Future tech

Google set a pretty high standard of what I'll call "wow-ness" with last year's introduction of Google Glass to the world at its annual developers' conference, Google I/O. Glass-wearing stunt people took the brand new device skydiving, rappelling down the side of San Francisco's Moscone Center, and mountain biking through the crowds inside the conference center.

Can Google I/O 2013 possibly contain more wow-ness than that?

A year later, Glass is now in the wild, so it's always possible Google could have some new apps, features, and use cases it plans to … Read more

Remember back in the olden days, when you had to wait till your baby came out of the womb to start determining whose nose and chin it had?

Pioneer, maker of speakers, receivers, and headphones, is moving into the in-utero-baby-picture realm with 3D holograms that give a remarkably detailed look at an infant's early visage.

The company does that using a full-color hologram printer. The device, which fits into a briefcase, can record a full color card-size hologram in 120 minutes, and a single-color hologram in 90 minutes. … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The Worst Room makes everyone in New York feel terrible.

- San Francisco hotels pricey? Van on Airbnb is only $92 a night.

- A bold new font lets dyslexia sufferers read.

- Bang With Friends goes mobile, because some people want to get it on the run.

- A Wi-Fi enabled Microsoft ad printed in Forbes magazine offers free Internet to readers.… Read more

It's that time of year when student boffins the world over display their final projects, offering tantalizing glimpses into their mad-scientist machinations, and possibly the future.

If inventions out of the California Institute of the Arts -- founded by Walt Disney in the early 1960s and now one of the nation's top art schools -- prove prescient, that future includes a wearable interface that lets dancers control music with the flick of a finger and a virtual studio where you can compose tunes by crouching toward the floor. The school will feature those and more student and faculty innovations Thursday at its Digital Arts and Technology Expo, which this year focuses on future directions in gaming, animation, human computer interaction, digital performance, graphic design, projection mapping, and machine learning. … Read more

The technical reality of autonomous cars is coming sooner than you think, but societal acceptance of autonomous cars may be some way off. Technologies such as adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist make the tip of this iceberg among production cars, while Google has already done extensive testing of an autonomous car system. Automakers are beginning their own self-driving car programs, and the Department of Transportation is running tests of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, an important safety technology that will also play a key role for autonomous cars.

But not everyone likes the idea of self-driving cars. CNET editors Wayne … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Wolfenstein: The New Order set for current, next-gen consoles.

- How a 17-year-old girl hacked her way to a spoiler-free "Game of Thrones."

- Downloadify lets Chrome users copy MP3s of Spotify songs for 24 hours.

- Nintendo's big problem, according to CNN.… Read more

When you pedal a bicycle, the kinetic energy is channeled into propulsion, but what if it could be used in other ways? Architect Michael Strain isn't the first to think of using pedal power to charge your gadgets -- in fact, there are products on the market that already allow you to harness that excess energy -- but his concept bike, has a few other tricks up its suspension.

The bike, called Levitation and designed for the 2013 Hi-Macs Annual Design Contest, looks like a more low-tech Tron Cycle. It features an on-board generator and battery that stores the power collected while cycling. The power can then be used in two ways: charging small gadgets via the USB port on the bike's handlebars, or sending it into your home's power supply via a drain cable to alleviate grid usage. … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Today I learned Dave Chappelle was in a "Home Improvement" spinoff that was actually made.

- Twelve things that will get you banned on Xbox.

- You won't remember anything, including this article, unless you print it out.

- Senate passes Internet sales tax bill by 2-to-1 margin.… Read more

While we remain dubious about the legitimacy of using the word "invisible" when visible light isn't involved, that's what a team of engineers at Duke University have dubbed their creation. Seven years ago, they demonstrated their first "invisibility cloak" in a laboratory; now, thanks to 3D printing, the fabrication process is a lot more accessible.

The object -- which looks more like a Frisbee made of Swiss cheese than a wearable cape a la Harry Potter -- has a large hole in the center, with seemingly random holes in the disc. The size, shape, and placement of these holes have actually been determined using algorithms to disguise any object placed in the center hole from microwave beams aimed through the side of the disc, making it appear as though the object isn't there. … Read more