News & Analysis
Ten technologies that will shake the CE world
EET staff
1/24/2012 10:50 AM EST
CHANGE, OF COURSE, is a constant in electronics, and at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, our editors found evidence aplenty of the shifts under way in CE. Here are 10 technologies that we’re betting will alter the consumer electronics landscape this year.
Motion processing
Motion processors harness microelectromechanical system sensors to ascertain not only the orientation of a device, but also its heading and absolute location in three-dimensional space. Fusing the data streams from accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers (compasses) and altimeters (barometric pressure sensors) allows almost anything to be tracked. Gestures thus can control hardware (from game consoles to vehicle navigation systems) or inform software (from security protocols to location-based services, or LBS).
Once the domain of suitcase-sized, spinning gimbaled tops like those used to keep spacecraft and naval vessels on-course, MEMS inertial sensors are now small enough, inexpensive enough and low-power enough for deployment in even the tiniest mobile devices.
Almost overnight, MEMS inertial sensors have become standard issue for everything from drop detection (to lock up a hard drive before it impacts the floor, for example) to gesture recognition (such to activate Siri by merely bringing the iPhone 4S to your ear). Smart TVs are also upgrading to MEMS-laden remotes that more accurately control on-screen cursors by virtue of motion-processing algorithms licensed from Hillcrest Labs and Movea.
In 2012, mobile device makers will begin integrating complete inertial navigation units housing pre-calibrated accelerometers, gyros and magnetometers. Invensense recently announced a complete INU in a single, 4-mm-square package, enabling almost any mobile device to offer LBS, augmented reality and asset tracking. — R. Colin Johnson
Next: GPU compute
Motion processing
Motion processors harness microelectromechanical system sensors to ascertain not only the orientation of a device, but also its heading and absolute location in three-dimensional space. Fusing the data streams from accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers (compasses) and altimeters (barometric pressure sensors) allows almost anything to be tracked. Gestures thus can control hardware (from game consoles to vehicle navigation systems) or inform software (from security protocols to location-based services, or LBS).
Once the domain of suitcase-sized, spinning gimbaled tops like those used to keep spacecraft and naval vessels on-course, MEMS inertial sensors are now small enough, inexpensive enough and low-power enough for deployment in even the tiniest mobile devices.
Almost overnight, MEMS inertial sensors have become standard issue for everything from drop detection (to lock up a hard drive before it impacts the floor, for example) to gesture recognition (such to activate Siri by merely bringing the iPhone 4S to your ear). Smart TVs are also upgrading to MEMS-laden remotes that more accurately control on-screen cursors by virtue of motion-processing algorithms licensed from Hillcrest Labs and Movea.
In 2012, mobile device makers will begin integrating complete inertial navigation units housing pre-calibrated accelerometers, gyros and magnetometers. Invensense recently announced a complete INU in a single, 4-mm-square package, enabling almost any mobile device to offer LBS, augmented reality and asset tracking. — R. Colin Johnson
Next: GPU compute
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chanj
1/24/2012 2:40 PM EST
Spielberg's vision in Minority Report is becoming reality. What's the world is going to be like?
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agk
1/25/2012 7:31 AM EST
MEM's doing many wonders. I think soon these sensors will be woven into our fabrics and this will monitor our sitting position in front of the PC's enable to improve our performance and health.
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NSK
1/25/2012 2:07 PM EST
First you say that Google's Android will dominate, then you say how Apple's Siri will change everything. I see a bit of a conflict here.
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docdivakar
1/25/2012 2:33 PM EST
@NSK: I feel tempted to say neither one! Both aren't open systems -we know iOS isn't but Android isn't either, contrary to the claims! Google controls it but allows the source to be downloaded.
What is truly open is the up & coming Boot-2-Gecko (B2G) from Mozilla. When I met its CEO Gary Kovacs last year, one question I posed to him was-what is the future of browsers in the world of ubiquitous computing? Do they become irrelevant? Each mobile device has its own browser...
His answer was -well, wait and see. I saw a presentation yesterday, at the Stanford Faculty club where some B2G developers showed what it can do.
I hope B2G enjoys the same success as FireFox.
MP Divakar
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junko.yoshida
1/25/2012 11:43 PM EST
That is really fascinating. We all want to know more about it!!!
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docdivakar
1/30/2012 12:04 AM EST
Junko, I will keep you posted. Had a nice chat with the CTO of Mozilla and also have some presentation materials on B2G.
I understand how Mozilla monetizes FireFox but I am still in the dark about B2G's monetization mnodel.
MP Divakar
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junko.yoshida
1/25/2012 11:45 PM EST
we are not saying one is better than others...the idea of Siri-like services will surely spread everywhere over time...
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docdivakar
1/25/2012 2:41 PM EST
I generally like the list, at least for technology sake... but I think many are solutions looking for problems. One thing is sure, we are networking the heck out of anything and everything! And losing privacy fast!
MP Divakar
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pixies
1/25/2012 8:31 PM EST
And once you expand the connectivity beyond a critical scale intelligence will arise and eventually render humans obsolete.:)
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docdivakar
1/30/2012 12:12 AM EST
@pixies: scary(!) thoughts on extrapolation of networking to higher orders. I have read some what on evolutionary and self-organizing networks but I still consider them dependent on human intervention at least at several phases, for now.
Human beings are already being rendered useless on several fronts with the advances in technology. We are supposed to advance in intellectual thought and their application to work life so we can justify the need for human interaction with processes & tools (in short, work!) but that line of argument seems to be struggling for validation, in some sectors. More automation is rendering human interaction with machines & tools unwanted. I honestly don't know where this stops!
MP Divakar
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GREAT-Terry
1/25/2012 9:54 PM EST
The advance of MEMS technology is so amazing!
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t.alex
1/26/2012 10:15 AM EST
For the ARMing of Windows, i wonder if Microsoft has any way to help developers port their apps to ARM conveniently?
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tina_jeffrey
1/27/2012 10:08 AM EST
Just wanted to draw attention to CogniVue's - also founding member of EVA - latest Smart Back-Up Camera Application dewarping, object detection & distance estimation running on a single CV2201 processor - 9x9mm2 incl sys mem dissipating ~250mW. How's that for 'powerful, low-cost, energy efficient processors as key enablers of this technology'. Check it out on http://www.youtube.com/user/cognivue/videos
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