside the brain and performed the task of receiving letters from the brain.The question was- Is a particular brain region on or off??The research group used data from the scanner to find out what a test subject is looking at.The Researchers 'taught'  a model how small volumes of 2*2*2 brain scans- known as voxels- respond to individual pixels.

The model was given prior knowledge about how each letter looked like.This improved the recognizing ability of the letters enormously.
The approach is similar to what we believe happens when we perceive our surroundings.The brain combines the prior knowledge with the sensory signals.For example: we can recognize lines or curves of a letter after we have learned to read.And this is what exactly the research group is looking for- models that show what all is going on in the brain.The hope is to improve the model to such an extent that they can be applied to working memory or experiences such as dreams.
In the further research they will be working on more powerful scanners.
             Also a recent experiment in Japan shows that the brain scans can predict what you're dreaming about.The researchers have developed a brain decoding technique that can predict dreams up to 60% accuracy.
Let's wait and watch!!!!

The Google Contact Lens

Now this is something very interesting and new by Google - a contact lens which can measure sugar level in your tears. Amazing , isn't it?

This is smart project announced by Google on 16th Jan '14. It is basically being made to help people having diabetes. The lens has 2 parts - a wireless chip and a glucose sensor. There is a tiny hole in the lens which helps the tears to reach the sensor. The sensor then measures the glucose level. There is a proposal that LED lights will be added to the lens so that they can light up and warn the user whenever the sugar level is high. The project is being carried out by Google's secret lab , Google X.

The credit for creation of such an amazing product goes to Brian Otis and Babak Parviz who were a part of the Electrical Engineering faculty at the University Of Washington. Currently, research is going on and a lot of work has to done in this field, and it would take another five years for this product to become fully fledged. Google is looking for partners, who would help in developing this technology and soon aims at providing measurements of the lenses to the doctors.

Endocrinologist Dr. Larry Levin gave his remarks on the product. He is happy to see that Google has entered into the medical field. This technique would be less painful and less time consuming than the traditional finger pricking method. It would prove to be a major revolution in medical science. Hoping to see this techno-product in market soon.

Microsoft is developing touchscreen technology that will be able to provide different sensations based on what you're tapping.!!

According to the senior researcher and research manager of Human Computer Interaction Group at Microsoft Research Asia, says that the way we interact with smartphones and tablets today is flawed. She believes we shouldn't be limited to tapping and sliding our fingers across a glass screen - so she's working to change that.
       Microsoft is developing touchscreen technology for mobile devices that will be able to provide different sensations based on what we are tapping. So,for example,say if we are typing on a touchscreen keyboard,we would feel a sensation similar to pressing a key. Isn't it shocking!!! It would be like if we are tapping an on-screen button, we would feel something similar to a mouse click. We would be able to sense the weight of a folder when dragging and dropping a group of files.

       Researchers at Microsoft are currently investigating a range of different tactile feedback sensations that involve both hardware and software. Microsoft is using a few different methods to achieve these effects. First approach is putting a layer of material under the glass that would bend under electronic voltage.This would enable the glass to bend slightly with each touch. Another approach uses a system called electrovibration , which alternates the voltage applied to the glass surface.
        Microsoft isn't the only company working on this type of technology.Startup Tactus recently announced its iPad that can generate physical key sensation. This would change the friction between our finger tip and the glass, creating sticky and smooth sensations.
             It doesn't seem we are gonna see this idea implemented anytime soon but companies are definitely are putting lot of efforts in making smartphones as our primary computers,

Samsung Galaxy Star Advance To Be Launched With Android KitKat at Rs. 7,299

Samsung will soon launch another budget KitKat smartphone - the Galaxy Star Advance(SM-G350E) – according to a retailer from Mumbai.The official announcement is yet to be made. The estimated launch price is being said to be Rs. 7,299.

The new specifications include a 4.3-inch WVGA (480x800 pixels) TFT display; 1.2GHz dual-core processor; dual-SIM support; 1.2GHz processor ; 512MB of RAM; 3-megapixel camera with LED flash; 1800mAh battery, and 4GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded further up to 32GB (via microSD card). Further, the smartphone is said to come with 3G support and will run Android KitKat with the company's TouchWiz UI on top.


Some of the other features include ChatOn, video recording, Google Talk, Google Maps, Samsung Apps and FM radio recorder.

                                                                      Source: gallery.gizbot.com
Comparison:
                                       Galaxy Star                      Galaxy Star Advance


Resolution                      320 x 240 (QVGA)              480 x 800 pixels (WVGA)
Android                         Jellybean                            KitKat
Camera                         2-megapixel                       3-megapixel
Flash                             NO                                     LED Flash
Connectivity                  2G                                     3G