With 64 microphones and one lens, this camera lets you film sound
Ever wanted an easy way to identify exactly where in a frame sound is coming from? “Soundcam is the first handheld camera that images sound and is affordable for everyone,” creator Maik Kuklinski told Digital Trends. Here's how it works, and how you can get your hands on one.
Wonder what the bottom of the ocean sounds like? Check out this livestream
Thanks to the likes of the Amazon Echo and Google Home, we’re used to the concept of always listening devices here in 2018. But an always listening device that’s located 3,000 feet beneath the ocean surface, 18 miles off the coast of California? Well, that’s a new one to us.
This conductive paint transforms regular walls into giant touchpads
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research have found a way to use conductive paint and some low-cost electronics to transform regular, boring internal walls into smart infrastructure that are able to detect human touch. Here's why that's exciting.
Drug-infused 3D-printed dentures promise to bite back against infections
Thanks to researchers from the University at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine, dentures might be about to get a whole lot smarter. They have developed new 3D printed dentures containing microscopic capsules able to carry out a controlled release of medication. Here's how they work.
Glowing contact lenses could be the key to stopping diabetic blindness
Researchers from the California Institute of Technology have developed glowing contact lenses which could be used to help battle blindness in the hundreds of millions of people around the world who suffer from diabetes. Sound too good to be true? Here is how the smart lenses work.
The ‘Am I Stoned?’ app gives a new definition to your ‘high’ score
Want a quick and easy way to know how impaired your senses might be after a session with Mary Jane? The University of Chicago's 'Am I Stoned?' app promises to do exactly that with an assortment of reflex-testing games. It's not available for download just yet, however.
This robot eel glides through saltwater without making a sound
Engineers and marine biologists from the University of California have created an eel robot that swims silently through saltwater -- using the same rhythmic, ribbon-like motions as its natural counterpart. It could one day be used for (slightly creepy) underwater exploration.
Ingenious digital swear jar uses voice recognition to penalize you for bad words
Want to stop *@$%ing swearing so much? Then get yourself a swear jar. Want to stop *@$%ing swearing so much, while also getting a unique new gadget for the home? Then get yourself a smart swear jar. At least, that’s the premise behind a somewhat unusual new gadget called JarGone.
To catch an online predator: New A.I. scours chatrooms looking for sex offenders
Researchers from Purdue University have created a new weapon in the war against sex offenders preying on unwitting child victims online. Their new Chat Analysis Triage Tool (CATT) algorithm is designed to help law enforcement more easily discover instances of grooming online.
Could this easy-to-learn tactile typeface replace braille?
Braille, which has been around for nearly 200 years, promises to make life easier for millions of people with visual impairments. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to learn, taking months to master. Now, a new tactile font called ELIA Frames can reportedly be learned in just a few hours.
Smartwatch prototype uses laser projection to turn your arm into a touchscreen
Carnegie Mellon researchers have developed a prototype for a next-gen smartwatch that vastly increases its capacitive touch surface area by projecting a touchscreen onto a user's arm. The results increase the available touch display by more than five times that of a typical smartwatch.
Use this Rubik’s Cube-style device to create ultra-secure computer passwords
Even with all the high-profile hacks that have been in the news, lots of people continue to fail to keep themselves protected online by using passwords that are not secure. Fortunately, a new Kickstarter campaign is here to help -- courtesy of a Rubik's Cube-style device for generating secure passwords.
Battery-free high-definition video streaming is on the way
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a technique which makes HD video streaming possible using low- or no-power devices such as smart glasses. It uses up to 10,000 times less power than existing devices and promises to make battery-free HD video streaming a reality.
Neova MIDI ring lets musicians control their musical creations through gestures
Like a smart whammy bar for a guitar, Neova is a brand new MIDI controller ring which musicians can wear on the index finger of their right hand to trigger different effects while they’re playing -- ranging from pitch bend to vibrato. It's currently seeking backers on Kickstarter.
A lightweight sensor can help sniff out survivors in disaster zones
There are a number of different ways that search and rescue teams look for survivors in the aftermath of disasters. A team of researchers have added a powerful new technology to the toolkit -- in the form of an inexpensive sensor which can be used to help find people trapped in rubble.
We’re closer to China’s disturbing ‘Social Credit System’ than you realize
China's new Social Credit System offers a dystopian look at the future of online tracking, straight out of Nineteen Eighty-Four. But don't think that the same thing isn't happening a bit closer to home. Here's the reason why.
Tiny dents in solar cells could make them more efficient than ever
Looking for a way to make solar panels more efficient? Why not try putting a dent in them? No, it’s not a “fix the TV by banging your hand on it” solution, but an actually demonstrable discovery from researchers at the United Kingdom’s University of Warwick. Here is how it works.
