New MIT technology allows 3D image interaction

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to allow people in one place to interact with three-dimensional versions of people or objects in a different location.

MIT's Tangible Media Group calls the technology inFORM. A person in one location moves or puts an object in front of a depth-sensing camera. That camera sends signals to a motorized pin screen somewhere else and that's where the 3D image pops up. If someone on camera is moving his hands, for example, that movement would show up on the pin screen in another location.

They hope the technology can eventually be used by urban planners and architects. It could also be used by doctors and others who need to look at CT scans.

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/mit-technology-allows-3d-image-interaction-075358506.html

54Tbps network traffic for 2014 Winter Olympics

Avaya engineers are putting the final touches on a network capable of handling up to 54Tbps of traffic when the Winter Olympics opens on Feb. 7 2014 in the Russian city of Sochi.

ABOUT SOCHI

Sochi is a sprawling city of 350,000 people located on the Black Sea. At 145 kilometers (90 miles), greater Sochi claims to be the longest city in Europe.

GREENFIELD SITE

The two locations where the Olympics will take place -- the Olympic village in Sochi and a tight cluster of Alpine venues in the nearby Krasnaya Polyana Mountains -- are completely new construction, so this project represents a greenfield environment for Avaya.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

In addition to investing in a telecom infrastructure, Russia is spending billions to upgrade Sochi’s electric power grid, transportation system and sewage treatment facilities. “The whole town is nothing but a constantly changing, $50 billion construction site; for instance we’ve seen the road outside our hotel be torn up at least four times. As for modern IT infrastructure? There was none to speak of. We have really had to start from scratch, right down to the laying of conduit before we could even begin installing fiber and cabling,’’ says Dean Frohwerk, Avaya’s Chief Network Architect.

BYOD

The Sochi network will serve 30,000 athletes, administrators and staff, media, IOC officials, and volunteers with data, voice, video, and full Internet access through the Games sites. Adding to the challenge, “We expect these people to be carrying and using multiple wireless devices,” says Frohwerk. This means that we really have to have the capability to support up to 120,000 users on the Sochi Wi-Fi network, without issues or interruptions.”

HD TV

Plus, Avaya has to deliver 30 IPTV dedicated HD Olympic channels via its telecom backbone, and has to make these channels available to Olympic family users over the converged network.

Redundant TOCs

The Avaya network will be headquartered in a primary Technical Operations Center (TOC) in the coastal city of Adler, alongside the Primary Data Center. The secondary TOC and Data Center will be at the Sochi Olympic Park. Each TOC will be connected to the outside world by 10GB pipes provided by Rostelecom, Russia’s national telecom operator. “We have built the TOCs in separate locations to ensure redundancy in the case of a natural disaster or man-made incident,” says Frohwerk.

Switch fabric backbone

The Wi-Fi network of more than 2,000 802.11n access points connects to a data and voice backbone running Avaya’s Fabric Connect solution, an open virtualization platform based on IEEE 802.1aq Shortest Path Bridging. At the core of the network are four Virtual Enterprise Network Architecture (VENA)-enabled Virtual Service Platform (VSP) 9000 switches, one in each TOC and one more in each of the mountain cluster PoPs.

Moving up the stack

Using Avaya ERS 8800 switches located at the network’s edge, the whole Sochi network will be virtualized at Layer 3. “Using a Layer 3 virtual software layer means that our switches can act intelligently locally, and do a better job of routing traffic,” Frohwerk says. “This reduces traffic jams, which means more uptime and better network speeds. It’s a step up from what we did in Vancouver, because the demands we’re facing are so much bigger here.”

APRES SKI

After the games end on Feb 23, much of Avaya’s infrastructure will be removed. But the telecom facilities it has built for the Games – including the telephone and IP networking for the Olympics skiing venue in the Caucasus, where a new resort town is being erected, will remain. The company will also be helping to develop telecom facilities for the Grand Prix auto races that will be held in Sochi later in 2014, and soccer matches there that will be part of the 2018 World Cup.“We will be leaving behind quite a legacy telecom system when we leave Sochi,” says Frohwerk.

http://www.networkworld.com/slideshow/132223/avaya-builds-massive-wi-fi-net-for-2014winter-olympics.html

The Copenhagen Wheel

INTRODUCTION

The Copenhagen Wheel was unveiled on December 15, 2009 at the COP15 United Nations Climate Conference. The project was conceived and developed by the SENSEable City Lab for the Kobenhavns Kommune. The prototype bikes were realized with the help of  Ducati Energia.

HOW IT WORKS

Smart, responsive and elegant, the Copenhagen Wheel is a new emblem for urban mobility. It transforms ordinary bicycles quickly into hybrid e-bikes that also function as mobile sensing units. The Copenhagen Wheel allows user to capture the energy dissipated while cycling and braking and save it for when he need a bit of a boost. It also maps pollution levels, traffic congestion, and road conditions in real-time.  

SMART PHONE AS A PANEL

Controlled through your smart phone, the Copenhagen Wheel becomes a natural extension of your everyday life. You can use your phone to unlock and lock your bike, change gears and select how much the motor assists you. As you cycle, the wheel’s sensing unit is also capturing your effort level and information about your surroundings, including road conditions, carbon monoxide, NOx, noise, ambient temperature and relative humidity. Access this data through your phone or the web and use it to plan healthier bike routes, to achieve your exercise goals or to meet up with friends on the go. You can also share your data with friends, or with your city - anonymously if you wish - thereby contributing to a fine-grained database of environmental information from which we can all benefit.   

Source:
http://senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel/