Innovation Lab: Robotic Recycling, Pee Power and Skin-based Touchscreens

At Mobile Marketing were proud to help tech companies showcase their cutting-edge solutions, whether its on our website, in our magazine or at our Mobile Marketing Summits. Giving a platform to companies that are breaking new ground in their market brings audiences one step closer to the ideas and developments that will shape tomorrow.

In that spirit, our Innovation Lab feature takes a step beyond the world of apps, ads and handsets with slightly bigger screens, in order to share some of the tech worlds innovative ideas. They might be interesting, disruptive or just outright strange, but these are the stories that have caught our eye over the past week.

Mobile Gaming Inspires Human/Robot Hybrid Tech

You can relax about all those wasted hours spent playing Candy Crush – they could just earn you your next job, if the entrepreneurs at Jodone have anything to do with it. The startup is focused on human and robot interaction, looking for ways to get the best of both in mundane tasks like sorting recycling.

The companys latest pilot project at the Pope/Douglas waste-to-energy facility in Minnesota sees workers equipped with tablets that monitor waste as it travels along a conveyor belt. Workers swipe any recyclables they spot to the correct category (paper, plastic, tin, etc) and the instructions are forwarded to robotic arms which carry them out. The interface was inspired by the popular mobile game Fruit Ninja.

“People like solving puzzles, they like being mentally challenged,” said Cole Parker, CEO and co-founder of Jodone in an interview with MIT Technology Review. “We know that robots are great at manual labour – at doing the same thing a million times in a row. But humans are great at problem solving, classification, identification, and dealing with diversity.”

In lab tests, the system achieved pick rates of 2,500 per hour, eight times higher than a human alone can manage, and with 95 per cent accuracy. Jodone estimates that the system will generate an additional $24m (£16.6m) in revenues for waste facilities, and also encourages businesses to reward workers who salvage above-average amounts of recycling with additional income, incentivising the process while removing the tiring physical labour from the job.

portable urinalUrinal Uses Pee-power to Generate Light
Students at the University of the West of England at Bristol, working with experts from Oxfam, have created a urinal that uses human urine to generate electricity, with a view to deploying the technology in refugee camps to power lights and other essential technology in areas where electricity is scarce.

The toilet, which is currently being trialled on the UWE Bristol campus, uses a technology called Microbial Fuel Cells which utilises microbes that feed on the urine and produce energy as a side effect. The equipment can also use contaminated water, enabling users to dispose of dangerous waste and toxins in a useful way.

“We are so excited by this technology,” said Professor Ioannis Ireopoulos, who is in charge of the project. “The fuel cells offer hope to people who lack proper sanitation and basic electricity. Were aiming to trial this technology in refugee camps and developing countries in the the near future.”

“Fuel for generators is expensive,” said Andy Bastable, head of water and sanitation at Oxfam. “As urine is free, this is an extremely low-cost and sustainable way of producing light for people at night.”

Colour Changing Thread can Create Woven Displays

With the rise of wearable technology comes the challenge of integrating the functions and features were used to, such as screens, into ever smaller and more invisible devices. Researchers at UC Berkeley think they may have found a potential solution to this issue, however, with colour changing threads that can be woven into displays.

The technology, which they call Ebb, was developed to explore how fashion and clothing would change if the wearer could adjust the colour of garments whenever they wanted. The thermochromatic fibers change hue when voltage is applied, blooming into rich colours or fading to white as the user demands.

At the moment, the technology takes a long time to change colours, so the team is currently focused on applications in the fashion and design worlds, but even now, the researchers were able to weave a design that recreated a simple alphanumeric display like you might find on a calculator or alarm clock.

As the technology progresses and the refresh rate improves, we could see patterns, animations and detailed images introduced to designs, and there are hopes that one day the threads could rival similar display tech like e-ink and work as a functional screen for your devices.

skintrackSkinterface Aims to Improve Smartwatch Controls
One of the major problems with smartwatches is the difficulty with fitting a rich control system onto a tiny, watch-sized display. No matter how smart designers get with 3D touch, swiping and pinching, theres only so much you can do with an square inch of real estate.

Thats why researchers at Carnegie Mellons Future Interfaces Group have developed SkinTrack, a revolutionary technology that enables users to control smartwatch actions by tracing their finger on the skin of their arm and seeing it mimicked on the screen.

The technology has two parts: the smartwatch wristband, which has a series of electrodes embedded within it; and a ring that emits a high-frequency AC signal which propagates through the wearers skin. The wristband is able to detect this signal and map its origin point, creating a skin-based touchscreen.

The tech works through clothing too, so even on chilly days youd be able to use it, and while its currently limited to the same swipes and flicks that can be used on a smartwatch screen, the researchers are hoping to develop more complex, multi-finger controls and applications that take advantage of this new level of interaction.

Smart Ping Pong Table Teaches You How to Play

If youve ever struggled to get a rally going at the ping pong table, designer Thomas Mayer has created a device for you. As part of his thesis project, hes built a table tennis table that maps your play, projects stats and even transforms the way the game is played.

He began by developing a way to track the ping pong ball as it travelled over the table, to create realtime data visualisations for players and trainers, then expanded to projecting the mapped data onto the table itself, creating an interactive display that can help players develop their skills.

The table lets players log in with an NFC-equipped racket and track high scores, strengths and weaknesses, and even manage their training calendar. In two player games, the table can project a variety of designs to enhance gameplay and provide additional challenges for confident players.