Saturday, September 21, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Disney develops 'magical' device to make fingertips sing
Disney develops 'magical' device to make fingertips sing
Disney has developed a device to transmit sound through the human body.
The Ishin-Den-Shin technology uses a standard microphone to record audio and then converts it into an inaudible signal transmitted through the body of the person holding the microphone.
When they touch someone's earlobe, an organic speaker is formed and the sound becomes audible, effectively whispering a message into that person's ear.
The sound can be passed from person to person using any physical contact.
The technology, which was developed at Disney Research in Pittsburgh, received an honorary mention at this week's Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria.
Small vibrations
It records sounds through a device fitted to the microphone that creates a "modulated electrostatic field" around the user's skin.
"When touching another person's ear, this modulated electrostatic field creates a very small vibration of the earlobe," Disney Research says on its website.
"As a result, both the finger and the ear together form a speaker, that makes the signal audible for the person touched.
"The inaudible signal can be transmitted from body to body, using any sort of physical contact."
The recorded sound can be heard only by the specific ear touched.
The body of the microphone holder transmits a high amplitude, low power inaudible electrical signal
The use of bodies to conduct sound has been on the increase.
Bone conduction, a technology that transmits sound through to the inner ear through bones of the skull, is used in Google's Glass, and in some high-spec headphones.
"You can of course transmit signals through the body because it can conduct electricity," said Trevor Cox, professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford, "but I don't know quite what they are going to do with this."
He added that the technology would be "almost magical and appear to come from nowhere".
Ishin-Den-Shin is a Japanese mantra that translates as, "What the mind thinks, the heart transmits," and represents unspoken mutual understanding.
Meet the new Miss America - first contestant of Indian heritage to win!
Miss New York Nina Davuluri is crowned as Miss America 2014 by Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan.Photo / Mel Evans
Nina Davuluri became the first contestant of Indian heritage and the second consecutive contestant from New York to win the Miss America pageant.
Davuluri, 24, won the title as the nationally televised pageant returned home to Atlantic City.
She succeeds another Miss New York, Mallory Hagan, whose tenure was cut short when the pageant moved back to Atlantic City after a six-year stint in Las Vegas, where winners were chosen in January.
Davuluri performed a classical Bollywood fusion dance for her talent competition.
After the traditional frolic in the Atlantic City surf Monday morning, she will head to the scene of a devastating boardwalk fire in the New Jersey communities of Seaside park and Seaside Heights on Monday afternoon.
The pageant had pitted 53 contestants one from each state, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in swimsuit, evening gown, talent and interview competitions.
"This is where we belong," Sam Haskell, CEO of the Miss America Organization.
"This is the home of Miss America, and this is where we're going to stay."
Much attention had been given to Miss Kansas, Theresa Vail, who is believed to be the first Miss America contestant to openly display tattoos. She has the Serenity Prayer on her rib cage and a military insignia on the back of a shoulder. While other contestants wore glamorous costumes and elaborately decorated footwear during Saturday night's "show-us-your-shoes" parade on the Boardwalk, Vail wore camouflage gear and Army boots.
In a Twitter message Sunday, Vail wrote: "Win or not tonight, I have accomplished what I set out to do. I have empowered women. I have opened eyes."
Vail made it to the Top 10 and won a nationwide voters' choice award propelling her into the semi-finals.
Another noteworthy contestant was Miss Florida, Myrrhanda Jones, who made it into the top 5 while wearing a bejeweled knee brace. She tore ligaments in her knee while rehearsing her baton twirling routine on Thursday. Sunday night, she performed the routine flawlessly.
The pageant started in Atlantic City as a way to extend the summer tourism season for an extra weekend.
Tattooed Maori denied entry to public bath in Hokkaido
Tattooed Maori barred by bath in Hokkaido
With the Olympics headed to Tokyo, government officials are raising concern after a New Zealand woman with a traditional Maori tattoo was denied entry to a bathhouse.
Erana Te Haeata Brewerton, who was attending an academic meeting on indigenous languages, said Friday she was refused entry to the bath in Eniwa, Hokkaido.
Tattoos are often associated with yakuza, and many public institutions bar people who have them as a way to keep gangsters out.
Maori people have facial “ta moko” tattoos because they “tell people who the person is and where they are from,” Brewerton said. “My moko tells other Maori people which tribe I am from.”
“We protested, saying the tattoo was not anything anti-social and that only respected people are allowed to wear them in her culture,” said Kenji Sekine, an Ainu language lecturer.
The episode last Sunday came just hours after Japan was awarded the rights to host the 2020 Olympics and as the government readied a welcome campaign for foreigners.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said he thinks “it is important to respect the cultures of foreign countries.”
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Rion Paige - Judges are "Blown Away" - THE X FACTOR USA 2013
Why has this video of a 13 year old country singer gone viral?
Today on TheBlaze, the biggest story has been the video of Rion Paige’s performance on X-Factor. Paige, who has a rare disease that has left her wrist joints deformed and blind in one eye, blew away the judges with her rendition of a Carrie Underwood song – including the notoriously harsh Simon Cowell.
Watch the video below:
Why is this video going viral? Glenn had a theory on radio this morning.
“America is looking for the stories because they’re looking for somebody to verify what they have always known to be true, that they are not victims, that they are empowered,” Glenn explained.
“As I’m watching TheBlaze and I’m seeing the stories that you are reading now, you have changed. You have changed. You used to be much more interested in stories of what’s going on. You still are. The number three story, the number four story, five story, those are all about the news of the day. But almost every day the top one or two stories is something about the little guy winning,” he said.
“The number one story right now by three times is the 13‑year‑old country singer that brought Simon Cowell to his feet. It is the story of a woman who would ‑‑ some would call handicapped, but she doesn’t ‑‑ she doesn’t appear handicapped to me. She is bright, intelligent, she doesn’t ‑‑ she doesn’t hide it, she doesn’t care. She’s not embarrassed by it, and I don’t think she wants any sympathy. She’s just a person that just, her body operates differently than everybody else and here’s who she is. And it’s an amazing story and amazing video.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)