A new software tool may allow people to tap into other people's brains, as scientists are working to take advantage of data that otherwise may just be lost.
The software forms "digital knowledge maps" of how users made decisions or figured out complex ideas. The software would blend in with users' Web browsers and build digital maps that show the thought processes people go through as they research and collect information on the Internet, and then make the map available for others.
The result will help others work through decisions and ideas much more quickly, as well as add their own insights to the process in a seamless way.
According to researchers at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon Human Computer Interaction Institute, Americans spend more than 70 billion hours a year mentally processing data they collect online, whether it's trying to decide what mobile gadget to buy or what kind of puppy they should adopt.
"The problem is just about all of this effort is lost because no one else is benefiting from it other than you and you yourself in a few months have probably forgotten a lot of what you learned," Aniket Kittur, of the institute, said. "Yet in most cases, when someone finishes a project, that work is essentially lost, benefiting no one else and perhaps even being forgotten by that person. If we could somehow share those efforts, however, all of us might learn faster."
"As you start to get more people using these, we start to get more structure emerge that is common to people who have different goals," Kittur explained.
Tools like this could have many implications. To begin with, tapping into collective knowledge could be used in commerce, as people benefit from others' Web searches, taking that knowledge to help them make more efficient complete decisions.
For example, if someone is trying to decide between an iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy, the old ways of searching may have people trying to decipher between often-confusing statistics. However, a digital knowledge map may help the buyer determine what factors have led other people to make the choices they did, and guide them to choose a phone based on what's really important for their personal needs -- not a decision based on numbers and advertising.
Knowledge mapping may also help in several other industries, including travel, scholarly research, or anywhere that other Web searchers have invested a lot of knowledge and processed what they've learned.
The software may also shift how people process the information they gather themselves online. The researchers, using eye tracking, showed as the knowledge maps are modified by more users, new people using them spend less time looking at a site's specific content elements, but look more at structural parts such as labels.
However, the science is not complete, and researchers said there are still many problems in getting people to use all the brain mapping the software can provide.
The participants in a study favored maps made by a succession of users, not a map created by one other person. They also tended to favor their own brain maps, not those made by one other person.
Scientists said it may be possible to get around that problem by using automated maps that look as if they've been revised by multiple users. If this happens though, people who depend on others' thoughts -- rather than trusting their own -- may end up making decisions based on research devised by a scientist, instead of through others' true thought processes.
For crafty tech fans sick of paying high prices for cell phones, a solution may be at hand: make your own.
MIT's Media Lab created a do-it-yourself cell phone, with parts running about $150. Once assembled, the wooden phone can make and receive calls using the same networks and SIM cards as traditional phones, and even features caller ID.
The finished product looks like a clunker from 1997, a far cry from today's sleek smartphones, but the challenge of putting it together may appeal to tinkerers and people who catch the DIY bug from excessive Pinterest use.
The phone isn't practical -- many high quality smartphones cost about the same, do a lot more, and don't need assembly -- but the project shows mobile technology has advanced to a point where piecing together a basic phone is as simple as assembling an Ikea bed.
The home-grown phone kits will probably not become available for commercial use due to FCC rules about using U.S. airwaves for homemade devices. However, MIT's project demonstrates how easy it is to assemble a rudimentary phone, which may inspire others to try their hand at making a knockoff iPhone or black market Galaxy S, although cobbling together all the features those handsets offer would significantly increase the price of parts.
Still, there is interest in these kind of tinkering. One man already tried his hand at a mock-up iPhone, although it did not make calls. Another handy student went further, buying a touchscreen and piecing together old computer parts to create a fully functional faux-iPad for about $125.
Phone users looking for customized experiences often "jailbreak" their phones, overriding conventional settings to play around with software options. Sometimes this creates problems, as it leaves phones vulnerable to malware and security invasions, but it points to consumer desire to take control over their mobile technology experience and to deepen their understanding of the mechanisms at work.
MIT's DIY kit may appeal to that type of phone user, as it encourages customized hardware, and although it will likely not be available for in stores, it shows the growing interest in personalizing phone hardware.
An Australian pilot aborted a landing just 150 meters from the ground after a text message distracted him, highlighting how dangerous phones can turn even the friendly skies.
Everyone loves the smell of new things -- new cars, new books, new Apple products. And now you can smell like a MacBook, with a new laptop-inspired fragrance.
