Il Village from Italy is currently working on a GPS satellite system that will offer a greater degree of mobility and independence to the blind and visually impaired, and this system will be known as the Easy Walk service. The brainchild of Il Village’s technology officer, Andrea de Paoli, the Easy Walk system comprises of a Symbian-based cellphone, a Bluetooth GPS receiver, text-to-speech software called Talks, and a call center that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There will be a couple of dedicated keys on the handset, where one of them will let the user know of their exact location when pressed (down to the house or building number) while the other alerts the call center in the event where the user requires assistance with navigation.

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If you hate being stuck in traffic jams, don’t worry, because the new flying car PAL-V is on it way. This Dutch project is a hybrid 3-wheel vehicle that can fly as a gyrocopter and also be driven as a regular car, or to be more precise, like a motorcycle.

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Following an accident time is of the essence and, in the adrenalin fuelled aftermath of such incidents the emergency services invariably have to work frantically amidst the chaotic throng of police, fire crews and over inquisitive onlookers in order to assess the status of the injured who may be drifting sporadically in and out of consciousness.

A wealth of information has to be amassed concerning blood groups, known drug allergies and the extent of the injuries sustained in as quickly as possible so as to enable correct prioritisation of care and, in the heat of the action, even the slightest mistake occasioned by something not being documented or communicated correctly can cost lives.

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The Gotta Go Briefcase is certainly a brilliant invention for road warriors who constantly live out of a suitcase. Their lifestyle requires them to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice - pretty much like a nomad of yore. This briefcase might not contain a single piece of clothing, but what it does do is bring relief during the most constipated times in your traveling life. Have you ever been stuck in a traffic jam or during those long commutes, where you’re even willing to sell your own mother just to take a crap in the john? Assuming the Gotta Go Briefcase concept takes off, that will be a thing of the past, as this fully functioning briefcase doubles up as a portable lavatory.

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The Chinese mobile telephone company Huawei presented in CeBIT 2007 these cool concepts for new cell phones that may or may not be produced in the near future. The most interesting one is a mobile phone with an integrated USB connector that can be used without the need of an adapter or even a cable. The USB adapter is made with a flexible rubber that can be bent in any angle you need to connect it directly to your computer for transmitting data and charging your phone.

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We can say, with relative certainty, that the PerCushion is probably the most comfortable phone in the world, though whether you’ll ever get to finish a conversation without nodding off is quite another matter.

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The EV-X7 is a new kind of electric motorcycle which has a top speed of 90mph (maybe even a 100 down a very steep hill) and a range of up to 110 miles off a 6 hour charge.

The improved performance is put down to new type of motor that is both lighter and more efficient and appropriately called the Sumo hybrid (have you ever heard of a lite sumo?). The manufacturers Axle are planning a mini version of the EV-X7 later this year for under £1,000 which sounds promising.

Source: Sunday Times (I bought 2 trees worth of paper for this one piece, though I did also read the cartoon)

This is a cool looking idea, the sand + time watch, an egg timer for your wrist.

The watch would function in two ways, the first as a conventional watch displaying the time (hours at the top, minutes at the bottom) but in the more interesting other mode the display will take on the form of an old fashioned egg timer and display the sand falling from the top screen to the bottom.

I do like how the old and new technologies are merged in the sand + time watch, shame it’s just a concept for now.

Concept over at idealist.