Innovation Blog

Researchers at the University of Alberta have proven that it is possible to make a transistor from a single molecule. It would seem that this is the fundimental limit for traditional transistor logic. But you never know.

Ok so what makes a Borg a Borg. Well it is all the nanobots running around in their blood stream. Well researchers at Carnegie Mellow University have developed a medical robot that is small enough to be swallowed and contains an embedded camera. It measures 800 nanometers in diameter. Intended to make a trip through your system taking picture for you scrap book. So next stop the Borg.

Have I got a mouse for you. A4Tech has introduced a "battery-free" wireless mouse. Like everyone else you are busy asking yourself "whats-the-catch". Well there isn't a catch well almost. The catch is that the mouse doesn't have a wire but the mouse pad does and you must use the mouse pad. The mouse is powered through "Radio Frequency Identification Technology". Both this product offers some interesting insights. No wire on the mouse but add a wire to the mouse pad. Interesting turn about with lots of advantages. So how can you turn your product thinking upside down to solve a problem where there seems to be no solution.

An article just published in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that access to information is a major influence. When choosing between that BMW and a Hyundai how much you already know about the vehicles is key. So how do you make sure that your consumers already know about your product before they start looking?

The MacGyver Theory: A roll of duct tape, two matches, an old sock, and five bandits chasing you down are all you need to think creatively. On a more serious note, it's the theory that necessity and compressed timeframes can breed creativity and innovation. Situations where you have limited supplies and a short time to solve a problem can lead to some very innovative approaches. It's the way that engineers averted disaster during the Apollo 13 mission and its how MacGyver gets away from the bad guys every time...so there must be something there. So for my graduate research I looked at specific situations where this kind of rapid thinking occurred and extracted trends about team composition, leadership, etc. and looked at how you might apply this theory to industry settings. Take a look.

The line between science fiction and science fact is drawing thinner and thinner on a daily basis. Soon what we though pure imagination may become reality. Here is another example of where technology has brought Hollywood to life.

Robotic Suit

So in "The Terminator" robots attempt to take over the world once they achieve the ability to produce other robots. In Star Trek they have the replicator which makes whatever they need seemingly from nothing. Throughout Sci Fi literature there is always a desire to have a machine that can recreate machines similar to itself. In his 1966 book "The Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata" (published posthumously), John von Neumann suggested the "Universal Constructor", a self-copying machine. Now, some 40 years later their is a group make this concept a reality. The RepRap Project is attempting to use Rapid Prototyping technology to produce a machine which can make other machines including itself. There are many challenges to this effort. For example how do you create electronic circuits in this machine? But progress is being made. So the future is nearer than you think. Will the result be "Star-Trek-like" where technology free's humans to be explorers and thinkers or will it be "Terminator-like" where machines take over the world? I think the choice is up to us. What do you think?

With all the research going on in Nano-technology you knew that theses scientist had to be making a nano-mess. So now some of these same scientists have invented a nano-brush to clean up their nano-mess. Pulickel Ajayan and his research group centered at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute created these nano-brushes from carbon nano-tubes. The brushes have bristles a thousand times finer than a human hair. The group invisions uses ranging from brushes for electric motors to various medical applications. So you think you have pushed technology as far as you can in your products? Think again!

How about that world class engineering school in the mountains of Virginia. Virginia is known for lots of things, "Virginia is for Lovers", "Home of Presidents" and Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech, the school where Michael Vick came from and a whale of on engineering school (from which the author graduated). In recent years Tech as done well in various competitions involving automomous vehicles. But this year at the 13th annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition the three Tech teams broke all the records. They won 1st and 2nd places in all three competitions and 3rd place in two out of three. 8 of 9 possible awards. So as I said if you want an automomous vehicle go see the folks at Virginia Tech and tell them the Innovation Blog sent you.

Owen Holland of the University of Essex is experimenting with automous flying robots. His robots contain a Gumstix Linux computer for their brains. A Gumstix computer is call that because it is not much bigger than one. Professor Holland's next goal is to get several of these flying robots linking up wirelessly to form a computing cluster and to be able to fly in formation like a flock of birds. I cannot wait to see that. We all know that computers are becoming smaller all that time. Combine that with the amazing work being done with open source software such as Linux and the opportunities are endless. How are you using this potential in your products.

If you think about it for a second I believe most of you will answer the microchip. There are lots of possible answers but all you have to do is look around you and see all of the places that microchips exist today. Most everyone knows the current technology gods (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Andy Grove, Linus Torvalds, Larry Ellison, Michael Dell). Some of you may know who invented the transistor (everyone remembers Bill Shockley but the team also included John Bardeen and Walter Brattain). But if I ask you who invented the microchip (aka integrated circuit) most of you would have a hard time. Well the inventor of the microchip was Jack S. Kilby, an electrical engineer working at Texas Instruments. Jack passed away on Monday at the age of 81. While it always takes more than one individuals efforts to make a change as dramatic as the one associated microchips it is also good to remember where it started. Thanks Jack.

Now we have "Playstation Thumb". 13-year old Safura Abdool Karim of South Africa is the youngest person to be published in that country's main medical journal. Her research on "Playstation Thumb" will be included in the next issue. Now in recent year there has been lots published on repetitive strain injuries. However most of that information has delt with adults. Safura's work addresses children. This clearly points out that there is no application and no population that is imune from the need for good human factors design. Are your products human factors friendly? What are you doing about it?

Having grown up in the 50's and 60's I remember the promise of supersonic and hypersonic flight by the turn of the century. Yet the reality is that the only supersonic transports have now been retired and the vast majority of the us have never seen one. In 1969 the US put human beings on the moon but we haven't been back in the last 30 years. Humans are by nature explorers. We need to overcome new challenges. So let's follow through on some of the many promises that science has given us. Let's establish that moon base, put people on Mars and yes, produce real usable supersonic and hypersonic aircraft that the average person can fly on. NASA was just recognized for setting a speed record for an air breathing aircraft, achieving a speed of Mach 10 (more than 10 times the speed of your average airliner). Now do we turn that into my dreamed of airliner?

If you child attends the Early Childhood Education Center in San Diego you might have noticed that there is a new teacher's assistant added to the program recently. Rubi is the short one with the funny looking nose. No, I am not making fun of the teacher because of their height or appearance. In this case the teacher's assistant is a robot. The robot, named Rubi is part of an experiment being conducted by the University of California San Diego. Rubi (short for Robot Using Bayesian Inference) is a learning robot that learns from its interactions with the students. So check it out. Rubi sure doesn't look like my kindergarden teacher.

So when was the last time someone referred to their brain as the computer between their ears? Well according to Michael Spivey, Associate Professor of Psychology at Cornell, the results may be similar but the processes your brain uses is very different than that of a computer. While a computer looks for complete pieces of information before begin to process, the human brain seems to work on info in a continuous fashion. When asked to select between two objects on a computer screen human subjects seemed to process the data while it was still being received. When selecting between two objects with similar names, like candle and candy, they began the selection process while still receiving the the word. Read the article for more info. So when we design products for people using a computer as a model for how our users think is likely a bad assumption. When designing products for people it is important to understand how they will deal with those products. A while back Mark recommended the book "blink" which is all about how people think. Check it out.

Let me tell you about Tyler. He had a plan. In Tyler we trusted.

Tyler says "The things you own, end up owning you."

If you want to know what Tyler says about gentrification, drop by Chicago IDSA Fight Club on July 28th.

Cuz as Tyler says, "How much can you know about yourself, you've never been in a fight? I don't wanna die without any scars. So come on; hit me before I lose my nerve."