Forbes:How Close Are We To A Real Iron Man Suit?

Okay. If we are just speaking of an armored suit that augments the strength and weaponry of a person, then we are extremely close. If we are speaking of something with all of the primary abilities of the Iron Man character such as flight, clean infinite power, and his repulsor beams, that may never become a reality. The current version in the comic books is even more crazy than the movies, with a suit made entirely of nanites that can repair or replicate itself and any weaponry on the fly…

First, I will break down the things we cannot do, then I will treat you to some really awesome stuff we can do…

• Flight

We just cannot have a flying suit like Iron Man’s. Not exactly anyhow. The main reason for this is the tiny rocket engines and the repulsor beams. I go into quite a bit of detail about the flight systems of the suit as they are described in the comics and a bit about the technology as it was laid out generation by generation from Iron Man Mark I to VIII+ here… Ariel Williams’ answer to Iron Man (Marvel Comics character): How do Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits generate lift for horizontal flight?

• Repulsor Beams

One of the key components of the Iron Man suit is its repulsor beams, and that is a kind of technology we may not have anything like for a very long time. The only logical explanation is they are some kind of graviton manipulation. This is so far out of our current technology that we cannot even begin to guess how it would be done, if at all.

• Arc Reactor

It is not entirely clear how the suit’s reactor works. It is smaller than a soda can, but can produce more power than the miniature nuclear reactor on a Virginia class nuclear submarine. It has something to do with zero point energy and a continuous self sustaining reaction that would appear to break most rules of thermodynamics that we know of. It could possibly be some type of cold fusion reaction, but again we have no clue how to even begin doing this in such a small size. No reaction is 100% efficient, so the waste heat alone from such a reactor would be enough to cook the person inside the suit.

_____________________________
Okay so that was a letdown, what could we do? The answer is a lot, actually!

We could almost exactly copy the original Mark 1 prototype armor from the comics right now today or in the next few years.

The Mark 1 above is not very different from Raytheons XOS 2 powered armor suit below. Stronger than a human, and it has heavier armor than a person could carry.

The video below shows how the enhanced strength from the exoskeleton allows a soldier to lift 200 pounds without any effort at all. A soldier can also carry a much heavier pack and armor. Lastly, the suit reduces fatigue even for physical activities like pushups. The suit does all the work for him.

A prototype design concept for the future development, that can also be seen in the background of the video above.

Not to be outdone, Lockheed Martin has their own powered suit called HULC.

It has less overall strength, but still reportedly allows a soldier to carry a 200 lb load, and it seems they have working units that are untethered. No word on how much of that 200lb load is currently being devoted to batteries though.

• Power

While nothing like an Arc Reactor, they expect a tethered version that would walk alongside a vehicle that carries a generator for the suit in 3 to 5 years. This would mostly be used to lift heavy materials in and out of vehicles for deployed soldiers. This could be very useful in allowing a very small team to rearm a vehicle or chopper in the field and to allow a small team to quickly unload bulk supplies and move on out of harms way. In 6 to 10 years, they expect to be able to power the suit with its own internal power supply. The most limiting factor is battery technology, but it is getting better.

We would have trouble with finding a power source and would need to recharge frequently. This is actually okay, because the Mark 1 had the exact same issue! The Mark 1 used “transistors” (capacitors they meant possibly?) to power the suit and allow it to be charged rapidly from any wall outlet. Unfortunately, it ran out of juice very often. Still, so far, so good. You didn’t expect us to start out with a Mark VIII dynamic nanite colony suit did you?

• Flight

As I stated before, we can’t have flight like the Iron Man from the movies, but the Mark 1 did not have that either. Supposedly, it was able to make short jumps or bursts of flight using “compressed air.” We have actually had designs similar to this for decades. The military designed a series of “jump jets” or “rocket belts” that used a highly concentrated mix of hydrogen peroxide and a catalyzing agent to create jets of high intensity steam that can allow a person to fly mostly vertically, which is just what the Mark 1 did! Some other models used liquid nitrogen instead. Either one can be deadly if the fuel tank ruptures. Dissolved by 90% pure hydrogen peroxide or frozen by liquid nitrogen is no way to go.

