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CCD sensors have long ruled the digital imaging roost, but a team of researchers at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria have concocted flat, flexible and transparent image sensors that could eventually change things up. Made from a flexible polymer film suffused with fluorescent particles, the prototypes catch only a specific wavelength of light and shoot it to an array of sensors that surround the sheet's edge. At that point, the rig calculates where light entered the polymer by measuring how much it has diminished during its travel time, and then composes an image from that data. It's said the process is similar to how a CT scan functions, but uses visible light instead of X-rays. Not only is the membrane relatively inexpensive and potentially disposable, but the solution is a world's first, to boot. "To our knowledge, we are the first to present an image sensor that is fully transparent – no integrated microstructures, such as circuits – and is flexible and scalable at the same time," said Oliver Bimber, co-author of the group's paper.

As of now, the setup only snaps black and white images with a resolution of 32 x 32 pixels, but there are plans to boost its fidelity by leveraging higher quality photodiodes (or even composite photos). Also, color photographs could be achieved by using several sheets that capture different hues of light. So, what's this all mean for practical applications? Researchers believe its prime use lies in layering the film on TV screens and other displays to offer gesture controls without pesky, additional cameras. In addition, objects can be imbued with sensor capabilities if wrapped with the layer, and even CCD's could benefit from having a slice of the polymer slapped on them to take photos at different exposures. Hit the second source link for the scientific nitty-gritty, or head past the break for a glimpse at the setup's photos.

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Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.

The discovery of what is hoped to be the Higgs boson was an exciting time for anyone with a curious mind. It turns out, that the price of knowledge is often a heavy one. Without putting too much of a negative spin on it... that teeny-weeny boson could predict bad news. On a lighter -- or is that darker -- note, other areas of science and technology bravely march ever-onward with the goal of a better understanding of life, the universe, and tattoos. This is alt-week.

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Know that feeling when someone wanders too far into your personal space? The University of Illinois' Victor Mateevitsi does, which is why he'd built a suit that does the job to a far greater degree of accuracy. SpiderSense is a onesie that uses a series of microphones to rend and receive ultrasonic signals from the space around you, like high frequency radar. When the outfit senses something approaching, a robotic arm corresponding to the microphone exerts pressure on your skin, pointing you in the direction of the danger. Mateevitsi tested the gear by blindfolding researchers and asking them to throw a cardboard ninja star whenever (and wherever) they sensed a threat -- with positive results 95 percent of the time. SpiderSense will get its first public showing at Stuttgart's Augmented Human conference in March and it's hoped that the hardware will eventually help Blind people get around easier.

[Image Credit: Lance Long]

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An eye-implanted chip from Retina Implant has restored patients' ability to discern light during its latest trial, according to German researchers. The device works in a similar fashion to the newly FDA-approved Argus II retinal prosthesis to return limited vision in patients with photoreceptor cell diseases like retinitis pigmentosa. Unlike that system, however, light is picked up via 1,500 pixels on a retinal implant instead of an eyeglass-mounted camera. The signal is boosted by a coil implanted in skin behind the ear and sent back to so-called bipolar cells still active on the retina, which in turn send an image to the brain through regular neural circuits. A small battery mounted behind the ear -- the only external sign of the device -- contains controls for brightness and contrast. The recent trial let 8 out of 9 patients see in varying degrees, with three in the study even able to read letters and see the faces of family members. Given that the Argus II finally crossed the FDA's bionic eye barrier, hopefully we won't have to wait nearly as long for research like this to become a product.

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Mobile image processing in itself isn't special when even high dynamic range shooting is virtually instant, at least with NVIDIA's new Tegras. A new low-power MIT chip, however, may prove its worth by being a jack of all trades that works faster than software. It can apply HDR to photos and videos through near-immediate exposure bracketing, but it can also produce natural-looking flash images by combining the lit photo with an unassisted shot to fill in missing detail. Researchers further claim to have automatic noise reduction that safeguards detail through bilateral filtering, an established technique that uses brightness detection to avoid blurring edges. If you're wondering whether or not MIT's work will venture beyond the labs, don't -- the project was financed by contract manufacturing giant Foxconn, and it's already catching the eye of Microsoft Research. As long as Foxconn maintains interest through to production, pristine mobile photography won't be limited to a handful of devices.

