Tag Archives: electrostatic

CST-01: The World’s Thinnest Watch

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One of the things you may not expect to see at CES is wristwatches. Despite that fact, it’s not uncommon for companies to show up with geeky timepieces claiming to be the “world’s first” or “world’s most” this or that. This year a company called Central Standard Timing has unveiled what it claims to be the world’s thinnest watch called the CST-01 (The CST stands for “Central Standard Timing“.)

cst 01

The CST-01 watch is only 0.80mm thick. That means it’s thinner than a credit card. It uses E Ink electronic paper display to help achieve this feat. The patent-pending design is assembled by laminating the flexible watch components into a 0.5mm deep pocket etched into a single piece of flexible stainless steel. That flexible piece of stainless steel holds the display and acts as the watch bracelet.

cst 01 watch 2

Power for the watch comes from an embedded Thinergy Micro-Energy Cell that promises to charge the watch in just 10 minutes using an external dock. Thanks to the energy efficiency of the E Ink display, that charge is enough to power the watch for an entire month. One other unique feature is that you actually set the time on the base station, which cuts down on the need for buttons or a touchscreen on the watch itself.

The makers of the CST-01 are currently raising funds for production on Kickstarter, and you can pre-order one before February 22 for $129(USD). The watch is expected to ship in Q2 of 2013.

Disney’s REVEL could turn the whole world into a tactile touchscreen (video)

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Disneys Revel could turn the whole world into a touchscreen video

Disney Research think it can go one better on Tactile and Haptic touch displays by using electrical fields to add sensation to nearly anything you can touch. Using Reverse Electrovibration, REVEL works by strapping an electrostatic signal generator to your body, so when you come into contact with an object on the same electrical plane, that low-level field can be altered to create friction. It's hoped that the technology could revolutionize touchscreens, add a whole new level of feeling to augmented reality and help blind people feel their way around. There's a video after the break, but be warned, it's light on the sort of cartoony hijinks you'd normally expect from the House of Mouse.

Continue reading Disney's REVEL could turn the whole world into a tactile touchscreen (video)

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Disney's REVEL could turn the whole world into a tactile touchscreen (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 05:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an ’emotional reaction’ (hands-on video)

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Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an emotional reaction handson video

Hiding in the back of the SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies demo area -- exactly where such a project might belong -- is a dark wood chair that looks anything but innocent. Created by a team at the University of Electro-Communications in Toyko, Chilly Chair, as it's called, may be a reference to the chilling feeling the device is tasked with invoking. After signing a liability waiver, attendees are welcomed to pop a squat before resting their arms atop a cool, flat metal platform hidden beneath a curved sheath that looks like something you may expect to see in Dr. Frankenstein's lab, not a crowded corridor of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Once powered up, the ominous-looking contraption serves to "enrich" the experience as you consume different forms of media, be it watching a movie or listening to some tunes. It works by using a power source to pump 10 kV of juice to an electrode, which then polarizes a dielectric plate, causing it to attract your body hair.

After signing our life away with the requisite waiver, we sat down and strapped in for the ride. Despite several minutes of build-up, the entire experience concluded in what seemed like only a few seconds. A projection screen in front of the chair lit up to present a warning just as we felt the hairs jet directly towards the sheath above. By the time we rose, there was no visual evidence of the previous state, though we have no doubt that the Chilly Chair succeeded in raising hair (note: the experience didn't come close to justifying the exaggerated reaction you may have noticed above). It's difficult to see how this could be implemented in future home theater setups, especially considering all the extra hardware currently required, but it could potentially add another layer of immersion to those novelty 4D attractions we can't seem to avoid during visits to the amusement park. You can witness our Chilly Chair experience in the hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: Chilly Chair hands-on

Continue reading Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an 'emotional reaction' (hands-on video)

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Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an 'emotional reaction' (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pebble E-Paper Smartwatch: iOS and Android Goodness

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There are quite a few smartwatches now available to geek up your look. The Pebble watch was designed by the same people who created the inPulse watch for Blackberry, and it looks like a really nice way to link a watch with the smartphone in your pocket.

pebble smartwatch

Pebble has a 144×168 black and white e-paper display and works with both iOS and Android phones. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth, and offers wrist-based notifications including caller ID, email, calendar alerts, Facebook and Twitter messages, and allows you to remote control your music player.

pebble smartwatch 2

It can also function as a running and cycling computer, and can run custom apps as well. While it doesn’t have its own GPS built in, it can leverage the one in your smartphone, and also has its own accelerometer and vibration motor built in so those can be used in apps.

pebble smartwatch

Pebble is being crowd-funded through a Kickstarter project and a pledge of at least $115 (USD) will get you yours. With 36 days to go, the project has amassed nearly $1 million against its initial goal of $100,000, so the project is fully funded and will get made. The retail price will be $150 and it’s supposed to ship in September.

[via Uncrate]