Okay, so that is obviously very cool, but with a flight time measured in seconds and a world record of only 150 ft this will not do for a superhero or a soldier.

Enter the Martin Technology JetPack.

In this video, we see the device climb to 5000 feet and deploy an emergency parachute at 3000 ft. This was actually flown by remote control in a chaser helicopter with a dummy, but that also shows how a navigation computer or assistant could help with flight in an emergency. The flight system is bulky, but it could be attached to the XOS and then used to enter hostile territory. After you arrive, you park it somewhere inconspicuous and then move in to deal out some Iron Man justice. Just don’t forget where you parked it.

Lastly, if that was not enough for you flight enthusiasts who want to truly soar like a superhero or jet as opposed to a tiny helicopter, there is a last option.

Yves “Jetman” Rossy has pioneered a wearable jet flight pack. It has the drawback that it is not powerful enough to reach flight altitude on its own, but once in the air, it can perform an impressive flight.

As daring innovators like these continue to create amazing devices, it is only a matter of time before some type of human scale personal flight system is possible.

Bonus…
Now for the Navy, we could go a different route for an Iron Man suit’s propulsion.

Yes, it does have a small 10 ft long chaser boat and does not fly very high, but it could allow for some useful tactical advantages. This thing even runs on normal fuel. It could propel a Navy Iron Man underwater quietly and then allow him to burst up from the water’s surface and dispense justice on some modern pirates.

In conclusion…

Yes, we could expect something very similar to Iron Man in the next 3-15 years, if we are willing to settle for the Iron Man Mark I suit.

The number of ways in which such a device could change the battlefield or dangerous police and emergency rescue operations is almost too many to list. We could also have versions of these suits in use at factories and manufacturing plants around the world. We would no longer need a forklift or dolly for simple yet heavy or tiring jobs, we would become the forklift. The benefits to workers on assembly lines would also be enormous as workers would get fatigued much less often and injuries from strains would be very uncommon.

Eventually technology will allow these suits to work without the human at all but that is still a long ways off….

Or is it…

:

The Samsung galaxy Smart-watch!

Wrist watches, smart or otherwise, are simply not for everyone -- there are more smartphone users in the world, many times over, than there will ever be smartwatch owners. Despite the limited market for such a device, however, Samsung's decided it's time to join in on the fun. 
The Galaxy Gear, as we've known it to be called for a few weeks now, was hardly guarded with a level of secrecy that's become standard for a flagship smartphone, but as the device is finally official -- and expected to launch in more than 100 countries within weeks -- just how does it perform? Find our take after the break.

The centerpiece of the Galaxy Gear, as you may have read by now, is a 320 x 320-pixel, 1.63-inch AMOLED touchscreen. There's a speaker and a pair of mics for recording and playing back video content and communicating with a caller via the built-in dialer, which works with the native phone app in your connected Galaxy device. The Gear includes an 800MHz processor, a 315mAh battery, and -- in a somewhat surprising twist -- a BSI sensor and autofocus lens mounted in the wrist strap that's tasked with capturing 1.9-megapixel stills and 10-second video clips at 720p, 640 x 640 or VGA resolution with sound. That camera, designed for on-the-go captures where convenience, not image quality, is a priority, is paired with a pre-installed app called Memographer. That application, and dozens of others that will be available at launch, are key to boosting the Gear's appeal, and setting it apart from the competition.

Like other smartwatches we've seen and reviewed, such as the monochrome Pebble, the Gear organizes apps, watch faces and other pages in swappable cards. With such a limited display resolution, it's only possible to display one at a time, and that's where touch comes in. To navigate through the wearable's many cards, you can swipe with a finger. There's a single button, located on the right side. Press it once to go to the home screen. A double press launches S Voice, and a triple tap activates the "safety assistance" feature, which sends your location info to a saved contact, along with a message notifying them that there's an emergency.