Inside Cellink, the Swedish company building 3D printers for living tissue
Digital Trends recently paid a fascinating visit to the headquarters of Cellink, one of the most exciting companies working on 3D bioprinted organs. Here is how the up-and-coming bioprinting company from Gothenburg, Sweden is hoping to change the future of medical science as we know it.
Astonishing artificial muscle can lift 12,600 times its own body weight
Researchers have developed an impressive artificial muscle, which could one day be used for augmenting the strength of robots, and that is capable of lifting up to 12,600 times its own weight. Throw in a leather jacket and an Austrian accent, and we’re basically on track to create The Terminator.
An artificial beauty spot could warn you of cancer before symptoms emerge
Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a smart biomedical “tattoo” that’s able to detect 40 percent of cancer types, including colon, breast and prostate cancer. The tattoo, which looks like a beauty spot, is able to identify these cancers before they have any visible symptoms.
Gaming is just the beginning. Here are 8 innovative ways VR is being used today
Ready Player One is introducing virtual reality to a whole new audience. Want to know how VR is being used in the world today? Here are 8 eight ways.
By assembling Ikea chairs, robots steal the one job we never wanted
Researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have demonstrated how a pair of off-the-shelf robot arms can be used to assemble a flat-packed Ikea chair in just a matter of minutes. Best of all? They can apparently do it without having a massive argument, too.
Low-cost Ghost AR headset promises MacOS multitasking on steroids
AR headsets are expensive, so Los Angeles-based creative director Jean Helfenstein has invented an alternative called Ghost, which boasts a more affordable price tag. Using it, you can take computer multitasking to the next level by creating infinite MacOS windows in virtual space.
A sensor-packed exosuit lets you fly a drone by pretending to be one
Researchers at Switzerland’s École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a smart superhero-style exosuit which allows users to pilot a drone by, essentially, pretending to be one. Let's just hope you're not too shy to use it in public! Here is how it works.
From monkey selfies to Intel allergies, here are the 7 weirdest tech lawsuits ever
With tech forming a massive part of our lives, and tech giants having some of the deepest pockets around, it’s no surprise that aspects of tech culture have found themselves the subject of lawsuits. From monkey selfies to the evils of autocomplete, here are seven of the strangest.
You can help a cyborg drummer get a new, improved robot arm so he can tour
Thanks to researchers at Georgia Tech, amputee Jason Barnes received a robot arm prototype that lets him play the drums again. Now he's hoping to get a new, improved robot prosthesis to go on tour with. And through a new Kickstarter campaign, you can do your bit to help.
Accidental mutant enzyme sounds scary, but it could help eliminate plastic waste
The world has a plastic waste problem. Fortunately, researchers from the U.K. and United States are here to help, courtesy of a newly created mutant enzyme that’s capable of digesting the world’s most common polluting plastics with far more speed than its natural counterpart.
A new bracelet can detect if you’re being attacked, automatically call help
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham have developed a prototype Smart Jewelry Bracelet wearable device that they hope could be used to keep people safe in the face of possible physical or sexual assault, or elderly people experiencing a fall. Here's how it works.
MIT’s new A.I. could help map the roads Google hasn’t gotten to yet
Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have come up with a neural network A.I. system that can make the manual mapping of the 20 million miles of roadways around the world significantly easier. Here is how the technology works.
Mind-reading A.I. algorithm can work out what music is playing in your head
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a deep-learning algorithm that can work out what music a pianist is imagining in his head. Long term, the hope is to use the technology to restore synthetic speech to paralyzed individuals who are left unable to speak.
Nasal vaccine suspends peanut allergies in mice. Could humans be next?
Imagine a vaccine that can 'turn off' peanut allergies, an allergic reaction which affects more than 3 million people in the United States alone. Thanks to research carried out at Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center at the University of Michigan, such a dream may soon be made a reality.
The FDA approves special contact lenses that turn dark on sunny days
Photochromic sunglasses which are able to darken or lighten depending on how much ultraviolet radiation they come into contact with have been around for years. Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given its stamp of approval to contact lenses which do the same thing.
‘Omniphobic’ smartphone display coating repels it all, from water to peanut butter
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a clear 'omniphobic' coating that can be painted or sprayed onto a screen to make it repel a wide range of materials, and cause everything from water and oil to alcohol and even peanut butter to simply slide off its surface.
Noninvasive brain zapping can make your hands feel things in VR
Neuroscience researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have found a new way to make people experience sensations in virtual reality -- by recreating the so-called 'rubber hand illusion' using a bit of trusty brain zapping tech. Here is how it all works.