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Ultrasound canes and voice-enabled GPS devices that help blind and partially sighted people in navigation may soon be history, for scientists have created a new intelligent fingertip 'eye'.The device may change how such people interact with their environment.George Stetten, a bioengineer at the University of Pittsburgh, has launched the idea of a tiny video camera that sits at the end of a finger and connects to a portable computer that can analyse the footage and flag up objects of interest.In fact, the camera mounting also has the capability to vibrate for providing physical feedback from the computer to signal when it sees something significant.Thus, the camera can warn when it spots a nearby obstacle, like a wall or the edge of a table.In fact, it could even trace out the shape of the obstacle to guide the user past, reports New Scientist.Via image processing, it's possible for the system to recognise very specific objects.According to Stetten's patent the computer even has the capability to recognise light switches or other controls from a distance.Also, the user could be guided towards a switch using physical feedback, or given the option to activate it remotely.Stetten said that the capabilities of such a system are limited only by imagination and has the potential to give blind and partially sighted people much greater control and interaction with the world around them.And very soon, a portable system able to look for objects for could offer benefits to fully sighted people too

Indian Space Research Organization will launch four foreign satellites this year as it seeks to make further inroads into the international satellite-building and launch services market in 2009. Two weeks ago, communication satellite, W2M, built by ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Center at Kourou in French Guiana.Managing Director of Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, K R Sridhara Murthy, said the Indian space agency is gearing up to launch four satellites of Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy and Algeria. (These contracts were bagged by ISRO independently and not in partnership with EADS-Astrium)."We have four commitments for Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy and Algeria. We want to complete it in 2009,""It (the four spacecraft) is a mix of nano and small satellites". Contractual obligations bar ISRO from talking about specific launch price but Sridhara Murthy said that the space agency's charge per kg of satellite (to be launched) is around Euro 20,000 per kg, quite cheaper than prevailing International prices.But, he stressed that the launch price is guided by competition, market conditions and demand-supply scenario.











