Awesome Future Tech

A volumetric display is one that can create the illusion of 3D images without glasses or a headset. Developed at UPNA LAB in Spain, FlexiVol is an innovative volumetric display which allows users to interact directly with images. The display projects images on oscillating elastic diffuser bands and detects gestures to manipulate digital objects in 3D space.

Engineers from Apple Computer created an experimental robot that looks like a desk lamp but can interact with people and its environment in playful ways. Clearly inspired by Pixar’s classic Luxo Jr., the upgraded Anglepoise lamp uses AI tech to aim its beam at a subject and even nudge around small objects. Read the original research paper on Arxiv.

One of the challenges of VR gaming is the lack of freedom to walk around without running into walls. Freeaim hopes to change that with these motorized shoes, which let you walk in a small area while providing the sensation of covering large distances. They offer three movement modes and are sort of like a wearable version of Disney’s Holotile floor.

CGI technology keeps getting more impressive. But it still takes a lot of time and effort to create photorealistic environments. Wren from Corridor Crew introduces us to a tech called Neural Radiance Fields, aka NeRFs, which can produce a texture-mapped 3D environment with realistic lighting from 2D photographs.

Engineers from MIT have developed an incredibly thin and lightweight speaker that flexes like a sheet of paper. The piezoelectric speaker’s volume increases when it comes into contact with other surfaces, so theoretically, it could be used to turn entire walls into immersive, room-size loudspeakers.

New Zealand tech startup Eight360 has created a motion simulator that looks like something out of Jurassic World or Oblivion. The sphere can rotate untethered in any direction, meaning its occupant can tumble, roll, and spin. Its movements are synced with a VR headset, so motion sickness isn’t as likely as stationary VR.

With the increased need for video calls these days, those with low-bandwidth connections may experience poor video quality. This tech being developed at NVIDIA dramatically reduces bandwidth needs by sending a fixed image, then using an AI-controlled avatar to track and replicate their facial movements in real-time.

Google’s AI is getting really, really real. Check out this clip from Google I/O ’18 where CEO Sundar Pichai shows off Google Assistant’s future Duplex capability – which can actually call and make an appointment on your behalf, complete with human conversational skills.

A prototype smartphone developed by Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab with a bendable OLED screen that not only looks cool, but uses the screen’s flexibility and haptic feedback to create new ways of interacting with content – like flipping through the pages of digital books.