It's just 2018 and we are already getting a glimpse of some of the technology that could be mainstream in the years to come.
Recently, Arnav Kapur, an Indian-origin researcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts along with a few more of his fellow researchers invented a headset dubbed AlterEgo that can read your mind and then talk back!
However, this isn’t the only invention worth mentioning. So, time to look at the AlterEgo headset and some other ‘crazy’ inventions by startups that haven’t got much limelight.
AlterEgo Headset
You’ll probably call someone crazy if they tell you that they hear voices in their heads. Well, you might have a different opinion after meeting Arnav Kapur, the inventor of the AlterEgo headset.
AlterEgo is a wearable device that can read people’s minds when they speak to themselves using their internal voice. The gadget also allows users to interact with the device and get responses to queries without saying a word.
Like that Ronan Keating song “You say it best, when you say nothing at all”.
So, whatever the user verbalises internally is being understood by the gizmo by using electrodes attached to the skin. I know it sounds unbelievable but the researchers claim that the machine has an average accuracy of about 92 percent (with a 10-person trial).
It looks like some kind of futuristic headset wrapped around your jawline and clipped over the ear. One of the extensions of the device sits beneath your lips.
So how does it really work?
AlterEgo comes with four electrodes inside it, which make contact with the skin and pick up the mild neuromuscular signals that are triggered when a person says something inside their head.
Later, the artificial intelligence within the device can match particular signals to particular words, feeding them into a computer. Using a bone conduction speaker, the computer responds into the ear without the need of an actual speaker.
Kapur and team say there is still a lot of work to be done on AlterEgo and that they will integrate it with Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and even Apple’s Siri.
Blincam
Only a couple of years ago Google had introduced the Google Glass project, which didn’t really fly as the company expected. The concept was to bring to the users a smart eyewear that just like a smartphone displays information and provides the users a hands-free experience.
Taking a leaf out of Google’s book, a Tokyo-based startup has come up with the Blincam. The Blincam, which can be attached to any pair of glasses, can click pictures when the user winks.
(WARNING: You could get into trouble if you wink in the wrong direction)
The device is said to feature an eye-movement sensor that detects the movement when the wearer blinks. It also plays the shutter sound thanks to an integrated speaker. Bundled with the device is an LED battery indicator light, Bluetooth connectivity, microUSB, 32GB of internal storage and an 'HD CMOS' camera sensor.
The device is available for pre-orders starting at $248.
Myo Armband
The Myo armband is something straight out of a sci-fi Hollywood movie. It works with the help of metal contacts that measures electrical activity in your forearm muscle to transmit gestures.
With these gestures, the user can control various devices that connect via Bluetooth. It recognises limited gestures like moving your wrist until your hand is at roughly a 90-degree angle with your arm, closing and opening a fist and tapping your thumb and finger together. However, the gestures seem to work accurately only 80 to 85 percent of the time.
There are only a handful of applications like media players, your Mac Desktop, social media accounts, email and Parrot drones that can be controlled by Myo.
Microsoft HoloLens
Microsoft’s HoloLens is the next step in virtual reality technology.
HoloLens is an augmented reality headset that is a fully untethered see-through holographic machine. It’s basically a computer built into a headset that lets you see, hear, and interact with holograms.
Which means you will be able to see 3D models in your living room or any kind of environment through the HoloLens. That doesn’t mean that others will be able to see what you are seeing.
The best part about this technology is that the user is able to interact with the projected models and diagrams. The Development Edition of the HoloLens costs around Rs 3,19,000.
AirBar
The AirBar has the ability to transform the display of a 15.6-inch laptop into a full touchscreen panel. The AirBar connects to a laptop via USB and the bar has to be placed on the bezel of a laptop.
Once plugged, the AirBar blankets your display with “an invisible light field”, with what the company calls “zForce AIR technology”. This invisible infrared blanket reads the gestures you make on the monitor screen and relays the same to the computer helping you interact with the screen.
The gizmo is currently compatible with only 15.6-inch screens and is available in the Indian market for Rs 5,500.
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