Wii makes touch-screen technology affordable

Classrooms unable to afford an interactive Smart board that costs around $2,000 could get the technology for under $100. With a Nintendo Wii controller and an infrared pen. The Wii controller is an infrared camera. It identifies the light and relays it back to the console or a computer through Bluetooth. This inexpensive technology can save schools thousands of dollars. Now you know.

IBM’s Next Five in Five

Talk to the web

According to IBM’s Next Five in Five, which lists innovations likely to change the way we work over the next five years, we could be using our voices to find our way around the virtual sphere. Text and pictures could give way to vocal commands as a means to navigate the internet, and people will be able to access “voice sites,” websites that “speak” back.

Total recall

Recalling simple everyday details will no longer be a struggle, according to IBM. Devices known as “smart appliances” will take over our recollection duties by storing minutiae of our everyday lives, whether conversations on activities we take part in. This data will then be stores and retrieved at the appropriate time prompting us to remember conversations, incidents or chores.

Harness the Sun

Within the next five years, pavements, walls and windows could become repositories of energy. Thinfilm solar cells that are 100 times thinner than conventional silicon-wafer cells could replace the conspicuous, glassy rooftop affairs we know as solar panels. The inconspicuous cells could easily also be printed on the surfaces of everyday items such as mobile phones, laptops and cars.

Digital shopping aides

Shopping in the next five years could go digital, and we don’t mean online stores. Fitting rooms will soon contain digital shopping assistants, voice-activated touchscreen booths that can be used to select items that match an outfit or look for alternate sizes or colors. Live assistants can then be notified and dispatched to retrieve the items requested.

Get the jump on ailments

According to IBM, in the next five years genetic profiling will become more affordable, and based on their DNA, people will be able to find out which diseases and conditions they are most susceptible to for less than $200. That information can then help physicians recommend the most effective treatments and lifestyle changes to minimize the chances of developing the ailments, while pharmaceutical firms will be able to customengineer medication for individual patients.

Blackberry’s public face

Popular mobile smart phone producer Rim has partnered with a number of vendors to develop applications that can help public CIOs and public employees stay up-to-date on current information, assess business analytics, communicate wirelessly with officials, and deliver quick service to constituents. Although BlackBerrys offer music downloads, sports updates many game applications, the device is more than just a sleek toy for the digital age. Some thirdparty BlackBerry applications are geared toward public-sector spheres like higher education, where the software helps faculty, staff and students to stay connected, conduct research, update records and collaborate on projects, while Impatica ShowMate is a device that lets users project PowerPoint presentations from their BlackBerry without using a laptop, displaying all aspects of a presentation from text and images to animation and slide transition effects.

By Staff