Today we have yet another great installment of cool tech things for you. We have two things that have successfully combined technology and nature, one with plant life and the other with human life. We also have an update for you in the world of tablet PCs.
What: Lantern
Made By: Franklin Gaw
What It Does: Grows tree saplings while being used as a lantern.
Price: N/A
It is always a good idea when you are able to combine nature and technology in one item. The concept behind the Lantern designed by Franklin Gaw is that while the lantern is in use, it can use its UV bulb to help grow a tree sapling that is native to the area you are in, allowing you to help make a “greener” earth while camping.
To start, you first plant a seed into the base and allow it to grow within the lantern. The lantern has a dimmable growth light that helps cultivate the sapling. When the sapling is large enough to plant, you just take the top handle off and replant the sapling into the forest. The hope is that one day, the sapling will grow into a tree.
What: Exoskeleton
Made By: UC Berkeley engineering professor Homayoon Kazerooni
What It Does: Helps parapelegics make use of their legs/arms/etc.
Price: $15,000
Austin Whitney hasn’t been able to walk since a 2007 car crash left him paralyzed, but on Saturday the 22-year-old triumphantly strode across the stage to accept his degree from UC Berkeley. He had a little help, in the form of a specially crafted robotic exoskeleton developed by Berkeley engineering professor Homayoon Kazerooni.
Kazerooni and his team designed the exoskeleton with lightness and affordability in mind, resisting the urge to load it up with expensive hardware and attaching the mechanized walker to a backpack that houses a computer and a rechargeable, eight-hour battery. As a result, the Austin walker won’t enable the kind of acrobatic leaps that you might see in a movie, but it’s a step in the right direction.
What: E-Reader
Made By: University of Maryland’s Nicholas Chen
What It Does: Allows you to read, store and then share information with another e-reader.
Price: N/A
We have definitely seen things like this before, however this e-reader is a bit different. Backed by Microsoft and created by the University of Maryland student Nicholas Chen, the reader actually only has one screen, but it can connect wirelessly with other units, letting the users do things like send links between devices. It will also clip magnetically to another unit, so you can look at two pages of the same document at the same time, just like an actual book. You remember those things, right?
PHOTO CREDIT: Facebook
