Taiwan’s Computex computer fair does it again with CatFi app

Now in its 35th year, Taiwan’s Computex computer fair can always be relied on to throw up interesting technology.

The CatFi app and cat feeding device at the Computex computer fair in Taiwan.

Now in its 35th year, Taiwan’s Computex computer fair can always be relied on to throw up interesting technology. This year a company called CatFi has solved the problem of feeding the family cat if you are away.

It has developed an elegant-looking internet connected cat feeder that delivers predetermined amounts of food and water at designated times. Perhaps not that surprising for a country where Houtong, in northern Taiwan, has become a global tourist attraction because of its large cat population. But back to CatFi (pictured below). What if you have several cats, each with different dietary requirements? No probs. Facial recognition software identifies different moggies and feeds them differently. And if while you are still away you feel the need to say hello kitty, the CatFi app lets you chat to your cat via your phone from anywhere in the world. Also, the app measures eating habits: it will analyse food and water intake and weight and compare it to its diet history. So if kitty is pining for you, CatFi will let you know they are off their food.

How to find old footage

Ever needed to go through the tiresome process of scrolling through hours of homemade videos to find video clips featuring your friends, family and workmates? Chipmaker AMD has a solution for this called Looking Glass, which it unveiled at Computex. Looking Glass uses AMD’s new Carrizo processor to recognise and index faces in large collections of video. It finds clips containing two nominated people or clips that contain certain people and not others. (You could eliminate clips with, say, you and your ex-partner). Clips are exported into a playlist that video editing programs can turn into a party reel of a friend’s memorable moments, without hours of searching. Looking Glass is among features AMD will bring to Carrizo processors that will make their way into mid-range notebooks sold by shops such as Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi. As well as basic computing tasks, these notebooks will comfortably handle 4K video playback, video editing, photo editing in Adobe Photoshop and gaming and cost about $500 to $900.

New use for iPads

Apple’s iPad Mini has a new role at Computex: analysing the sperm quality of bulls, sheep, horses and other farm animals. Local start-up Aidmics Biotechnology is showcasing a high-resolution optical lens attachment that operates like a 200x microscope. You supply a sample and results show up in 17 seconds. An app provides you with sperm quality measurements such as concentration and motility. Aidmics says its sperm quality tracking has been approved by Taiwan’s Agricultural Technology Research Institute. The system cannot be used for testing human sperm as it doesn’t have any medical endorsements. Aidmics Biotechnology also has cute microscope attachment for smartphones that children can use to inspect bugs, butterflies, weeds and flowers.

3D printing

XYZ Printing showed off its da Vinci 1.0 AiO — an all-in-one 3D printer and scanner that duplicates 3-D objects. It’s a three-step process. You place an object inside the printer and it scans it to create an editable 3-D file you can tweak to remove imperfections. You then 3-D print the object using the same da Vinci printer that scanned it. Manufacturer XYZ Printing is part of the Kimpo Group, a huge local electronics conglomerate that says it earns more than $38 billion annually and employs more than 8500 people in research and development globally. Another firm showed off its system for streaming 4K or ultra-high definition content around a house using power lines. It’s an adaptation of Broadband Over Powerlines. It managed to comfortably stream 5 different 4K content feeds to 5 4K televisions simultaneously.

Chris Griffith travelled to Computex in Taipei, Taiwan, courtesy of AMD.