Finger Hinge

The hinge allows the door to swing through 180 degrees, giving it a two-way operation. This allows people in wheelchairs and the elderly, who may have difficulty opening doors towards them, to simply open the door away from them and not have to close it behind them. The door can also be locked to prevent it slamming shut, and fitting an internal door closing device inside the Finger Hinge allows it to be used as a door closer or automatic door opener.

http://www.gizmag.com/
filed under: building & construction, safety, tools

Property spectrum: Flexibility
Increasing flexibility is one of the most applied properties. Many products evolve from rigid to completely flexible. The rotating segments are constructed so that there is no gap between the door and frame.

Steel Velcro

A square metre of the new fastener, called Metaklett, is capable of supporting 35 tonnes at temperatures up to 800 ºC, claim Josef Mair and colleagues at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. And just like everyday Velcro it can be opened up without specialised tools and used again.

Mair thinks his spring-steel fastener is tough enough to be used for building facades or car assembly. "A car parked in direct sunlight can reach temperatures of 80 °C, and temperatures of several hundred °C can arise around the exhaust manifold," he says, but Metaklett should be able to shrug off such extremes.

The fastening is made from perforated steel strips 0.2 millimetres thick, one kind bristling with springy steel brushes and the other sporting jagged spikes. Metaklett can support maximum weight when pulled on in the plane of the strips, and a square metre can hold a perpendicular load of 7 tonnes, says Mair.

http://www.inewidea.com/
filed under: materials, packaging, physics

Property spectrum: Size
Producers of all kinds of products are making their products smaller and smaller. Steel Velcro has been created by reproducing the hook structure of plastic Velcro on a very small scale.

Time telescopes transfer data faster

Scientists at Cornell University have figured out a way to pack more data into pulses of light, using a system they're calling a "time telescope," which has the potential to increase fiber optic data speeds by 27 times.

The "time telescope" works by passing the data-laden pulses of light through two "time lenses." A silicon waveguide combines a passing light pulse with another infrared laser pulse that vibrates the atoms of the waveguide, in turn shifting the frequencies of the pulse before it exits the waveguide. The front of the wave pulse is shifted down in frequency, the back end shifted up. The result: the front slows, the rear speeds up, and the light pulse crushes together like a soda can that's been stepped on, with the rear catching up to the front right at the lens's focal point.

If "time telescopes" were deployed across the optical networks that connect the entire globe, we could achieve data rates that dwarf the broadband we enjoy today. Using the same wavelength channels we are using now, we could pack 27 times more information with a decompression lag at the receiving end of only one millisecond.

http://www.popsci.com/
filed under: computers & accessories, optics, technologies

Property spectrum: Pulsation
Rhythmic action evolves so that continuous action of a system or subsystem evolves towards periodic action. The pulsating frequencies of the pulse increase the speed the wave travels.

 PhotoSketch

A system that composes a realistic picture from a simple freehand sketch annotated with text labels. The composed picture is generated by seamlessly stitching several photographs in agreement with the sketch and text labels; these are found by searching the Internet. Although online image search generates many inappropriate results, our system is able to automatically select suitable photographs to generate a high quality composition, using a filtering scheme to exclude undesirable images.

http://www.ece.nus.edu.sg/
filed under: computers & accessories, technologies

Property spectrum: Automation
Automation can vary from human operated to being human aided. Systems tend to become increasingly automated. This system automatically creates a realistic picture from a sketch and internet images.

The world's first compact camera with a built-in projector, it offers an exciting way to share your photos or movie clips without the need to connect to a TV or computer. Extremely simple to operate, you only need to touch a button to project your favorites onto any flat surface: be it the wall for a presentation or the ceiling for a bedtime story. Combined with a slim body that offers superb portability and a host of automatic functions that make it easy to take superb images, sharing your stories with family and friends wherever you go was never more fun.

http://www.europe-nikon.com/
filed under: electronics, entertainment

Property spectrum: Integration
This property describes integrating different functions in your product to increase the user convenience. The new function here is that of the added projector.

IdeaPaint

The benefit, besides being able to brainstorm on almost every inch of your office, is that the paint is half the cost of whiteboard and better-performing, you can leave marks up indefinitely, and they won't stain the wall. Of course, it takes a bit of time, you may have to sand the wall and prime it, but one other benefit is that you're not incurring all the carbon involved in manufacturing and shipping a whiteboard.

http://www.fastcompany.com/
filed under: materials, office, paper

Property spectrum: Surface
This property describes the evolution of surface texture. Surfaces tend to evolve from flat, smooth surfaces towards bumpy surfaces. The smooth surface coating allows for a reusable whiteboard wall.