Sci-Tech
Bring
your own PC to the World Cyber Games next year!
The
World Cyber Games to be held in Singapore next year might
just see something that has never happened before- a Bring
Your Own Computer - event. According to Straits Times,
in such a scenario, gamers will hook up with about 800 others
to play computer games within the Local Area Network (LAN).
The high-speed network will support them round the clock
for the five days of the games. International Cyber Marketing
(ICM), which is organising the games, is holding this year's
meet in San Francisco in October, the first time the grand
final is staged outside South Korea. According to ICM President
and Chief Executive Hank Jeong, "It's a new concept
that's popular in Europe. We had to push and push for it
in the US because the officials there were concerned about
security." He said that the World Cyber Games' aim
is to educate young and old people about the positive aspects
of gaming, which tends to be associated with excessive violence
and addiction. 'This means breaking such barriers as culture,
language, gender and race, to create harmony and enjoyment
for people,' he added.
The
world's most expensive gizmos revealed!
Want
to know how much you would have to shell out if you wanted
to own the most expensive car in the world, i.e. a car that
can reach a speed of 400 km/h, after which it starts lifting
off the ground? 660,000 pounds is what the most expensive
car or the Bugatti Veyron costs. According to The Straits
Times, a report prepared by the technology magazine
'Stuff', has listed some of the most expensive technological
breakthroughs. The report has revealed that the most expensive
bike in the world is the MTT Turbine Superbike, which costs
101,000 pounds. The bike, a model of which is owned by TV
show host Jay Leno, boasts of a Rolls-Royce gas turbine
normally used for helicopters. If you are a television freak,
you had better start saving because the most expensive television,
Orion Vision's PM-8401 plasma TV costs 27,000 pounds. The
television could cover your wall with a length of 2.1m and
has four screens joined together. The most expensive watch
is the Ulysse Nardin 'Genghis Khan' Westminster Tourbillon,
which could set you back by 400,000 pounds. The watch has
tiny, movable, hand-carved Genghis Khan figures on a black
onyx dial and a four-gong timing mechanism.
Phones
with happy faces that let the deaf chat!
Researchers
have developed a new software that creates an animated face
to match someone talking on the other end of a phone line,
that can help people with hearing difficulties converse,
reports New Scientist. The system was developed at Royal
Institute of Technology, in Stockholm, Sweden, University
College London, UK as well as Dutch software company Viataal
and Belgian voice analysis firm Babletech. The animated
face provides a realistic impersonation of a person speaking,
enabling lip-readers to follow the conversation visually
as well as audibly. The prototype system called SimFace
takes around 200 milliseconds - one fifth of a second -
to generate the animated annunciations. It runs on an ordinary
laptop and can be connected to any type of phone, including
a cell phone. The technology is not meant to assist people
who are profoundly deaf, but rather those who have some
hearing difficulties. According to Neil Thomas, head of
product development at the RNID, "The accuracy still
needs to be improved. There are a lot of people who struggle
with using the telephone. It really gives them an added
level of confidence."
World's
smallest submarine developed!
The
Australian National University (ANU) scientists have developed
the world's smallest, self-governing submarine. According
to News.com, the 40cm long submarine, titled Serafina, would
embark a novel approach towards oceanic discovery with its
varied functionalities. The submarine is reportedly has
a variety of applications ranging from shipwreck recovery
to mineral exploration and search-and-rescue missions. Uwe
Zimmer, the head scientist has said that Serafina has five
propellers and a plastic hull crammed with rechargeable
batteries and circuitry and is capable of travelling faster
at an underwater speed of one metre per second, equivalent
to walking pace. It could also hover, tilt and right itself
if overturned. "Small and versatile submersibles, such
as Serafina, are an important leap towards making underwater
exploration affordable and effective," Uwe was quoted
by the report as saying. "Underwater exploration and
travel is usually extremely expensive and therefore limited
either to the military or to specialised missions. Now that
we have developed the world's smallest autonomous underwater
vehicle at a reasonable cost, it provides a promising platform
to develop a fleet, or swarm, of underwater Serafinas, which
could provide valuable new data about our seas and what
lies beneath them," he added.
Source: Webindia123.com / Google
Copyright
(R) thedailystar.net 2004
|