Oren Peli launches new social networking app

It’s been a decade since Oren Peli made his directional debut with Paranormal Activity, a horror film franchisee that later went on to make a whopping $890.5 million at the box office. Oren Peli is now launching ‘Spot’ a new iOS and Android app to create, find, and join local events, reports TechCrunch. The launch came as a surprise, as Peli, who is best known for making horror movies, has forayed into a whole new space that’s entirely different from what he is good at.

When asked about his new initiative, Peli told that before kickstarting a career in movies, he started off as a developer of animation software and video games. So, he is just returning to his old career. What’s new in ‘Spot’’, when compared to Meetup, Tinder, and so on? It has a very simple design and focuses on small group activities. ‘Spot’ helps people connect around shared activities and interests. Simply put, it is an effortless way to connect with new people, find new friends, and so on. The idea came to him when he was newly single and wanted to connect with new people and make friends. He couldn’t find a service that was simple and less time-consuming.

The Spot app helps create events in 4 categories – hobbies, sports, community events, and single events. You can search by keywords or check the map view to find the events nearby. Both public and private events can be created and shared via social media, and participants can chat with each other through Spot app.

You can create an account by connecting to Facebook, Google, or email, get a verified sticker by verifying phone number over SMS, ban users from your events, and report inappropriate behavior.

Spot is available globally, and the app is free.

Sunglasses that generate solar power

Engineers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have made a pair of sunglasses with semi-transparent organic solar cell lenses. And before you jump in to ask that much genuine doubt let me answer it, no, you don’t have to stare at the sun directly for the shades to work. The power generated is enough to operate devices like hearing aids. This is an innovative way of incorporating clean energy into mobile applications.

The lenses are cut like ordinary glass. They have a thickness of about 1.6 mm, weight about 6 grams, and easily finds in commercial frames. They are both light and transparent. Organic solar cells aren’t exceptionally efficient, but they are flexible and versatile, making it the right option to choose when a rigid, opaque cell is not an option.

“The Solar Glasses we developed are an example of how organic solar cells may be employed in applications that would not be feasible with conventional photovoltaics,” said Dominik Landerer, a PhD student at KIT who was a part of the project. They work in dim light too.

The arms of the shades contain custom PCBs to convert the current and use it to run the 2 displays that show temperature and brightness. The cells generate about 200 milliwatts of additional power. That’s hardly enough for your phone, but can run or charge a low-power device.

If solar energy can power a mobile device, it totally makes sense to have solar cells in something you wear, and gets a whole lot of sunlight.