We are using the best controller ever invented: You!

Natal, a rectangular bar that sits on your TV, tracks your body’s movements and recognizes what you say to it. It also understands your tone of voice, allowing you to truly interact with a game and enter the virtual world. No announcements were made on when the solution will be available or how much it will cost, however it will be compatible with every Xbox 360 system.

To get a good impression on what’s possible, checkout the Milo video here:

For me, it is one of those innovative solutions were you think “yes, I’m living in the 21^st century”. With it, we are quickly approaching a future where you can take part in a virtual experience that is nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. Perhaps this technology is bringing the Holodeck from Star Trek a step closer to reality…

There is another great video that shows how much fun it can be to play using the technology in a game called Ricochet.

It is clear that Project Natal is Microsoft answer to Nintendo’s motion controlled gaming solution you see in the Wii today.

Want to see more action? Checkout the official Project Natal video:

There are some intriguing questions arising though: if a tennis video game requires the same body movements as actually playing tennis, why not go to the tennis court and play the game? What will be the impact on real life relationships, if you can have authentic conversations with a virtual person? What do you think of Natal? Please share your thoughts in the comments area below!

What Everybody Ought to Know About Project Natal

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What if you could completely recharge the battery of your mobile phone or notebook in just seconds?

Soon this might be a reality as a group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have revealed a new battery material that recharges 100 times faster than the lithium-ion battery you use today.

Evolution of lithium-ion

The storage of electrical energy is an important technology in our society. Today’s lithium-ion batteries are pretty good at storing energy and have a fine discharge rate. However, getting energy into them is still a relatively ineffective process.

The new battery material appears to make the charging process far more effective by creating a “fast-lane” for ions to move around the lithium iron phosphate material. By applying a special surface coating to the old material, they allow the ions to speed around the battery at rates that are nearly unimaginable

Promising no drop in capacity

Fast charging a battery requires running a large amount of current through it. This normally reduces the battery’s life and capacity. However, the prototype that was constructed with the special surface coating did not suffer from severe overheating nor did it show a significant drop in capacity after 50 charge/recharge cycles.

Ready in two to three years

Most energy-storage devices have a difficult time scaling out of the laboratory into production. Gerbrand Ceder is still optimistic. He leads this research at MIT and believes this type of batteries could make it into production in two to three years. The work has already been licensed by two companies; A123 Systems, a U.S. company focusing on sustainable transportation and Umicore, a company that supplies materials to battery manufacturers across the world.

Who Else Wants a Battery That Charges in 10 Seconds?

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According to consulting firm McKinsey you can by using small technology innovations. More innovations are becoming available each day and allow you to choose a more eco-friendly way of travel.

What would you use to make your commute smarter?

1. Paddle Assisted Bicycle

Dutch company Gazelle created a bicycle that allows you bike between 50 – 75 km (~40 miles) without exhausting yourself. It supports your cycling efforts by providing electric paddle assistance. The motor that helps you is situated in the front hub of the bike and is powered by a battery located under your luggage rack. Gazelle has won the Bike of the Year 2009 award with their Chamonix Innergy electric bike and for about 2000 EUR you get some very smart technology. For more details, check out their Orange Innergy video on Vimeo.

2. Maglev Train

The Maglev Train is based on a system called magnetic levitation, maglev for short. It propels a vehicle by using the levitation from a very large number of magnets. A great example of a maglev vehicle is the Shanghai-Pudong Maglev Monorail (top speed 501 km/h – 311 mph).

The systems is in operation in many places today and is very efficient when compared to other forms of transportation. The energy cost of traveling 500 – 750 km by maglev is 10 times less when compared to a plain. It is 2 to 3 times less when compared to a regular train. The calculation for this is based on greenhouse gas emission per passenger kilometer. When you get the change to travel with one of these, make sure you do.

3. Electric Dicycle

A dicycle is a vehicle with two parallel wheels. A well known dicycle is the Segway PT, a self-balancing vehicle for one person. It is powered by electricity and allows you to travel much faster than you would normally walk or jog. It is designed to mimic the process of walking and you can move it by leaning into the direction you want to go. It might seem a little too futuristic however, police forces and governments are starting to use it in urban areas. Segway even has designed a special version, the i2 Police.

