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ocean

New Battery-Free, Wireless Underwater Camera From MIT Engineers Could Help Scientists Further Explore The Ocean 

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According to MIT News, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have potentially advanced the way that scientists can explore unknown regions of the ocean, track pollution, and/or monitor climate change. 

Scientists currently estimate that more than 95% of the oceans on Earth have never been explored. One of the biggest obstacles researchers face is the high cost of powering an underwater camera that can withstand the environmental changes that come from the extreme depths of the ocean. 

Typically, researchers need to have the underwater cameras that currently are in use to observe the ocean tethered to a vessel or need to send a ship out to recharge the batteries of the camera. 

Now, MIT researchers have developed a battery-free wireless underwater camera that is “100,000 times more energy efficient than other undersea cameras.” 

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The device is said to take color photos, even in dark underwater environments, and can transmit the data from the images wirelessly through the water.

The camera itself is powered by sound, and works by converting mechanical energy from sound waves traveling through the water into electrical energy that can then be used to power its imaging and communication systems. Once the camera captures an image, it uses the sound waves to transfer data to a receiver on land that will reconstruct this image taken.

The scientists behind the camera also think the device is so impressive because it doesn’t need a power source, meaning it can be underwater capturing images for weeks before it needs to be retrieved. This will allow researchers to explore new depths for longer periods of time. 

“One of the most exciting applications of this camera for me personally is in the context of climate monitoring. We are building climate models, but we are missing data from over 95 percent of the ocean. This technology could help us build more accurate climate models and better understand how climate change impacts the underwater world,” explained Fadel Adib,  senior author of a report on the device published in Nature Communications. 

Sayed Saad Afzal, Waleed Akbar, and Osvy Rodriguez are co-lead authors on the study as well, as well as Unsoo Ha, Mario Doumet, and Reza Ghaffarivardavagh. 

Adib explained how initially, the group was “trying to minimize the hardware as much as possible, to create new constraints on how to build the system, send information, and perform image reconstruction. It took a fair amount of creativity to figure out how to do that.” 

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The camera uses red, green, and blue LED lights to reflect on the white parts of the image, which can then “reconstruct the color image taken,” according to Akbar. 

“When we were kids in art class, we were taught that we could make all colors using three basic colors. The same rules follow for color images we see on our computers. We just need red, green, and blue — these three channels — to construct color images,” he explained. 

According to the report, the researchers tested the camera in several different underwater environments. Through those trials they were able to take high-quality photos of fish and plants in dark environments that are typically very difficult to capture. 

Now that they have a working prototype, the next step will be for the researchers to enhance the device to be used in more real-world settings. Overall, they want to increase the camera’s memory, extend its range, and ability to stream images and potentially videos in real time. 

“This will open up great opportunities for research both in low-power IoT devices as well as underwater monitoring and research,” says Haitham Al-Hassanieh, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Google Search

Google Announces New Line of Products at Made by Google 2019 Event

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Today, Google held a press event during which they discussed their new line of products, as well as their advancements in engineering and design, with a particular focus on how progress in artificial intelligence and machine learning has affected their business.

Google began the event by discussing the company’s mission, which is to help people in their lives without intruding on their daily lives. Google calls this concept “ambient computing,” by which they mean interactions with computers that exist in the background, rather than ones that occupy the user’s attention by being obvious and intrusive. Google claims that this concept informs the development of all of their products, and stated that all of the products announced at the event would demonstrate the value of this approach to computing.

The first product Google described was the Pixel Buds, a pair of wireless earbuds with advanced software functionality. The Pixel Buds include integration with the Google Assistant, and use bone conduction technology to recognize the user’s voice even in loud environments. They also work several rooms away from the device to which they are wirelessly connected, allowing for greater freedom and flexibility, and include audio pass-through features to enable users to remain present in their environment even while listening to music. The Pixel Buds will cost $179, and will launch in Spring 2020.

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Next, Google talked about the importance of sustainability and environmental consciousness in their company’s philosophy. The company stated that they would commit to investing $150 million into renewable energy sources, and spoke about their commitment to incorporate recycled plastic in their products. Google also spoke of its new video game streaming platform, which requires only a controller and a compatible device, cutting back on hardware costs and waste. They introduced the controller they designed for this specific purpose, which was inspired by the versatile design of kitchen knives for professional chefs.

Google then introduced the Pixelbook Go, an affordable laptop, which is available for pre-order and will cost $649. The company quickly moved on to talk about its updates to Google Nest, a smart home system designed to seamlessly incorporate technology into home life. Google stressed its commitment to security and privacy, describing how third-party developers would have to meet certain requirements in order to enable compatibility with Google Nest products. The Google Nest Hub Next acts as a standalone tablet to be placed on top of the kitchen counter, for instance, and allows users to dynamic move content from one display to another within the home. Google described an update to its Google Home Mini, including advanced artificial intelligence processors and the option to mount the device on the wall. They also described Nest Aware, a camera-based surveillance system for the home, and talked about how smoke alarm features would be integrated into their products. The last Google Home product the company discussed was Nest WiFi, a router system for creating mesh networks within the home.

