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Looking for tech's 'next big thing'DEMO conference offers preview of future gadgets, gizmos
By Marsha Walton
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (CNN) -- What do Socrates, security, and sprinklers have in common? They all played a part in DEMO 2003, an elite technology conference this week that attracted investors, analysts, and hard core geeks. In its 13-year history, DEMO has launched several products that turned out to be "the next big thing." Java, TiVo, Palm Pilot, and e-Trade are among successful debuts. This year many products are adding real-world uses to technologies that are now used mostly for entertainment, like instant messaging and streaming video. Socrates is going contemporary with a tie to instant messaging (IM) technology. Socratic Learning, an Internet-based tutoring system, links fourth- through 12th-graders, one on one, with a tutor in an instant messaging format. Along with the chat functions, there's a "white board" with simple tools, so both the student and teacher can draw and highlight math and science problems. All the sessions are archived, so teachers and parents can go over the work to chart progress. The system is now being tested by students in Massachusetts, California and Kentucky, says Socratic Learning director Patricia Arnold. The new face of securityOther tech products at the show are designed for both computer and national security. Delean Vision unveiled a biometric tool the company says has less than one in a billion chance of error. "We use visual recognition software that uses details of the skin to identify people just like a fingerprint would," said CEO Nicolas Vandenberghe. The system works with off-the-shelf digital cameras, and most personal computers. The first use for the system will be as a secure computer login. Instead of typing in a password, a user just points the camera at his or her face and it's quickly compared to the stored photos of registered users. If there's a match, you're in; if not, there's no access. Make-up and suntans don't affect accuracy, says Vandenberghe. He says the system could be used for other types of security such as at border crossings or for passports. Soil sensing and money savingWhile water sprinklers usually aren't thought of as high-tech, the company Digital Sun debuted a sensor system that could save both water and money. CEO Dale Hitt says a lot of water is wasted when home irrigation systems are programmed to turn on, say, every other day. The $150 product, called S.Sense, will be available in May. It uses a battery powered wireless sensor that's put in the ground, and a controller that connects to the sprinkler system. The sensor monitors the moisture in the ground to determine when and how much water is needed. War, economy and innovation"A lot of people might not expect a whole lot of innovation, in this downturn economy," said DEMO 2003 executive producer Chris Shipley. "But innovation happens regardless of the environment. Great ideas take root and become real terrific products that come to a conference like DEMO," she said. She examined hundreds of gadgets, software and business technologies for months before deciding on the 61 products for this year's show. Along with the many startups represented at the conference, long-established names like IBM and Sprint were also among the elite launch. An IBM employee lost in Asia sparked the idea for their product InfoScope. The idea: If you're in a country and you don't speak the language, point your digital-camera equipped PDA or cell phone at the sign you want to read. The image is sent back to a server, translated, and sent back to your handheld device. The technology is being developed to process Chinese, Italian, French, German, Spanish, and English. IBM engineer Alison Sue says once it's perfected, IBM will sell the technology to telecom companies, and consumers will have access by paying a monthly fee or a per use charge. Like a lot of DEMO debuts, InfoScope is still a couple of years away from the market. Some products previewed at DEMO in the past have not made it to reality. Part of this might be due to the dot-com bust. In the late '90s, a lot of dot-com darlings got millions in venture capital for ideas, but didn't have the business plans to back it up.
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