4. Hybrid Car

In 2000, the first hybrid production car was introduced by Toyota. Today, almost every car maker is working on producing this type of vehicle. Some skeptic claim that hybrid cars are not eco-friendly when looking at their lifetime energy costs (the lifecycle from designing, producing, operating, retiring and disposing). However, 80-90% of the energy is consumed during the operating phase of a car. This is where the hybrid cars score very well. Next, their batteries can be fully recycled making the carbon footprint significantly lower when comparing to a non-hybrid. You can choose from several hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and hopefully soon the hybrid version of Tato Nano, also known as the $2200 production car.

5. Electric Scooter

An electric scooter has some great advantages over a gasoline version. First of all, you drive an almost silent vehicle and it is far more economic to operate (~25 %). Most important, it does not produce any exhaust gasses. Research from the University in Utrecht (Holland) shows that the exhaust gasses from a gasoline powered scooter contain a very large amount of fine particles, even more than a car or truck. These fine particles are linked to health hazards such as heart disease, altered lung function and even lung cancer. As electric scooters do not produce these fine particles, you help minimize the negative effect on air quality. The other great news is that they are just as expensive and look just as pretty as gasoline scooters. So why not get one of these?

6. Personal Urban Mobility & Accessibility (aka PUMA)

Although not yet available, what about a two passengers Segway PT? Segway has developed a working prototype (dubbed Personal Urban Mobility & Accessibility) that demonstrates a dramatically different approach to urban mobility. It is an electric two-seat vehicle with just two wheels, which could allow people to travel around cities more quickly, safely, quietly and cleanly. Is this the future of urban transportation?

7. Personal Air and Land Vehicle (PAL-V)

Do you remember Dr. Emmet Brown in the movie classic Back to the Future? He was the inventor of the flying Delorean and ended the movie with the memorable quote ‘Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads…’

Now, Dutch company PAL-V Europe NV is working on a solution that will make this dream a reality (unfortunately, not the time machine part though <grin>). Their PAL-V ONE is a hybrid of a gyrocopter and a car and according to PAL-V, their vehicle is the ultimate solution to the increasing congestion in our cities. There already is a training facility where you can learn to operate a similar device (the auto-gyro) as you will need a license. The plan is to launch the product in 2011. For more information, check out the PAL-V website.

What would you choose?

Do you make a conscious decision when you commute? Are there eco-friendly alternatives you can use? Feel free to share your thoughts via the comments!

7 Innovations That Make You Commute Smarter

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It might be hard to imagine but about 1,6 billion people on our planet do not have access to electricity. In Sub Saharan Africa only 9 % of the rural population has access to electricity. After sunset, people have to read with the flickering light of a candle or kerosene (paraffin) lamp . Nasty side effect of kerosene lamps is that they pose health and safety risks, they are relatively expensive and have a low light output…

Dutch technology firm Philips has been working on an innovative solution that solves this rather old problem in a genius way. Edison must have love this one…They have developed a new solar-powered reading light which enables people to read after dark. The solution is developed for the education sector in Africa and will allow school children to continue their homework after sunset.

The device is called “My Reading Light” and is based on LED technology, resulting in a low carbon footprint solution. According to Philips, it is extremely lightweight and can be hand-held or placed over the page of a book. It is solar-powered and has a built-in rechargeable battery. You can choose a the amount of light it produces and it operates between 3.5 and 9 hours of light depending on the light level you have selected.

It launches in autumn 2009 and will be available in two versions: a standard light and a slimmed down, low-cost version with a target consumer price of less than 15 EURO.

Philips developed My Reading Light as partner of the Sustainable Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) agreement together with the Dutch government. SESA aims to provide 10 million people with affordable, appropriate and sustainable light services across ten sub-Saharan African countries by 2015. SESA links with the existing UN Millennium Development Goals project.

Here is a Solution That is Helping Children in Africa to Read After Sunset

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