Category: Better Technology

The footwear industry has made ​​all kinds of experiments in the past, which included bubbles, spring, space grade materials, and so on. However, this does not mean that you have seen everything . Let’s make a little place for MoonWalker , slippers with integrated neodymium magnets seeking to simulate the feeling of “being walking on the Moon” and a display of electronic ink on your sole, compatible with social networking notifications.

MoonWalker is a project to develop a different pair of shoes, equipped with a series of neodymium N45 with the aim of transmitting the user the feeling to be walking on the moon … or at least feel a little lighter. In the technical description of MoonWalker we discovered that the maximum recommended weight is about 130 kilograms, but that’s not all. There are actually two versions of the MoonWalker slippers. The first is “standard”, and has nothing strange beyond magnets, but version 2.0 has an electronic ink display on the bottom, which can be linked to social networks through a mobile application, and receive notifications. Why do everyone want to link social networks to everything?

MoonWalker is making its rounds in Indiegogo , and they have already got fully funded a whole month before the campaign ends. The original edition of the shoe is priced at $ 59 , while version 2.0 with electronic ink is priced at $ 89 . In both cases, international shipping will be free of charge, and if all goes well (by that I mean not vanish in the air) , the first deliveries will begin in September 2016.

You can fund their campaign here

Ubuntu mobile operating systems have been featuring in rumors for a long time. And the rumors have been proved right by Ubuntu by announcing the first ever Ubuntu phone-BQ Aquaris E 4.5 Ubuntu edition. The phone is manufactured by the English company Block & Quayle, commonly known as B&Q.

The phone has similar features to it’s sibling BQ Aquaris E 4.5 Android, a 4.5-inch 540×960 touchscreen, an 8 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, and a 5 MP front-facing camera being it’s notable features. Under the hood, a 1.3 Ghz quad core Mediatek processor with cortex A7 aided with 1 GB RAM powers the phone. The handset also has 8 GB of internal memory. Dual sim support would be an added boon.

Following the recent success of flash sales, the company has decided it to make it available through a flash sale. Unfortunately, the sales are going to be conducted only in some parts of the Europe.

Source

A man who lost both arms 40 years ago was able to use two bionic arms at once. This is the first time an amputee is able to properly control more than one arm simultaneously.

The life of Leslie Baugh abruptly changed over forty years ago, after suffering an electrical accident that caused the loss of both his arms. What in the past was the exclusive domain of science fiction , now appears more frequently under special projects and experiments. There are still many issues to be resolved, and some seem basic at first glance, such as the energy source. Maybe, in the near-future we may see ironman styled energy source powered prosthetics.

In June this year, Leslie visited the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University for a special experiment which may allow him to regain his lost arms. Before using the system, he had to undergo a special surgery that allows to reallocate nerves previously dedicated to the control of arms and hands. Then began the training phase, coordinating movements with the help of virtual arms generated on a computer.

According to Albert Chi , surgeon and one of the main participants in the project, explained that recognition algorithms were applied to determine patterns, identify the contraction of muscles, and record levels of elements such as communication, amplitude and frequency.Once all this concentrated information is obtained, it is translated into specific movements for each arm. Finally, Leslie’s support arms are placed. His own words after using this system was “like going to another world” .

This is a technology which can change the lives of many amputees. We hope that we would see more advancements in such technologies in the near future.