Birmingham University pioneered Immersive technologies for well over a decade, and now teaches students the skills they need to work at the cutting edge of VR.

Regular readers of Tech Trends won’t be surprised to find out that VR, AR, MR, XR (this last one stands for Extended Reality, and yes, that’s a thing) and the whole virtual experiences alphabet soup are going to be the future of work, entertainment, computing, the economy, and pretty much everything.

So when we got the invitation to visit The University of Birmingham’s Human Interface Technologies (HIT) lab we jumped a the chance. Not only were we keen to find out what cool stuff they were up to – quite a lot, at it turns out – but also get a sense of how students considering their career options these days can actually gain the qualifications they need to work in VR.

Graduates lucky enough to study here will enjoy amazing opportunities in VR
Share on X

Under the charismatic Professor Bob Stone, the HIT team has been at the cutting edge of Virtual Reality and telepresence/ telerobotic technologies since it opened in 2003, but their success is built on nearly thirty years of work in simulation, robotics and Human Factors for applications in aerospace, defence and healthcare.

Those looking to pursue a career in VR often gravitate towards computer-focused HE courses, but these are often quite broad in their scope, so many of the pioneers now working in the industry such as designers and modellers often come to VR and AR through Arts and Media backgrounds such as VFX, which makes sense considering what a highly visual medium this is.

The Human Interface Technologies department at Birmingham University pioneers VR Tech
Share on X

Although there are many world-class research centres around the world which focus on immersive technologies – such as the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University, which coincidentally was founded by Professor Jeremy Bailenson in the same year as HIT was born in Birmingham – university courses that teach a focused and practical skillset that enables students to work in VR are quite rare, with some notable exceptions such as Full Sail University which we visited in Orlando earlier this year.

Even more rare are courses which support this learning with industry partnerships and hands-on experience, which is what HIT has been offering its students under the leadership of Professor Bob Stone.

University courses teaching a practical skillset enabling students to work in VR are still rare
Share on X

Professor Stone holds a Chair in Interactive Multimedia Systems within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and has been pioneering the R&D into interactive media and robotic technologies at the University while his systems and technologies have also been used around the world by the likes of BAAE and British Ministry of Defence. Oh, and he is an honorary Cossack, so quite an interesting chap!

Many of their projects are developed in partnership with external companies and organisations
Share on X

As Bob talked us through his thirty years of experience working on VR technologies, two things stood out to me: how practical their work is – addressing real-world problems and involving field research – and how many of their projects are developed in active partnership with a range of external companies and organisations. Their track record in successful industry collaborations and community linked research and development projects is very impressive to say the least, I had a hard time picking a few examples to mention here, but these certainly caught my eye:

Subsafe

This is a VR training tool used by the Royal Navy to gain their submarine qualification, an experimental interactive 3D spatial awareness training tool designed to eventually replace legacy systems being used by Royal Navy submarine qualification (SMQ) instructors.

Navigating the decks and compartments in a “first-person” mouse-and-keyboard game style, SMQ trainees had access to all decks forward of the control room, comprising over 30 compartments and 500 different objects – including fire extinguishers, hose units, high-pressure air valves, and emergency breathing system masks.

After a year of experimental trials with the RN’s Submarine School, data revealed that the use of SubSafe in classroom training significantly improved the final “walkthrough” examination scores of trainees onboard an actual submarine.

Subsafe proved so successful, in fact that it sparked a series of spin-off projects commissioned by other future vessel and naval system developers, from submarine abandonment and rescue to early deck layout concepts for future surface combatants.

Virtual Wembury

The HIT Team also worked with medical professionals and patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham to determine whether VR could help patients recover from major surgery

They spent three years developing a detailed recreation of the Devon coastal path known as ‘Virtual Wembury’ which allowed recovering patients to enjoy a cycle ride through those idyllic landscapes right from their hospital beds. Professor Stone was born and bred in that area, so drew on his own experience to recreate the picturesque Devon environment in virtual form.

Feedback from patients has been very positive, and there’s a chance that this will inspire other hospitals around the country to roll out similar initiatives to incorporate virtual reality into their rehabilitation programmes.

Cutlass robot

Many Armed Forces EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) instructors feel that current classroom training does not equip trainees with adequate skills and system awareness to help them appreciate the capabilities and limitations of the vehicles they are about to operate.

The HIT team’s challenge in this case was to develop an affordable solution to train operatives in the Cutlass. This is an extremely advanced bomb disposal remote unite operated with a 9-axis manipulator and six separate joysticks, each controlling a different function and movement of the manipulator, depending on which control mode has been selected.

They did this by not only creating a highly realistic virtual urban street scene and house interior, but also a physical replica of the cutlass console containing accurate physics-based representations and locations of the key components, including the manipulator mode selection areas on a touch screen.

The Mayflower

Bob and his team also worked with groups in Plymouth, Dartmouth, Southampton and Worcester using Augmented Reality (AR) to deliver a range of innovative digital experiences including a detailed graphical recreation of the iconic Mayflower ship.

The 3D model is still a work in progress, but it will eventually include animated passengers, crew and cargo. They are also working on developing a range of believable effects relating to such features as the movement of sails and flags, the ship’s bow wave and wake, and the visual blurring necessary to create credible sense of changes in depth and distance over the route of the virtual ship, which will be superimposed onto the real-world scene, he explains.

