iPads connect new moms with babies in intensive care

Dubbed BabyTime, a new scheme at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles aims to enable hospitalized moms to check on and interact with their newborns in intensive care.

Apps such as Apple’s FaceTime have helped offer a more visual connection between contacts in different locations, and we’ve already seen similar technology applied in innovations such as A Story Before Bed, helping grandparents and distant parents to read bedtime tales to children from remote locations. Now the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has launched a new scheme dubbed BabyTime, with the aim to enable hospitalized moms to check on and interact with their newborns in intensive care.
If the parent has had a Caesarian section or difficulties during childbirth that mean they aren’t able to walk around, having a new baby located elsewhere in the hospital can be a hard time, especially if they’re being kept in intensive care. The center has introduced an iPad-based program whereby a device is immediately delivered to moms whose newborn has been admitted to intensive care. An iPad is set up next to the baby and – through a secure internet connection – parents can see their child and interact with doctors present, asking questions and getting updates. Rachel Little, who was one of the first patients to test the service, said: “Even though I couldn’t hold her, she stopped crying when she heard me talk to her.”
The scheme could help reduce the stress and fear felt by both parents and babies when they’re separated at birth, providing a more comfortable environment for new mothers. How else can video streaming be used to better bring together far-flung parties?
Website: www.cedars-sinai.edu

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Google brings 3D maps to iPad, iPhone

3D maps and tour guide on Google Earth for iOS. Photo: AFP

While Apple is getting ready to replace Google Maps with its own native mapping app on iOS, Google is beefing up its Google Earth app on the platform adding 3D maps and a handy tour guide feature. Owners of the new iPad, the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4S can now virtually fly through a growing list of cities including Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Rome in three dimensions on Google Earth.
“We’ll keep building and releasing 3D imagery for new locations as fast as we can and by the end of the year we aim to have coverage for metropolitan areas with a combined population of 300 million people,” said Peter Birch, Google Earth Product Manager in a post on Google’s Lat Long blog.
Google’s recently introduced tour guide feature is now available for iOS, enabling iDevice owners to discover and explore popular sites in more than 110 countries and regions.
“We’ve put together short tours of thousands of famous places and historical sites across the globe so it’s easier than ever to discover amazing places,” said Birch. “Just pull up the tab at the bottom of the screen to open the tour guide. Each image highlights a tours or place of interest in the area you are looking. Click on an item and you will be flown there. As you fly in and around the sites, snippets from Wikipedia provide additional information about the location. It’s like having a local expert right beside you!”
Google released a similar update to its Google Earth app for Android last month.

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California State lawmaker wants smartphone app for proving vehicle registration

California drivers seeing flashing lights in their rearview mirror may soon be reaching for their smartphones instead of putting them down.

A bill introduced by Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, would give Californians the option of presenting their proof of insurance on a hand-held device during traffic stops.

"We are the state where there's so much technological capital," Gatto said. "We run the risk of losing that value if we don't update our laws from time to time."

Many insurance companies have introduced apps that display customer information, but the state vehicle code does not mention electronic devices, leaving law enforcement officers in a gray area during traffic stops.

One of Gatto's younger staffers suggested AB1708 as a way to spare residents from having to rustle through the glove compartment for insurance papers. Similar efforts are under consideration in Arizona and Idaho, but no states have yet approved the change, according to insurance organizations.

Gatto plans to amend the bill to include registration papers, which the Department of Motor Vehicles would have to provide electronically.

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Making a movie using a smartphone

When he invented the telephone in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell could hardly have foreseen how the producers of a brand-new movie would use a modern-day descendant of his creation. CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy has the news on this latest technological innovation.
More lifeline than phone line, our tiny pocket computers seem to be able to do just about anything. These days, they even talk to us.
Now for the first time, a smartphone was used to shoot an entire feature-length film that will actually be released in a theater.
The movie is called "Olive," about a girl who transforms people's lives without saying a word. Hooman Khalili is the director.
"We want people to ultimately go in and say, 'Alright, we gotta check out this cell phone movie.' But as soon as the projector starts, and you see how vibrant the colors are, and you see how crisp everything looks, and how perfect the resolution is, you're gonna forget you're watching a cell phone film."
Every frame of the film was shot on a Nokia N8 smartphone. The crew even managed an aerial shot by strapping the phone to a remote control helicopter and hoping for the best. It took 17 takes to get it right.
"It was difficult," said Khalili, "but ultimately it was so much cheaper than getting a crane. Because that helicopter pilot cost 600 bucks."
One of the biggest challenges is that smartphones think they are smarter than us. The crew had to hack into their phone and permanently disable the auto focus and auto zoom to get the shots they wanted.
They then attached a 35-milimeter lens to the front of the phone in very low- tech and low-budget fashion: They used double sided tape.
Yet the film had all the Hollywood trappings: hair and makeup, location scouts, and even two-time Academy Award-nominated actress Gena Rowlands.
It cost half a million dollars to make. Chris Kelly, a former Facebook executive, put up some of money.
"If you can put the power in the palm of someone's hand to shoot a beautiful movie like this," said Kelly, "there's a lot that you can do about storytelling in the world. Somebody's got to do it first and that's what we wanted to do."
"Olive" is now playing at a movie theater near Los Angeles. It will run for a week so it can be considered for an Academy Award in February.

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