MIT soldiers on with backsaver
Prototype
My oldest daughter, Maeve, last week tumbled over one of those rolling bags that flight attendants bring to work.
The incident did not take place in a Logan terminal, however. It happened outside Maeve's preschool, when another 4-year-old, his bag in tow, crossed her path.
Unless public schools start distributing lighter materials (this kid must have been hauling some heavy duty construction paper), a lot of young people are going to need something like the exoskeleton being developed at the MIT Media Lab.
The exoskeleton, built by the Media Lab's Biomechatronics Group, transfers most of the weight from a backpack from your body to the ground. Wearing one, I estimate a soldier or backpacker should be able to comfortably add about 14 pounds of MREs or turkey jerky to his load, and still be able to tackle some long inclines.
Tubes running from the wearer's feet to his backpack take the weight off his body, and springs and a damping device assist in walking. The exoskeleton uses far less power than other designs, according to the Media Lab.
But the exoskeleton, at least this version, causes the wearer to walk with an unnatural gait, its developers admit. You must also wear the special boots to which it is attached, which may also limit the terrain you can walk on.
Like too many technologies being developed at MIT, the exoskeleton is designed with the military in mind. And that might mean a longer wait for civilian use. It also makes me wonder whether any assistive technologies of the future won't be the result of a trickle-down process from some supersoldier application.
Displays
Monitor doubles as boob tube
With a little girl mad for Eloise, and a wife hooked on ER, I often find myself watching my own TV shows on a computer screen in my home office. I know I'm not alone. My computer monitor is also my personal boob tube.
ViewSonic Corp. recently announced two, widescreen, high-definition "dual-purpose" LCD TVs for the home. The Diamani DUO TVs have six inputs to simultaneously accommodate your PC or gaming console, DVD player, and your cable or satellite box, for example.
The Diamani DUO TVs include the 19-inch NX1932w (about $350), and the 22-inch NX2232w (about $400.) The 19-inch model has a 1440x900 native resolution; the 22-inch, 1680x1050.
ViewSonic says the DUOs will look good in any room. To me, they look too much like computer monitors and not enough like TVs. They are not suitable for a cozy living space.
Music listening
New iPod box from Sprout Creation sits well with wood
Wayland-based Sprout Creation has crafted a wood speaker box for the iPod in a '50s modern style. The company claims the system, called Vers, is eco-friendlier than many other devices.
Sprout says the Vers (versaudio.com) is handcrafted from sustainable plantation sources, and contains energy-efficient electronics. But you can drive yourself crazy calculating the greenhouse footprint of any gadget, or the environmental damage that occurs in its manufacture.
I am more interested in how well something works. And I was sold on Vers the moment I connected it to my iPod. My tunes sounded as full and rich as they did coming out of Chestnut Hill Sound's George, Mondo's Mint, or the Zvox Mini, all of which I've covered here.
Vers is also the cheapest of the lot: It sells for about $179 at the VersAudio site and retailers such as Target.
My wife, Lisa, appreciates Vers's looks. The natural woodgrain finish blended well with the original woodwork and the pine wood bookcase in our Milton home. The box is about a foot long, 5 1/2 inches wide, and 5 1/2 inches deep.
Vers comes with the cookie-cutter adapters you will need to seat your particular iPod on the top of the box. The Vers also comes with a 14-function IR remote control, which is practically useless. Since the remote has no display, you must be close enough to the cabinet and your iPod (or other connected music source) to see what you are doing anyway.
TECH LAB Watch Mark Baard demonstrate some of the technology he reviews at boston.com/business.
Innovative Last Week
Race to smarts of vehicle piloting devices
A road-sensing device from Natick-based Cognex Corp. will be making an appearance in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, an upcoming road race for autonomous vehicles. The White Knight, a Nissan Xterra retrofitted by Team Mojavaton of Grand Junction, Colo., will use Cognex's SafeTRAC camera system to detect lines, road markings, and obstacles to aid in its piloting and navigation. (Some long-haul trucks are already equipped with SafeTRAC cameras.) Cognex DVT color vision sensors will also help keep the White Knight straight if it encounters unpaved roads.