Chinook Training Room 

From all the awesome things that Bob showed me, however, my favourite was probably the Chinook helicopter Mixed Reality simulator, which brings together VR with an inflatable enclosure conceived to help to support the future training of the UK Armed Forces’ Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT). In battlefield incidents that require emergency medicine, treatment is often administered in the back of the helicopter.

The system is used to track the user’s hands with infrared markers mounted on lightweight gloves
Share on X

Using an Augmented Reality head-mounted display, trainees are able to experience interacting with a body that has both visual and haptic elements. The position of head mounted display is tracked in real time, and in six degrees of freedom, using an OptiTrack V120 optical/infrared motion capture system. This same system is used to track the end user’s hands, using small infrared markers mounted on lightweight gloves.

Yorkshire-based company TraumaFX delivered the Simbodie, an incredibly detailed human male model capable of being configured to represent a wide range of injuries, complete with interchangeable lower leg components representing intact limbs and traumatic amputation, and repositionable bullet wounds and lacerations. A Leicestershire-based company, Imagine Inflatables, constructed a ‘Chinook’ enclosure capable of being inflated and deflated quickly for rapid deployment and portability.

The enclosure provides a constraining environment for simulator users
Share on X

Together with replica Minigun and M60 Machine Gun models, and in conjunction with the Simbodie, the enclosure provides a constraining environment for simulator users, creating a believable in-flight scenario. As well as using video to simulate the external view from the helicopter via the windows and rear ramp (captured by flying the HIT Team’s drones over Dartmoor). The scene has been integrated with realistic sound effects taken within an actual Chinook cabin, provided to the team by Boeing Defence UK.

At the core of all this work is the idea of Human Centred Design – or ‘Human Factors’ as it is known. Designing the technology around the user and for the user. Not design for designs sake. Which is why it makes sense that the visit was organized by The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) – a body whose goal is to put the human at the heart of good design and engineering.

After all, technology is supposed to improve our performance but I am sure many of you will recognise situations where tech has slowed you down and made life more complicated not less!

At the core of all this work is the idea of Human Centred Design
Share on X

University of Birmingham College of Engineering and Physical Sciences students have an incredible opportunity to tap into the expertise of the HIT team and learn about the career possibilities Immersive Technology specific skills might offer them.

This is one of the most impressive and productive VR & AR focused education facilities I've seen
Share on X

I have to say that this is certainly one of the most impressive and productive VR & AR focused education facilities I have seen, and makes me wish I could go back in time and revisit some of my own education choices. But graduates lucky enough to study here will certainly enjoy some amazing opportunities to not only learn about VR, but also apply it in a variety of practical scenarios.

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post Studying for the Virtual Revolution appeared first on Tech Trends.

This beautiful smartwatch combines the best of analogue and digital into one classic-yet-modern timepiece.

I have reviewed a few Smartwatches recently on Tech Trends and was impressed by some, such as the Samsung Gear S3 which certainly boasted good design and quality materials, as well as a nifty range of apps. Still, it felt like something was lacking, and it was only when the NYSW (New York Standard Watch) Soho arrived the other day in the post that I realised what that was.

It wasn't until I handled the NYSW Soho that I realized what other smartwatches were lacking
Share on X

Where most smartwatches have the insubstantial quality of a toy about them, with rubbery buttons and plastic backs, the Soho is a weighty, shiny steel timepiece that oozes quality.

Too many smartwatches look like mini-phones on straps
Share on X

To be fair the S3 does not present itself as a traditional high-quality watch but the styling takes a lot from this established market and the version I tested was called the ‘Classic’ so I think the comparison still stands.

The NYSW Soho is actually a hybrid, defining itself as an Analogue Smartwatch
Share on X

But wait, aren’t I comparing a 21st century, super high tech smartwatch with the old-fashioned tick tock wind up kind, surely that is unfair? Well no, because the NYSW Soho is actually a hybrid, defining itself as an ‘Analogue Smartwatch’.

The New York Standard Watch Company began in 1885 as a pocket watch manufacturer in the Big Apple
Share on X

Too many smartwatches look like mini-phones on straps. Why can’t a smartwatch look like a classic watch? That’s exactly the big benefit of NYSW. The watch performs and looks like a normal timepiece but has smart-tech to keep you going.

Maintaining connectivity with a solid stainless steel construction was a design challenge
Share on X

Remember the iPhone debacle a while back, when the metal construction of the phone restricted the functioning of the basic cell aerial? well, that was the biggest design challenge for NYSW, to use high-quality 316L stainless steel yet maintain Bluetooth and Wireless connections to other devices. That is one reason why the Samsung S3 uses so much plastic, but my Soho felt like a glistening steel tank and had no problem keeping in touch with my Android phone and Wi-Fi network. The front is sturdy and reliable Sapphire glass and the strap is gorgeous Italian leather plus the watch is waterproof up to 50 meters (164 feet) so it’s pretty tough all-around.

The New York Standard Watch Company began in 1885 as a pocket watch manufacturer in the big apple. But after more than 40 years in business, closed its doors the same year as Wall Street crashed. A name that was always associated with high-quality timepieces became elevated to antique status and collector’s items. In 2006, the New York Standard Watch Company name was rediscovered and established by innovative watchmakers with a new focus – combining analogue watch technology with exciting design.

NYSW is relaunching for the 21st century with a Kickstarter campaign that with 21 days to go, at the time of writing, has achieved double its target so backers are seriously keen on this product. Take a look at the images and graphics below for info on the three smart models NYSW are offering at this stage.

