Monday 24 October 2011

Augmented Sensory Perception

I'm not really sure about what it is most people who actually ever bother to read this blog do, but as you can probably gather from this blogs title, it's about tech. And so with this in mind I shall discuss my current university project which also happens to be my thesis subject material and is tech related.

Currently there is a gigantic variety of differing technologies which are aimed at aiding people by providing the user with additional information about the environment around them. I see this revolution in portable information to be an incredibly good thing, for one I can't even begin to say how many times google maps has helped me out when I've been lost. I'd just whip out my smartphone and load googlemaps, tell it to find me and then input my destination and away I went.

Solutions like google maps, G.P.S and what not are all brilliant, but all have one or two snags. For one google maps and G.P.S technologies in general rely on static information being true, for example google maps may display that the nearest bank is two blocks away but when you arrive you discover it's been knocked down and a starbucks built over the top. My point here is that a lot of technologies can't give real-time information about the environment at large around the user, and those that can tend to rely on providing the user the information via audio or visual cues.

My project, Augmented Sensory Perception is meant to partially address this issue by providing people with VibroTactile feedback directly proportionate to the physical distance between a person, and physical objects around them.

Ultrasonic VibroTactile Belt
As can be seen in my rough sketch, VibroTactile units will be attached to a belt, these units will transmit short bursts of ultrasonic sound much in the same way that dolphins or bats do to 'see'. The unit will calculate the distance between the sensor and the object that the sound has bounced off of, as is normal in echo location. The unit will supply the wearer with vibrational feedback on the belt at differing intensities according to the distance between the wearer and the physical object.

It is using vibrational feedback that this technology is different to many existing technologies. Specifically this kind of setup can aid visually impaired individuals to navigate the world at large by providing vibrotactile feedback to give them a better understanding of their proximity to objects within range of the ultrasonic sensors. The main issue that visually impaired users have with most existing technologies is that the existing tech specifically relies on the second most prevelant human sense - hearing. As visually impaired users rely on their sense of hearing to perform tasks that most would use their sense of sight to perform, it seems counter intuitive to use the sense of hearing for assistive technologies as they will tie the visually impaired users most prevalent sense.

Having established that VibroTactile feedback can be beneficial to users who are visually impaired, this same technology can also be adapted to be used in vehicles. Whilst it is not uncommon to find vehicles that use ultrasonic sensors to aid the driver by providing auditory and visual alerts on a screen when the vehicle is getting dangerously close to solid objects, it IS unusual to provide the driver with VibroTactile information with regards to the proximity of objects around. It would not be difficult to modify a car seat and seatbelt to provide vibrotactile feedback according to objects around the vehicle.

My project therefore does not target one specific group of potential users, but rather the project is to design, develop, build and implement an abstract technology that can be adapted to various applications.

I have designed a rough schematic for part of the system, the ultrasonic array, micro controller for the array and a way of interfacing the sensor and microcontroller to a P.C (or another embedded system).

I'll be updating this blog with my progress as I go, It is my intention to keep the entire project open source and all schematics and hardware I design will eventually be released under an unrestrictive license for others to expand upon and use in their own research.

Friday 21 October 2011

Steve Jobs Claimed that Android was a blatant ripoff of Apple products

As the title says, the late Steve Jobs declared that the Android O.S was a 'stolen' idea from Apple.
I refute the claim that Android is a stolen Apple concept. Read the following excerpt from this BBC article.


"Steve Jobs said he wanted to destroy Android and would spend all of Apple's money and his dying breath if that is what it took to do so.
The full extent of his animosity towards Google's mobile operating system is revealed in a forthcoming authorised biography.
Mr Jobs told author Walter Isaacson that he viewed Android's similarity to iOS as "grand theft".

Now I fully understand that if Android was a rip off of Apple iOS (iPhone OS) then yes, he had every right to have such animosity toward the Android O.S on smartphones. The truth however is exactly the opposite of this. To those of you who not aware, Android, Inc was the name of the original company developing the operating system and began it's work in 2003. Yes 2003 - that's 4 years before Apple announced the iPhone. To put it into perspective, google acquired Android, Inc in 2005.

I believe this alone is quite enough to show that Android took an independent route during its development. Indeed the way the O.S works and looks is intuitively designed for a mobile device BUT is nothing original, similar to Apple's iOS.

Both developers noticed that many users of home computers keep all of their files, software shortcuts etc... on their desktop as it makes it much easier to access quickly. The idea that Apple 'invented' the iOS software selection menu is stupid. All they did is take what p.c/mac/linux users have been using for years and modified it to work on a phone. I don't believe Apple, Google, Microsoft or indeed ANY company can argue that they hold patents on the 'desktop shortcut' and as that's all iOS and google use, I truly believe that Apple claiming that Android is 'stolen' technology is absurd, rather both are simply extensions of existing mechanisms.

The tech industry doesn't reinvent the wheel for each new technology - rather the tech industry modifies the wheels original concept to different purposes. After all you wouldn't use a tractor wheel on a bus for example. The same is true for software technologies.

Apple is behaving like a spoiled child that can't have its own way. If Apple truly want to compete in the Android sector of the market, they need to lay off the frivolous court cases and develop a budget iPhone model to compete in the same price bracket as Android phones.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Adobe Flash Player 10.3 for Sony Ericsson Xperia X8

With all of the current android handsets on the market these days it can really be quite confusing choosing one. In the low to mid-range it's quite difficult to find a specific handset that gives the most functionality for the least amount of money. And for many the tipping factor can be something as simple as "Does it support flash player?"

I myself am a Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 user, the X8 is a great little android phone and the one thing that really got on my nerves with it is the lack of any real flash support. Sometimes I want to browse the web and view 4oD which to those of you that aren't British is a youtube channel streaming British T.V shows. Unfortunately my handset lacked  any real support for adobe flash player and the one 'hacked' flash that was available was absolutely terrible. That is until now!

A fellow who goes by the alias Paul1989 over at the XDA forums (a forum dedicated to android modification located here) kindly gave me permission to link to his original thread that provides a handy .apk file that brings a fully functional, stable and most importantly - smooth port of adobe flash 10.3 to the Xperia X8.

Paul has spent a good amount of his free time developing this and if you like it, feel free to donate to his paypal; or leave him a thanks - you can find his paypal here if you feel he deserves a donation. You can view the original thread here and download the appropriate .apk file paul1989@xda_flash_player.10.3.apk from his thread. Additionally Paul has provided a BBC iPlayer .apk for U.K users to watch iPlayer on their android handsets.... good stuff!