Lifeboat Foundation

The year 2016 presented the world with a number of big surprises. Some positive, some negative, depending on whom one asks. Here at Medgadget, 2016 will be remembered for many amazing and pleasantly unexpected medical technology developments, many of which are foreshadowing cures for spinal cord injuries, effective treatment of diabetes, new ways to fight heart disease, and many other long sought-after medical solutions. Virtual and augmented reality systems, new imaging techniques, and innovative delivery approaches are changing the way doctors learn and take care of patients.

Looking back on the past year, we selected what we felt to be the most important, innovative, and surprising medical technology developments. They naturally fell into a few categories. Here we share with you Medgadget’s choices of Best Medical Technologies of 2016.

A new supercomputer has been deployed at the Jülich Supercomputing Center (JSC) in Germany. Called QPACE3, the new 447 Teraflop machine is named for “QCD Parallel Computing on the Cell.”

QPACE3 is being used by the University of Regensburg for a joint research project with the University of Wuppertal and the Jülich Supercomputing Center for numerical simulations of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which is one of the fundamental theories of elementary particle physics. Such simulations serve, among other things, to understand the state of the universe shortly after the Big Bang, for which a very high computing power is required.

The demand for high performance computers to solve complex applications has risen exponentially, but unfortunately so has their consumption of power. Many supercomputers require more than a megawatt of electricity to operate and annual electricity costs can easily run into millions of Euros. The energy supply is therefore a significant part of the operating costs of a data center. According to recent analyst studies, this represents the second-largest factor in addition to personnel and maintenance costs. The upcoming boom with (3D) video streaming, augmented reality, image recognition and artificial intelligence is driving up the demand for data center capabilities, thereby placing new challenges in the power supply sector.

Demo of lifelike interactive digital artist performance. This demo showcases one of the immediate possible applications for Mixed Reality.

We have brought to life a highly realistic, detailed character who performs for and interacts with users, while being rendered purely in real time on untethered mobile devices.

LIFELIKE DIGITAL CHARACTERS

In March this year Microsoft unveiled their new project – Holoportation, which they envision as the future of teleconferencing.

Holoportation is a new type of 3D capture technology that allows high quality 3D models of people to be reconstructed, compressed, and transmitted anywhere in the world in real-time. When combined with mixed reality displays such as HoloLens, this technology allows users to see and interact with remote participants in 3D as if they are actually present in their physical space.

Continue reading “Microsoft gives a detailed presentation on Holoportation at the ACM’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction UIST ‘16 symposium” »

A synchronization of HoloLens and Ultrahaptics.

Customizing/building your own hotel experience to fit your dream stay experience — that truly is achieving superior customer experience.

A NEW study has uncovered how the travel and hotel experience will be different in a year, 25 years and as far ahead as 2060, finding Neuro-dreaming could soon be a reality.

Eco hotels and augmented reality hotels that will transport guests to fantasy worlds are also on the cards.

Continue reading “Robo-Butlers and 3D printers could all be part of a hotel service in the future” »

Cannot wait to get my AR Contacts.

(Tech Xplore)—Can we look at a future smart contact lens for those with eye problems? The iris, a key part of our eyes, modulates the amount of light reaching the retina, said researchers, and an estimated 200,000 individuals worldwide suffer from iris deficiencies.

These deficiencies bring discomfort and extreme photosensitivity, such as aniridia and leiomyoma.

Continue reading “Smart contact lens is discussed at electron devices meeting” »

HoloMaps augmented reality map explorer for Microsoft HoloLens displays 3D cities and locations around the world for AR and VR.

The company’s demonstrations may have been impressive, but they also involved smoke and mirrors.