New Trends from CeBIT 2005

CeBIT, the world’s largest annual IT trade show, takes place in Hannover. This event is a high holy day for technology freaks from all over the world; CeBIT shows us the current state of technological development in the highest possible resolution. This year, we sent five inquisitive Lab Agents to join the 480,000 guests wandering through over 30 exhibition halls. Our agents were equipped with precisely nineteen digital cameras and instructions to keep their hands steady – here are some of the impressions they brought home.

CeBIT’s exhibition halls were bursting at the seams with even bigger plasma screens, even smaller mp3 players, more advanced cell phones and more integrated software solutions. But by far the most fascinating part of the exhibit was Future Parc, dominated by the German research consortium Fraunhofer and dedicated to the technologies of the future. What our Agents saw here could make even the most world-weary gadget freak drool.

 From 57” LCD in 2004 to 102” plasma in 2005: Samsung outdid itself once more with the world’s largest flat screen. The massive screen is a prototype that won’t be made commercially available. However, a smaller sidekick measuring 80” is coming to a store near you. The only hitch might be how to get the thing up the four flights of stairs to your apartment and through the front door.

Ay one, from Siemens, is a cell phone that uses microsensors instead of keys. This makes it possible for little kids to call their moms at home by pointing a dial at her picture. Ay one can also be used as a babysitter that can send an SMS message to junior’s parents if he tries to escape from his sandbox.

The company eyespyfx presented a related project, a program that lets you remote control an ordinary webcam over the mobile internet. With a simple camera phone, we could access live footage from the webcam that hung over our heads – we could even change the webcam’s position, zoom in, etc. The ultimate wireless voyeurism.

 Fraunhofer’s 3DGIS system was the highlight of the mobile services on display. This program lets you view road maps and satellite photos on your cell phone – in 3D, no less. If you get lost in the concrete jungle, all you have to do is input a rough sketch of where you are and the system figures out which map to download from the net. Your phone then shows you a 3D image of your surroundings. We’ll have to find a new excuse for being late – 3DGIS will make it hard to get lost.

UltraCane is designed to give the blind greater confidence and freedom of movement. The cane is equipped with two ultrasound sensors, and there are two small metal buttons in the handle which vibrate under the user’s hand whenever the sensors pick up an obstacle ahead. The closer you get, the faster the buttons vibrate. Using the UltraCane is surprisingly natural, even for sighted Lab Agents with their eyes closed.