Human controller

And now humans can be remote-controlled like oversized radio-controlled vehicles. Researchers at NTT’s laboratories in Kanagawa have invented a technique, known as galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), that can remotely stimulate a person’s vestibular system, the fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that guide our sense of balance, with electrodes placed on the skin just below the ear. It makes a person bend left or right automatically at the wish of the remote controller. The NTT team developed a headset and a control unit similar to that used with remote-controlled toy cars. The gadgets has been on public display at the 2005 SIGGRAPH, in Los Angeles, from this month.

Locket music

Digital Locket EMP-Z II Plus is the tiniest music player on earth (available at beatsounds.com for $150). With an one-gigabyte memory chip on a string, it measures just below four square inch, weighs 25.2 gms and has a 16-hour-long battery power. It can play digital audio files in the MP3 or Windows Media audio formats, and comes with its own software for transferring photos and music from a Windows or Mac computer. An FM radio tuner and voice recorder are also tucked inside.