Raw Ink January 2014 | Page 36

8. Wysips Connect LiFi Your next Internet hotspot could be a light bulb! SunPartner Technologies unveiled Wysips Connect, a smartphone sensor based on LiFi (a wireless networking standard that uses LED light to send data instead of radio waves at broadband speeds), which can be used to provide valuable indoor services! Though LiFi will probably not be overtaking 4G or WiFi as the go-to data sending carrier, it can be used for many other supportive applications. Using LiFi, buildings owners will soon be able to install overhead lights to track your location more precisely than before and to offer data feeds based on where you stand. If LiFi becomes common in smartphones, shopping malls, airports or hospitals could use the technology to push local map data to a user's phone, or help them find a product's location in an oversized supermarket. 9. Intel Edison Ever wanted a PC that could fit in your fist? Well, Intel has one for you. Last week, Intel revealed Edison, a tiny, ultra-power-efficient development platform the size of an SD card that is small enough to drop into just about anything. The Intel Edison board features a low-power 22nm 400MHz Intel® Quark processor with two cores, integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and much more. It can be designed to work with almost any device—not just computers, phones, or tablets, but chairs, coffeemakers, and even coffee cups. The idea is to offer a development system for wearable devices, which can easily interact with the surrounding. Intel showed off the capabilities in a live demonstration of the device, where the Edison was attached to regular off-the-market sensors that monitor’s a baby’s temperature, breathing and motion, and a automatic bottle warmer. Depending on the baby’s current state, the bottle warmer gets activated automatically to heat the milk for the baby! Intel hopes to provide such simple solutions to everyday problems, and the future looks bright for Edison! 10. Oculus Rift The Oculus Rift is an upcoming virtual reality head-mounted display, being developed by Oculus VR Corporation. Ever wanted to be in a middle of a volcanic eruption, pilot a spacecraft or walk on Mars in your underwear? Well, you cannot do all of that in real life (yet), but you can atleast pretend to do it in a virtual reality, and you will soon be able to do that thanks to Oculus VR. 34