Grant Banks

Light Blue Opitcs (LBO) has won the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Innovation Awards 2010 prize for Product Design with its Light Touch interactive projector. The device uses an infra-red touch sensing system that transforms a projected image into a virtual 10-inch touch screen. It allows users to interact with multimedia content and applications by touching the image, which can be projected onto any flat surface.  Read More

Losing picks is the bane of a guitarist's life. Some resort to fabricating ad-hock plectrums from ice cream container lids, expired credit cards or whatever else they have lying around the house, but consistently getting the right shape is a difficult and time consuming challenge. Scissors just don't cut it ... and that's where the Pick Punch comes in.  Read More

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new infrared imaging system that delivers a 16-fold increase in resolution over long wavelength infrared radiation (LWIR) cameras currently used in industrial, security and nighttime surveillance applications. Based on a type of semiconductor called a Type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice, the IR camera is mercury-free, more robust, cheaper to produce and can collect 78 percent of the light showing temperature differences as small as 0.02° C.  Read More

Jawbone, a company better known for its Bluetooth headsets, has now released a Bluetooth speaker system that makes use of two powerful acoustic drivers and ultra-small speakers that work in concert with an innovative moving-wall passive bass radiator and airtight enclosure. The company says this is the first time this technology has been seen in a personal speaker system and delivers more punch than you'd expect from such a small unit.  Read More

Japanese company Takayanagi is taking orders for its first one person electric vehicle, the Miluira. Due to be shipped in March 2011, the retro-styled all-electric car has a range of only 35 km on a full charge, a maximum speed of 37 mph (60km/h) and a rather lengthy recharge time of 12 hours.  Read More

A technique helping stroke victims regain their mobility has won the 2010 Danish Research Result of the Year award and is now attracting attention from investors keen to see the research move from the lab and into rehabilitation centers. Professor Ole Kaeseler Andersen of the Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction at Aalborg University, Denmark, has developed method that uses the nervous system's natural reflex reaction to pain to aid stroke patient rehabilitation.  Read More

A new high performance fiber that is better at absorbing energy without breaking than Kevlar has been created by the U.S Department of Defence. While still under development, the material could be used in bulletproof vests, parachutes, or in composite materials for vehicles, airplanes and satellites in the future. The fiber has been engineered from carbon nanotubes spun into a yarn and held together using a polymer. The resultant material is tough and strong while still remaining flexible.  Read More

Electric rental cars are set to take to the streets next year with both the Hertz and Enterprise Rent-A-Car companies committing to adding electric vehicles to their fleets. Next week (December 15) Hertz plans to begin its ConnectByHertz car sharing program in New York City with the service expanding to San Francisco, Washington D.C, Texas, London and China by the end of 2011. Meanwhile Enterprise has announced that from January 2011 they will begin rolling out EV rentals in Phoenix, Tucson, Knoxville, Nashville, San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle, although it is not clear how many vehicles will be available at each location and from what date.  Read More

A breakthrough in supercapacitor performance has been achieved with the development of a device that can store as much energy as a battery while recharging in seconds. The graphene-based supercapacitor being developed in the U.S. by researchers at Nanotek Instruments can store as much energy per unit mass as nickel metal hydride batteries and could one day be used to help deliver almost instant charging to recharge mobile phones, digital cameras or micro electric vehicles.  Read More