Innovation CHEF

You knew it was coming, it just made too much sense the Solar ebook reader is on it’s way from LG. Demonstrating an ebook sized thin film solar cell on a Sony reader at the International Meeting on Information Display in Seoul, LG looks to solving one of the key constraints on ebooks.

Ebooks are very handy, loads of books in one form factor, until the battery runs out. This solar cell is designed to extend battery life of the ebook. Measuring 100×100 mm and at a thickness of 0.7mm it is pretty compact. LG claims the cell currently has an efficiency rate of just 9.6 percent, but is aiming to steadily increase this over time to prepare for commercial application.

Even if an LG e-reader never come to market, the company will likely licence the technology to existing manufacturers keen on extending battery life.

Of course with the advances in Nuclear batteries this is a good time for micro device power.

TESCO, the mighty UK retailer, had a one day, invitation only, event recently. 70 customers spend the day creating new ideas on ways the supermarket could improve their online shopping experience and could further use the power of the internet. This kind of customer involvement has become much more common recently with companies such as LEGO & proctor & Gamble using customer insights and especially power users to build new products and services.

800 ideas were generated and then voted on. The “winning” idea was the T-Scanner – this device hangs on a keyring and enables a customer to collect barcodes of grocery products that the liked as they go around their business in daily life.

I wonder how much it would take to incorporate this function into a smart mobile phone. Take photos that are recognised as barcodes and are collected as such. Can then be uploaded automatically to your online shopping account through the web or even text. Is there some iphone developer out there already on the case?

TESCO also previewed the supermarkets new API. Includes an ‘ideas inbox’ —  this is a multimedia
storage area that can hold text, images, audio and
video. Customers don’t have to immediately translate
ideas into products on a shopping list but can instead store a photo
of the label on a bottle of wine they are enjoying in a restaurant, or
a spoken phrase, as reminders to be brought up when they compile their
shopping list.

The supermarket also revealed more about its affiliate
scheme, which allows developers to earn awards based on attracting new
customers and the contribution their application makes to a customer’s
grocery order.

Good sounding course from Carlow IT. Anyone interested in sustainability and design soon check it out soon as it is meant to start in September. Looks like you get credit towards a Masters too.

Programme Content:

• Introduction to Sustainable Design (SD), case studies, approaches & philosophies
• Practical sustainable design strategies for designers
• Social and environmental legislative concerns for designers
• LCA (Product Life Cycle Analysis), LCA tools, IT(Information Technology) packages, simplified applied LCA
• Social and Corporate Responsibility
• Packaging and waste considerations for designers
• Marketing sustainable design
• Communication and presentation of sustainable design and business
• Development of the SD Brief and SD Strategy
• SD Facilitation and Multidisciplinary collaboration
• Procurement and specification of materials and processes
• Sustainable Product Service Systems (SPSS)

The Danish Company Dong Energy have just awarded a significant contract to the UK based SeaJacks company to put their monster ships the Kraken and Leviathon into the Irish Sea to facilitate the installation of wind turbines on Walney 1 and Walney 2 windfarms, which are to be located in the Irish Sea.

The  two wind farms will have a total capacity of 367MW, coming from 102 turbines. Walney I is set for completition at the beginning of 2011. Walney II is expected to be completed in 2012. The total power produced will be the equivalent of the yearly consumption of about 250,000 households.

British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: ‘This is another green light for green energy. It’s a vote of confidence in the support the Government has put into backing renewable energy.

Windfarms may not be everyones first choice but this is clearly a huge step forward for clean energy and with the anouncement of the world’s first 1GW, offshore wind farm supplying enough power for around 750,000 homes – or a quarter of the Greater London homes, the UK is making the most of natural resources, resources shared by Ireland.

Are the similar bold moves ahead for Ireland?

The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, in response to what he calls “the worst global recession of our lifetime” has announced an Innovation Task force to  ensure Ireland is well positioned for ” the global upturn when it comes.”

The idea is that this top team of advisors will create options for the government to ensure an increase in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and have Ireland positioned as an international Innovation Hub with the fabled Smart, Green Economy.

“The Ireland of the future will be a smart, high-value, export-led economy. It will have some of the world’s leading research-intensive multinationals, a number of which will be Irish-owned. It will have thousands of innovative small and medium enterprises,” the Taoiseach said.

Innovation taskforce: membership

• Dermot McCarthy , secretary general, Department of the Taoiseach (chairman)
• Lionel Alexander , vice-president general manager of Hewlett Packard (Manufacturing) Ltd and chairman of the Government’s Enterprise Feedback Group
• Prof Don Barry , president, University of Limerick
• Dr Hugh Brady , president, University College Dublin
• Damien Callaghan , investment director, Intel Capital
• Michael Carmody , president, Institute of Technology Tralee
• Dr Steven Collins , co-founder chief technical officer, Kore Virtual Machines
• Ned Costello , chief executive, Irish Universities Association
• Joe Harford , chairman of the Government’s High Level Action Group on Green Enterprise
• Dr John Hegarty , provost, Trinity College Dublin
• Dr Chris Horn , co-founder of Iona Technologies
• Dr Brian Kelly , founder chief executive, Celtic Catalysts
• Dr Burton Lee , director, European entrepreneurship programme, Stanford University; managing partner, Innovarium Ventures
• John Lynch , chief executive, Merrion Pharmaceuticals
• Tara MacMahon , IP lawyer
• Dan MacSweeney , chief executive, Carbery Group
• Bryan Mohally , vice-president of supply chain operations Europe, Johnson and Johnson
• Mark O’Donovan , director, Raglan Capital
• Barry O’Sullivan , senior vice-president, Cisco Systems
• Dr Paul Roben , president, Celtic Consulting
• Anna Scally , partner, KPMG

A new Irish Innovation is going to bring Viking ghosts back to life on the streets of Dublin. The NDRC has a exciting hyperlocal game in development called Viking Ghost Hunt. In the game players equipped with Google Android phones will track down ghosts to real locations in the city and become realife ghostbusters.

image:informatique

Locations will be found using google maps and using the camera on the phone as a window into the spirit world, ghosts will appear on the screen. Communication with the ghost will be also possible through the phone.

This kind of blended reality has a lot of practical uses too but could really change the nature of MMRPG games.

Quoting from the project page:

The technology developed by Viking Ghost Hunt will allow mobile phone users to play games that are based upon a player’s physical location in, for example, Dublin City. The game itself will be an engaging mystery adventure, bringing users through some of Dublin’s most exciting and historically significant Viking sites. Compared with traditional gaming, which is essentially sedentary, a central aspect of the project will be to evaluate the health benefits arising from users movement around the city.

It is fantastic that this kind of creativity and development is getting a chance to grow. All the best to the project team.

You can listen to George Hook getting his head around the idea here:

The Right Hook Technology Podcast