/ News
Fraunhofer tech to allow less conspicuous smartglasses
Data glasses tend to be chunky, unstylish objects, so it’s no wonder they haven’t caught on among general consumers. Fraunhofer researchers have now developed a technology that allows the “specs” to be made in small, unobtrusive designs. The new glasses also correct for farsightedness.
The near-to-eye display with see-through functionality facilitates a small, unobtrusive design.
© Fraunhofer IOF
Picturesque streets and winding lanes of one village enthrall tourists. They would love to have a little historical background on the buildings they are watching at. But unless they get out a guidebook and read up on them there, they remain in the dark. In future, tourists will be able to see all important information instantly as it flashes up on their data glasses. As they admire a building, they will also see useful facts displayed alongside it – similar to the speech bubbles used in comic books. And if they were trying to find their way around in unfamiliar surroundings, these glasses will be able to display navigation data taken from their smartphone directly in their field of view. This is known as “see-through data glasses.”
Small and elegant
Moreover, the data glasses developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena fulfill even more product functionality. In fact, it solves a problem that has plagued the manufacturers of such eyewear in the past: cumbersome frames. The awkward design means that few private users have been keen to wear them. “We designed our glasses to be small and discreet,” says Dr. Peter Schreiber, group manager in the Microoptical Systems department at Fraunhofer IOF.
Models usual consist of two parts: a micro-display that generates the image and optics that project the image on the desired position. Both units are attached to the temple (earpiece). Although the micro-display of the new glasses measures 8 x 15 millimeters, making it a similar size to conventional models, the optics are only 5 millimeters long, almost one-fifth the length of previous designs. Instead of having single long optics, the scientists have placed many small optics alongside each other in an array. “This allows us to obtain the same results with a much shorter structure,” explains Schreiber.
While commercially available data glasses often project the image on the edge of the field of view – for example, users have to look up and to the right – users of the new model see the information precisely where the context dictates it should be – in our example from earlier, right next to the monument our tourist is looking at. For this purpose, the researchers apply a nanoscale lattice structure – invisible to the human eye – to a glass plate, purposing it as light guide. In short: the optical image is coupled into the light guide through a lattice, guided to the required position, coupled back out through a lattice there, and reflected into the wearer’s field of view. “The manufacturing methods are suitable for large-scale production and are already used in the industry, so making the glasses is easy and cost-effective,” says Schreiber.
Glasses compensate for defects in vision
People who need glasses to read usually also have difficulties reading the information displayed in data glasses. However, Fraunhofer IOF’s new glasses correct for farsightedness. “Our multi-channel approach compensates for farsightedness without any moving mechanical parts, such as the adjustable eyepiece in binoculars, and to set the focus for each wearer by purely electronic means,” explains Schreiber. For users, this means entering their vision defect data in the corresponding app on their smartphone, which sends the relevant content and information to the glasses via Bluetooth. Everything else takes place automatically: the glasses adjust the display images in such a way that they appear sharp to users. The glasses are also able to partly compensate for other vision problems, such as astigmatism and shortsightedness.
The researchers have already laid the groundwork for the data glasses. At the World of Photonics laser trade show, which will take place in Munich from June 22 to 25, they will present a demonstrator model (Hall B3, Booth 341). The applications for the data glasses are by no means limited to tourism. Wearers could view their personal intensity levels and heart rate while exercising or playing sports, to give an example. And the glasses could also help people in their everyday working lives: for instance, mechanics responsible for maintaining and repairing big machines would no longer have to lug around hefty manuals; instead, the work steps could be displayed directly in their field of vision.
Source: http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2015/June/small-and-discreet-data-glasses-for-everyday-use.html
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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