WIRED Staff
Gear

Slideshow: Peek Into the Future at NextFest

magazine's NextFest, a mini world's fair of the latest and greatest technology, previews the future of gadgets, provided you can live through the commercials. By Leander Kahney.
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The iRobot PackBots, which were used to search the World Trade Center wreckage, have already seen combat in the U.S. Army. Recently one was returned from duty in little pieces after hitting a booby trap during a mission.Jeremy Barna

See related story: Peek Into the Future at NextFest

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The contrast between old and new abounds around the entrance to the NextFest as the transom of the historic Galilee schooner is mounted at the entrance to the festival hall, next to GE's jet engine.

Jeremy Barna
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The entrance to NextFest, held at San Francisco's historic Fort Mason center, welcomes you to the future.

Jeremy Barna
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The AirScooter personal helicopter by AeroTwin Motors is powered by a 75-horsepower, ultra-light motor that can run in either horizontal or vertical positions.

Jeremy Barna
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Remus, or Remote Environmental Monitoring Units, are autonomous underwater vehicles designed for data-collection missions. They are controlled remotely by a laptop computer.

Jeremy Barna
Troody based on the Troodon dinosaur was MIT's first bipedal autonomous walking robot.

Troody, based on the Troodon dinosaur, was MIT's first bipedal autonomous walking robot.

Jen Kaczor
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The CosmoBot is an interactive robot that lets children with disabilities work on physical and language skills.

Jeremy Barna
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The Smart Roadster is a lightweight, fuel-efficient vehicle made from materials that make the body dent- and scratch-proof.

Jeremy Barna
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The SkyCar M200 M, made by Moller International, is designed to be street-legal as a car, yet able to take off and fly around. The futuristic car-plane will be powered electronically when driven in car mode and once airborne may fly faster than 300 mph at altitudes up to 25,000 feet.

Jeremy Barna
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The Kbot is a robotic head that realistically mimics human facial expressions. It is one of many robots being made in the field of human-emulation robotics.

Jen Kaczor
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Researchers at the University of Alberta are perfecting the Antibacterial Spice for Life. This antibiotic powder, designed to counter potentially harmful bacteria like E. coli and salmonella, is tasteless and odorless.

Jeremy Barna
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A full-size model of a Mars rover stands tall.

Jeremy Barna
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IRobot also demonstrated the Swarmbots -- fidgety little robots that operate in packs. The Swarmbots can gather together, follow each other or split up on command. The idea is to build a swarm of semi-smart bots that act in concert when, say, searching a building for bombs or people.

Jeremy Barna
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General Electric brought an enormous jet engine to the festival and installed it outside the entrance. The turbine for this engine is nearly 20 feet in diameter.

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The control module for the PackBot.

Jeremy Barna
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This skullcap device is actually a direct brain interface for biometric control, designed by the BrainLab at Georgia State University. The device can control a spelling program on a laptop based solely on its wearer's brain signals.

Jeremy Barna