When we first checked in on the Omni,
an omnidirectional treadmill from Virtuix designed to translate the
user's physical movements into a virtual world, the company was hoping
to launch a Kickstarter campaign in May. It missed that target, but only
just, with a launch on June 4. The campaign target has already been
exceeded many times over, meaning backers could be getting physical
within virtual worlds by January 2014. Read More
While the needs of the modern
digital warrior are growing rapidly, military sensors take three to
eight years to develop while private industry can produce similar
technology in only one or two years. In the hope of speeding things up,
DARPA’s Adaptable Sensor System (ADAPT) program is looking to smartphone
industry technologies and practices. Read More 
Samsung's mobile approach is simple: make a
device in every conceivable size, for every conceivable price point, and
for every conceivable demographic. So it shouldn't be too big of a
surprise to see a new Galaxy aimed at the rugged, outdoorsy set. The Galaxy S4 Active
is a niche device for sure, but, fortunately, it also has some
promising features under the hood. Let's see how its specs (and other
features) compare to the standard Galaxy S4. Read More
About once a month on average, an incident is
reported in which turbofan jet engines flying at high-altitude lose
power. The pilots report that there is little if any bad weather that
might explain the power loss and although uncommon, this fault is
potentially disastrous. The culprit is called ice crystal icing, and
NASA scientists are making progress in understanding the problem using a
world first test facility that creates an artificial ice cloud similar
to that encountered by planes at high altitudes. Read More
Along with its nihilistic cyberpunk style, the film The Matrix
is famous for popularizing what’s known as “bullet time” photography.
You know the shots where someone would run and jump, then they’d freeze
and the camera would appear to track around them as they were frozen in
mid-air? That’s bullet-time. Now, that same technology may be coming to
live televised sporting events. Read More
Asus has unveiled the next step in the evolution
of the hybrid note/tablet at the company's "We Transform" press event at
Computex 2013 in Taipei, Taiwan. In addition to two CPUs and dual
operating systems, the Transformer Book Trio adds a powerful desktop
element to the mix. Other devices introduced by chairman Jonney Shih
include 6- and 7-inch Pads, a wireless media center and a touchpad
mouse. Read More
After close to a decade and a half, including a
run of super-limited editions and one-offs, Pagani has released its
final Zonda. Or so it seems. A "car designed to amaze both on the track
and in a car collection," the Zonda Revolucion brings the legendary line
to a close with a bang. Read More
Other than putting it in a tiny art gallery, what
could you do with a rabbit sculpture that sits just a few micrometers
tall? Perhaps not much, although it’s a remarkable example of the level
of detail that can be achieved using a new electrically-conductive
shapable resin. That same resin could find use in custom-formed
electrodes for things like fuel cells, batteries, or even biosensor
interfaces used to treat brain disorders. Read More
The OrCam is a small camera linked to a very
powerful wearable computer. It sees what you see and through your
finger-pointing understands what information you seek, relaying auditory
feedback through a bone conduction earpiece. Using an intuitive user
interface, the device can read text, recognize faces, identify objects
and places, locate bus numbers and even monitor traffic lights. Read More
Incorporate a tilting mechanism into a car, scooter or bike
and not only have you just increased its wow factor by at least a
thousand percent, but you've also greatly improved its stability and
handling. Such is the case with Flexiskates, which boast the stability
of quad skates and the speed of blades, while also catering for
simulated alpine ski carving on pavement. Read More
Recently, aerial drones have been used to bless festival goers with strategically placed beer drops and burrito lovers with air-borne deliveries.
