helsinki

I've been known to wander the wasteland aisles of the grocery store, seeking out a single elusive item in a futile voyage only slightly shorter than "The Odyssey." If only I had a prototype tactile glove developed by the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology and the Max Planck Institute for Informatics.

The glove works by giving the wearer physical feedback. It vibrates to lead the person to a point in 3D space. The researchers see it being useful for locating items in a supermarket, finding a car in a parking lot, or zeroing in on a book among the stacks of a library.… Read more

I had that dream again the other night. The one where I (oops!) forgot to go to class all semester and it's time for the final, and OMG, but wait, maybe somehow I can fake my way through it?

Apparently, this dream plans to dog me no matter how far away from college I get. I've had it so many times it deserves its own soundtrack. And now, it turns out, it can get one.

Computer scientists from Finland's University of Helsinki have developed software that makes music out of sleep patterns. … Read more

Photos snapped outside Nokia's currently-closed Helsinki store proclaim that "something amazing" will happen on Sept. 7. The message seems to indicate that the store itself will reopen for business on that date. But the implication is that Nokia will unveil something much bigger.

Other images posted by blogging site My Nokia Blog tell customers to "prepare to be amazed at all the new things in your Nokia store." The company is also inviting people to visit the Web site NokiaGraffiti.me next week to discover more. The site is currently unavailable.

The timing of this … Read more

Even an airline geek like me wouldn't call an airport "homey."

"Exciting" is a word that I would use and I may even say "comfortable" depending on the airport, but I won't deny that an airport is the opposite of home. Either you're on way to somewhere else or you still have a flight between you and your own bed.

Check in at Helsinki's airport, though, and you'll find a new lounge that is trying to bridge that gap. Now open in Vantaa Airport's Terminal 2, the Almost@home Lounge goes beyond far beyond the utilitarian furniture and simple snacks that you'd find in a standard airline lounge in the United States. … Read more

Multitouch technology really does seem to be the next big thing as far as computer interfaces go. The iPhone has it implemented, Microsoft is embedding the tech into Windows 7, and Finnish company MultiTouch recently announced multitouch LCDs.

On Friday, the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, or HIIT (not be confused with high-intensity interval training), launched a new 3D version of its multitouch display called CityWall.

When I say "3D" I mean it's 3D as far as the graphics on the screen go, but not in the way seen in Minority Report. We're still a ways … Read more