Pictures of the Future      Spring 2005

Traffic Lights that Talk to Cars

In the future, traffic lights may be giving drivers speed recommendations. An invention by Dr. Paul Mathias of Munich could thus help eliminate traffic jams in urban areas and make driving safer and more comfortable. Traffic lights that can exchange data with vehicles in their vicinity would make possible new infor­mation services and warning systems. More­over, having each vehicle in a particular area traveling at an optimal speed would make it easier to synchronize traffic lights. Because the system would recognize speeding vehicles, drivers could be issued a warning from their onboard computers if another vehicle were in danger of running a red light at an intersection. Operators of traffic guidance systems could also benefit from the invention, as the improved communication it enables would serve to supplement conventional traffic control systems and make them more efficient. Siemens plans to operate prototypes of Mathias’ invention as part of research projects to be conducted in several German cities. Mathias, who is a mathematician, has registered 13 invention patents since 1997, all of which have helped promote the development of traffic guidance systems and paved the way for further innovations.

Finding Meaning in Floods of Image Data

Whether it’s medical imaging or traffic monitor­ing—the huge amount of data generated must be analyzed and categorized. Dr. Dorin Coma­ni­ciu from Siemens’ Princeton Research Cen­ter in New Jersey is working on autonomous computer systems that reliably interpret visual information. The technology can be used when data is discovered to be inaccurate or in­complete. Siemens Medical Solutions is applying Comaniciu’s new tech­nique to develop systems that continually analyze movements of the inner heart muscle with the help of ultrasound sequences. Such systems enable doctors to recognize heart disease—the leading cause of death in the U.S. and Europe—much sooner than is currently the case.

Comaniciu’s inventions can do even more, though. For example, the same image interpretation system can also be used in conjunction with a wind­shield-mounted camera to monitor traffic in front of the vehicle in which it is installed. The camera transmits a continuous flow of data to an onboard computer, where special software registers the vehicle ahead and monitors its movements. In such a situation, the driver doesn’t have to actively control the vehicle, which automatically maintains a constant distance from the one directly in front of it. This particular solution was developed for use in stop-and-go traffic, which tends to put a strain on drivers.Comaniciu’s invention can also be used with cameras to help monitor traffic in tunnels, whereby the system sends a warning to a traffic guidance center if it registers a traffic jam or a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction. Comaniciu has registered 68 patents since 1999—or around one per month on average. All of them are designed to generate clear and quantifiable information from a continuous flow of image data.

Watch DVB TV on Your Phone

A new multimedia device from Siemens can receive digital television while on the move and even interact with TV programs. The device, which exists as a study, combines the functions of a television and a cell phone. It works with the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting Hand­held) transmission standard, and the return channel of its mobile communication standard allows users to send an SMS via the unit’s touchscreen to a music station to request a song, or to a cinema to reserve a seat after viewing a film trailer, for example. Users can also make calls while watching TV, and the programs they view can be recorded and saved to the unit’s internal memory or to an external memory card. The multimedia device, which is about the size of a pocket calendar, contains a 1.3-megapixel digital camera and has all the functions of the Siemens S65 cell phone, including the tri-band feature, for example, which makes it possible to place calls in all GSM networks worldwide. Two integrated speakers next to the large-format display help the device achieve an amazingly rich stereo sound. The unit receives broadcast information in small packets over short intervals. The resulting brief transmission pauses go a long way toward prolonging battery life. In fact, the device can receive TV images for up to three hours. Cell phones with DVB-H technology are expected to hit the market sometime next year.

Tutankhamen: Not Murder

Siemens experts have examined the mummy of the pharaoh Tutankhamen with unprecedented precision in a CT scanner. The examination, conducted with Egypt’s chief archeologist, Zahi Hawass, found no evidence the young pharaoh had been murdered. The procedure marked the first time the mummy had been removed from its resting place in Luxor since its discovery in 1922. Since 1968, when the first and only X-ray analysis of the mummy’s head was conducted, scientists have assumed the pharaoh died after suffering a heavy blow. But the 1,700 layered images a CT examination carried out in early 2005 didn’t confirm this theory. It appears the pharaoh may have broken his thigh bone shortly before he died at the age of 19. Some experts who took part in the study thus believe he may have died of an infection, since images of the wound show resin from the mummification process but no signs the wound had healed. Other specialists believe the absence of signs of bleed­ing indicates the archeologists who discovered the mummy may have caused the injury themselves. Tutankhamen was examined with a truck-based Somatom Emotion CT. The unit works with software that minimizes X?ray doses to avoid damage to sensitive objects, including mummies.

Cell Phone with Projector

Engineers at Siemens Communications have developed a laboratory model of a cell phone with an integrated projector. They demonstrated the device at CeBIT 2005 in Hanover. The unit’s keypad or display can be projected onto a sur­face using the phone’s swivel handle, where the projector unit with a powerful laser diode is mounted. Depending on how the handle is turned, the image can be projected onto the housing, a flat surface or a wall, so the system can be used for presentations to small groups. The device works with an electronic pen that can be used to write on the virtual keypad and also serves as a Bluetooth headset. The researchers used a mix of ultrasound and infrared to register the pen’s movements. The pen point continuously sends infrared flashes to a sensor in the phone’s housing, forming the basis for the starting point of subsequent measurements. The point also emits ultra­sound signals that are registered at two spots in the housing. Special soft­ware then determines the pen’s exact position based on the time difference between the two signals.