My watch felt like a steel tank and had no problem keeping in touch with my phone and Wi-Fi network
Share on X

The strap is gorgeous Italian leather plus the watch is waterproof up to 50 meters
Share on X

So apart from stylishly telling the time just what will your NYSW do? Once you pair it with your device and download the appropriate iOS or Android app, you’ll get the full range of features you’d expect from a smartwatch, such as: call alerts, Facebook, Twitter and SMS notifications, smart health features including steps and calorie counter, activity tracker, global calendar, drink water & pill reminder, countdown timer all communicated by haptics and dials on the watch face. The battery is also supposed to last you two weeks, and although I haven’t had mine for quite as long as that, it is certainly showing no signs of winding down after four days of heavy use. So far, so good.

The Soho timepiece claims a battery life of two weeks
Share on X

My one complaint is that you can't tell the time in the dark with this smartwatch
Share on X

After using it for a few days I have only one complaint, it is impossible to read the time in the dark. The Manhattan model has luminous hands and dial which the others – including my Soho don’t –  but all things considered, this is a fine piece of craftsmanship and a very attractive and useful hybrid watch which I would highly recommend. Check out the NYSW Kickstarter campaign for a chance to get on board early and grab a large, early backer discount in time for Christmas.

Early backers on Kickstarter will receive a hefty discount when ordering
Share on X

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post Product Review: New York Standard Watch appeared first on Tech Trends.

Mozilla’s Black Mirror-like installation forces users to confront their complex relationship with data, privacy, and identity. Tech Trends went to London to open Pandora’s box and see what we could see. 

Advances in technology in the last few years have meant most of us are now dependent on digital services and Internet-connected devices. And in the context of our hectic lives, most of us never stop to think about what this constant connectivity and “always on” lifestyle means for our privacy.

The mere act of clicking “accept” when faced with a dauntingly long list of T&Cs for a new device, service or app signs us up for a multitude of sins. Let’s be honest, it’s a long-standing joke that people could put pretty much anything in there and we’d just agree. But the joke, it seems, is on us as we increasingly surrender control of our personal information, without really knowing what that entails down the line.

“I don’t have anything to hide, but I don’t have anything I want to show you either.” The Glass Room Exhibition Postcard

Mozilla & the Tactical Technology Collective have teamed up to lift the lid on some of the unexpected and unwelcome practices digital service providers use to extract value from our data. To engage the public in this debate they set up The Glass Room, an international, open Pop-Up Space where visitors are encouraged to learn more about the current situation, their rights, and responsibilities when living their digital lives.

We all need to regain some agency over our digital selves
Share on X

The message that comes through is that we all need to regain some agency over our digital selves, and to try to act independently in a world where we are increasingly and indiscriminately being monitored – and where our data is constantly monetised in return for paid and free services.

We are increasingly being monitored in return for services
Share on X

“As a not-for-profit, Mozilla invests in creative ways to make sure people are informed and ready to protect themselves online. With fake news and misinformation, the normalisation of surveillance, and so-called “free” services from powerful tech companies, The Glass Room opens your eyes to the invisible imbalance of power and the irony of referring to our most intimate data as ‘personal’.” Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, Mozilla’s Chief Marketing Officer

The white-painted space resembles an art gallery dotted with plinths
Share on X

The Glass Room previously wowed visitors in New York in 2016 and this year came to London for three weeks. And if the packed house I saw when I visited earlier this month is anything to go by, it’s also been a hit on this side of the pond.

“The response from Londoners has been extremely positive.  In just three weeks, around 20,000 people saw the exhibit and hundreds of thousands more continue to experience it online through virtual reality.” Mozilla

The experience offered is hard to explain, the space is painted all white like a modern gallery and the floor is dotted with white plinths but instead of dusty bronze sculptures or fancy ceramic pots, the plinths boast iPads and headphones or strange looking interactive electronic devices, screens flickering with data or video feeds.

Mozilla invests in creative ways to get people ready to protect themselves online
Share on X

The closest thing The Glass Room resembles is an art exhibit but there is no reverent hush here, some people are huddled around the plinths debating loudly and animatedly while fiddling with their mobile phones while some solitary people stand closed off from the room in headphones intently watching video on iPads. One exhibit by @sam_levigne scanned your brainwaves while you followed a series of prompts and images that stimulated specific thoughts and emotions, then scanned your mind while you thought about shopping, exploring how we might integrate our thoughts digitally into services in the future and how that might work while subtly suggesting that you would have to surrender all that intimate brainwave data to an organisation, without questioning what it might do with it. We all assume the best in our data transactions but this is not a wise move. I particularly like the prompt that asked you to consider your own death for fifteen seconds while showing a school corridor!

I was surprised by how long the average visitor stayed
Share on X

Many of the exhibits were playful and drew you in with an interactive element, a novel premise or playful comment on our digital behaviour, such as the then let you draw your own conclusions about the healthiness or otherwise of that behaviour. Others such as the printed records of the 4.6 million passwords stolen from LinkedIn in 2012 encouraged you to flick through to see if your password was in there, a reminder that large digital organisations do not have a good record of keeping our private data safe. I strongly recommend you check out The Glass Room VR experience to look more closely at the innovative exhibits on display.

