Battery-Free Wireless Underwater Camera

MIT researchers developed a battery-free, wireless underwater camera that is about 100,000 times more energy-efficient than other undersea cameras. The device takes color photos, even in dark underwater environments, and transmits image data wirelessly through the water. The autonomous camera is powered by sound. It converts mechanical energy from sound waves traveling through water into electrical energy that powers its imaging and communications equipment.

After capturing and encoding image data, the camera also uses sound waves to transmit data to a receiver that reconstructs the image. Because it doesn't need a power source, the camera could run for weeks on end before retrieval, enabling scientists to search remote parts of the ocean for new species. It could also be used to capture images of ocean pollution or monitor the health and growth of fish raised in aquaculture farms.

More information:

https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-battery-free-wireless-underwater-camera.html

Wearable Sensors For T-Shirts & Face Masks

Imperial researchers have embedded new low-cost sensors that monitor breathing, heart rate, and ammonia into t-shirts and face masks. Potential applications range from monitoring exercise, sleep, and stress to diagnosing and monitoring disease through breath and vital signs. The researchers embroidered the sensors into a face mask to monitor breathing, a t-shirt to monitor heart activity, and textiles to monitor gases like ammonia, a component of the breath that can be used to detect liver and kidney function.

The ammonia sensors were developed to test whether gas sensors could also be manufactured using embroidery. The researchers tested the sensors against commercially available silver-based conductive threads during and after they were embroidered into clothing. The embroidered sensors retained the intrinsic properties of the fabric such as wearability, breathability and feel-on-the-skin. They are also machine washable at up to 30°C. Next, the researchers will explore new application areas like energy storage, energy harvesting and biochemical sensing for personalized medicine.

More information:

https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-wearable-sensors-styled-t-shirts-masks.html

Quest Headset Supports Full Body Tracking

Meta researchers are transferring the principle of hand tracking, to the whole body. QuestSim can realistically animate a full-body avatar using only sensor data from the headset and the two controllers. The Meta team trained the QuestSim AI with artificially generated sensor data. For this, the researchers simulated the movements of the headset and controllers based on eight hours of motion-capture clips of 172 people. This way, they did not have to capture the headset and controller data with the body movements from scratch. The training data for the QuestSim AI was artificially generated in a simulation. The motion-capture clips included 130 minutes of walking, 110 minutes of jogging, 80 minutes of casual conversation with gestures, 90 minutes of whiteboard discussion, and 70 minutes of balancing. Simulation training of the avatars with reinforcement learning lasted about two days.

After training, QuestSim can recognize which movement a person is performing based on real headset and controller data. Using AI prediction, QuestSim can even simulate movements of body parts such as the legs for which no real-time sensor data is available, but for which simulated movements were part of the synthetic motion capture dataset, i.e. learned by the AI. For plausible movements, the avatar is also subject to the rules of a physics simulator. QuestSim works for people of different sizes. However, if the avatar differs from the proportions of the real person, it affects the avatar animation. For example, a tall avatar for a short person walk hunched over. The researchers still see potential for optimization here. Meta’s research team also shows that the headset’s sensor data alone, with AI prediction, is sufficient for a believable and physically correct animated full-body avatar.

More information:

https://mixed-news.com/en/meta-shows-stunning-full-body-tracking-only-via-quest-headset/