Products of Tomorrow

Third Thumb

University of Cambridge researchers have developed the Third Thumb, an extra robotic thumb aimed at increasing the wearer’s range of movement, enhancing their grasping capability and expanding the carrying capacity of the hand. This allows the user to perform tasks that might be otherwise challenging or impossible to complete with one hand or to perform complex multi-handed tasks without having to coordinate with other people. The Third Thumb is worn on the opposite side of the palm to the biological thumb and controlled by a pressure sensor placed under each big toe or foot. Pressure from the right toe pulls the Thumb across the hand, while the pressure exerted with the left toe pulls the Thumb up toward the fingers. The extent of its movement is proportional to the pressure applied, and releasing pressure moves it back to its original position. The researchers tested the robotic device on a diverse range of participants, which they said is essential for ensuring new technologies are inclusive and can work for everyone.

Contact: Craig Brierley
+44 07879-116949
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Holographic AR Glasses

By combining advances in display technologies, holographic imaging, and artificial intelligence, Stanford engineers have found a way to display full-color, 3D moving images over a direct view of the real world. Unlike the bulky headsets of present-day augmented reality (AR) systems, the new approach delivers a visually satisfying 3D viewing experience in a compact, comfortable, and attractive form factor suitable for all-day wear. The ultimate outcome of the new waveguide display techniques and the improvement in holographic imaging is a true-to-life 3D visual experience that is both visually satisfying to the user without the fatigue that has challenged earlier approaches. Though only a prototype now, such a technology, according to the team, could transform fields stretching from gaming and entertainment to training and education — anywhere computed imagery might enhance or inform the wearer’s understanding of the world around them.

Contact: Jill Wu
386-383-6061
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Tiny, Tunable Filter

With a goal to enable the next generation of wireless communications, Penn engineers have developed an adjustable filter that can successfully prevent interference, even in higher-frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Wireless devices use different filters for different frequencies, with the effect that covering all frequencies or bands requires large numbers of filters that take up substantial space. Having a filter that could be tunable across those bands means not having to put additional filters in your phone with many different switches. The engineers designed the filter to be adjustable, so that it can be used to selectively filter different frequencies, rather than employ separate filters. In addition to being tunable, the new filter is also tiny — about the same size as a quarter, in contrast to previous generations of YIG filters, which resembled large packs of index cards.