An on-demand, illuminated bike lane? Gesture controls with your iPhone? A touch-screen wall? Yup, they’re all in this week’s Looking Ahead
LightLane Provides Bikers with Impromptu
Illuminated Cycling Lane
When you’re on your bike the only thing to
fear is fear itself. And cars. And snow. And sand. Also, stones, bits of trash, the
night…Well, LightLane looks to mitigate the last item on the list, providing
cyclists with a clever cushion on those dusk till dawn bike rides. In addition
to some potent LEDs, the LightLane uses two diode-pumped solid state green
lasers to dynamically ‘paint’ a line on the left of the rider. This long
stretch of neon-green light provides a makeshift bike lane that drivers can readily see and hopefully respect.
The product, at one time simply relegated
to the realm of ‘concept,’ has been met with overwhelming support, prompting the
designers to move the LightLane into production.
Flick-Gesture Control Comes to Apple TV via
the iPhone
If you’re an Apple fan-boy/girl then you’re
in for a real treat. The iPhone 3.0 version of the Remote app brings gesture
control to your Apple TV box in what is being dubbed ‘a huge improvement’ in
terms of navigation. The 3.0 upgrade of the app provides a blank space on your iPhone/iPod Touch screen which you can use to navigate through menus.
Essentially, it acts much the same as a laptop trackpad with mouse-clicks
replaced by tapping the screen. Perhaps where the upgrade provides the greatest
utility is in the searching category where the iPhone keyboard is now at your disposal
to enter search criteria. It is a shame, though, that Apple didn’t go one step
further and make use of the iPhone’s accelerometer to enable full-motion
gesture control.
Follow the source for a video of the app
in action
The TouchWall
It was only a matter of time before someone
put together a touch-screen wall and while this particular model recently
demoed at Cannes is not likely the first, it certainly has some intuitive quirks.
The TouchWall, designed by Schematic, is capable of detecting RFID badges of
those standing nearby. It then provides a personal workspace relative to badge’s
owner, offering relevant maps and directions to where they need to go as well
as providing social networking features, such as the ability to leave messages
for other guests.
I like the idea of the light lane for bikes but am not sure if cars will actually respect this line and maintain a safe distance fro mthe biker…the touch wall is cool…hope it comes at a place where I can touch and make my own space.