[…] At the moment, robots are sometimes coated in silicone rubber to give them a fleshy appearance, but the rubber lacks the texture of human skin, he says. To make more realistic-looking skin, Takeuchi and his colleagues bathed a plastic robot finger in a soup of collagen and human skin cells called fibroblasts for three Read more about Scientists covered a robot finger in living human skin[…]

Over the last day or two, there have been a growing number of reports by people who own certain Canon Pixma printers that the devices either won’t turn on at all or, once turned on, get stuck in a reboot loop, cycling on and off as long as they’re plugged in. Verge reader Jamie pointed Read more about Some of Canon’s wireless Pixma printers are stuck in reboot loops[…]

Water scarcity is a major problem for much of the world’s population, but with the right equipment drinking water can be wrung out of thin air. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have now demonstrated a low-cost gel film that can pull many liters of water per day out of even very dry Read more about Cheap gel film pulls buckets of drinking water per day from thin air[…]

Without adding any hardware that actually makes contact with the wearer’s face, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interfaces Group have modified an off-the-shelf virtual reality headset so that it recreates the sensation of touch in and around a user’s mouth, finally fulfilling virtual reality’s inevitable one true purpose. Aside from handheld controllers that occasionally Read more about VR Researches Simulate Kisses With Ultrasonic Transducers[…]

[…] MIT have developed a paper-thin speaker that can be applied to almost any surface like wallpaper, turning objects like walls into giant noise-cancelling speakers. […] Researchers at MIT’s Organic and Nanostructured Electronics Laboratory have created a new kind of thin-film speaker that’s as thin and flexible as a sheet of paper, but is also Read more about MIT Invents Ultra-Thin Speakers For Wall Mounting (can also noise cancel)[…]

Addressable LED strings have made it easier than ever to build fun glowable projects with all kinds of exciting animations. However, if you’re not going with a simple grid layout, it can be a little difficult to map your strings out in code. Fear not, for [Jason Coon] has provided a tool to help out Read more about Finally, A Mapping Tool For Addressable LED Strings[…]

Long sought-after, and previously thought impossible — a McMaster University PhD student in Hamilton Canada demonstrates a cost-effective and simple laser in silicon. This could have dramatic consequences for the SiP (Silicon Photonics) — a hot topic for those working in the field of integrated optics. Integrated optics is a critical technology involved in advanced Read more about BreakthroughCreates Laser In Silicon[…]

Apple, having long stood in the way of customers who want to fix their own devices, now says it wants to help those who feel they have the right to repair their own products. On Wednesday the iBiz announced Self Service Repair, “which will allow customers who are comfortable with completing their own repairs access Read more about Apple magnanimously launches Self Service Repair for DIY iPhone, Mac fixes[…]

Throughout history, people have devised ways to send information across long distances. For centuries we relied on smoke signals, semaphores, and similar physical devices. Electricity changed everything. First the telegraph and then radio transformed communications. Now researchers at the University of Lancaster have demonstrated another way to send wireless data without using electromagnetic radiation. They’ve Read more about Forget Radio! Transmitting With Neutrons[…]

Controlling your computer with a wave of the hand seems like something from science fiction, and for good reason. From Minority Report to Iron Man, we’ve seen plenty of famous actors controlling their high-tech computer systems by wildly gesticulating in the air. Meanwhile, we’re all stuck using keyboards and mice like a bunch of chumps. Read more about Low-Cost DIY Computer Gesture Control With An I2C Sensor[…]

Ultraleap’s fifth-generation hand tracking platform, known as Gemini, is fully available on Windows. The most robust, flexible hand tracking ever, it’s already powering amazing experiences from Varjo, been integrated into Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 platform, and is bringing touchless technology to self-service solutions around the world.  The Gemini Windows release is the first step in making the world’s best hand tracking easier to access and more flexible for multiple platforms, camera systems and Read more about Ultraleap launches its 5th Gen hand tracking platform Gemini[…]

The OAK-D is an open-source, full-color depth sensing camera with embedded AI capabilities, and there is now a crowdfunding campaign for a newer, lighter version called the OAK-D Lite. The new model does everything the previous one could do, combining machine vision with stereo depth sensing and an ability to run highly complex image processing Read more about OAK-D Depth Sensing AI Camera Gets Smaller And Lighter[…]

With the addition of features like a 120Hz display on some models, Apple’s iPhone 13 lineup is many ways a step above the phones the company shipped last year. But when it comes to the question of repairability, the story is more complicated. Conducting a teardown of the device, iFixit found it couldn’t get the Read more about Face ID on the iPhone 13 stops working if a third-party replaces the phone’s display[…]

Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) imaging and tracking is an emerging technology that allows the shape or position of objects around corners or behind diffusers to be recovered from transient, time-of-flight measurements. However, existing NLOS approaches require the imaging system to scan a large area on a visible surface, where the indirect light paths of hidden objects are Read more about Seeing what’s in a room by pointing a laser through a keyhole[…]

In a joint project with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the school designed a neuroprosthetic that costs about $500 in components. It’s an inflatable hand made from an elastomer called EcoFlex and looks a bit like Baymax from Big Hero 6. The device foregoes electric motors in favor of a pneumatic system that inflates and bends Read more about MIT developed a low-cost prosthetic hand that can help amputees feel again[…]

Until recently, there was only one smartphone on the market equipped with an under-screen camera: last year’s ZTE Axon 20 5G. Other players such as Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi had also been testing this futuristic tech, but given the subpar image quality back then, it’s no wonder that phone makers largely stuck with punch-hole cameras Read more about Oppo’s latest under-screen camera may finally be capable of good photos – I hate the notch![…]

iFixit co-founder and CEO Kyle Wiens has exposed how companies including Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft manipulate the design of their products and the supply chain to prevent consumers and third-party repairers from accessing necessary tools and parts to repair products such as smartphones and laptops. ZDNet Recommends The best old phones to buy Why last Read more about iFixit CEO names and shames tech giants for right to repair obstruction – not sustainable at all[…]

There’s a limit to what you can learn about cells from 2D pictures, but creating 3D images is a time-intensive process. Now, scientists from UT Southwestern have developed a new “simple and cost-effective” device capable of capturing multi-angle photos that can be retrofitted onto existing lab microscopes. The team say their solution — which involves Read more about Researchers retrofit microscopes to take 3D images of cells in real-time[…]

A British right to repair law comes into force today, requiring manufacturers to make spares available to both consumers and third-party repair companies. However, despite claiming to cover “televisions and other electronic displays,”‘ the law somehow excludes smartphones and laptops…   The European Union introduced a right to repair law back in March, and the Read more about British right to repair law excludes smartphones and computers[…]