IT's strange world

Network reproduces ancient music

For the first time in thousands of years, an ancient musical instrument can be heard, thanks to internationally linked computers. The sound of the Epigonion, a wooden string instrument similiar to a modern-day harp, has been recreated by ASTRA (Ancient instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application) project. The modeling process needs extreme amounts of computing power, which means it would take about four hours for a computer to reproduce a sound lasting 30 seconds. But through the use of high-spec technology, ASTRA has produced a performance of one of the oldest known musical scores dating back to the Middle Ages.
And their work could have wider implications for researchers around the world, according to the organization which built the GÉANT2 network used in the project. The ASTRA team also believes the benefits of the collaborative approach used in the project are far reaching. They say it allows research data to be shared around the world, making it “a truly international project of immense value to working archaeologists and historians.”

Lying about your age? A computer can tell

How well can you hide your age? Computer scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a software program that estimates age based solely on someone’s facial appearance, suggesting that in the near future you won’t be able to fool either Mother Nature or that video camera verifying your ID at the local bar.
Beyond more accurate age estimates, the technology suggests a way for ads to target passersby with ageappropriate pitches, for face-based security systems to improve their accuracy, and for robots to become more adept at responding to human needs.
“I think we are moving closer and closer to ‘Minority Report,’ where we have these systems that look at you and can generate some demographic information automatically,” said Karl Ricanek Jr., Director of the Face Aging Group at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Cell phone industry celebrates its 25th birthday

From the Motorola “Brick” to the iPhone, cell phones have certainly come a long way in the past quarter of a century.
It was 25 years ago, on October 13, 1983, that the very first commercial cell phone call was made. Bob Barnett, president of Ameritech Mobile communications, called Alexander Graham Bell’s nephew from Chicago’s Soldier Field using a Motorola DynaTAC handset, referred to as the “Brick” because of its hefty size.
Weighing in at 2.5 pounds, the phone wasn’t exactly portable. And it was expensive, retailing for about $3,995. Cell phone service back in those days was also pricey, costing $50 a month just for the service, plus 40 cents a minute at peak hours and 24 cents a minute at off-peak times.
What a difference 25 years makes. In 1984, a year after Ameritech Mobile launched its service, the company had signed up about 12,000 subscribers. Today, AT&T, the largest mobile operator in the U.S. has 72.9 million customers.

“Tongue Mouse” can control a computer

Imagine changing channels or surfing the web with just a flick of your tongue. Researchers have come up with such a device for those who are paralyzed that the system holds the most promise.
Researchers have come up with a way someone can use their tongue much like a joystick letting the user control everything from motorized wheelchairs to computers. The secret is a magnet placed on the user’s tongue and sensors outside the mouth that work with a computer to do the rest. Maysam Ghovanloo, Assistant Professor at the School of Computer and Electrical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology says, when the magnet moves, its magnetic field changes, and that, “By measuring the changes in the magnetic field, these sensors basically send that information to a computer.”
The system is primarily intended to help people who are paralyzed by a spinal injury operate a powered wheelchair. Ghovanloo says the reason the researchers are focusing on the tongue is that, “No matter the spine injury, they don’t lose the tongue because it’s directly connected to the brain.”