COMBINATION OF OCULUS RIFT AND KINECT

NASA engineers like what they see in Microsoft Kinect 2 as they continue to work on space robots. A NASA video released earlier this month shows how it is leveraging a combination of Kinect 2 along with Oculus Rift, the virtual reality head-mounted display, for results that have engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory highly impressed. Looking for optimal ways to maneuver robots in space, team members at JPL talked to Engadget recently about what they discovered in pairing the technologies to control a robotic arm.

above all they found that using both the Oculus Rift and Kinect brought them more immersive control, (They were among the developers to receive the first preview versions of Kinect 2. They worked with the latter's motion sensor technology, and proceeded to add Oculus Rift's immersive virtual reality, with the goal of manipulating the robotic arm.)

Alex Menzies, a Human Interfaces engineer, described his observations in working with the head-mounted display and Kinect motion sensor. According to Engadget, he said they were able for the first time with consumer-grade sensor to control a robotic limb's entire orientation. Menzies also welcomed the fact that all the visual input was properly mapped to where limbs are in the real world. "It feels very natural and immersive." The Kinect 2 brings more precision and accuracy. Human Interfaces Engineer Victor Luo said it was allowing them to track open and closed states, and rotation of the wrist. "With all of these new tracking points and rotational degrees of freedom, we were able to better manipulate the arm."

The NASA video notes explain that "Using the new Xbox One Kinect sensor they could manipulate a JACO robot arm in realtime. Also, position tracking from Kinect and rotational tracking with Oculus provided a first-person view for the operator."

The JACO arm, with its three fingers and six degrees of freedom, is from the Canadian personal robotics solutions company, Kinova, known for its platforms for rehabilitation and research. The JACO research edition robotic arm is promoted by the company as a product in the"new generation of lightweight portable robotic manipulator."

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW

The techno-chic with a few thousand dollars to spare can sport outfits that can change color on a whim.

London-based designer Amy Rainbow Winters showed just how in a FashionWare area at the Consumer Electronics Show here on Wednesday.

On display was a dress she made of fabric with fiber optics woven in and sensors in the sleeves. Light traveled through the cloth, which glowed blue. With a touch of a sleeve, Winters changed the color.

"If you feel like having a purple, the dress will be purple," Winters said. "If you later feel like having red, you have red. You just look at the sleeve and decide what color you want."

Winters designs fabric and clothes, then collaborates with technologists to made the materials needed. She works with many techno-fabrics, including some that react to sound, sun or water.

Nearby she had on display a dress with motion sensors in the cloth that changed colors if the wearer jumped.

Fabric she creates can be made into just about any garment.

"The fabric can be anything; pants, shirts, dresses, hats...," Winters said. "If someone is going to wear Google Glass they might as well wear fiber-optic pants."

Her creations are custom, and have been used in entertainment productions such as music videos or to catch eyes in ads. She is not in the ready-to-wear market.

"I've had some retailers as me about stocking, but you have to be really careful because they are so expensive to make," Winters said.

"They are showpieces; but if people have a couple of thousand dollars to spare here it is."

Fiber-optic dresses cost about $3,000 to make, but the price can rise depending on the design, according to Winters, whose creations are on display online at rainbowwinters.com.

INNOVATIONS OF 13

The Razer Blade

Razer, the gadget company behind the game-centric Razer Edge tablet, was showing off a new product at this year's E3: a super-thin Windows 8 gaming ultrabook, billed as the world's thinnest gaming laptop. Razer's probably right, too--at 0.66 inches thick and with a 14-inch screen it's a sleek little machine that still has the processing power to handle the most demanding game titles. Stuffing a gaming laptop with the internal engineering required for gaming usually means a thicker machine, but it remains to be seen if people will be willing to pony up a hefty $1,800 for the four-pound experience.

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