vision

Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D W1 camera and system is hitting the U.S., the company announced Wednesday. Introduced globally over the summer, the FinePix Real 3D system appears to be the world's first 3D digital imaging system that captures 3D still photographs and movies, providing images that users can enjoy without special 3D glasses.

You can read a hands-on review here by CNET's Leonard Goh.

Also Wednesday, Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of Nvidia, declared the FinePix Real 3D camera "Nvidia 3D vision-ready" during the company's GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, Calif. Nvidia 3D Vision is a combination of high-tech wireless glasses and advanced software that lets users view 3D pictures and movies in full HD on a PC, as well as automatically transforms hundreds of PC games into full stereoscopic 3D.… Read more

Contact lenses have traditionally been engineered to help the visually impaired see the world around them more clearly--to attain perfect, or close to perfect, vision.

But why not super vision? Why not a lens that could superimpose holographic driving control panels over a pilot's otherwise normal view? Enable Web surfing on the go? Provide a virtual world for gamers that covers their entire field of vision instead of just a plasma screen?

Engineers at the University of Washington have been asking just that as they manufacture first-gen versions of the bionic eye in the form of contact lenses with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights.

"Conventional contact lenses are polymers formed in specific shapes to correct faulty vision," writes Babak A. Parviz, an associate professor at UW who heads a multi-disciplinary group on electronics in contact lenses, in the September 2009 issue of IEEE's Spectrum. "To turn such a lens into a functional system, we integrate control circuits, communication circuits, and miniature antennas into the lens using custom-built optoelectronic components. Those components will eventually include hundreds of LEDs, which will form images in front of the eye, such as words, charts, and photographs."… Read more

Focal Audio, aka JM Lab, may not be a well-known name in the U.S., but it is France's largest speaker manufacturer. I had Focal Mini Utopia speakers in my reference two-channel system for years and the Focal Grande Utopia EM ($180,000 per pair) is the best sounding speaker I've ever heard.

Maybe that's why the Focal Dome 5.1 satellite/subwoofer system ($2,595 MSRP) review by Michael Trei in Sound & Vision magazine piqued my interest.

The Dome replaces the Sib and Cub 5.1 system I favorably reviewed a few years ago. Unlike the Asian-built Sib and Cub, the Domes are manufactured at Focal's factory in Saint-Etienne, France.

The Dome 5.1 package is Focal smallest home speaker system yet. Trei writes: "the Dome satellite's cast-aluminum enclosure feels solid enough to withstand being run over by a small car." Each satellite speaker has a 4-inch woofer and a 1-inch aluminum/magnesium inverted dome tweeter, similar to the one Focal uses in its upscale Profile and Electra S models. Optional stands are available for the sats.

The matching cylindrical, rounded-top subwoofer has a single downward-firing 8-inch woofer and a built-in 100-watt amplifier.… Read more

If you buy a Chevy Volt, are you a moron? The writing's on the wall for driving while texting. Future Toyotas may call you a liquor face. And we take a ride in really great American hybrid.

• BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car

• Toyota breathalyzer also checks your face

• Garmin Nuvi 1690 with NuLink service

• Audi microsite hints at something electric

• CNET gives Ford Fusion Hybrid an Editors' Choice

The Frankfurt auto show rapidly approaches, which means that it's time for yet another dull BMW EfficientDynamics concept to mildly pique our interest with...wait, whoa! WHAT IS THAT?

The recently unveiled BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept maintains the hallmarks of what makes a BMW a BMW (the kidney grills, the Hofmeister kink, and hopefully, the high level of performance), but tosses everything else out of the window to create a bizarre amalgamation of M car performance, fuel efficiency, and insectoid aesthetics.

Let's start with the power train.

The Vision concept is powered by a 1.5-liter, turbodiesel three-cylinder mounted amidships and two electric motors--one at each axle. Direct injection and a variable intake geometry turbocharger help the diesel engine to output 163 horsepower and 214 pound-feet of peak torque to the rear wheels through BMW's six-speed DCT transmission.

The rear electric motor outputs a consistent 33 horsepower and is able to reach a peak of up to 51 horsepower. Maximum torque for the rear electric motor is 214 pound-feet. Meanwhile, a second electric motor at the front axle offers continuous output of 80 horsepower and peak torque of 162 pound-feet. An extra 112 horsepower are available for a period of up to 30 seconds, and, for a 10-second "burst" the electric motor is able to develop 139 horsepower.

