Unrepentent space geeks such as myself, when we complain about the snail’s pace of current efforts to explore the universe beyond our planet’s orbit, are often told that things have to happen slowly because space projects are expensive. And indeed they are – but rarely more expensive than the annual advertising budget for a global corporation, and definitely smaller than the arms budgets of certain nations. There’s plenty of money about, it seems, just a lack of willing on the part of the keepers of that money. Centauri Dreams discusses a new paper on this subject, asking the question ‘How Far A Frontier?’
Looking Through The Windows
Another hands-free computer interface announcement, but this one doesn’t need feet either. Eye-tracking systems for GUI control of computers have been tricky to implement up till now, thanks to the levels of false positive generated by the nature of the human gaze. But a team of German researchers have used psychological know-how to refine their Eye-Controlled Interaction (EYCIN) system, by factoring out the minute random movements of the eye and laying out GUI pages in a more user-friendly fashion.
Mice Underfoot
Using a mouse is everyday second nature for huge numbers of people, but not everyone has the luxury of limbs that can grasp one. Three bright sparks at the UK wing of Hewlett Packard have made an attempt to address this imbalance by patenting a foot-controlled user interface device that can replicate all the functions of a mouse and more. While they invisage a variety of hands-free applications for their invention, this could go a long way towards empowering a group of people somewhat left behind by modern computer interface designs.
New Column: Jamais Cascio on The Geoengineering Option
Jamais Cascio returns to Futurismic to examine our potential choices in the face of environmental catastrophe. If the worst-case scenario ends up as the only game in town, geoengineering may not be the best or most sensible option – but we need to consider it now, before it becomes the only option.
Continue reading New Column: Jamais Cascio on The Geoengineering Option
Start Hoarding Those Frequent Flyer Points
Stop squandering your air-miles on cross-country jaunts or upgrades to first class! A British electrician has blown 2 million of them for a ticket on a Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo ticket to orbit – at least, he has if notorious UK tabloid The Sun is to believed, so I’m personally remaining skeptical on the absolute truth of this story. That’s one way of incentivizing brand loyalty, though.