Sat - August 7, 2004

Technically, the "optical camouflage" cloak (shown at right) isn't invisible. It's comprised of a material coated with tiny light reflective beads and cameras that project what is behind the wearer on his front, and vice versa. But the effect is startling [mpeg movie].

Tachi says he invented the technology for peaceful applications, such as rendering walls and doors invisible so that homeowners can enjoy their views, or slimming down hips by making the wearer's unsightly flab disappear. Not surprisingly, however, the world's militaries find the concept of invisible soldiers and optically camouflaged aircraft equally compelling.

The Three-Dimensional Projector

Ever since Carrie Fisher implored Obi Wan Kenobi to help her fight the Empire, I've longed to create my own three-dimensional movies. Chad Dyner, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and chief executive officer for IO2 Technologies, has invented a technology that may one day make that possible.

At first blush, IO2's Heliodisplays look no more striking than HEPA filters, but when powered up, the devices use an invisible film of water vapor to condense air above a projector, creating 5-, 15-, 27-, and 42-inch virtual screens on which to project images that seemingly float in space and that can be viewed from any angle. Sensors in the projectors monitor interruption of the video beams, enabling the images they project to be rotated or otherwise manipulated simply by touching them in the air.

IO2 envisions uses that range from advertising to surgical simulations and from transparent teleprompters to computer desks with built in video conferencing capabilities. (Question for the designers: If Susumu Tachi wears an invisibility cloak during his video conferences, what good will a three-dimensional projector be?)

The Time Machine For Sound

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford Theater in 1865, many years before reliable, semi-permanent sound recordings were developed. But America's sixteenth president reportedly created at least one phonograph recording on a metal cylinder, now lost and, most likely, corroded by age and mold and dust.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley are trying to locate that cylinder because modern technology may be able to play it, potentially giving new life to the voices of Lincoln and tens of thousands of other Americans who made phonograph records just after the Civil War.

The UC Berkeley restoration technique uses a special microscope to scan the grooves on phonographic cylinders at a resolution measured in microns. Data from such scans is interpreted by special software that translates the pits and bumps of the groove into sound frequency and intensity, while reducing distortions caused by dirt, dust, and age.

If their methods can restore Lincoln's voice, the researchers will surely be hailed as heroes—unless, of course, America's most beloved president turns out to sound more like Gilbert Gottfried than Charlton Heston.

The Pain Ray

It's no joke.

The U.S. military will have a Humvee-mounted pain ray in field service by year's end. Developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory in conjunction with Raytheon corporation, the Active Denial system uses microwave beams to heat water molecules in the skin, prompting adversaries to flee in intense pain. The agony ends when the transmitter shuts off, when its target moves out of the beam, or when the weapon's effective range is reached; reportedly, about 700 meters.

Researchers report no scalding or other lasting effects—unless a victim remains in the beam for several minutes. So a word to the wise: Be sure not to get trampled or knocked unconscious by fleeing crowds.

The Dancing Robots

They're a far cry from C3PO, but Sony's QRIO robots can walk, run, dance [Windows Media—broadband recommended], sing, and perform martial arts. The latest humanoid prototypes from an advanced technology group that hopes to create robots to care for the elderly and the infirm, to entertain human hosts, and to perform routine tasks, QRIO can already gather information and move around of its own accord, even on uneven surfaces. It also recognizes faces, expresses emotions through movement and lights, and uses artificial intelligence and a limited vocabulary to converse with curious humans.

Will the pain ray and the invisibility cloak, the dancing robot and the three-dimensional projector be used for good or for ill? History suggests: both. But history will be written by those who follow us. It is we who must choose sides.