“The Glass Room is more than just a pop-up store — it’s part of a broader campaign to educate the public about their relationship with the internet. Billions of people depend on an open and accessible internet for knowledge, livelihood, self-expression, and even love. This is why Mozilla is investing in exhibits like The Glass Room, to grow a movement to make the Internet healthier.” Mozilla

The UK Glass Room was located on the bustling Charring Cross Road – just on the edge of Soho –  so the streets were teeming with people. Still, I was surprised by just how many of them stopped to through the tall glass windows and then came in. I was even more surprised, though, to see how long they stayed.

The Glass Room did not only want to help you grasp the implications of your online actions and digital lifestyle, several of the iPad exhibits showed videos and infographics that lifted the lid on the commercial companies behind some of the services we use daily and presented some shocking facts about the business models behind these services. The videos were simple, well designed and were often just a contextualised corporate video from the companies themselves explaining what they do and how they monetize it.

We should all make an effort to understand the new digital world we inhabit
Share on X

I consider myself pretty tech savvy and aware of the ways companies like Google and Facebook make their money but plugging into the array of exhibits at The Glass Room showed me just how wrong I was. I came away feeling that we should all make an effort to understand the new digital world we inhabit and take responsibility for our engagement with large digital companies whenever we can, otherwise we risk being seriously exploited in ways we don’t even imagine.

The London Transport Contactless system turns out to be something of a digital data trap
Share on X

The Glass Room previously wowed visitors in New York in 2016
Share on X

The most shocking example of how we have all blindly walked into a digital trap was the company behind the London Transport Oyster Card and Contactless Payment system. Convenient it may be, but those responsible for managing it – The Cubic Corporation – are in fact a huge American company specialising in realistic combat training systems, secure communications for specialised support services for military and security forces, networked command, control, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for defence, intelligence and commercial security missions. Notice the word ‘commercial’. It makes you wonder how in the world the UK government – without consulting the public, signed away the data of millions of London transport users, which can then be used by this company to enhance their other – less civilian-focused services too.

The Glass Room opens your eyes to this invisible imbalance of power
Share on X

IrisGuard scanned 2.3 million refugees and registered them on their biometric database
Share on X

Another shocker was the company IrisGuard, who have partnered with the UNHCR (the UN refugee agency) to help monitor and distribute aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan. They have so far scanned 2.3 million refugees and registered them on their biometric database. The refugees have no choice if they want to receive shelter and aid after fleeing a war zone and IrisGuard could use that personal data for, well we don’t know. More worrying still is that the advisory board members for this private company include the founder, chairman and CEO of a global bank; the former Head of MI6 in the UK and the former Homeland Security Advisor to George W. Bush. This is powerful personal data being gathered under the guise of a humanitarian cause with big money involved and it is probably safe to bet that the expected payoff is not just a warm tingly feeling… WTF!?!

The refugees have no choice if they want to receive shelter and aid after fleeing a war zone
Share on X

Most of us have little choice where it comes to signing away out data
Share on X

It could be argued that we all agree to these conditions when signing up to various services so – to quote the current U.S. President – “we knew what we were signing up for” but in the two previous cases that simply is not true, as the people in question had very little choice, and the information certainly wasn’t volunteered. Although we do all sign up to services and willingly give away our data with the abstract understanding that these companies will make money from it somehow, just how far they go, and where our data eventually ends up, is something few of us actually grasp.

Few people actually grasp how our data ends up being used by commercial companies
Share on X

Should we be excluded from useful services if we don't want to sign our lives away?
Share on X

A case in point is DNA testing company 23andMe, who my wife and I have used to find out a bit about our ancestry. Well, two years ago they signed a deal with drugs giant Pfizer to allow them access to all our DNA records for use in drug development, very profitable drug development. Buried deep in the T&Cs of 23andMe must have been a clause allowing them to sell our DNA data, a clause I didn’t read through laziness and unwillingness to trawl through the small print so yes it is my fault, but does that make it right? We have all done this but would it even be possible for me to be totally vigilant and read every letter of all the T&Cs I might sign up to? And should I be excluded from all these useful services because I would like to not quite sign my entire life and associated rights away to the highest bidder?

To put things in some context, should we take the time to read all the Privacy Policies we are required to agree to in a year, Time Magazine has reported we would lose 76 work days per year, not counting the T&Cs of the ISPs we all need to use in order to function in 21st century society. Clearly, it is unrealistic to expect any working human to fully take charge of and responsibility for their online activities and data if they are required to do this.

“There’s so little time in people’s daily lives to consider the consequences of their online decisions. The Glass Room is an engaging way for people to take an hour to think about what’s going on with technology and society and decide for themselves how they want to live their online lives.” Mozilla

The important messages here are firstly that we are all pretty ignorant of how our data is being used but more importantly that we have some power to make different choices that keep us safer online and limit the ways in which companies exploit our data. We also need to truly understand the value of our data, both to us and to others who would monetize it without our knowledge.

The Glass Room tackled all these issues in a friendly and educational way that had the public pouring through the doors and effectively highlighted the gaps in our collective knowledge. It was shocking but inspired me to pay more attention when I give away my data in return for services and content and to reassess how I evaluate the value of my data.

