A gadgety life!

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Refrigerators, electric irons, washing machines - once luxury items, now as much a part of life as dal-chawal.

But human beings being the way they are, it's never enough. Its not enough to own a computer-what about one that can talk and think. If its cell phones, what about an in-built mechanism to prevent theft? Non-stick utensils are not enough; we want something that will ensure that food never gets burnt.

So while change and innovation remains the name of the game, we bring to you some of the exciting inventions that have come up recently.

 

[vengabeats]

Air Washing

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A truly futuristic design, an Airwash washing machine should hopefully be a common fixture in all homes by 2020. Designed by two industrial design students from the National University of Singapore, the Airwash Washing Machine won Electrolux's Design Lab Award.

Inspired by the waterfall, nature's negative ion generator, this washing machine does not use any water or detergent. It utilizes negative ions, compressed air and deodorants to clean clothes. The atmospheric air and negative ions - a natural cleansing agent - fight the dirt and bacteria. The machine can be placed anywhere at home and not necessarily in the laundry area.

Sigh! Do we really have to wait for 14 years to get our hands on this miracle washer?

 

[kartik]

So while change and innovation remains the name of the game, we bring to you some of the exciting inventions that have come up recently.

Where are the exciting things you are talking about ??

 

[vengabeats]

Robotic Cookware

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If you are into cooking, you must realise the agony of accidentally burning a dish. No matter how much you look over it, the dish ends up getting badly burnt and fit only for the dustbin.

Where non-stick pans helped cut down on the oil as well as all the scrapings, this new cookware brought out by Vita Care, will ensure that you can safely cook without any worry of burning it up. Each Robotic Cookware pan is fitted with a RFID computer chip that has been designed specifically for that pan. While cooking, the chip sends a signal to communicate with coordinated chips in the cooktop and special recipe cards that monitor each cooking step for a particular dish.

So when you are ready to cook a dish, just scan the recipe card under the pan handle where the chip is loaded. This done, the pan will communicate with the cooktop 16 times per second, while it is cooking, to ensure that the food does not get burnt.

The cooktop and the pans utilize the magnetic field interference between the two to generate and distribute heat. Thus only the pan heats up and not the cooktop and once the pan is removed from the cooktop, the energy transfer stops.

Though a perfect solution for amateur cooks, even the experienced can do with a helping hand. However, with the dishes limited to the recipes mentioned in the card, it really needs to expand if it has to fit into the multi-cuisine culture of India.

 

[vengabeats]

Talking, thinking computer

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First we had the bulky PCs with their keyboards. Things began to move fast when decades later we were introduced to the mouse. Soon enough laptops, sleek monitors with LCD screens followed and have now become a common sight on most desks.

As our needs have increased it is not enough to have things at our disposal at the click of a mouse; it has to be easier still. So now freeing our hands will be, a talking and thinking computer-animated face.

Doing away with the keyword and mouse and even touch screen, will be new computer generated faces that will be programmed to understand our needs. No longer will we have to book a ticket or withdraw money from the bank by punching keys. Instead the animated-computer face will listen to our verbal instructions and take care of our requirements.

However, this computer is not out in the market yet. A team of Australian researchers are working to create it and maybe in the coming decade we'll have a animated computer face greeting us at the ATMs.

The team is using technologies like computer animation, speech recognition and computer-generated dialogue to construct the talking, thinking head that emulates face-to-face conversation. It will work on visual clues such as different mouth shapes and face _expression to understand what is being said. Further still, it will be capable of tailoring its communication to the different types of people, by accessing different databases. The team also plans to make this computer learn from its interactions with different people and improve its communication. They even intend to make it capable of giving emotional responses when the need arises.

Talk about getting personalised attention!

 

[vengabeats]

Screaming mobiles

Mobiles changed the way we communicate. From having to wait for ages for a landline connection to buying a mobile phone off the rack at rates that allows even the maid to posses one, long-distance communication has definitely become cheaper and accessible.

But along with easy communication came another menace - that of theft. Majority of mobile users will have at least one story to tell about the theft of their brand new mobile. Once stolen, there was little the user could do other than buy another one.

However, slowly this problem is being addressed and new softwares are coming up to trace the lost phone and its thief. The latest and one of the most interesting amongst them is the screaming mobile!

A new system has been developed which makes a mobile scream after it has been stolen. Security experts have devised a system, due to which, when the phone gets stolen, it triggers a high-pitched screech from the phone along with a message which reads, "This phone has been stolen." The phone is automatically disabled with the contact numbers, texts, images and emails being removed.

In the new system, Remote XT, a signal is sent to the mobile once it is reported stolen or lost, which causes it to emit an alarm similar to a scream. With this service the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum, which is backing the project, hopes to make mobile phones less desirable items to steal and making them worthless in the hands of those who do.

Available in England, the service does come at a cost. Subscribers have to shell out £10 a month to avail of this service.​

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[vengabeats]

Mosquito-repellent cloth

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Nothing could be more appropriate for Delhites now, than this piece of fabric. With the city gripped by the dengue menace, a mosquito repellent cloth may help where other repellents have failed.

The fabric of this designer cloth is activated by rubbing which in turn keeps the mosquitoes away at a distance of 50 cm. Clinically tested and proven by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, this cloth, brought out by Arnywear, can keep away not only mosquitoes but also midges, stable flies, ticks and other unwelcome insects.

Definitely better than the sticky and oily sprays and creams, this piece of cloths can be a great fashion accessory too. It comes in four different designs which you can match with your wardrobe - Aqua Blue,Khaki Stripe, Cerise-Pink and Five-O. However, the cloth is the use-and-throw type. After couple of uses they need to be disposed off.