Information Technology

Researchers at the University of Essex are claiming a world record for the amount of computer data sent over a point-to-point wireless channel.

The results achieved by the team from the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering are the equivalent of more than 162,000 phone calls or over 10,000 broadband internet connections being made simultaneously. Such large capacity could revolutionise wireless internet download times for many households and local businesses, small and larg

A key step for satellite navigation in Europe was achieved on 16 June 2005, with the formal completion of the technical qualification of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and the acceptance of the EGNOS system delivered to ESA.

This formal review, called the Operational Readiness Review (ORR), marked the completion of more than 8 years of intensive work by ESA and European industry. The ORR involved the acceptance of the EGNOS system delivered to E

Computers just respond to commands, never “thinking” about the consequences. A new software language, however, promises to enable computers to reason much more precisely and thus better reflect subtleties intended by commands of human operators. Developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers and colleagues in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, the process specification language software, known as ISO 18629, should make computers much more useful in manufa

An EU project will enable virtual reality to take another step into the real world with a series of innovations that make the technology cheaper, more flexible and more powerful.

“The origins of virtual reality grew out of psychedelic philosophy and they were looking at simulating alternative worlds, not realistic simulations as we have today,” says Marc Cavazza, coordinator of the IST project Alterne and computing scientist at the UK’s University of Teesside. “This concept had bee

When runners begin the marathon at the Athletic World Championships in Helsinki this August, they will have a high-tech edge, thanks to a Finnish start-up firm.

The race course has been recorded in detail and sent to competitors to help them prepare for the competition. The data was compiled by the FRWD Sport Performance Recorder, a strap-on gadget that measures race route, distance and speed using GPS technology, as well as an individual athlete’s heart rate, altitude and other

Imagine a stand at a motor show featuring a new convertible. There’s a screen ‘hanging in the air’ with everything you expect on your PC desktop. You can click your way through all the new features of the car just by pointing your finger, and when you’re done you can walk through the screen and on to the next stand.

Imagine an operating theatre, where a surgeon can access an imaging databank on his PC using a similar airborne screen, without having to touch any keys or worry about