Multi-Touch Interaction Surface

	At New York University's Media Research Laboratory, a team has developed a touchscreen system allowing for multiple inputs, instead of the standard of one.  A system known as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR), uses reflected LED light to obtain location data on multiple sources of input, while diffusers between the screen and FTIR plane allow for force-sensitive response.  Project director Jefferson Han and his team designed an operating system which ran programs ranging from a music program, a photo editing studio, and a map system all navigated intuitively with fingers, as well as a series of simple games.
http://mrl.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/

Lego Mindstorms Robotics Kit
	In August of 2006, Lego released the Mindstorms NXT Robotics system.  The Mindstorms line were Lego's attempt to create an intuitive, user-friendly system that would allow the casual user to construct and program their own robot systems.  An improvement over the previous RCX model, the NXT system included three interactive servo motors, a micro phone with pattern and tone recognition, a button-activated “touch sensor,” and a set of ultrasonic “eyes” which allowed it to find objects in front of it.  In addition, the NXT CPU system (known colloquially known as the “Brick” for it's heft and square shape) is capable of wireless bluetooth connection, allowing it to send and receive messages to other systems, computers, and cell phones.
	With it's intuitive, graphic-based programming language, beginning users are able to assign their robots simple to complex behavior based on a stimulus-response network.  With this, Lego has stated “We will do for robotics what iPod did for music.”
http://mindstorms.lego.com/default.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_mindstorms#Lego_Mindstorms_NXT

Steve Mann
	A professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, Steve Mann holds a doctorate from MIT on Media arts and sciences.  He also is the author of over 200 publications ranging from the subject of electric eyeglasses to popular culture.  He is also widely known as the world's first cyborg.
	Mann has invented a series of wearable computer camera systems which have allowed him to do such things as view the world with full view of what's above and in front of him, to obtaining higher resolution images than his eye would be able to see without assistance.  These systems also recorded everything Mann did, which he considered an effort to point an eye back at “big brother” and allow technology to give power to the common man, instead of simply big government.
	Mann achived noteriety for an incident at an airport where his equipment was forcibly removed and confinscated , including a system of electrodes that were tethered to his body.  The loss of his equipment caused him to be disoriented for days to the point of requiring a wheelchair to actually board the plane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann
http://wearcam.org/virilio/scans.htm



Project Cyborg
	Professor Kevin Warwick (University of Reading, England) has been dubbed the knickname “Captain Cyborg.”  He began with a chip implanted into his arm that activated lights and other pieces of machinery in his home by his presence.  He then moved on to implant a more complex system that interacted directly with his central nervous system, allowing him to create a robotic arm that mimics the movements of his own arm perfectly.  He and his wife then had chips implanted into themselves allowing for very basic stimuli to be sent to one another by thought, creating an incredibly basic form of telepathy.
	These are all a part of “Project Cyborg,” something Warwick hopes will not only lead to new technologies with medical applications, but also pave the way for new research to further build onto the systems in his own body.  He believes that one day computer systems and AI will become more powerful that modern man, and we must preemptively adapt to be ready for them, not only to remain dominant, but to better ourselves as a species.  “There is no way,” says Warwick, “I want to stay a mere human.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Warwick
http://www.kevinwarwick.com/