TREND REPORTS
8 Ways the Oculus Rift Could (Eventually) Transcend Gaming
[Tech]
2015/01/13 12:23
Gizmag looks at some ways that the Oculus Rift and virtual reality could change our world. Gamers have been buzzing about the Oculus Rift for a couple of years already, and they're going to be the headset's core audience at launch. But in the long run, we believe the product has the potential to transcend gaming. Let's take a look at eight future uses for the best virtual reality headset.Perhap...
TAO Chair Lets You Work Out While Relaxing in Your Living Room
[Product]
2015/01/13 12:23
TAO Wellness shows a prototype of its TAO Chair at CES 2015.Want the exercise, but can't conjure up the energy to go to the gym? Have a seat ... and "turn downtime into exercise time." The TAO Chair, which we took a look at at CES last week, is designed to provide a dynamic workout for your primary target zones from the comfort of your living room.The TAO Chair is a low-profile exercise chair f...
(Video) Projection-Mapping Gets Personal With Facehacking
[Tech]
2015/01/13 12:23
Real-time facial effects grant actors arsenal of a thousand faces.Sorry Saw and Nightmare on Elm Street fans, ‘facehacking’ isn’t quite what you’re thinking. It could be just as exciting, though, and even alter the horror genre as we know it.Facehacking combines face movement with 3D projection mapping in real-time. A projector casts an image onto a face while a tracker keeps that image fix...
80% Of All Online Adults Now Own A Smartphone, Less Than 10% Use Wearables
[Consumer]
2015/01/13 12:23
If people are looking to Apple and its new smartwatch to kickstart wider consumer interest in wearable computing gadgets, the maker of the iPhone will have a lot of work ahead of it. New research out from the GlobalWebIndex indicates that in a survey of 170,000 adult internet users across 32 markets, only 9% report having a smartwatch, and 7% said they owned smart wristbands. In contrast, among...
Graphene can Harvest Energy through Thin Air
[Tech]
2015/01/13 12:22
Bold claims for new battery technology have been around since the invention of the lead-acid battery more than 150 years ago.But researchers at Manchester University in the UK say their latest discovery involving the new wonder material graphene could be the most revolutionary advance in battery technology yet.According to a study published in the journal Nature, graphene membranes could be use...
Hot Looking Customers Eat Hot-Pot Free At "Pay By Face" Restaurant
[Tech]
2015/01/13 12:22
A hot-pot restaurant in Zhengzhou, China has come up with an innovative cross-promotion with a nearby plastic surgery clinic. Dubbed “FREE MEAL FOR GOODLOOKING” on the cafe's outdoor sign, the promo provides free meals for attractive customers whose scanned faces are remotely rated as such by clinic consultants. Hungry candidates eager to eat at no charge begin the process at an interactive s...
O/V : Playful Oil & Vinegar Wobble Dispenser
[Design]
2015/01/13 12:22
A fun and playful object is conceptualized and designed by understanding various possibilities that can be solved in the kitchen. O/V is a small approach to understand the usability of a bottle and link it to the function of dispensing oil and vinegar at the same time on a table. The design approach is connected with the way a wobble mechanism works and can be incorporated in a kitchen/tablewar...
CES 2015 : Putting the Mobile Into Automobile
[Business]
2015/01/12 11:11
In 2007, Bill Gates stepped onstage at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to help introduce Sync, a combination GPS navigator, digital music player, and speakerphone being introduced into Fords. Mark Fields, then the head of Ford Motor’s (F) Americas operations, joined Gates for the sales pitch. He now recalls being met with incredulity. At a show traditionally dedicated...
(PDF) Pew Report - Social Media Update 2014
[Business]
2015/01/12 11:10
In a new survey conducted in September 2014, the Pew Research Center finds that While its growth has slowed, the level of user engagement with the platform has increased. Other platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn saw significant increases over the past year in the proportion of online adults who now use their sites.The results in this report are based on the 81% of America...
Streaming Boom Changes Music Landscape
[Business]
2015/01/12 11:09
A little more than a decade after Apple opened the iTunes Music Store and helped music downloads to break through to the mainstream, it appears as if listeners have already turned their backs on download stores in favor of streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora. After global download revenues had declined for the first time in 2013, the negative trend continued in 2014. According to Nie...
Text-a-Doctor App Gets Big Venture Capital Boost
[Investing]
2015/01/12 11:06
Wouldn’t it be great if you had a good friend who was a doctor and didn’t mind telling you (for free) whether a set of symptoms warranted an office visit? A rising text-a-doctor app called First Opinion aims to make that friend available to users globally. The app is raising some skeptical eyebrows in medical circles, but it’s also raising considerable funding from the venture capital commun...
The Incredible Shrinking Incomes of Young Americans
[Consumer]
2015/01/12 11:05
American families are grappling with stagnant wage growth, as the costs of health care, education, and housing continue to climb. But for many of America’s younger workers, “stagnant” wages shouldn’t sound so bad. In fact, they might sound like a massive raise.Since the Great Recession struck in 2007, the median wage for people between the ages of 25 and 34, adjusted for inflation, has fall...