“We are always looking for opportunities to take our message of a free and open internet to new places. Right now, we encourage people to visit The Glass Room in virtual reality, and to try out the eight-day Data Detox Kit, helping you to take back some control over your digital self.” Mozilla

Some reactions from the public

During the exhibition, visitors were encouraged to leave their feedback by answering some questions. Here are a few of our favourites:

After visiting the Glass Room I felt:

–       “Watched”

–       “Empowered”

–       “That what I feared about the net was true”

–       “Scared and fascinated”

–       “It’s a confirmation of everything I feared and a reminder to not be complacent”

–       “Excellent! I was waiting for this project”

After visiting the Glass Room I want to:

–       “Stop stalking my ex-boyfriend”

–       “Find more ways of protecting me, my friends and family/ Enlighten other but I still want a social life”

–       “Think about my digital footprint”

–       “Delete all my apps but I need them”

–       “Be free”

–       “Start paying for an email service so I don’t use Gmail”

My favourite thing about the Glass Room:

–       “It’s free, accessible, intelligent and interactive”

–       “Someone cares about my privacy concerns and is taking the effort to explain it to me”

–       “It’s an accessible way to get non-techy people thinking”

–       “It makes complex content playful and accessible”

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post Big Mother is Watching You appeared first on Tech Trends.

WiZ lights the way ahead with its Smart IoT connected LED lamps & bulbs.

We get a lot of products to test here at Tech Trends, build your own Raspberry Pi Laptop Computers, 360 Cameras, Secure Hard Drives, Smart Watches and even the odd Lunch Box and apart from the Lunch Box it is very rare for a product to just work out of the box. I usually have to do a bit of fiddling, research online, read a pretty complex manual or at worst email the manufacturer for help but not with the WiZ connected LED lights. THEY JUST WORK!

“Patented WiZ technology lets you enjoy full control of all your lights whether it’s through WiFi, mobile data networks, the infrared remote or your existing switches. By giving you more ways to control, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to how you’d like to interact with light. WiZ lets you control your lights by rooms, individually and also by groups, so you’re not limited to the physical constraints of the electrical wiring of your lights.”

The greatest thing about these lights is that THEY JUST WORK!
Share on X

Why is this so impressive? Well, let me explain. I tested the Colours Hero & Quest lamps and the WiZ Colours Pin type bulbs, all of which offer highly customizable lighting solutions based on energy efficient LEDs packaged into attractive and functional modern designs. More on the colours and design below but it is the setup process that blew me away. Plug a WiZ lamp into the mains or twist the bulb into the ceiling socket, connect to your Wi-Fi, download the app and choose which room in the house you want to set up and hit add light.

Hit the scan button on your phone app and start playing with the lights
Share on X

Hit the Start scan button in the app and while it tries to connect your phone to the light via your Wi-Fi, flick the light on and off a few times till it starts pulsing and you are done. The light shows up in the designated room within your app and via the app, you have full control to set the lighting to your taste. I set up four lights in less than 10mins and three days later I am still having fun working through the options. All your setting are connected to a cloud account so you can connect to your home lighting from wherever you have an internet connection.

“Turn your lights on in your home from your office and vice versa. You can even control your WiZ locations from as far away as the moon. As long as you’ve got internet access, you can do what you want to do with your lights – even when you’re not physically there.”

The devices can be operated by Amazon Alexa and Google Home
Share on X

All these devices can also be operated by Amazon Alexa and Google Home as well as via the handy Mobile App. But what can you do with them? Aha, this is the cool bit, you can set your light to Daylight, Warm White or Cool White, choose custom colours or pre-defined dynamic colour sets such as Party, Forest or Fireplace.

Christmas and Haloween presets cycle through festive colours
Share on X

There are literally too many options to list here but whatever your mood or event the WiZ lights can be easily set to enhance your home and bring light to your day, there are even Christmas and Haloween presets that cycle through the relevant festive colours as fast or slow as you like.

“With Amazon Alexa, not only do you have the WiZ smart home skill, but you also get the WiZ custom skill (listed as “WiZ Advanced skill” on the Alexa store) to let you enjoy immersive WiZ dynamic light modes such as forest, mojito or romance. For Google, WiZ is supported by “Direct Actions”, where the Google Assistant on Google Home or your smartphone lets you control your lights in the most natural way possible – just by talking to it.”

Night-time and wake-up settings can be scheduled and customised
Share on X

The brightness is also customisable and night time and wake up settings can be scheduled to run at custom times. I really enjoyed playing with the WiZ lights and soon settled on the warm and comforting Fireplace setting for downstairs and the Daylight setting for the landing and office where it instantly felt brighter and less gloomy than the old-fashioned bulbs I had used. These really are fun and useful tech that just works!

With 64 million colours and dynamic light presets, this has something to suit everyone
Share on X

“WiZ brings total flexibility with 64,000 shades of white and preset well-being modes plus 64 million colours and dynamic light presets. Your eyes deserve the right light temperature and intensity to focus on a laptop screen, read a magazine or gradually get yourself ready for bed.”

RRP: WiZ Colours Hero £95.94
RRP: WiZ Colours Quest £89.94
RRP: WiZ Colours Pin Bulb £47.94

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post Product Review: WiZ Connected Smart LED Lights appeared first on Tech Trends.

It’s that time of the month, when the Tech Trends team gathers up all the cool gadgets that come our way, Enjoy! 

Bakker Elkhuizen UltraBoard 940 Bluetooth Keyboard

Here we go again! My quest to find a Bluetooth keyboard that will work when I am sitting on my sofa about 10 feet from my Mac Mini, through which I stream TV. The UltraBoard 940 keyboard got off to a bad start as it is deeply unattractive and made of cheap feeling plastic but it came with clear instructions and the required rechargeable batteries, so I plugged it in and charged it up overnight hoping that the next day I would be able to search the web from the comfort of my sofa… Sadly not.

