Hi Tech & Innovation news

Consumer & Gadgets

Ultrasound and AI turn off-the-shelf smartwatch into full-body tracker without cameras

For the first time, researchers can track the movement of a person's entire body with ultrasonic sound waves, using just an off-the-shelf smartwatch and a lightweight artificial intelligence model—all while ensuring privacy ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

Engineers challenge 90-year limitation in digital audio sensing

What does a faint heartbeat have in common with a thunderous concert? Both present a challenge for digital technology: capturing the quietest details without losing the loudest sounds.

Robotics

Extra robotic thumb lets wearers complete two-handed tasks with one hand

To complete many everyday tasks and chores, humans typically use both of their hands. For instance, when opening a bottle, they use one hand to hold the bottle and the other to twist its cap. Researchers at the University ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Radar wristband turns your arm into a smartwatch trackpad

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed technology that turns a smartwatch user's forearm into a trackpad, allowing the user to scroll, zoom, click on icons and so on. The system relies on a radar system ...

Robotics

China touts tech, AI cred at world Web Summit

China is flexing its technological muscles at the global Web Summit in Lisbon starting Tuesday, showcasing dancing robots and low-cost artificial intelligence models as Beijing weathers claims that it spied on the AI chip ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Directional VR passwords improve recall with a sense of place

Researchers have demonstrated a new password authentication technique for use in virtual reality (VR) settings, which allows users to choose directions rather than numbers. The approach supports the same number of possible ...

Robotics

Advanced coating can alter a drone's radar signature

Drones have become a crucial element in modern security and defense. The ability to manipulate the signals reflected from drones—so that, for example, it is possible to fly close to a radar without being detected—is therefore ...

Energy & Green Tech

Engineers adapt laser physics trick to deliver heat on demand

When a process needs a burst of heat, a steady supply may not be enough. Storing thermal energy and delivering it quickly are challenges for applications such as sterilization, cleaning or starting up distillation systems. ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

AI helps find better recipes for 3D-printing titanium parts

Engineers can 3D-print high-performance titanium parts for aircraft, medical implants and advanced machinery, but finding the right printing settings can still require costly and time-consuming trial and error. A new study ...

Energy & Green Tech

Rechargeable battery prototype runs on vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is essential for the body's proper functioning and is found in foods of animal origin. It is produced by certain bacteria that, in addition to being found in nature, are cultivated at industrial facilities for ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Researchers teach football to AI models

The NFL has given Carnegie Mellon University researchers access to official film and on-field data to develop new technologies that can enhance the way coaches, players and fans annotate, analyze and understand games.

Energy & Green Tech

Hybrid film boosts energy harvesting from motion by up to 450%

A new study led by (PI) Professor M. Jasim Uddin, Ph.D., Professor of Mechanical Engineering at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, has been published in ACS Omega, advancing the frontier of sustainable, self-powered technologies.

Energy & Green Tech

Concrete 'battery' now packs 10 times the power

Concrete already builds our world, and now it's one step closer to powering it, too. Made by combining cement, water, ultra-fine carbon black (with nanoscale particles), and electrolytes, electron-conducting carbon concrete ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

Tiny explosions and soft materials make onscreen braille more robust

From texting on a smart phone to ordering train tickets at a kiosk, touch screens are ubiquitous and, in most cases, relatively reliable. But for people who are blind or visually impaired and use electronic braille devices, ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

AI-generated voices now indistinguishable from real human voices

Many people still think of AI-generated speech as sounding "fake" or unconvincing and easily told apart from human voices. But new research from Queen Mary University of London shows that AI voice technology has now reached ...