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Christy's Family Computing BlogWhen Fantasy Inspires Science - the Whereabouts ClockIt's not unusual for fantasy to inspire science. After all, deciding to undertake scientific research takes some imagination and a lot of "What if?" questioning. Even so, it's not every day that a project so closely mirrors the stuff of daydreams as the Whereabouts Clock, designed by Microsoft Research. The "clock," currently a prototype, displays location information for every person in a family. Using cell phone information, the clock displays whether a given family member is home, at school or at work, as defined by the family. Does this sound familiar to you? If you're a fan of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books, it should. Mrs. Weasley has a similar magical contraption in her house. Described as being similar to a grandfather clock, the magical version could display the location and well-being of each family member, including the status of "mortal peril." The Whereabouts Clock is pretty cool, but I think I'd still rather have an invisibility cloak... or maybe a Nimbus 2000. What Harry Potter gadget would you invent if you could? Thursday April 3, 2008 | comments (0) Display Latest Headlines | powered by WordPress |
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