future tech

As a child, I used to concentrate really hard on things like pencils and pebbles, trying to get them to budge with the sheer power of my mind. It never worked, but technology is getting us a little closer to the mind control dream. The Muse brainwave-sensing headband from Interaxon is a step in the right direction.

The Muse uses two sensors on the forehead and two behind the ears. You wear it positioned kind of like a pair of glasses. It measures your brainwaves and sends the information to a smartphone or tablet. Viewing that data in real time can show you if your mind is wandering, if you're relaxed, or if you're in a state of intense concentration.… Read more

Help me, please. I'm waiting for the future to arrive.

I feared a lull at this year's E3 before I even got on the plane. Games pushed back, executives claiming no new hardware. "No new hardware" is a mantra I've heard a lot lately, from colleagues as well as from industry insiders. Even from gamers, who certainly don't like the idea of spending up for a new console.

Well...we need next-gen. And it's bound to arrive. But when? Please say soon. I've been patient. … Read more

Welcome to Always On (almost)!

This is the home of my new show, Always On, which premieres right here on CNET on Tuesday, June 19, at 11 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern (and I could not be more excited). Every episode will air with a live chat, hosted by me, so make sure to tune in at "showtime" to get a behind-the-scenes pre-show and so that I can get your thoughts on the episodes in real-time!

Oh, right, what's the show about. Think of it as "the CNET show," on steroids. Each weekly, … Read more

Concertgoers who attended last week's Coachella music festival apparently had their minds blown by a "hologram" performance by the late rapper Tupac Shakur. The centuries-old illusion made it seem that Snoop Dogg and Tupac were sharing the same stage.

That got us thinking about what the future of concerts will look like. We've already seen some jokes about the next "all hologram Coachella lineup," but will the concert experience 50 years from now allow us to watch the show from the comfort of our homes? We can only hope to still be rocking out when we're that age -- minus the skull head-tattoo. … Read more

Webcams and video-conferencing software like Skype have really enhanced the way we communicate with friends, family, and colleagues around the world. Even so, talking to a floating head on a computer screen can still feel pretty cold, and it doesn't look like we're going to get a teleportation device any time soon (le sigh). However, researchers at Stanford University are hoping to make that interaction a little more lifelike with a computer that can mimic human motions.

David Sirkin and Wendy Ju from Stanford's Center for Design Research created a motorized flat-screen display that copycats various human motions like shrugging, nodding, and laughing. The team did so by adding motors to the Apple iMac G4 and then linking it to software that reads a person's movements and instructs the G4's moveable arm to perform one of nine motions. … Read more

It appears LG is making good on its promise to bring flexible displays to e-book readers, as the Korean consumer electronics company revealed that it has started mass production of the "world's first" plastic electronic paper display (EPD).

The screen measures 6 inches diagonally and has a resolution of 1,024x768 pixels. It can bend at a range of 40 degrees from the center of the screen, and it's also about one-third thinner and half as light as current glass EPDs, LG says, meaning it'll be even easier to carry than the e-book readers today.

LG also cites durability as a benefit of its plastic EPD. The company ran numerous stress tests on the display, including dropping it from a height of about 5 feet and hitting the screen with a small urethane hammer (how do I get this job?), and saw no damage. Presumably, this means you could toss your reader into your bag sans case without fear of scratching up the display. … Read more

Researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi have developed a new kind of self-repairing plastic that could lead to impenetrable cell phones, laptops, and cars -- or the next Terminator.

Team lead professor Marek W. Urban presented the results of the research at the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in San Diego this week, revealing a type of plastic that mimics human skin.

Though self-healing plastic isn't a new concept, Urban says the benefit of his team's plastic is its warning system and ability to repair itself over and over again. … Read more

A computer monitor and keyboard are so yesteryear.

At Microsoft's annual TechForum expo earlier this week, the company showed off several amazing concept products that will have you thinking far into the future. Luckily, we have some great pictures and videos of some of these devices, which deliver a computer experience unlike anything commercially available today.

Buckle up and click on our gallery below to see innovations including a 3D augmented-reality desktop, software that tracks the history of the world, a mirror with holograms, and much more. … Read more

Remember the Board of Awesomeness, the Kinect-controlled motorized skateboard from CES? Well, it just got more awesome.

The creator of this high-tech board, Chaotic Moon Labs, has come up with a new version called the Board of Imagination that works by reading your brain waves. That's right, a mind-controlled skateboard. You simply imagine where you'd like to go and how fast you want to get there, and the Board of Imagination will take care of the rest.

It's powered by the same 800-watt electric motor and Windows 8-enabled Samsung tablet as the Board of Awesomeness, but it … Read more