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The second screen has largely asked that you take your eyes away from the action, even if that is to play along in real-time. Visual SyncAR, however, brings that tablet or mobile right back into the thick of things. Developed by Japan's NTT, the platform uses digital watermarks that presents a timecode to the app running on the second device, allowing it to display content in sync with whatever is on the primary display. In the video after the break you can see the concept being illustrated with playful examples that interact with the program, but more useful applications include the ability for users to pull up subtitles for public information videos, or overlay sign language. Naturally, there's also a massive potential for advertisers, who we're sure would be more than keen to embrace the technology, and ably guide you from their commercial to an online outlet or additional promo material. Especially if they're selling a cure for all that inevitable arm ache...

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It may be obvious now, but when Heliocentrism was cooked up by Nicolaus Copernicus, he was branded a heretic. The idea that the Earth orbited the Sun, conceived without the aid of any equipment, would only be proved half a century later, when Galileo built a telescope and pointed it heavenward. Fortunately, ol' Nick's contribution hasn't been forgotten, and so today's Google Doodle shows the planets all gently orbiting our nearest star.

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The odds of rising from NBA stat junkie / forum poster to Houston Rockets GM like Daryl Morey did are slim, but thanks to the new NBA.com/Stats page fans have access to more data than ever before. Until now, only league and team personnel have had access to the NBA's complete official stats -- media got access last spring -- with box scores that go as far back as its start in 1946-47, individual stats for anyone who has ever played in the league plus advanced statistical breakdowns and rankings of best lineup combinations. Fan sites like Basketball Reference have filled in the gaps in the past, but this should bring a new level of accuracy and analysis to bear.

Access to these stats means we can evaluate games at a much deeper level to know precisely why the Lakers are so bad this season, or which combinations of players are giving the Knicks their best advantage. SAP announced the project back in July as a part of its marketing deal with the league, as it gets to show off its database chops building a system that can handle such a large number of requests on so much info. Hopefully other leagues follow suit and encourage this level for interaction with fans, although we suspect it would take more than a few Moneyball-esque calculations to fix squads like the Bobcats. Hit the source link below to satisfy a jones for numerics or find the perfect angle for your LeBron vs. Kobe argument, although last night's All-Star Game may have given all the ammo necessary.

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Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.

Seven days, 26,000 lightyears, 637 languages, two groups of terrorised rats and one computer that never, ever crashes. We're light on intro, heavy of the numbers. You know the drill by now, this is Alt-week.

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Google certainly has pockets deep enough to trick out self-driving cars with any kind of pricey gear, but researchers at the University of Oxford have begun testing a solution that aims to keep things affordable. Currently, the system leverages an array of low-profile stereo cameras and lasers that rings up at about £5,000 (approximately $7,750), but the next goal is to knock the price down to £500, and eventually to a cool £100 (roughly $150). "Really, we do need to solve the engineering challenges of not relying on expensive sensors, but relying on cheap sensors," Professor Paul Newman told the Telegraph. "But doing some really smart things with those cheap sensor feeds."

Rather than a vehicle that acts as a chauffeur at all times, Newman's vision for the modified Nissan Leaf, dubbed RobotCar, is for it to take control on select occasions. While drivers go about their commute, the system composes a 3D map of the car's environs and commits it to memory. When the auto identifies a familiar setting and feels confident about its ability to take the reigns, it could let the driver know it's ready to assume control. Right now, the automobile's been tested on private roads, but the team behind it is working with the UK's Department of Transportation to roll it onto public streets. Head past the jump for a glimpse of RobotCar in action.

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We've long known that the Large Hadron Collider would need to take a break, but that doesn't take the edge off of the moment itself: as of Valentine's Day, the particle accelerator has conducted its last test for the next two years. The giant research ring will undergo sweeping repairs and upgrades that should should give it the superconducting connectors needed to hit the originally planned 14TeV of combined collision energy, versus the 8TeV it's been limited to almost since the beginning. CERN's machine arguably earned the downtime. After a rough start, it went on to produce rafts of collision data and healthy evidence of the elusive Higgs boson. If you're still down, think of the hiatus as doing us a favor -- it postpones any world-ending disasters until around 2015.

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We've already had a meteorite shower to remind us that Earth is just a small part of a much, much larger universe. If that wasn't enough perspective for you, PBS is offering a follow-up through NOVA's newly streaming "Earth From Space" documentary. The two-hour show illustrates how our planet's individual climates and ecosystems are really part of one larger unit, with ripple effects that we didn't always anticipate until an abundance of earth observation satellites made them clear. You'll have to be an American to watch before the documentary, at least before it arrives in disc form on April 2nd. Every Earth citizen can still watch the trailer after the break.

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