In a demo that drew gasps at TED2010, Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos new augmented-reality mapping technology from Microsoft. Read More…

As of 2005, only 15 percent of the world was mapped. This slows the delivery of aid after a disaster — and hides the economic potential of unused lands and unknown roads. In this short talk, Google’s Lalitesh Katragadda demos Map Maker, a group map-making tool that people around the globe are using to map their world. Read More…

We’ve already seen MIT researcher Pranav Mistry’s SixthSense projector-based augmented-reality system in some cool demos, but he just gave a TED talk and his latest ideas are the wildest yet. At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data — including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper “laptop.” In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he’ll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all. Read More…

AutoCAD® 2010’s new capabilities can help you enhance productivity, improve efficiency and tackle the most challenging design problems with ease. Join Lynn Allen and Shaan Hurley for an insider’s look at new AutoCAD 2010 features, with live demos, tips, tricks and much more. Read More…

The graphical user interface has become the de facto metaphor for most of our diverse activities using computers, yet the desktop environment provides a one size fits all interaction. Tangible and ubiquitous computing research, along with recent consumer products such as the Wii and the iPhone, suggest an opportunity to enable more compelling and natural interactions through the co-design of sensing hardware, software algorithms, and physical form. For the computer to realize its potential as a tool that significantly extends our intellectual and expressive abilities, new interaction techniques must call upon our bodily abilities to manipulate objects and must be more usable in our everyday physical environment. Read More…

Building sophisticated educational tools out of cheap parts, Johnny Lee demos his cool Wii Remote hacks, which turn the $40 video game controller into a digital whiteboard, a touchscreen and a head-mounted 3-D viewer. Read More…

Utilizing the theory of electrostatics, a group of 5 electrical and computer engineering students from Northeastern University in Boston have designed a low-cost human-computer interface device that has the ability to track the position of a user’s hand in three dimensions. Physical contact is not required and the user does not need to hold a controller or attach markers to their body. To control the device, the user simply waves their hand above it in the air. Read More…

JoAnn Kuchera-Morin demos the AlloSphere, an entirely new way to see and interpret scientific data, in full color and surround sound inside a massive metal sphere. Dive into the brain, feel electron spin, hear the music of the elements. Read More…

Researcher Hans Rosling uses his cool data tools to show how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. He demos Dollar Street, comparing households of varying income levels worldwide. Then he does something really amazing. Read More…

Blaise Aguera y Arcas leads a dazzling demo of Photosynth, software that could transform the way we look at digital images. Using still photos culled from the Web, Photosynth builds breathtaking dreamscapes and lets us navigate them. Read More…