Excerpt from the article: Device Gives New Meaning to “Power Walking” | By Devin Powell | Science NOW Daily News | 7 February 2008

“The latest fad in self-powered wrist wear is the kinetic watch, a device that converts the momentum of a swinging arm into milliwatts. But researchers have unveiled a new accessory for your knees that puts the trendy timepiece to shame. Generating more than 1000 times more energy, the “Biomechanical Energy Harvester” may provide a green way to power the portable devices of the future.

Every time you take a step, you use two different groups of powerful muscles connected to the knee. The first group pushes to kick the lower leg out. Just before full extension, the second group pulls to put the brakes on. But for Max Donelan, director of the Simon Fraser University Locomotion Laboratory in Burnaby, Canada, and his colleagues, this braking process is just useful energy going to waste. His team has created a modified knee brace with a drive train that converts the mechanical energy into electricity. “A similar principle is used in hybrid cars to make electricity when you press the brakes; it’s called generative braking,” says Donelan.”

Info via inhabitat

Screenshot from businessweek

“To create Adour’s virtual sommelier, the first high-profile example of an interactive tabletop menu, Rockwell hired a much smaller outfit, Potion Design, a New York firm started by two graduates of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology Media Lab. Their system uses high-end projectors, computers, a Web-based database, and a vision-sensing system, all tied together with proprietary software. The technology has been installed before in office spaces and museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Asia Society. But, Potion partner Jared Schiffman says, “this is the first time we’ve used this in a restaurant or service setting.” Total cost of the project: about $250,000.”

In relation to previous post: ‘robot’ bar

Prof. Sangmin Bae and his team (Lim Yuree, Stacy + Sohn Seongki + Jeong Huikyung + Park Hyejin) from ID + IM Design Lab have designed clothTag, an “RFID tagging for your clothing life.” The team is the red dot award winner of 2007:

“Clothing could be a lot smarter with clothTag – a clothing tag that stores and communicates information about the clothing to which it is attached.

clothTag uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) technology for identification and interaction with other objects, such as smart mirrors in shops, as well as with washing machines, steam irons, closets and clothes hangers, as shown in the illustrations. Beyond these devices, clothTag has unlimited possibilities for application.

The information stored and communicated is helpful to the user, and includes general laundry treatment, colour, size, material, and colour codes. clothTag is also designed to give the user information even if the user doesn’t have a reader device; the circuit of the RFID tag can form four traditional laundry icons. The water washable icon (1), acid washing icon (2), ironing icon (3) and size icon (4) are available. The form of the circuit gives the outline of each icon group and the manufacturer can print out corresponding details of each icon on the tag.

clothTag also gives information about materials used in the cloth. The bottom bar indicates name of materials and percentage of each material used. A colour chip is provided in the middle of clothTag. The main colour and exact colour code of the cloth is printed on the tag, so the user can choose the exact colour he or she wants.”