Important Innovations

New 3D Printing Technology with Wood Ink - Alternative to Forrest Based Products Revolutionizing the Manufacture of Green Products A breakthrough 3D printing technology just unveiled in Sweden could revolutionize the manufacture of green products including furniture, packaging and clothing.  Engineers at Chalmers University of Technology have invented a 3D printing process that uses a wood based ink.  The process could serve as a sustainable and renewable alternative to forest based products. 3D Printed Substance that Mimics Wood The wood based ink is composed of a nanocellulose gel combined with hemicellulose, which binds the fibers in the gel and strengthens it.  The gel is used with a 3D printer that has a digitized form of the genetic code of wood.  The result is a substance that mimics the cellular architecture of wood.  It has the promise of saving trees, creating green furniture, packaging, paper products and enabling a more sustainable env...

Visiting Global Heritage Sites with VR Source:  CyArk's 3D VR Image of Ancient Stone Temples in Thailand No Need to Leave Home to Tour This is one of the greatest uses of technology and virtual reality.  Google and a non-profit CyArk have collaborated on a website Open Heritage that allows you to tour global heritage sites via a virtual reality app without ever leaving your home.  You can tour the ruins of Pompei or a 1,000 year old Mayan Temple online and/or enhance it with VR googles right at home.  For a great news blog Important Innovations Collection: Visiting World Sites with VR : Virtual Reality Tours of Global Heritage Sites Source:  CyArk 3D VR image of ancient stone temples in Thailand  Google & CyArk Co...

For Athletes and Others, Full Body 3D Motion Tracking Tech Source: XSENS Motion Tracking Bodysuit XSENS Innovation from the Netherlands XSENS, based in The Netherlands, is a leading innovator in 3D motion tracking technologies.  Their latest technology offers full body, 3D movement analysis by wireless data capture.  They've introduced two new systems. MVN Awinda Their new MVN Awinda offers a full-body motion analysis that's optimized for sports and ergonomic uses.  It deploys 17 wireless trackers wrapped around the performer such as in a headband, wrist, arm and leg bands.  Movement data from them is transmitted up to 60 feet indoors and 150 feet outdoors to a backpack called an Awinda station where the data is streamed live or recorded. Full Bodysuit Another new product is the MVN Link bodysuit.  It is a lycra bodysuit with wireless trackers built-in. It comes in 5 sizes and has a wireless range for data transmission of 150 feet indoors and 450 fe...

Personalized Wound Healing That's Mobile Medicine on the Cutting Edge This is remarkable innovation.  Millions of Americans suffer from non-healing wounds.  A team at Wake Forrest University have developed a 3D bioprinter that can selectively layer skin cells to heal a large wound or burn.  The process is personalized to the patient.  The bioprinter is filled with the patient's own skin cells. Several Firsts There are a number of firsts involved in this innovation.  The bioprinter is mobile and can be wheeled directly to the patient's bed.  It enables on-site management of large wounds by 3D laser scanning and measuring them in order to deposit cells directly where they're needed to create new skin.  It selectively layers in two types of cells.  Fibroplasts are placed on the deepest part of the wound and keratinocytes on top. Mimics Natural Healing The 3D bioprinter and the healing process it delivers replicate natural tissue and prom...

Creates Highly Realistic 3D Images Source:  Google showing 2D & 3D images Google & MIT Research Team Researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab and Google have created a next generation AI system capable of creating 3D shapes with realistic texture, lighting and reflections. VON It's called VON or Visual Objects Network.  It not only generates images more realistic than most state of the art systems.  It also enables texture and shape editing, viewpoint shifts and other 3 dimensional tweaking. 3D & 2D Most systems focus on generating 2D images, which limits their practical use in many fields.  VON synthesizes 3D shapes and 2D images.  The researchers next step is fine modeling for producing shapes and images at a higher resolution, disentangling texture into lighting and appearance and synthesizing natural scenes.  Their research was just presented and accepted at NeurlPS 2018 in Montreal.