Scientists are turing living snails into batteries, highlighting the innovative solutions for alternative-energy espionage.
Researchers at Clarkson University transformed snails into energy transmitters, using an implanted device to harness energy from the creative's blood sugar. Power generated from a mollusk hardly propels a snail, but the project's implications are promising, demonstrating how batteries can capture power from natural energy sources.
The scientists effectively yoked a living creature's daily motions to a power source, fueling batteries with the movements of an unassuming snail. The snail traveled slowly and only generated tiny amounts of energy, but the project's success points to methods of capturing energy from the day-to-day movements in animals and humans.
"In this [direction] the biofuel cells are expected to operate in small creatures [snails, worms, insects, etc.] providing sustainable electrical power for various sensors and wireless transmitters," said Evgeny Katz, one of the scientists working on the project. The research team suggested these snails could act as living sensors for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, crawling along as a discreet and energy-efficient form of surveillance.
The snail battery is one of several recent forays into alternative energy sources aimed at mobile technology, although its security implications makes it stand apart. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison created a shoe insert that harnessed electricity from footsteps, showing other ways researchers are seeking to translate human motion into energy.
Along the same lines, a company is exploring cheap and eco-friendly battery charging with a fabric called Power Felt, capable of conducting human body heat to charge mobile devices. Both of these inventions harness human activity as power, but use clothing and shoes to do so.
Like the snail battery, these innovations are in the early stages of development, but suggest viable alternatives to traditional energy sources may be on the horizon. As for the snail battery's capacity to spy, snail-based surveillance tools would tail the target both literally and figuratively. However, scientists may want to look into faster-moving animal conductors.
A stuffed Steve Jobs toy is paying tribute to the late great Apple founder, but just like other homages, it may be blocked before hitting the market.
Cleverly dubbed the iCEO, the toy from pillow-maker Throwboy is 15-inches tall and outfitted with Jobs' iconic uniform of a black mock turtleneck and jeans. Complete with removable wire-rimmed glasses and a wry smile, the limited-edition toy is available for pre-order through Throwboy's website.
Millions, even billions, of people will remember where they were when they heard Jobs passed away, much in the way people remember the death of other leaders who inspired them, like John F. Kennedy or John Lennon. Many celebrate his accomplishments, and that emotion translates into a cottage industry of Jobs merchandise.
Throwboy plans to manufacture 1,200 of the iCEO, sold for $60 each with a maximum of two per order for an August 2012 shipment. Additionally, 10 percent of the profits go to American Cancer Society. Creator Roberto Hoyos told Mashable the product "comes from a place of love" for someone who had a great impact on his life.
"Here at Throwboy, we won't forget how we were indulged by the man in the black mock turtleneck," says the Throwboy website. "Instead, we celebrate the life of this inspiring person whose raving passion for all things tech kept us craving innovation and lusting after his creativity."
But Apple may object to the toy, regardless of good intention.
Throwboy maintains the product is a way to memorialize Jobs, but Apple has shunned past attempts at physical representations of its founder. Production for an action figure from In Icons that presented remarkably life-life detail was halted after requests from Jobs' family and Apple's legal team.
A similar product, a four-inch tall action figure from MIC Gadgets, was removed from the market in 2010, when Apple claimed the product violated copyrights and trademarks.
But those with great respect for Jobs are eager to buy mementos and learn more about his life. While online orders the action figures were immensely popular before being pulled, Jobs' biography was a top seller in 2011, and Sony is working to develop the book into a biopic focusing on how Jobs created Apple.
Throwboy's new product is a way for Jobs' admirers to remember the engineer and visionary who defined early 21st century technology. But, given how past attempts to honor Jobs were received, Apple could interpret it as an invasive, even insensitive, type of memorial and the Jobs family may object to its distribution.
A high-tech, "interactive" teddy bear is showing Apple's youngest fans that no age is too early to heed the iPhone's siren song.
Developed by Happitaps, the iPhone Interactive Bear comes with a free app, transforming the bear into a talking, singing and game-playing companion for children as young as 18 months. Parents can slide their iPhones or iPod Touches into the bear's face and entertain their children for hours, granted adults don't need to use the handset themselves.
The Interactive Bear features a toddler mode for children too young to understand the concept of apps, and offers educational games for older kids. Children can practice ABCs and listen to the bear read stories.
