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New technologies are not only changing our everyday lives and how we work and communicate with others; they are also bringing new customs to our societies. The National Texting Championship, held in New York City, is an example of such a phenomenon. The idea is simple: whoever can write the fastest text message wins.  There have only been three competitions so far, but the event is quickly attracting more and more Americans.

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Do you know what was written in first text message ever sent? “Merry Christmas”. It was the Christmas of 1992, and 22 year-old Neil Papworth sent his Christmas greetings to his colleague Richard Jarvis, who at that moment was at a holiday party near Vodafone’s complex in Newbury, England. To send the message Papworth used the keyboard of a computer. Little did he know what sort of technological revolution he had actually started.

18 years later, the number of text messages sent is now more than 2 trillion. Text messaging has not only created a new way of connecting with people, but it has also brought with it a new way of speaking and new cultural norms. In order to fit an entire message into only 160 characters, people have created new vocabulary, have begun including symbols into everyday speech, and have given numbers a new functionality. Teenagers are the original inventors of this new way of speaking, and their national texting champion for 2009 is 15 year-old Kate Moore. So what does it mean to be the texting champion? A first-place trophy, $50,000, and…bragging rights for the rest of the year.

LG’s US National Texting Championship is no easy feat: there are several elimination rounds, which include a text obstacle course, blindfolded texting, and texting while being hassled. Kate, who averages 14,000 messages a month with bills just under 300-pages long, beat over 250,000 texters to win.

What does this new and innovative competition mean for our future societies? It stands to demonstrate how our culture is evolving quickly. We are constantly looking for better and more efficient ways of communicating and existing in this world. Undoubtedly, the texting trend has grown exponentially, as more adults are beginning to also use text messaging as their main form of communication.

More Info:

• http://www.lgtexter.com/past_winners.php

Scientists at UC Berkeley, California have engineered materials that can modify the natural visible direction of light, and make the object appear invisible to human eyes. These 3D materials curve light waves around the object in which they are applied. Thanks to this new technology, it may actually be possibility to walk around with an invisibility cloak in the near future.

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It was 1961 when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby designed “The Fantastic 4”, giving life to a very popular series of comedies, including personalities that entertained millions of readers. Out of you readers, who has heard of the adventures of Susan Storm, the “invisible woman”. After around 40 years, the fiction that seemed to remain confined to comics, spread to scientific laboratories.

Some interesting trials have been conducted since 2006. Researchers from Duke University, directed by Prof. David Smith, created a “meta-material”, made from electromagnetic waves, which rendered objects visible only to specific detectors. In only 3 years, this field has taken a giant leap forward.

At the University of Berkeley in California, a team of scientists led by Prof. Xiang Zhang, from the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center put together for the first time a 3-D material capable of deflecting the natural direction of visible light through infrared lighting. Xiang has created a carpet cloak from nanostructured silicon that conceals the presence of objects placed under it from optical detection.

This discovery could contribute to further create a base material that will have an optic effect on images and render them invisible. A creation like this would be a hit with fantasy film fanatics. One can only wonder than limitless possibilities and applications that will come from this discovery, and hoping that not only the military sector will benefit from the innovation.

More Info.:

• http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/08/11_light.shtml
• http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/01/15/invisibility-cloak.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4zwzlnExVU
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ-aLyiU_i0&NR=1
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja_fuZyHDuk
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeiFcJC7diA

Imagine watching your favorite TV show from your living room sofa undisturbed while someone right beside you listens to their favorite song play on the stereo. The development of such a device that would allow us to do this was practically unimaginable only a decade ago. However, we may all have the privilege of owning such a device in the near future.

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In the late 19^th century, when Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, projecting recorded sounds was a byproduct of his efforts to “play back” recorded telegraph messages and to automate speech sounds for transmission by telephone. Certainly, he could have never imagined the extent of the evolution of his and his successors’ technologies. Today, we not only have the means of projecting sound, but we now have the capability of directing or “aiming” sound to a specific point.

There is a revolutionary technology, created by researcher Joe Pompei of MIT, where sound is focused to target a specific area. Pompei’s “Audio Spotlight” was no mistake either. Joe explained where his inspiration came from, “I started to become interested in really what the shortcomings of traditional loudspeakers were.”

Traditional speakers transmit non-directed sound at wavelengths of several feet. Pompei’s Audio Spotlight transmits millimeter-sized, ultrasonic waves in a very narrow beam of sound, which becomes audible as it travels through the air. Essentially, Joe has figured out a way to use ultrasound that “excites” the air and causes sound to be made “in midair.”

These new waves can travel much further, and more focused, than normal sound waves.  The signal processor/amplifier are integrated into a system about the size of a traditional audio amplifier, and they use about the same amount of power as well.

Pompei has founded the company, “Holosonics” in which he sells the Audio Spotlight. “Environments that need ’sound without noise’ are our workhorse application: museums, corporate visitor centers, event or gallery installations and retail sales displays. But our ultimate destination for Audio Spotlight’s is the home.” Look out for the Audio Spotlight as it may be on store shelves sooner than expected.

More Info:

• http://www.holosonics.com/
• http://web.mit.edu/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-aLJ4Kjm3A

Tech entrepreneur, Tan Le, explains what Emotiv is and how it may be applied in the future. There are many possible applications for this type of technology: from a more realistic video game experience to aiding people who are wheelchair-bound.

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The research on (BCI) Brain Computer Interface, started in 1970 at UCLA, with financing from the National Science Foundation. The research from this sector are now numerous, and point towards neuro-prosthetics that can repair a persons poor hearing, as well as eyesight and movement. The systems of BCI are based on the interpretation of brain signals, and work to improve the way they function.

Today however, with an extraordinary influence by videogame fanatics, it is possible to find on the market a headset for videogames that can turn thoughts into actions: Emotiv. The special headset has a non-invasive technology that can interpret electric impulses from the brain, and monitor the reactions from the user. The headset is configured through the software Emokey, that allows the integration of our mood to any type of videogame.

Emotiv allows for three levels of detection: expressive – to notice the expression of our face; affective – captures our emotions, which dynamically modify the context of the game (music volume and colors – adapt to our sensations); cognitive – to control objects, by simply thinking of the action that are about to take place.

Technology entrepreneur Tan Le was interviewed by David H. Freedman from INC Magazine.

More Info.:

• http://emotiv.com/

All five senses are appealed to with the new cocoon helmet, which allows the user to be in any location or historical event and actually have all their senses stimulated simultaneously.

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Whoever thought history cannot be relived, and that every corner of the globe cannot be explored, might want to rethink their theories. Imagine sitting at home, and being able to relive moments that happened centuries ago, or feeling as if you were in the middle of the scorching hot Sahara desert. Technology isn’t far from creating this fantasy into a reality.

The Virtual Cocoon will consist of a headset incorporating specially developed electronics and computing capabilities. The project leaders are scientists David Howard from the University of York, Alan Chalmers and Christopher Moir from University of Warwick, along with experts from the Universities of Bangor, Bedford, and Brighton.

One puts on the virtual helmet, and the user immediately sees the action unfolding right before their eyes thanks to the high definition screen. A surround system accompanies the scenery, and chemicals are released to match the exact scent of the event. If one dares to venture into the desert, they will feel the scorching heat, or if they are strolling a beautiful garden, the scent of roses will be released to make the experience and unforgettable one. Smell will be generated electronically using a technique that will deliver a pre-determined smell recipe on-demand while the team intend to provide a texture sensation relating to something being in the mouth and tactile devices will provide touch input.

More Info.:

• www.davidhoward.co.uk/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Chalmers