Author Archives: steve bush

Imperial gene chip professor is EU inventor of the year

Chris ToumazouProfessor Chris Toumazou, Regius Professor of Engineering at Imperial College and founder of chip firms, has won Inventor of the Year (Research category) in the European Inventor Awards – the only UK inventor to receive an award this year.

Run by the European Patent Office (EPO), the awards recognised Toumazou for developing a device called the SNP Doctor, which uses silicon chips to identify genetic mutations that determine a person’s predisposition to certain hereditary diseases.

The portable, low-power device can analyse data on the spot, within minutes, without recourse to a lab, and could shift emphasis from treating some illnesses to preventing them.

“The technologies that Chris has developed over the years not only have the ability to improve patient care, they are also important for the UK economy. His work is a perfect example of translating research into viable businesses that are helping to make the UK a leader in personalised healthcare,” said Imperial dean of engineering professor Jeff Magee.

Toumazou has established the DNA Electronics company through Imperial Innovations to market SNP Dr. Already the company has entered into collaborations with companies including Roche and Pfizer, and it has licenced patents to licensees including Life Technologies and the National Institute for Health Research.

Previously, he founded what is now Toumaz Group, which owns DAB chip firm Frontier Silicon.

His decision to delve into the world of genetic disorders came about after his son Marcus was diagnosed with a rare hereditary form of kidney disease.

These achievement all the more remarkable for someone who left school at 16 with no qualifications. He went on to receive a degree in electrical engineering at Imperial, developed energy-efficient chips for mobile phones and, at 33, became the youngest professor to teach at the College.

“This award really underlines what Imperial researchers do best – taking world leading research and applying it to help solve global challenges,” said Imperial college provost Professor James Stirling.

More on: Amazon phone focuses on gesture

Amazon Fire phoneAmazon has gone for touch-less gesture recognition in a big way with the release of its long-awaited phone, called Fire.

Amongst other things, one-handed gestures can be used for scroll, tilt and swivel navigation.

Four front face image sensors and four infra-red LEDs form the physical interface, and inside are a dedicated custom processor, real-time computer vision algorithms, and a graphics rendering engine, said the firm.

Gesture recognition is part of something it has branded ‘Dynamic Perspective’.

“Dynamic perspective uses a new sensor system to respond to the way you hold, view, and move Fire, enabling experiences not possible on other smartphones,” claimed Amazon, which is providing a dynamic perspective software design kit (SDK).

Image sensing also plays a part in something called Firefly, which auto-recognises web addresses, email addresses, printed phone numbers, QR codes, bar codes, printed text on signs, posters, magazines and business cards. “Make a call, send an email, save as a contact, or go to the website without typing out URLs or email addresses,” said the firm.

Combined with communications to the firm’s data base, and the phones microphones, Firefly is also said to be able to identify over 100 million items, including movies, TV episodes, songs, and other things amongst its products.

“Later this year, Firefly will include artwork recognition, foreign language translation, and wine label recognition,” said Amazon. Firefly also has an SDK.

The phone’s hardware includes a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 2Gbyte of RAM and a choice of 32 or 64Gbyte of flash.

The display is 4.7in (12cm), with an ambient light sensor, and wireless interfaces include: nine bands of LTE, four bands of GSM, five bands of UMTS, 802.11ac (and Wi-Fi channel bonding), NFC, and Bluetooth.

As well as the gesture sensors, there are two conventional cameras: at the rear camera is a back-side-illuminated 13Mpixel sensor with LED flash, a five element f/2.0 lens and optical image stabilization (OIS). While at the front is a 2.1Mpixel camera. Both can record 1080p video.

There are two speakers with Dolby Digital Plus for what Amazon describes as “a virtual surround sound experience”.

Case wise, Fire has front and back Gorilla Glass, aluminium buttons, stainless steel details, and a compliant polyurethane grip area.

Sharp offers any-shape displays

Sharp free-form IGZO LCDSharp has developed free-form LCD – displays that are not limited to being rectangular.

“The device can be shaped to meet a wide range of user needs thanks to the incorporation of IGZO [indium gallium zinc oxide] technology and proprietary circuit design methods,” said the firm. The gate driver is not on the edge of the display. Instead “the gate driver’s function is dispersed throughout the pixels on the display area. This allows the bezel to be shrunk considerably”.

Using a free-form LCD, cars can have a single dashboard instrument panel that combines a speedometer and other monitors.

Details are sparse, but it appears all edges can be curved because Sharp added: “There are other possibilities for displays, including wearable devices with elliptical displays.”

Sharp is planning mass production.