To serve remote areas of the world, medical staff, public health investigators and agricultural specialists need equipment that is portable, versatile and relatively inexpensive. Now, researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) have built a compact, light-weight, dual-mode microscope that uses holograms instead of lenses, to reduce weight and cost. The new device is described in a paper published in the Optical Society’s (OSA) open-access journal, “Biomedical Optics Express.” UCLA’s prototype weighs about as much as a medium-sized banana and fits in the palm of a hand. Since it relies in part on mass-produced consumer electronics, all the materials to make it add up to less than $100. The microscope may be used in transmission mode to probe large samples of blood or water. It also has a reflection mode that can image denser, opaque samples. The spatial resolution for both modes is less than two micrometers — comparable to that achieved by bulkier microscopes with low-to-medium power lenses. The microscope captures raw data, but a computer is required to reconstruct the images. Workers in the field could use their laptops to process the information or send it over the Internet or mobile phone networks to a remote server. Mobile phones could also have sufficient processing power to do the analysis on the spot. The handheld microscope could help ensure water quality, test patients’ blood for harmful bacteria and even be used for semen-quality monitoring on animal farms.
 

Garfield’s Comic Boom from Toon Boom Animation is software targeting kids who would like to express themselves through comics. Garfield’s Comic Boom encourages creativity and storytelling with easy-to-use drawing and coloring tools, props and library items prompting kids to produce comic panels, comic strips and even comic books. The software allows users to record sound and voice-over, essentially turning the child into the director of his or her own unique production.  Adding yet another dimension, the final product can be instantly broadcast via e-mail, YouTube, Facebook and mobile. As a bonus, Jim Davis, Garfield the cat’s creator, offers cartooning tips and tricks-of-the-trade for budding cartoonists in an exclusive tutorial for Garfield’s Comic Boom users. Buy the software from http://toonboom.com/garfield.  Use the promo code: GARFIELD, to receive $10.00 off the purchase until October 1, 2011.
 

The ZAGGfolio is a thin, multi-function carrying case for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. Its most prominent feature is its removable wireless Bluetooth keyboard with a built-in stand system designed for on-the-go use. ZAGGfolio tablet Keyboard shortcuts specific to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 include volume control, music control, home, search, copy and paste. The rechargeable built-in keyboard battery provides weeks of use between charges. The case is available through zagg.com for $100.
 

From SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) comes SMI Eye Tracking Glasses, the world’s first binocular mobile glasses-type eye tracker. With applications in fields such as sports training, advertising and product development, the glasses are easy to use and as fast to set up as a pair of glasses. The wearer only needs to briefly stare at one point in the environment for the device to be calibrated. An HD scene camera records where the test person is looking down to the smallest details, for example the text on a mobile device. The optimized field of view captures the scene for applications from far to close distances, e.g. from spatial orientation in sports to the reading of a magazine. Two small cameras on the rim of the glasses capture the eye movements of the wearer and map the gaze point into the scene video. This binocular eye tracking and automatic parallax compensation delivers very reliable and accurate data over all viewing distances. With its unique interchangeable sun glasses, the mobile eye tracker is also designed for fully mobile outdoor tests such as those in automobiles or on golf courses.