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Google then discussed the Google Pixel 4, the company’s flagship smartphone which has been completely redesigned. The first feature of the phone the company discussed was its built-in radar sensor, which is used for facial recognition and gesture recognition. The company described their efforts in radar technology as a way to introduce natural human body language as a way of interacting with computers, and described how the Google Assistant is more deeply integrated into the phone’s operating system, again emphasizing the company’s commitment to privacy and ensuring users have control over their data. One example of this is the company’s new Recorder app, which automatically records and transcribes audio on the device, even when it’s not connected to the Internet.

Google described the display of the Pixel 4 as “visually indistinguishable from perfect,” and it is the first phone to feature a display with a 90 Hz refresh rate. Additionally, the company claimed the phone’s camera was at the top of its class, and discussed how the company invested into “computational photography,” which is software that improves the visual fidelity of data captured by the image sensor. Computational photography generally involves combining several images into one, reducing noise and expanding the dynamic range of photographs. Computational photography also enables high-resolution digital zoom, and real-time previews of HDR images. Additionally, computational photography allows for more accurate automatic white balancing and approximation of the depth-of-field effect, including bokeh simulation, and improving the detail of night shots, including the ability to capture stars in the night sky. The phone will start shipping on October 24, and will cost $799.

Overall, the range of products announced at this year’s event was somewhat limited, as the updates to the Google Home products seemed fairly minor, with limited appeal. While the Pixel Buds seem impressive, there is strong competition in the wireless earbud market from Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Samsung, and the Pixel Buds don’t feature any truly unique capabilities. Google didn’t go into too much detail about its upcoming Pixel 4, but the smartphone was by far the most interesting product described today, as the company promises their new phone will integrate hardware and software features to provide the best Android experience on the market.

iPhone 3

Early Reviews of New iPhones are Very Positive

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When Apple unveiled its newest generation of iPhones last week, which include the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Max, immediate reactions were mixed, as many rightfully observed that Apple seemed to be playing it safe, offering minor improvements to features that already existed in previous generations of iPhones while reducing prices instead of introducing any groundbreaking new technology. In fact, these new iPhones removed some features present on previous devices which were considered unimportant, such as 3D Touch. This year, Apple seems to be focusing on improvements to the core iPhone experience rather than expanding into new territories, and early reviews suggest that this strategy has paid off, as journalists many describe the new iPhones as offering the best smartphone experience for most people right now.

Nilay Patel from The Verge, for instance, describes the iPhone 11 quite simply as “the phone most people should buy,” adding that “it’s great where it counts, and totally fine everywhere else.” While admitting that the iPhone 11 is basically just an incremental upgrade over last year’s iPhone XR, Patel suggests that the improvements to the phone’s overall design, including sturdier glass and better water resistance, result in a very polished user experience. Although the only major improvements Patel observes are the “cameras, the slightly better battery life, and the processor,” he notes that these and other features were already so good on the previous generation that these improvements, albeit slight, still result in a stellar device. 

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Though Patel complained about Apple’s continued reliance on a large, bulky, outdated 5W wall charger, he praised the battery’s performance, noting that you’d have to really go out of your way to fully drain the battery in less than a day. He also describes the new cameras as “a massive step forward,” and praised the quality of the images the phone is able to capture, noting that, in most respects, the camera experience is identical to the pricier iPhone 11 Pro. In particular, the new phone performs particularly well in low-light environments due to advancements in camera and image processing technology. As battery life and camera quality are two of the top concerns for people buying a new smartphone, it makes sense that Apple chose to focus in these areas, and according to reviewers the results of doing so have paid off.

The consensus seems to be that Apple hit the ball out of the park with all of their iPhone offerings this year, introducing a product which will be difficult for competitors to beat.

The iPhone 11 Pro, which Patel also reviewed, represents an even greater improvement in these key areas, with an even better battery life and an additional camera with a telephoto lens, as well as a higher-resolution display and a faster, more efficient chipset. The Pro models additionally include a fast-charging feature, unlike the base model, and improved LTE performance (though support for 5G isn’t included.)

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The major complaint reviewers had with the new phones was the operating system, iOS 13, which presents users with bugs and other annoyances. They’re quick to note, however, that Apple has a good track record of improving user experience on its phones with software updates, though it is not certain as of yet when Apple will release an update to address issues of performance and stability. Like the rest of the phone, iOS 13 represents only an iterative improvement over last year’s software, but the experience remains snappy, streamlined and simultaneously intuitive and densely packed with features. Still, Patel recommends waiting until Apple irons out these issues before purchasing a new iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro.

Overall, reviewers felt that the cheaper iPhone 11 was the best option for most people, as the improvements in the Pro model, while substantial, don’t justify the additional several hundred dollars in cost. Instead, the Pro models are recommended for those who demand battery life, image quality, and speed that far exceeds the competition and are willing to pay roughly a thousand dollars for that privilege. Still, the consensus seems to be that Apple hit the ball out of the park with all of their iPhone offerings this year, introducing a product which will be difficult for competitors to beat.