Innovations

Citation

Rudall, B.H. (1998), "Innovations", Kybernetes, Vol. 27 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.1998.06727haa.006

Innovations

Innovations

Electronic ministerial box

In the UK Government Ministers have traditionally been carrying their papers in special boxes, called the "red box". The tradition of carrying ministerial papers in this way has survived from the last century. The boxes were built to withstand most accidents and being lined with lead weigh up to 300lb. These secure wooden briefcases followed the government minister around and were taken home, on the train or aircraft in the UK or abroad. Now a high-tech alternative has been put into use. Earlier this year the UK Public Services Minister demonstrated a prototype laptop computer that could take the place of the heavy red briefcases.

Other computer systems had been tested and no doubt others will be introduced to take advantage of improving technology. The latest "computer red box" will give UK ministers instant access to much of the information now presented to them in paper form. Initially the computer used proved to be too large and too heavy. The latest model under test is smaller and lighter. Obviously, one of the immediate problems to be solved is its security. Many of the current user identity methods, described previously in these columns, could have been used. In the new prototype box the operator's identity is verified with a smartcard, in preference to a signet ring. Then it seems a password secures access to the system. The required software forms what has been described as a "virtual red box". Technology such as the fingerprint or iris of the eye recognition methods are not currently to be used. Entry to the virtual system through voice recognition has, we are told, been proved impractical. Its failing appears to be that the "box" takes quite a long time in getting to know a voice and subsequently recognising it. Perhaps because of the importance of providing government officials with the latest technology for their duties we will all benefit if increased financial backing is given to those who are engaged in the relevant high-tech fields.

X-ray vision from computerised scanner

The UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) has predicted that the new radar system it is developing will enable users to see through walls, trees and underground. The Agency we are told, has been working on the revolutionary x-ray vision system for many years and now they believe it will transform close-quarter combat and special operations by making hidden enemy positions visible and rendering camouflage redundant. The system would also have many other obvious applications both in military and non-military areas. One such immediate application is to detect buried landmines. The new radar system is to be miniaturised to give a video display on a helmet-mounted visor. It is designed to give, for example, a visual snapshot inside rooms or dense foliage. It uses a low-frequency radiation which can penetrate obstacles that can be several feet thick. This means that it can be used to see through fog and mist on the ground. Currently, night vision devices and thermal imagers are unable, we are informed by the agency, to penetrate under such conditions.

If the device is mounted on an aircraft it would be able to map underground bunkers and troop positions, so that overlaid with thermal imaging pictures, this innovative technology will soon make it impossible to hide anything on the ground. Researchers at DERA say that even the slightest movement behind dense vegetation can be detected. In a test of the system a person breathing was shown to stand out dramatically.

In relation to the detection of mines DERA plans to build a test balloon which would scan suspected minefields from a position some 1,000ft above the ground. They claim the device will pick up even the tiniest details of the mines.

Obviously at this stage of development there are problems to be overcome. Two outstanding ones are:

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  Shielding the sensitive equipment and its hand-held scanner from electrical interference.

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  Development of ways of filtering out "clutter" from the pictures.

The last problem arises because the pictures show every detail and some novel ways to filter them are being used, to provide the user with a tailored image.

It is, of course, important to realise that although the innovative system has been developed for military uses the "spin-offs" to other areas of activity and endeavour can also be recognised.

High density recordable CDs

The REMOD project is a joint venture between German and French optical technology companies. It is claimed that the venture is on the verge of causing a revolution in the home entertainment market.

Dr Hartmut Richter of Deutsche Thomson Brandt, the project's main co-ordinating partner, says that:

Our rewritable optical disc is a real possibility, probably in as little as two years time. We have the resources to manufacture dual layer rewritable discs capable of storing nine gigabytes of information on each side.

This European Community EUREKA project has an estimated cost of 19.95 MECU with a timescale of four years. It will be completed in December 1999.

The project's first phase has already resulted in a dual-layer optical disc consisting of one premastered information layer (read-only memory) and one rewritable layer (random access memory). The next project phase will produce an optical memory system featuring two or more rewritable layers. Like today's video cassettes, the REMOD CD player/recorder could record direct from television, play and record music, and edit and back home movies made with a camcorder. The advantages, however, are manifold the developers claim. They say that:

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  the images are digital and therefore of high quality;

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  the user can access each frame of the video and so edit more easily;

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  the discs can be over-written with no apparent loss of image quality.

The partners in the project are confident about the next phase of REMOD and expect to produce a three-to-four layer disc within two years. This Dr Richter says, will be a replacement for the three-to-four hour video cassette, but the ultimate goal is to manufacture a CD machine that can write and read simultaneously and independently of each other, something that video recorders could never do.

Further information from Dr Hartmut Richter, Deutsche Thomson Brandt, Germany. Tel: +49 7721 85 2007; Fax: +49 7721 85 2219.

Superbugs

While it sounds like something from a science fiction movie it appears to be a serious research project that is designed to produce superbugs which may be animals, snakes or fish implanted with electronics for use in military situations.

When the project was announced earlier this year, it was greeted with a great deal of scepticism. Now more details have been released of specific projects being carried out by military research groups in the USA and in the UK. Research is concentrated at the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and at British military research agencies. The US Navy has also a programme called "biomimetics". The US and UK scientists are planning, we are told, to use invertebrate animals, snakes and fish implanted with electronics to enhance their military capability. For example:

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  bees, beetles, moths and lobsters ­ to be used to identify chemical and biological weapons as well as certain agents such as landmines;

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  fireflies ­ UK scientists are interested in what makes fireflies glow at night ­ they are full of enzymes and would make good chemical agent detectors.

Several species of fish and heat seeking snakes, which catch their prey using infrared detectors ­ are being investigated for their usefulness.

In the US Navy's biomimetics programme replicas of marine animals are being built. They are developing a robot crustacean called the "Stealth lobster", to gather intelligence on hostile shores. A spokesperson says:

We are investigating the innate behaviour of marine animals to develop an eight-legged ambulatory vehicle based on the lobster, intended for remote-sensing in rivers or the ocean bottom. It will be a new class of underwater vehicle that may be adapted for operations in a variety of habitats.

DARPA has an Internet forum site which invites research institutes to join in what they call the "Controlled biological systems" experiment.

One fascinating study is that of using bees. A directed swarm of bees, we are told, could roam into hostile territory and on return to their hive be scanned for traces of chemical or biological agents. The University of Michigan has already successfully steered beetles electronically to perform tasks such as picking up a cardboard hoop. This research has been called "biobotics" by the research director Dr Selden Crary. Birds we are told are the next to be investigated in this research programme.

The use of animals has already caused controversy and several animal welfare groups are monitoring the development of this innovative research.

B.H. RudallNorbert Wiener Institute and University of Wales (UK)