We haven't been blown away by any smartwatch's performance, and that's much the case here. The Gear feels awfully sluggish, whether you're launching an app such as Evernote or Path, or swiping down from the home screen to activate the camera. Watch faces, which you can upload from the Gear's Android companion app, performed well, as did the Music card, which simply serves as a remote for any music app (native or third-party) currently active on a connected device.

The Gear is very much a first-generation device when it comes to usability, too; you can only load a total of 10 third-party apps, for example, due in no small part to the limited 4GB of built-in storage. The interface also feels a bit clunky and unpolished at times, and the S Voice feature, which responds to commands just like its smartphone and tablet counterparts, can only be activated by tapping the home button twice -- hardly convenient when you're running or riding a bike.

As for the device's physical appearance, it's a bit svelter than leaked reports would suggest, but it's still a substantial product. Some colors, such as Rose Gold and Mocha Gray, were designed with female users in mind, but with a design that's significantly larger than many traditional watches, it may be a bit too cumbersome for petite wrists. That said, we didn't find it too large for male users, who might prefer the JetBlack or Oatmeal color schemes. According to Samsung reps, sporty types might opt for Wild Orange or Lime Green, and considering third-party apps like RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal, along with the bundled pedometer, athletes are clearly a target demographic here.

Samsung opted for an industrial design instead of a more elegant finish. There are four visible screws above and below the face, for example, and the metal buckle, which houses the speaker, doesn't feel terribly well made. Many of the colors are a bit too "sporty" to be an appropriate fit for formal occasions or business attire, so unless you opt for an all-black Gear, you may end up leaving the watch at home more often than not. That wouldn't be a terrible call, however -- the embedded battery is rated for a day of "regular" use, which means more active users will be spending a lot of time attaching the watch to the bundled micro-USB-equipped plastic charging dock, which connects to the device through five metal leads on the rear.

As we've come to expect with many first-generation devices, the Gear has quite a few shortcomings, some of which likely have yet to come to light. The prototype devices we used were noticeably sluggish and occasionally unresponsive, S Voice is not entirely hands-free, and battery life has been pegged at a full day, at best. Perhaps the biggest setback, however, is that the Galaxy Gear is only compatible with the Note 3 and the new Note 10.1, and while it will likely work with the GS4 once that device gets an Android 4.3 update, we don't expect that it'll ever function with non-Samsung smartphones and tablets. Gear begins shipping on September 25th. Update: The gear will cost $299 when it starts shipping, though, customers in the US and Japan will have to wait 'til October to get their hands on one.

Source: Engadget

Samsung v Apple: Galaxy Gear release brings time for smartwatch rivalry!

Samsung's smart-watch going to market in September may set off new battle after wrangles with Apple over tablets and mobiles.

An internet impression of a Samsung smart-watch. The Galaxy Gear will go on sale in September.

The bitter rivalry between Samsung and Apple will expand beyond smartphones and tablets to smart wristwatches next month with Samsung first to market on 4 September with a device called the Galaxy Gear.

Due to be unveiled just before the start of the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin, the device is likely to connect wirelessly to a smartphone to access the internet.

It is thought to be able make voice calls, access emails and surf websites.

Although an on-sale date has not been confirmed, the Galaxy Gear is almost certain to beat Apple's long rumoured "iWatch" to market, although it will not be the first smartwatch to go on sale.

Sony's second device, the SmartWatch 2, went on sale earlier in the summer. US startup Pebble Technology, meanwhile, raised $10.3m (£6.6m) via crowdfunding to make its Pebble smartwatch, which has been pre-ordered by more than 275,000 people.

Research firm Canalys expects more than 500,000 smart-watches to be sold this year, followed by 5m in 2014 as Samsung, Apple, Google and other technology companies launch their own models.

Frequent leaks and patent filings have hinted at these companies' plans. Apple is thought to have a 100-strong team working on its smartwatch, and in June applied for the iWatch trademark in Japan.