Childhood is probably still enjoyable without the latest technological gadgets, but the build-up of kid-friendly iPhone accessories flooding the market indicates businesses are betting big on little ones getting their hands on Apple products.
Apple is promoting the iPad's potential as a learning tool, but accessories like Interactive Bear use the company's products as extra-curricular entertainment. One study says more toddlers know how to play Angry Birds than tie their shoes, indicating children quickly pick up mobile technology with intuitive ease.
In addition to the Interactive Bear, iPhone accessories on the market can transform the device into an Etch-a-Sketch, targeting both children and nostalgic adults. Lego developed another product aimed at the diaper demographic, introducing an app and accompanying toys that turn Legos into a challenging puzzle.
Interactive Bear represents the next wave of toys, interconnected with the mobile technology taking children's products by storm. The iPhone's operating system appeals to children's learning style, making the phone a potentially useful education buy for kids.
No word on whether the toy completely protects the iPhone from drool or juice, but it could provide valuable learning and entertainment.
Checking for sobriety could be as easy as breathing on your cell phone, with new technology from a Japanese operator that takes personal monitoring to new levels.
NTT Docomo debuted a breathalyzer specifically designed for a smartphone at the Mobile World Conference. The snap-on case uses sensor technology to measure breath odor, and alcohol concentration.
The invention is the latest gadget to show how technology on phones can offer a number of useful services, and the innovation in its sensor technology could lead to a number of possibilities for health and safety interactivity.
The device, tested by many people at MWC, ranks the user's inebriation level from 1 to 5 and reports alcohol concentration after breathing into the attachment. In theory, such information could curb drunk driving, even though the user's choices ultimately determines that decision.
The breathalyzer attachment poses a certain appeal for law enforcement use during traffic stops, but its use by everyday people could be interpreted as an effort to skirt the law. People who use their own portable breathalyzers, and still drive drunk, could pose a danger to themselves or others if they misinterpreted the results, or if the device was faulty.
In the past, law enforcement took issue with a smartphone app alerting drivers to DWI checkpoints, as drivers violating the law could try to avoid getting pulled over. In response to concerns from enforcement agencies and lawmakers, developers removed the apps.
Regardless of its real-life applications, the sensor technology provides a host of possibilities. NTT Docomo's sensor technology, with its compact, case-sized device, has other hygiene and lifestyle applications, like a body fat and muscle percentage measurement tool, and a weather sensor that calculates atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity.
These uses could be just the tip of the iceberg for the technology, which offer other diagnostic benefits.
As a breathalyzer, the sensor technology is a useful innovation, since phones are kept close by their owners' sides. But expanded testing could lead to other, inventive uses as smartphones become much more than devices for communication.
A bus rider, sick of overhearing fellow commuters' conversations, took matters into his own hands with a call-jamming device, drawing attention to mobile etiquette in a public space.
A news station in Philadelphia investigated a man, identified as Eric, who was jamming cell phones of other riders after he found their conversations distracting. Though such devices are illegal under federal law, Eric says it's a good move.
"It's still pretty irritating, and quite frankly, it's pretty rude," he told NBC 10.
Many people talk on phones in public, and they very well may discuss things other don't want to hear. But impeding those conversations is illegal, and potentially hazardous, since a cell jamming device could unintentionally block public safety transmissions.
Still, Eric's gutsy reaction to the common behavior proves some people have reached their tolerance limit when it comes to public behavior and cell phones.
NBC 10 started its investigation after an employee witnessed Eric jamming cells on the bus. They reported it's illegal to own, buy or sell a cell phone jammer, punishable by a fine of up to $16,000, but that didn't seem to faze Eric.
"It is my understanding it is more of a gray area. It is my understanding that it's illegal to, you know, stop a television signal, a radio signal. You know, it's my understanding, according to the FCC, that it's not illegal to disrupt a cell phone signal," Eric said.
Some public spaces have policies against cell phones, but that doesn't stop consumers' usage of their mobile devices -- and the consequences can plague a quality experience. A memorable incident at the New York Philharmonic resulted in the conductor stopping the performance when an audience member failed to shut off their ringtone.
Last year, a woman was kicked off an Amtrak train after she talked on her cell during the 16-hour trip.
Despite how annoying people talking on their cell phones in public places can be, shutting off their communication is an extreme step and a public interference in its own right. But when conflicts like this shows mobile etiquette, just like technology, is still finding its proper place in society.
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