And there are plenty of players and discs for sale cheap on eBay, if you want to go retro!
The first four minutes of the video below show lots of period films offered in the medium. Starting at the four-minute mark, you see the player and how it works.
The designers want these to be used by people who are driving so they can see the GPS directions in the glasses.
I'm guessing this device will be the next thing to be banned for use while driving, since people will be watching videos, texting and reading e-mail on the road. The researcher even suggests reading e-mails during presentations!!
I know you're sitting there thinking "what can we do to make it more energy efficient to drive our cars rather than riding our bikes or walking." You're thinking that because you're lazy and don't want to give up the luxury of automated transportation. Oh. You weren't thinking that? That was just me? Figures. But there's some good news for me. Britain's Environmental Transport Association may have come up with a solution. Piezoelectric crystals. The idea is to embed a stretch of highway with the crystals, then each car that drives over a crystal contributes a tiny bit of energy, such that a single kilometer of roadway could generate 400-kilowatts of energy. That energy could then be collected, stored and used for any number of functions. But will it work? Absolutely. A Sainsbury's supermarket in Gloucester, UK has already put it into use, powering their checkout lanes.
As promised, here's another step forward thanks to technology. The only problem is I am not sure what ON and OFF really mean. When you fill the empty cup with hot liquid (coffee?), it changes from OFF to ON. Does that mean you are now ON caffeine, maybe as encouragement to co-workers to let you do the work? Do you have a better interpretation?
Here's the link if you want to buy the mug -- check out the dry erase clock!!
Maybe we're already in the Matrix. How would we know? While you ponder that, scientists at the University of Florida are developing a neural implant that can think independently. This is not just an implant that deciphers brain signals, but one that can learn, adapt to various scenarios and help the host achieve certain goals. The initial technology is being developed for therapeutic applications, such as allowing paraplegics the ability to control their own limbs again. You can read more about the Neural Implants here. Of course, giving such a "machine" partial control of your brain could lead to any number of problems; questions about who is really in charge. Which version of the future would you prefer to live in: I, Robot, 2001: A Space Odyssey or The Matrix?
June 2009 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Disneyland Monorail System. Let's all let out a lusty cheer for the mass-transportation breakthrough of the future which is always and forever just around the corner of feasibility. Maybe you'd even like to join THE MONORAIL SOCIETY to celebrate.
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.