Gadgetory

the annual research and intel event offers the chance to embark on a little future gazing the event highlights research projects in the works at Intel Labs it's sprung up around something called ubiquitous computing which it sounds kind of geeky and nerdy it's not that big a deal what it says is that computing will just be everywhere and we're kind of living in that world where we all have smartphones we all have little fit bits and Nike Fuel band zazz the notion of wearable technology so we have computing all around us so what does it mean when everything's intelligence that includes something as basic as store shelves this shelf edge technology simplifies grocery shopping users list their preferences in a smartphone application everything from food allergies to what kind of car you own as you enter the store the technology recognizes your smartphone via bluetooth and then displays information personalized for you each display has a sensor and changes based on the shoppers preferences so for example if you're allergic to nuts you'll see a thumbs down sign for any products you should avoid since the technology knows what you drive it could tell you which car part to buy it could even suggest a wine that pairs well with the salmon you purchased for dinner the displays are also dynamic swipe and you can read product reviews or watch a video parents can create smarter baby monitors by controlling devices based upon their child's behavior this technology recognizes when your baby is unhappy and could turn on a crib toy that plays calming music or when your baby is crying and alert could be sent to your smartphone the goal of this research project is to reduce vehicle accidents and this notion of gossiping cards like what if your cars could gossip back and forth and talk to each other and wouldn't it be great if we could use our vehicles to keep us safe how can veto LEDs on this scooter transmit information such as speed and whether the driver is breaking or turning a sensor on the second scooter detects that information and sends alerts to the dashboard this technology uses another tactic to increase driver safety minimizing distraction cameras track the drivers gaze morning them when their eyes aren't on the road for longer than a couple of seconds but what's more unique is that researchers are tracking whether drivers are munthali distracted using near functional infrared spectrometer technology I'm checking my mirrors I know what's going on ahead of me I see brake lights up ahead those are sorts of things that would register information your brain is processing or cognitive perspective and if we get a handle on that and we can use that information you know potentially for safety applications but also just making the driving experience better the challenge for Intel now is to get these technologies out of the lab and into our hands in San Francisco I'm Sumi das cnet.com for CBS News