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Original air date:
10.31.07
WIRED Science Intrepid Correspondent Finds the Future at WIRED's Annual Tech Expo
It's a combination world's fair, technology convention, and geek party: every year, Wired magazine hosts Nextfest, where innovators from around the world show off some of the best and most exciting ideas, gadgets and gizmos of the near future. Ziya Tong got a sneak preview at this year's version.
Many of the innovations attempt to replicate or improve the human body. Zou Ren Ti of the Xi'an Chaoren Sculpture Research Institute, for instance, has created an android in his own image, a body double made of eerily lifelike silica gel that can speak and make simple gestures. Then there's the team from a Japanese university that is developing a kind of wheel-less wheelchair, a set of robot legs that can carry a disabled person over uneven terrain and even up stairs.
Ziya also got a look at the hydraulically controlled artificial limbs that have enabled an American soldier to walk and run again after losing his legs in Iraq. They're a nice complement to a startlingly realistic, muscle-controlled prosthetic limb custom-built for a woman born without a left arm.
For those who prefer to not move any limbs at all, a company called Brainloop has developed a system that allows a user wearing an electroencephalogram to navigate through a computer screen using only thoughts - something that could someday allow the disabled to use mental commands to control wheelchairs or home appliances.
These practical inventions are all well and good, but there's something to be said for stuff that's just good eye-candy - like the Khronos Projector. Touching a soft screen showing a photograph of a busy street makes the scene move forward or backwards in time, using hundreds of time-lapse photos.
Take a tour of what's next with Ziya Tong. And click here to see exclusive video of the wheel-less wheelchair.
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10.31.07 5:58 PM PDT
Jim
I enjoyed the bit about the plastic goo that turned stiff when struck. That would make a good body armor like in one of Lary Niven's books --- Ring World Engineers? Sounds as if the Army would be purchasing this stuff by the 55 gal. barrel full.
10.31.07 6:17 PM PDT
Charles Hutson
WHILE ZIYA WAS AT NEXTFEST THERE WAS A VERY BRIEF SCENE OF 2 BIG MOTORIZED WHEELS. YOU SET INSIDE ONE AND RIDE IN IT. WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS AND WHERE CAN I GET ONE? I THINK THEY WOULD BE A BLAST IN A PARADE. Thx: charles hutson
10.31.07 7:04 PM PDT
larry
what is this plastic goo?, would like to know more, for as possible use as a toe filler, liner, in my prosthetic
10.31.07 8:45 PM PDT
christina
What is the name of the company or research group that makes the orange goo that goes stiff when struck?
11.1.07 4:53 AM PDT
Diana
I enjoyed the segment on NextFest. Where is that held every year. Also, what is the name of the company that makes the orange goo? thanks
11.1.07 5:22 AM PDT
Wil
I have product like this, but I am always looking for a better product for my padding business. Could you give me a contact person or more information on the orange goo?
11.1.07 9:40 AM PDT
candie Perham
who makes the wheel-less wheelchair that can go up and down stairs? I would really like to see my bedroom which is upstairs and due to a stroke I'm downstairs in a normal wheel chair
11.1.07 10:20 AM PDT
Bette
I liked the goo and I am thinking of getting a prosthetic and have some concern about the end of my stump as it is not smooth and very near to the bone and I thought it goo might work as a shock absorber
11.1.07 11:42 AM PDT
Joe
You can find and buy the big wheels here
http://wheelsurf.nl
11.3.07 10:38 AM PDT
COMMON SENSE
Can anyone from "Weird" Science please tell us more about the ORANGE GOO BOOGER ... HARD PLASTIC
11.3.07 12:53 PM PDT
walteramiller
ORANGE GOO! ORANGE GOO! What's it chemical composition?
11.4.07 8:31 AM PST
chris
What is the company who produces the orange impact goo? What is the goo called?
Thanks,
Chris
11.6.07 1:46 PM PST
joshua lioi
Yeah that orange goo, intelligent something it was called right? that has applications on almost everything. Heck, boxers could go on for hours with that stuff lol. Anyone know where to buy it? Ebay maybe
Chris and I are interested.
-josh
11.7.07 9:19 AM PST
Michael Deutsch
hi, great informative shows, I'm wondering about the company that uses the eeg neural brainwave/computer interface Brainloop and how I can get in contact with them? I'm a disabled one hooked keyboardist and would like see if they can develop some kind of music/MIDI based application. www.michaelthehookdeutsch.com check out my documentary short I'm quite sure you'll be enthralled and inspired by my unique way of how I perform my chosen art form. enjoy. Thanks for your research efforts. Michael the"Hook" Deutsch
11.8.07 6:42 AM PST
aok22
hi, like most people here I'd be very keen to find out more about that polymer orange goo, it seems very interesting.
cheers.
11.10.07 4:31 PM PST
Wess
the door at the start that she walks through who made that? any information would be appreciated
11.11.07 5:50 PM PST
paul
Can anyone from "Weird" Science please tell us more about the ORANGE GOO.What is the company name?
11.23.07 1:53 PM PST
Andre Panchenko
Can you provide more information about that Orange Goo?
1.1.08 6:54 PM PST
eyob
I like the story you guys did on the wired living home and when will it be affordable for average people like me?
3.7.08 10:12 AM PST
Mary
Grande.
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