Archives for September 2007

Michelin have created some self regenerating tires which can go even longer then your long life ones. These new tires named the XDA5 feature 2 layers of traction. When the first layer wares out it reveals the second layer of tire. By doing this the tire can travel 30% further then before. Not only has the extra rubber been added, but also a new pattern which allows for better wear and tear by minimising wear patterns. A mixture of all this adds to a safer, longer and more stable tire. These tires are not available for your car though as they are for Class 8 rigs only. It would be cool to see this kind of idea make it to regular cars and no doubt in the future we will see tires increase in performance.

Via: Inventorspot

What you see above is a multi touch pad built from a plastic bag, dyed water and a camera. The camera looks up from below and the image it sees it converted in to three areas through threshold. Light blue represents the background with dark blue being the fingers which are seen as an overlay on the screen. Pressure points are seen as another colour and when the pressure points show up they are recognised and translated accordingly. More technical details can be found at 37Signals linked after the video demonstration below. On to the practical side of this… I doubt anyone would want to carry a plastic bag of blue dye around with them, but its still cool and well worth checking out.

Via: 37Signals

Biometrics are very handy as they allow secure access to places by fingerprint, eye scans and other various parts of your body. As long as you do not loose your fingers with this lock then you can get in and out when ever you want. It would seem a little weird swiping your finger over the sensor on your front door. With it being programmable you can deny access to who ever you want while permitting access to all of your family.

Via: ChilliTechnology

Halo 3 was finally launched yesterday, but unfortunately a lot of end users ended up getting a scratched disc like the one above. Microsoft have been good about it and will obviously be replacing any damaged discs, but it will take about 2 weeks to get the new copy back. This is effecting the limited edition versions.

Via: Fosfor