Kevin Lepton

Zayed Future Energy Prize

Future Energy Comments Off

Feb 102014

There are a few people that have heard about the Zayed Future Energy Prize. However, most people have never heard of it. The emerging popularity and recognition of this particular award and prestigious accolades has definitely increased in recent years primarily because of the history behind it and its overall purpose. Therefore, understanding exactly what that vision is and having a brief overview of the history will make it much easier to comprehend.

What Does It Represent?

The Zayed Future Energy Prize actually represents the focus and vision of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan. This late leader was credited with and officially recognized as the founding father of the United Arab Emirates as well as the President. Throughout life and career, he was widely known and recognized for his contributions to the world of environmental stewardship overall. There were many people that were inspired and motivated by the decisions that he made and the way that he led his life – personally and professionally as well. Therefore, it felt right to name this award in his honor and to focus on finding people that share his passion, focus and overall vision in order to award them with such a prestigious award.

What Does it Celebrate?

The Zayed Future Energy Prize celebrates the vast number of achievements each year that clearly reflect a high level of innovation, vision, impact and overall leadership when it comes to the emerging fields of renewable energy as well as sustainability in general. The recipients of this prize each year have actively been able to contribute their own hard work and persistent efforts towards finding new and improved solutions that make it much easier to meet the specific challenges related to such things as the security of energy, climate change and the overall environment.

Exploring the Different Prize Categories

There are a wide variety of different categories in which people and professionals can win this prestigious prize. For instance, it is awarded to the people, groups and even high schools that have been able to demonstrate a significant effort in such areas as innovation, impact, leadership as well as a long-term vision & focus. In addition to large corporations and small or medium enterprises, several other categories include non-profit organizations, high schools around the world as well as lifetime achievement awards.

Nominations are accepted each year and then the actual awards are given out shortly thereafter. What are your future energy goals?

Exoskeleton at CES Steals the Show

Emerging Technology 1 Response »

Jan 132014

While there were a lot of gizmos, gadgets and other electronic what not at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, one item stole the show. At that item was the Ekso Bionics exoskeleton.

According to Forbes, “Demonstrating the motorized harness was Paul Thacker – a paraplegic who fractured his 5th Thoracic Vertebra (T5) during a snowmobile accident in 2010. Paul first walked using the Ekso Bionics exoskeleton within 8 months of his injury.

“It takes about two minutes for Paul to gear up for a walk – and about one minute to climb out of the harness and back into his wheel chair. Once standing, he only uses the crutches as balance points. It’s still relatively cumbersome (for those of us with no impaired mobility), but he is most definitely walking (with motorized assistance from the exoskeleton). The direction today is forward only (no reverse), and turning (either left or right) at sharp angles is the highest technical and physical challenge.”

When high tech empowers people and changes lives one can only give it two thumbs way up in the air.

Smart Glasses for Dummies

smart glasses Comments Off

Dec 232013

Okay, so I guess I’m projecting too much into the future here. I wanted to educate myself about wearable, computerized eye spectacles so I looked up “Smart Glasses for Dummies” and there isn’t a book like this written, yet (and of course there is no Idiots guide as well).

Atheer One Smart Glasses

There are several manufacturers right now researching, testing and releasing to the public augmented reality, computerized eye glasses. Perhaps the most notable is Google Glass which has been release to some tech-savvy types recently.

But, there is another new player in town, Atheer One. This wearable technology was created by a couple of Lebanese entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, California. One advantage that Atheer One has over Google glass is that it displays augmented reality in 3D instead of 2d.

According to wamda.com, “A Lebanese entrepreneur and his cofounder have just debuted a pair of wearable glasses that displays augmented reality in three dimensions as opposed to Google’s two.

“The glasses, built by Soulaiman Itani and Allen Yang at Atheer Labs in Mountain View, bring fantasies to life, allowing wearers to exercise with virtual targets, conduct conferences calls while browsing data online, and play three dimensional games, thanks to hand sensors and an advanced algorithm.

“Those who were wowed by Pranav Mistry’s TED Talk about Sixth Sense technology will likely go gaga for Atheer, which also offers a 65 degree field of view as opposed to Google’s 12 degree frame in the corner of one’s view.”

Atheer has a crowd-funding campaign going on right now (and a cool video). They need to raise $100,000 and so far have raised over $70,000 towards their goal.

As I now walk around my house saying to myself “where are my dumb glasses?” in less than a few years, my smart glasses will surely be communicating with other smart wearable devices about the dumb human wearing them. Perhaps it is my fate to invent the first Smart Ass Glasses which will be a great hit, I’m sure, around April Fool’s Day.

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