My quest for a Bluetooth keyboard that works at a 10 feet range continues
Share on X

I must have tried 10+ Bluetooth keyboards but none of them has the range. 10 feet doesn’t seem like a big deal to me when my Skullcandy Crusher Bluetooth wireless headphones can be 20-30 feet from my phone and still work flawlessly. Am I missing something? I was also disappointed with the keys on the UltraBoard 940 which are very cheap plastic and have a flimsy and unpleasant feel to them, in fact, the entire keyboard creaks when picked up and flexes horribly revealing that there are no metal structural components at all. The UltraBoard 940 claims to be ergonomic which in my experience usually means ‘small’ and I can’t speak to this claim as I was not inclined to use it for very long.

RRP: £83.99

Scentsy Go

The Scentsy Go is a portable, compact, cordless fragrance system that almost silently spreads, admittedly quite girly, scents around the house. It is battery-powered & ready to roam and is USB rechargeable so it goes where the stink is! I could have done with about fifty of these at the multi-day Hackathons I have attended when, by the third day, the air is thick with the rich stench of teenage genius, a smell comparable to sniffing the sticky, decade-old carpet in screen one of your local Odeon.

The Scentsy is portable, so can go wherever the stink is
Share on X

With a range of small and easy to change Scentsy Pods in your favourite fragrances enhanced by adjustable fragrance strength buttons it also brightens things up with a seven-colour LED display. If your home suffers from teenagers or dogs I can highly recommend these.

RRP: $50

DBPower 4K Action Camera

I am always excited to receive new cameras in the post and today DBPower have sent me their latest 12MP 4K Action Camera to test, so I’m a happy bunny. Not that I am planning to jump off some cliffs, soar around like an overactive eagle, or start leaping across random canyons in a high-powered motorcycle at some point… But when you’ve got such a new toy, even popping down to Tesco for your chicken Kievs is an excuse to start capturing moments for posterity. Read the full review here.

Dagoma Neva 3D Printer

I really wanted to like this cool looking budget Neva 3D printer from Dagoma and I also wanted the awesome red and white Tintin rocket ship I was trying to print but it seems the efforts to keep the costs low on this model have undermined its basic function. The guys at Dagoma were really great, and tried their best to help when I had issues but time after time the printer clogged, stopped working randomly, wouldn’t start or the semi printed object came free from the base and span off crazily resulting in a spaghetti of plastic all over the place.

I wanted to like this portable 3D printer, but the tech just isn't there yet
Share on X

Some of the issues I had might have been software related but to be honest, the Mac-based Cura software was the best part of the process, well laid out and not too confusing to use, but the real problems are with the printer itself. The feed mechanism, where you slide in the plastic medium is really crappy. It is not securely attached to the base of the printer so wobbles and feels very unstable. It jams frequently as it tries to pull medium into it and seems to leave chew marks on the medium that jam the printer head a bit further down the line. Twice the printer head jammed and when I pulled (extreme force required) the medium out of the feed tube it was mangled and the damage looked to have been done by the feed mechanism. The base plate was the most annoying feature though, following the instructions I cleaned it thoroughly with alcohol wipes before each new print but areas of it simply didn’t bind with the print medium so as the print progressed you could see the corners of the printed object peeling away from the base plate which inevitably meant that at some point it would break free and fly around as the printer continued to spit out medium in a useless mess. This happened three times and I simply do not have the time to waste trying to print the same piece over and over again only for it to fail halfway through.

Another compounding frustration is the printed instructions & the website, both of which are not clearly laid out or assume you know something about the 3D printing and the process when you shouldn’t need to. When I gave up part of my weekend last week to give it one more try, I found I needed to re-download the Cura software needed to create the Gcode file to feed into the printer but I literally couldn’t find this integral software anywhere on the website, so I resorted to Google to find it, and there it was, under a different, French Dagoma website with no link from the English homepage or support pages. Simply baffling. The website is a mess, full of empty, dead-end pages and when I couldn’t easily find advice for the third clogged/jammed printer head I resorted to Google again and woohoo, found the right page but then I was hit by another issue, The downloadable head cleaning Gcode file didn’t work when inserted on the SD card as per the instructions. A quick email to my contact at Dagoma came back with the response he had checked the file and it worked for him. Well, it didn’t work for me and with the disorderly website set up, I am not convinced we were even looking at or talking about the same page or Gcode file.

I must have put in 20+ hours trying to get this 3D printer to work
Share on X

I approached this printer with the best will in the world and must have put 20+ hours into trying to get it to work but I had to just give up after it failed to print even one piece of the model I was trying to build. I really don’t want to be harsh or overly critical of Dagoma but in the age of ‘it just works’, this 3D Printer just doesn’t. However, if you want to spend days of your time tinkering, fixing and retesting a 3D printer you might well enjoy the process and learn a lot about how the 3D printing works, but for anyone who needs it to just do its thing while you go and have a cup of tea, this is not the printer for you. I get this is a product designed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but as a consumer product it falls short.

RRP: $249 (reduced from $399)

iStorage diskAshur Pro2

Since I started building computers 15 years ago I have tried every kind of drive – and every type of encryption – out there. And I can tell you, it was never simple. It never “just worked”. Until now.  I was very impressed in my quick test of the non Pro, SSD version of this drive but the Pro2 manages to keep the interface just as simple while ramping up both the security and capacity. Read the full review here.