The flurry of activity is part of a wider excitement within the consumer electronics industry about wearable gadgets, which also include wireless fitness tracking devices such as the Fitbit and Nike's FuelBand, and eyewear comparable to Google Glass.

Research firm Juniper Research expects more than 18m smart wearable devices to be sold in 2013, rising to 170m by the end of 2018.

The Real Tech Behind 'Elysium' Exoskeletons!

Matt Damon (right) and Jose Pablo Cantillo face off in Columbia Pictures' "Elysium," opening August 9, 2013.

In the upcoming movie "Elysium," starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, the main character, Max (Damon), has fallen ill, and in his weakened state, he is unable to get to the space station Elysium where he could be cured.
To help, the other characters put Max in an exoskeleton, a sort of automated body armor that augments his strength and speed, also helping him to move as his illness becomes ever-more debilitating.
That isn't too different from how real-life exoskeletons work, experts say.


In fact, the exoskeleton in "Elysium" was at least partially modeled after the HULC, or Human Universal Load Carrier, an exosuit designed by Ekso Bionics and Lockheed Martin for military use.
The HULC consists of leg braces and a back brace with motors at the knees and hips. It's designed to let wearers carry up to 200 pounds of extra weight on their backs, and to redirect the force of all of that weight into the ground.
Scanners in the HULC monitor the wearer's movements so that the device compliments the wearer's actions. For example, each time the wearer takes a step the HULC's leg motors have to move fast enough that they don't impede the wearer's stride. But if the suit moves too fast, it could overextend the wearer's limbs and cause serious damage.

However, the exoskeleton in "Elysium" differs from the HULC in important ways. For one, the HULC doesn't include arm braces. And according to Nathan Harding, co-founder and CEO of Ekso Bionics, the "Elysium" exoskeleton appears to be working in a way that more closely resembles a medical exoskeleton than a military one.
"With a military exoskeleton, you're trying to carry external loads, trying to help people do things" that a normal human wouldn't be capable of doing.
Medical exoskeletons, by contrast, are designed to help people with muscular impairments, such as paraplegia, to regain some of their mobility. In those cases, the device does not augment a person's muscles, but instead compensates for them or even replaces them entirely in some cases.
That's not to say the two technologies should not be mixed; Ekso Bionics is currently developing exoskeletons for people who can move only one side of their bodies, such as stroke survivors.
In these types of suits, one side would be more military-like, in that it would augment the user's existing functionality, while the other side would be medical.
Drill, baby, drill?
"Elysium" diverges from modern exoskeleton technology in another, even more significant way.
"They seem to be installing [the exoskeleton] into his bone structure," Harding told LiveScience, after watching the trailer for "Elysium," which hits theaters this Friday (Aug. 9).
In the film, Max undergoes an operation in which parts of the exoskeleton, including , some type of brain-machine connections are drilled into his body.
"That's kind of a different approach than is currently going on in an exoskeleton," said Harding.
"Different" is putting it mildly. Aside from the bodily injury and risk of infection that such an operation would entail, drilling into a human body to affix an exoskeleton would go against what the exoskeleton is there to accomplish, Harding said.
Exoskeletons "are designed to provide an alternative that … basically takes the load off the infrastructure of humans," he said. Attaching exoskeletons directly to people's skeletons, he explained, would ensure that any weight they carried remained on their bodies, thus decreasing the device's usefulness.
"Elysium" gives one reason for its surgically implanted exoskeleton, explaining that the device interfaces with the wearer's brain. "Hook this into your nervous system, and it'll make you strong as a droid," says one character, as he prepares to operate on Max.
But human-computer interfaces are a whole other matter entirely. From a purely structural perspective, surgically installed exoskeletons are "intriguing, but I don't see that part of it being useful," Harding said.
Science fiction and science reality
Nowadays, it's fairly common to see something like an exosuit in a movie, even if the characters call it something else.
The "Iron Man" movies, "Battleship" and "Avatar" have also featured exoskeletons, and these movies have educated the public on what exoskeletons are and what they do, Harding said.
"When we started in 2005 … people just really didn't know what [exoskeletons] were or what they were doing," Harding said. "And then we went through this phase where everyone under 25 knew what an exoskeleton was because they were seeing them in all these movies. And now we've hit this phase where there are people in investment saying, 'Hey, I've got to have a bionic strategy!'"
Ekso Bionics isn't the only "bionic strategy" out there. A company called Activelink is developing an exoskeleton called Power Loader, a modified version of which will be used in the cleanup around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which melted down after an earthquake in 2011.
NASA is also working on an exoskeleton that will help astronauts walk and control their movements in low-gravity environments. That suit, co-developed with the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, may also be adapted for Earth use to help paraplegics walk.
Many real-life innovations drew inspiration from films and television, but Harding says exoskeletons aren't one of them.
"We try to look into the future and what you're going to want to do with an exoskeleton, and then build a mechanical structure that makes sense technically to do the job and fit those parameters," he said. "So it's interesting now to see science fiction feeding it back at us and making science fiction look kind of like the reality."
Watch a video concerning this:
http://www.space.com/22290-elysium-man-fighting-tech-enhanced-video.html

