Tech Universe: Friday 15 July

An American woman is planning a 'bionic eye' with an HD camera, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Photo / Thinkstock

HD EYE: Tanya Vlach is an American who lost an eye in a car accident. She has plans though to create and use a bionic eye by adding an HD cam, Bluetooth and wireless to her artificial eye. Oh, along with optical zoom, Firewire, AV out and a power source. And she has a list of desirable features too, including geotagging, facial recognition and blinking to capture stills. There's nothing wrong with being ambitious. See more at Kickstarter.com

HOT METAL: A new metal alloy from the University of Minnesota exploits small temperature differences to create electricity. The material is a non-magnetic solid but when heated a little it becomes
highly-magnetic. That phase change can induce a current in a coil connected to a magnet. This could be used to recover waste heat from computers or car exhausts. It could even generate electricity from the difference between the temperatures of ground water and air. Every trickle of energy builds the current. More here.

SPORTY WATCH: VEA's new Sportive mobile watch lets you carry a bunch of things on your wrist while you run, including camera, MP3 player, phone, cardio monitor, watch. It has Bluetooth and USB too. Now all you need is a bunch of money. Engadget has more, and video here.

PIXEL COAT: David Forbes wears a lab coat that plays The Simpsons. It's a wearable TV driven by circuit boards on the shoulders and hips. The 160x120 pixel colour LED display is built on flex boards hotglued onto a lab coat. There are controls for colour and brightness and the video is provided by an iPod. Total cost: 6 months and $20,000. Makers, your inspiration is here. CathodeCorner.com has more and there's video here.

TIXEL TICKLE: One major drawback of multi-touch screens is that you need to be able to see them. Senseg E-Sense replicates the feeling of touch with a tiny electrical charge. The charge passes through tixels to create a controlled electric field several millimeters above the surface that attracts skin. Modulating the field changes the nature of the sensation. Tixels? A portmanteau word from tactile pixels. How long till they're simply called 'tickles'? Details here.

- Miraz Jordan here