Emerging Solutions

Alan Turing played a major role in cracking intercepted coded messages during WWII. Indeed, Turing may very well have shortened the war in Europe by an estimated two to four years. Often considered the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, Turing was also active in the field of mathematical biology, publishing the “The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis” in 1952. According to Wikipedia, morphogenesis is defined as the biological process that causes an organism to develop its shape. It is considered one of three fundamental aspects of developmental biology, along with the control of cell growth and cellular differentiation.

Researchers at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering have unveiled a new Quanta Image Sensor (QIS) designed to significantly enhance low-light sensitivity. Thayer professor Eric Fossum, the engineer and physicist who invented the CMOS image sensor used in a plethora of mobile devices, says QIS is targeted at a number of applications and platforms, including security cameras, astronomy and life science imaging.

Writing for The Verge, Jacob Kastrenakes reports that the White House has allocated $160 million to create smart cities. “[These] cities are wired up with sensors that can relay data back to local organizations, companies and governments so that they can identify issues and more quickly respond to changes,” he explained.

Rambus’ lensless smart sensor (LSS) technology took center stage at a recent summit in San Francisco co-hosted by frog San Francisco and IXDS from Berlin. This event represented the culmination of several months of intense design innovation collaboration between Rambus and its “Partners in Open Development (POD).” In this context, they worked together to conceive and develop functional prototype product design concepts based on LSS hardware and software.

IDTechEx analysts say there will be over three billion sensors in wearable technology devices by 2025 – with more than 30% categorized as emerging sensor types. As a recently published IDTechEx report notes, sensors are the most diverse component type in wearable devices. Perhaps most importantly, they are responsible for enabling key functionality.