Google Glasses: Specs And Other Details!

Meet Alex Blaszczuk: Google Glass Explorer, law student, and owner of a 20lb cat. In the fall of 2011, a car accident en route to a celebratory camping trip left Alex paralyzed from the chest down, unable to use her hands. Last month, Alex finally made it camping and shared her story through Glass. 

The Google Glasses which have a five megapixel camera and voice-activated controls, have started to be shipped.

The first devices will go to developers and “Glass Explorers”. Google held a competition earlier this year inviting potential users to come up with ways to use the device, while developers have been eager to be among the first to try out the technology.

Developers working on apps for Google’s smart glasses have been told they will not be allowed to place advertising within the device’s display. The newly-published terms and conditions for developers working on Glass also prohibit companies charging for apps.

According to several sources, those in the Glass Explorer Program are now receiving email notifications about device shipments, while Google also posted the technical specifications of the device for the first time.

Woman Wearing Google Glasses

The bone conduction transducer allows the wearer to hear audio without the need for in-ear headphones – sound waves are instead delivered through the user’s cheekbones and into the inner ear.

The company promises a battery lasting for “one full day of typical use”.

Its display is the equivalent, the company says, of looking at a 25in (63cm) high-definition screen from eight feet away. The device is able to record video at a resolution of 720p.

It has 16GB on-board storage, and connects with other mobile devices via Bluetooth and wi-fi.

The Telepathy One headset developed by a Japanese company has functions similar to Google’s Glass device

Also keeping an eye on the excitement generated by Google will be Japanese firm Telepathy Inc. Their device, the Telepathy One, has been touted as a possible competitor to Google Glass. Chinese search giant Baidu has also confirmed it is working on a Glass-like project – but details are so far scant.

Google Glass Tech Specs:

Fit
•Adjustable nosepads and durable frame fits any face.
•Extra nosepads in two sizes.

Display

High resolution display is the equivalent of a 25 inch high definition screen from eight feet away.

Camera
•Photos – 5 MP
•Videos – 720p

Audio
•Bone Conduction Transducer

Connectivity
•Wifi – 802.11b/g
•Bluetooth

Storage
•12 GB of usable memory, synced with Google cloud storage. 16 GB Flash total.

Battery

One full day of typical use. Some features, like Hangouts and video recording, are more battery intensive.

Charger
•Included Micro USB cable and charger.

While there are thousands of Micro USB chargers out there, Glass is designed and tested with the included charger in mind. Use it and preserve long and prosperous Glass use.

Compatibility
•Any Bluetooth-capable phone.
•The MyGlass companion app requires Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher. MyGlass enables GPS and SMS messaging.

Google Glasses – The Wearable Computer. Image Courtesy Best Android Lookout