Electricity from Rain, Holoportation and Smart Running
February 13
With all the rain in Sydney this week, a recent breakthrough from City University of Hong Kong would have come in handy to help keep the lights on. They have developed an efficient method to develop electricity from rain. We also look at the latest in live Hologram transportation or Holoportation, wine delivery to difficult to get to places and a running shoe to improve your running.
Rain as a source of Electricity
There have been many attempts to generate electricity using rain, however to date it has proven difficult to achieve. Researchers from City University of Hong Kong may have finally developed a solution. They have built a generator that uses a field-effect transistor-style structure to instantly produce 140V (enough to light up 100 small LED bulbs) from a single drop of water.
Their design combines an aluminum electrode with an indium tin oxide electrode layered with PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene, a material with a “quasi-permanent electric charge). When a drop hits the PTFE/Tin surface it bridges the two electrodes and creates a closed loop circuit which fully releases any stored charge.
There is still work to be done to turn this into a practical product. Rain is rarely predicable and certainly not dependable however this system may prove useful in some circumstances. Building rooftops could offset at least some of the electricity used within the building, electric boats could extend their range by recharging at sea and some enterprising sole will one day invent the electric umbrella complete with lights that flash in the rain and help you see where you are stepping.
Live by Hologram
PORTL is about to release the latest version of their Hologram transportation machine. The technology allows anyone to “beam” from anywhere to anywhere else in real time. The person being beamed will have the ability to see, hear, and fully interact with their global audiences in 4K holographic resolution.
Each viewer would need the receiving box shown above. The box uses a modified 4K LCD screen as the display. The performer would be in front of a white screen where they would be filmed live and beamed to any receiving box, anywhere in the world in real time.
At Comicon in LA, PORTL provided the opportunity for visitors to try out the technology. Here are some sample shots. The PORTL website has some live video.
This BBC video shows a live demonstration.
Possible uses include, Sports/Music fan interactions, Museums with live projections of rare animal species, Digital resurrection tours (Elvis never died, he just turned into a hologram after his stint at the 7/11), University lectures and talks, Live concerts from musicians or comedians and Movie Theaters using holograms of the movie’s stars rather than cardboard cutouts. Anywhere where live interactivity from one performer to many people watching is a possible application. Besides live holoportation, PORTL can also film, produce, and edit any content or subject matter and play it back on a loop or through motion activation as a hologram movie.
Drone Delivery of Wine
What do you do when you are stuck on a Cruise Ship, anchored off Yokohama, not allowed to leave as the ship has been quarantined due to the Coronavirus and the wine fridge is empty?
This happened to an Australian couple this week. Their solution? Contact the Naked Wine Club (via a Facebook Post) and have them deliver 2 dozen bottles to the ship by drone. They didn’t notify the Japanese Coast Guard, as in this case, it is best to act first and ask for forgiveness later.
There is a technological solution for every crisis. All it takes is an imagination and some determination.
Smart Running
A London based startup called NURVV, is about to release a smart insole for running shoes that will coach runners in real-time (via a phone app) about how they can improve their running form and prevent injuries.
The insole uses a total of 32 highly precise sensors that capture the data from the feet at 1,000 times per second on each sensor. The system measures the most important technique factors of cadence, step length, foot strike, pronation and asymmetry to help you improve your running. It also provides feedback oh how safe your running is, based upon training load and individual running style.
Paying it Forward
If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.
If you have any questions or comments please email me via my website craigcarlyon.com or comment below. Substack has now enabled comments for Newsletters. Please keep comments, short, polite and relevant. I will be moderating the comments as necessary.
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Till next week.