RRP: £269 for 1TB Drive

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post October 2017 Tech Trends Product Reviews appeared first on Tech Trends.

This month we’ve had a wearables bonanza with two very cool smartwatches coming our way, plus some very impressive AR books and toys, enjoy!

Samsung Gear S3

I still remember my first watch. A red and blue, plastic, made in China, digital beauty that was also a Transformer. The fact it told the time was incidental. The reason I loved it was because of all the other crazy stuff it did. If we’re honest, smart watches are the grown-up version of that, still targeted at the same people. The difference is that now the “grownups” of my generation have a bit more pocket money to spend on their toys, and those toys can actually do a lot of the things that we couldn’t imagine back then.

Looks are also important, of course. A watch you choose to wear all the time should look the bollocks. I know my Transformer one was the king of the classroom, if only for a week. It’s a great feeling. And that’s the feeling I got as I unboxed the Samsung Gear S3 smart watch, in spite of it looking – sorry Optimus Prime – a whole lot classier than my childhood companion. Papa’s got a brand new toy, and it’s pretty awesome. Read the full review here.

RRP: £349

Tech Trends AR Toy Box:

Fun Educational AR Cards

It’s a good job I am a great big man-child as some of the most exciting advances in commercially available VR & AR are coming to market cunningly disguised as books and toys! So today I’m gleefully rummaging in the Tech Trends AR Toy Box for some STEM-based educational stuff as well something much more terrifying… The Educational option comes from ReTrak who are offering three Utopia 360° 4D+ Augmented and Virtual Reality kits for kids of 5+, The Space, Dinosaur and Animal Zoo 4D+ Bundles are literally amazing and I was blown away by the quality of the AR implementation and the educational content. Read both full reviews here.

RRP: £40

Alien: Augmented Reality Survival Manual

Next in my AR Toy Box is an excellent interactive book from Carlton Publishing featuring my favourite film of all time, Alien. Boy this is a treat for a geek like me, an Alien: Augmented Reality Survival Manual. The book was produced in partnership with 20th Century Fox and is full of detailed content on the marines, the tech and the universe of the films, with lots of high quality images and production artwork, But the AR is the USP here, and it doesn’t disappoint. Read both full reviews here.

RRP: £25

Suunto GPS Smart Watch

Who says that tech folk can’t be outdoorsy? This sturdy GPS smartwatch is the perfect geeky companion for all your fresh air pursuits.

As a Tech journalist I have to admit I spend most of my time staring at a computer screen (or a tablet screen, smartphone screen, TV… well, you get the picture, haha). But living in the great wilderness that is Somerset (it’s in the UK for any Americans that need to look it up) and with no fewer than three lively dogs to my name I also get dragged out of the house in all weathers to get wet, muddy and lost.

While I might not be your typical outdoorsman, however, I still like to think I could hack it in the wild, sharpening sticks, skinning seagulls and falling in rivers, that sort of thing. So I was keen try out the Suunto Traverse smart GPS watch. Very much a GPS navigation tool the Traverse is perfect for Hiking, Mountaineering, Trekking, Walking, Backpacking, Climbing and (less so in the UK as we have killed everything except the cows & sheep) Hunting. Read the full review here.

RRP: £325

Corkcicle Tumbler

Continuing Tech Trends’ crusade for ultimate hydration we took a sip from this very cute Corkcicle Tumbler. Promising at home or on-the-go, triple-insulated beverage security, the Tumbler promises to keep your drink cool for 9 hours or hot for three without freezing or cup sweat, I hate cup sweat, nothing worse! The Corkcicle Tumbler comes in two sizes and 13 colours. I have to say it rather attractive as far as insulated cups go, and it does do the job, as my coffee stayed hot for the two hours it took me to drink it on the train to Cornwall. Note of warning though, be sure to keep the sip slider closed when you are not drinking or all that lovely heat will disappear out the spout! Colours are a bit on the girly side perhaps, but I am secure enough in my masculinity so this was no biggie.

RRP: $24.95

Box Appetit by Black + Blum

Extreme Tupperware Tech! Long day of coding ahead? No time for lunch out? You’re going to need a lunch box full of healthy home made sarnies, celery sticks, and maybe even a Dairylea triangle and an apple to keep you going… Box Appetit by Black & Blum does the job in style, including an inner dish for food separation, sauce pot for dressings or condiments, and a fife (fork + knife) with a cutting edge for easy one handed eating.

RRP: £19.99

Joto the Robotic Drawing Board

Joto is the next generation drawing machine, combining elements of robotics and artificial intelligence with pen and ink. First launched via a Kickstarter campaign in early 2017, it sold over 1,800 units in just four weeks and raised over £362,000 – smashing its original target of £100,000. Joto was named the public’s favourite design at this year’s Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition at the Design Museum, and will be made available to consumers via an exclusive partnership with Selfridges later in 2017. Business customers already using Joto technology include Twitter, Google, IBM, Intel and Liberty of London.

Basically a connected whiteboard that draws with a pen, the Joto is happy sketching everything from works of art to messages. At the push of a button, Joto turns pixels on a screen into pen and ink drawings. Check out the video below to see how it brought the Tech Trends logo to life.

