Communications Media

Near-infrared laser transfers data to mid-infrared laser’s beam

“Interband transitions controlling intersubband transitions” is the technical description for what has been achieved in an optics lab in Stevens Institute of Technology’s Physics Department. Robert K. Murawski, a post-doctoral research assistant working under the direction of Professor Rainer Martini , has a simpler way to describe it: “Controlling light with light.”

Regardless of styling, the concept is not a n

Animated characters on the Internet are often soulless. They stare, speak monotonously and have limited facial expression. More realistic characters are being tested by a European team of researchers. Could such enhanced characters benefit e-commerce and build better Web-based communities?

Most of us interact with our computers by punching keys. But the time is ripe for a more sophisticated and realistic interface. One way forward is to program characters known as avatars. They can be given

Presidential candidates can gain a measurable image boost from going on late-night TV, University of Washington researchers have found.

The researchers found that during the 2000 campaign, the favorability rating of George W. Bush went up among late-night comedy watchers for a week after Bush traded comedic jabs with David Letterman.

“Everyone talks about how ’infotainment’ is becoming more important in elections, but can it actually sway perceptions of the candidates? We found e

A new kind of wireless network protocol that is based on IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) allows users to link to network no matter which platform.

“What we’ve designed is a system that is platform independent,” says Tommi Saarinen of Oulu University, Finland, and 6HOP coordinator. “It can be used with the ordinary 802.11x wireless LAN cards you can buy in shops. The difference is that the 6HOP system was designed around IPv6 from the start, and also supports IPv4 legacy networks.”

People on the move will soon be able to access TV programmes and the internet on dual mode mobile phones, thanks to a highly praised, cross European project made possible by a grant of €3.71 million from the Information Society Technology (IST) Programme of the European Union’s Fifth Framework Programme (FP5).

With project partners in the UK, Germany, France and Italy, the CISMUNDUS (Convergence of IP-based Services for Mobile Users and Networks in DVB-T) project has developed and demonstrat

Dualia, located in the Basque town of Aretxabaleta, has developed a system of simultaneous translation via mobile telephone and which is currently the only one of its kind world-wide.

Every company that has contact abroad but is not au fait with the language normally has to make use of an on-the-spot simultaneous interpreter who has to be physically present at all the meetings involving business, etc. With this new service, Dualia makes this situation greatly simpler, providing the client ac