SEARCH AND MAGNIFY
Finding what you want on the web would be far easier if your search engine returned more than just a couple of lines of each page it finds. But how can you do this while still leaving enough room on your screen for you to view a useful number of search hits?
Software called Wavelens developed by Microsoft Research of Redmond, Washington, has managed to do both at the same time. Initially, it displays each hit as just a couple of lines, like a normal search engine listing. But when you move the mouse cursor to hover over one of the results, Wavelens fetches a longer sample for the page containing your keywords, without you having to download it. The rest of the search hits are automatically condensed to make space for this magnified view. Moving the cursor over another hit pulls up and magnifies the relevant material from that page instead.
Advertisement
Tim Paek, the software engineer who created Wavelens, says that the prototype is already reducing average search times by over 25 per cent. Users much preferred the lensing approach to another prototype using animated zooming. Having dominated the market for PC operating systems, Microsoft is now thought to be targeting search engines as its next major market.
GIVE THEM A BIG HAND
Just clap your hands and your home theatre system will set itself up, if it includes a new system developed in Japan. With a conventional surround-sound system, setting the sound levels and delays from the six loudspeakers can be a tricky business. The volume levels and sound delays for the speakers all have to match, otherwise the sounds seem to come from the wrong side of the room.
Smart Surround Setup, developed by JVC, does the job automatically by exploiting the fact that any moving coil speaker can also act as a microphone. The user sits in his or her favourite listening position, presses a set-up button on the remote control, and claps a few times. The speakers pick up the sound and feed it to a processor built into the central amplifier. In less than 5 seconds, the processor works out the best sound levels and delays for each speaker, and makes all the adjustments needed to optimise the sound for the listener鈥檚 position. The technology will be integrated with JVC鈥檚 surround-sound TV and hifi products.
