Camera Eyes and Paperless Books- How technology is changing the world

While studying for my final exam on Monday, I came across a few interesting articles. I was very intrigued about how technological advances are being used to help people within our society. The first article I read, written by Leslie Fink, was one of my favorites. With much research, scientists have developed a new 256-pixel electronic-eye camera, which has the same size, shape and layout as a human eye. This is definitely beneficial to the 10 million blind and visual impaired individuals in America. This new development may lead the way toward the first bio-electronic prosthetic eyeball. The mesh that is covering the device allows the sensor array to withstand up to 40 percent stretching, bending and twisting, which is like folding a digital camera nearly in half. This is certainly a large improvement and radical departure from the hard, flat silicon sensing wafers now used in digital cameras and other imaging devices.

Another article I found interesting was one that revealed how scientists developed a way to create paperless books. The company, Sony has created an electronic version of ink, currently used in the E-Reader, that enables thousands of books to be carried around in one portable, energy-efficient case. The E-Ink technology is reflective, so it uses almost no power and the display provides a natural reading experience with no backlight. Even large displays will use a minimum amount of electricity. Scientists are also working on ways to use E-Ink on credit cards that won't break when they are bent, fresh food shelf labels where the price can change throughout the day, on signs along the highway, and in watches and cell phone displays.

1.http://www.usnews.com/articles/science/technology/2008/08/07/this-camera-is-like-an-eye.html

2. http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/0306-paperless_book.htm