Overall system output is 356 horsepower, and peak torque is 590 pound-feet during that 30 second burst (for passing maneuvers, etc). Acceleration from 0-to-62 mph is achieved in 4.8 seconds, and top speed is an electronically limited 155 mph.

The system can run under diesel power, electric power, or a combination of the two. The engine configuration affords the Vision all-wheel drive when operating in all-electric mode. The electric engines are powered by a total of 98 lithium polymer cells developing continuous output of 600 amps with a maximum 30-second burst output of 1,200 amps. The batteries are recharged through a combination of diesel generation, regenerative braking, or plug-in charging. As a result, the Vision has two refilling flaps, one for diesel fuel and one for electricity. Average fuel consumption is 62.6 mpg on the EU test cycle.

The BMW Vision concept's ubersleek looks are the result of efficient aerodynamics and lightweight construction.

With the mid-mounted diesel engine, the Vision can have a low nose. Active louvers in front of the radiator close completely when there is little need for cooling, such as when running in all electric mode. The vehicle's low, sleek design results in an overall vehicle drag coefficient of just 0.22. The concept rolls on oddly huge (21 inch), low-rolling resistance tires. The big wheel and 195 millimeter profile supposedly provides a big enough contact patch to keep the Vision agile, as well as efficient, while wheel covers reduce turbulence caused by the spinning wheels.

Most of the body is made of transparent composites (which darken when exposed to UV light) and the chassis and suspension are made completely of aluminum, resulting in a curb weight of 3,076 pounds.

The BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept will be unveiled, along with the BMW ActiveHybrid X6 and BMW ActiveHybrid 7 production models, at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show, so stay tuned for more coverage. In the meantime, make the jump to see the BMW Vision concept in motion.… Read more

Toys just aren't the same as when I was young, when a Rubik's Cube and a Greedo action figure were enough to get me through a Sunday. Jakks Pacific, makers of many a plug-and-play retro-gaming peripheral and children's toy, has some new wrinkles up its sleeve for the holidays, and we got a chance to get our hands on some of the new stuff in the CNET office.

On the more controversial side, Jakks' new product in their direct-to-TV plug-and-play games line is a low-cost all-in-one version of Big Buck Hunter Pro. In case you've been away from bars for a while, the popular arcade game is a rifle-shooter light-gun game involving hunting for deer. This home edition, unlike PC and console games before it, consists just of the plastic shotgun--which has the game software built-in--and a wireless IR bar that sits atop the TV like the Wii's sensor bar. But is this something you'd want in your home?… Read more

Most of us spend several hours a day peering into a screen. Whether we're working, gaming, chatting, or entering a semivegetative movie-watching state, we tend to blink about once every five seconds. If we grow bored, drowsy, or just less focused, that rate slows, which puts a serious strain on our eyes.

Enter the Wink Glasses, comprising a USB-powered device (with an eight-hour charge) that fogs one of its lenses the moment the user hasn't blinked in five seconds. This forces the other eye to focus instantly, which is one way to jolt someone back to wakefulness. Japan'… Read more

Polymer Vision's dream of an all-in-one e-book reader and portable media device has reportedly faded.

The Netherlands-based maker of the Readius folded recently, according to a report in England's Hampshire Chronicle. The company was a spinoff of Philips and had offices in Southampton in the U.K. The local paper says 50 jobs at the Southampton location were lost when the company went bankrupt on July 7.

The Readius was a strange-looking, if ambitious device. Part portable media device, part e-reader, the Readius was innovative in that it used a flexible E-Ink display so it could be folded … Read more

Eric's finally going Horde. With Blizzard's recent announcement that it will allow faction changes in the World of Warcraft, Eric is seeing this as an opportunity to inject some excitement back into the game. Dong, of course, disagrees.

Then we awkwardly inject some technology into the episode with discussions about wireless router stress testing and GamutVision.

Finally, some dating advice for our loyal readers. Don't say we never did anything for you.

To subscribe to this podcast, visit us at our main page and click the podcast link on the right. Don't forget to leave us … Read more