 “Most of the content we love is stuck on our screens, and as a result so are we. We’re seeing a new movement looking to engage people beyond the screen, indulging in both old and new technology, that embraces all the qualities we have lost with digital media. Examples of these success stories range from vinyl to Alexa. It’s the start of a new generation of technology in the home,” Jim Rhodes, the founder of Joto, explained to Tech Trends.

It’s great to see companies exploring the potential of creative robotics, and the design and art community is eagerly embracing the potential of the new technology in their work. Top names already creating exclusive artwork for the new medium include graphic designer Anthony Burrill, Mr. Bingo and Supermundane. To demonstrate the versatility of Joto, the team has launched 365 Days of Art, which will see a network of artists create and share unique designs with the Joto community via the app.

Creative robotics is an exciting new intersection between the worlds of design and technology,” adds Rhodes. “The response has been amazing, and with our ‘365 Days of Art’ project, top artists, designers and illustrators will be able to distribute their work on the Joto platform, letting users discover a new piece of art on their wall every day of the year.”

The post September 2017 Tech Trends Product Reviews appeared first on Tech Trends.

We bring you a selection of the interesting products that have caught our eye this month, from haptic Bluetooth earphones to giant screens and coffee-making gadgets.

HP Sprocket Portable Bluetooth Smartphone Printer

As part of our invitation-only jaunt to the Cannes Film Festival this month we also got to try out this nifty printer from HP. It quickly churns out fun pocket-size photos that can be stuck around your room, office, or person. Read the full review in all its glory here.

RRP: $129.99

Varidesk Dual Monitor Arm

This month I added these nifty monitor arms to my Varidesk setup, which give a bit more flexibility when adjusting the height of my display in relation to where I’m sitting (or standing as the case may be). These feature fully articulating 360-degrees screen rotation for maximum ergonomic comfort, and come in both single and dual monitor options. As you may have guessed, however, these are specifically designed to work with the various models of the Varidesk so probably not the best choice if you’ve got a regular desk. Similarly, these days most monitors come with fittings that will allow for wall or arm mounting, but one of mine was a bit older, so I needed to purchase some brace-like adaptors that kind of spoiled the sleek look. If your monitor is compatible, however, installation is pretty straightforward, and each arm holds up to 19.8 lbs (8.98 kg) in weight which covers most size monitors. The advice is to double check your specs and the back of your monitors before ordering.

RRP: $239

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless Haptic Earphones

Our self-confessed sound geek and chief technical reviewer Tom Atkinson had a blast – literally – testing out these vibrating headphones, specially with loud films and VR content. Take a quick read of how he got on here.

RRP: $199.99

iXCC 5200mAh Portable Power Bank

You can really never have too many power banks as far as I’m concerned, and this sleek little one is classy looking (I liked the metallic pink colour) and packs a healthy charging punch while being small and lightweight. It’s also at a good price point, specially if you take advantage of the exclusive offer for Tech Trends readers to get it at 20% off using code iXCCBLON

RRP: $15.49

RCA Cable 3.5mm, iXCC 3.5mm Audio Cable to 2RCA,  Stereo Splitter Y Cable with Dual Shielded and Gold-Plated Connector

This set of audio cables is perfect for connecting your smartphone or tablet to your home stereo system enabling you to stream music into your living room from your mobile device. Build quality is very high with gold-plated connections and a tough but flexible rubber coating. We tested it by streaming music from various services such as Spotify and Google music and these cables really highlighted the difference in quality from those services. It was somewhat surprising that a dedicated music streaming service like Spotify sounded so disappointingly flat while relative newcomers to that space Google Music provided bright and lively sounds. It goes to show how it’s worth investing a relatively small amount in peripherals such as these to enhance your listening experience.

RRP: $8.00

Exclusive offer for Tech Trends Readers: Get 20% off until 30^th June 2017 with promo code iXCCZXCV

Sony VPL-VZ1000ES Ultra Short Throw Projector

From bit sounds to big pictures, while in London Tom also got to try the new top-of-the-range Sony Home Cinema setup. Click here to read the verdict.

RRP: $25,000

Pour Over Coffee Kettle with Build-in Thermometer

Former BBC journalist Phil Williams used to drink instant coffee, until a hike in Colombia changed his life by introducing his taste buds to the real deal. He founded Coffee Gator to help equip people like himself to create that nirvana-like experience at home. Being Brazilian, the love of good, ridiculously strong coffee is in my DNA, so I tend to own a large array of home brewing apparatus, but I was won over not only by Phil’s hilarious promo video (see below) but by the fact that it’s by far the cleanest and easiest to use gadget of the lot. As any barista will tell you, temperature is key for making the perfect brew, so this baby just tells you when the water reaches that temperature. The small spout also stops you from pouring the water over your coffee grounds too quickly. Simples.

And to keep my perfect brew hot for up to 12 hours (fat chance of it lasting that long) I used this beautiful Corkcicle stainless steel bottle. You’d easily spend as much over a month of buying weak lattes at your local coffee shop (or I would, anyway, just through adding extra shots so I can actually taste the coffee). And yes, I considered making some sort of #Covfefe joke here, but frankly I’m too depressed by the whole damn thing. If we’re all going to die we might as well drink good coffee while we can though.

RRP: $51 (Kettle) and $38 (Corkcicle)

For companies looking to gain a competitive edge through technology, Tech Trends offers strategic Virtual Reality and Digital Transformation Consultancy services tailored to your brand.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

 

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post May 2017 Tech Trends Product Reviews appeared first on Tech Trends.