The next step in the fast-food delivery evolutionary chain is the
DomiCopter, an octocopter designed to ferry Domino's pizza to your front
door. Read More
A company known as They Innovate has
designed Clipless, a mounting device that fastens a smartphone to
almost any place imaginable. A wall, clothing, car dashboards, and
essentially anything with a moderately flat surface will work with it,
according to the creators. Read More
Large-scale multi-touch hardware designer and
producer Ideum has teamed up with the Touch Systems division of 3M to
launch the Platform 46 range of Windows 8 multi-touch tables. Both the
standing-height table and the coffee table feature a 46-inch,
bezel-free, 1920 x 1080 resolution LCD display panel and a powerful
integrated computer system. They're set to make their public debut at
3M's booth at next week's InfoComm 2013 in Orlando, Florida. Read More
The treehouse-inspired Tower House by New York
based architectural studio GLUCK+ is a unique weekend property, which
takes the idea of living in the trees to an entirely new level. Located
in upstate New York, the single-family home stretches over four levels
and takes on the appearance of a small urban skyscraper. The slick
structure is almost out of place amidst its natural forest landscape,
however its glass facade does offer its occupants a great advantage
point from which to enjoy treetop living. Read More
In the seven months since Windows 8 was
introduced, it's seen its share of criticism, leaving many craving an
update to Microsoft's first touch-based desktop OS. Now the company has
officially responded to many concerns with the announcement of Windows 8.1,
the first major point update to Windows 8. A preview version will be
available towards the end of this month, and Microsoft's Jensen Harris
showed off some of the new Windows 8.1 features in the video embedded
below. Read More
A solar-powered wheelchair designed by students
at the University of Virginia has won first prize in a competition,
Change My Life in One Minute, to mark World Cerebral Palsy Day. Entrants
to the competition were asked to come up with an innovation that could
make a significant difference to a person with a disability. The
solar-powered wheelchair can run continuously powered only by the sun.
Read More
The British Army has taken ownership of its first
Terrier combat engineer vehicle, which maker BAE Systems claims is the
most advanced of its type. The armored vehicle has been described as a
Swiss Army Knife for the battlefield, capable of clearing routes or
creating cover. Perhaps most significantly, the Terrier is
drive-by-wire, and can be controlled remotely with a device very much
like a console game pad. Read More
Computex 2013 is now in full swing in Taipei,
Taiwan, and all the major players in the computer hardware industry are
showing off their latest products. Sony came prepared with its newest
touchscreen Vaio offerings, the mid-range Fit, the hybrid Duo 13, and
two lightweight Pro models. Read More
Over the past year, Elon Musk, billionaire
founder of PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX, has been floating the notion of a
"Hyperloop" as a future replacement for bullet trains; one that would
get commuters from San Francisco to Los Angeles in as little as 30
minutes. There has been much speculation over how the Hyperloop works,
as Musk has revealed very few details. So what has Musk actually said
and what might this translate to in the real world? Read More
The days of mechanical locks may be numbered as
Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled smart locks continue to evolve with devices
such as the Lockitron and August Smart Lock
turning a smartphone into a wireless key. Unlocking a door with a
smartphone from anywhere in the world is convenient by itself, but with
the Goji Smart Lock you can instantly know when someone opens your front
door and even see who it is. Read More
Recently, aerial drones have been used to bless festival goers with strategically placed beer drops and burrito lovers with air-borne deliveries.
The next step in the fast-food delivery evolutionary chain is the
DomiCopter, an octocopter designed to ferry Domino's pizza to your front
door. Read More
Smartphones can be hard to shut up, which is
where the ominously named Mutator enters the equation. Designed for the
iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, Mutator is a pyramid-shaped switch that
plugs into the headphone jack to make muting simple. Read More
Recently, aerial drones have been used to bless festival goers with strategically placed beer drops and burrito lovers with air-borne deliveries.
The next step in the fast-food delivery evolutionary chain is the
DomiCopter, an octocopter designed to ferry Domino's pizza to your front
door. Read More
Large-scale multi-touch hardware designer and
producer Ideum has teamed up with the Touch Systems division of 3M to
launch the Platform 46 range of Windows 8 multi-touch tables. Both the
standing-height table and the coffee table feature a 46-inch,
bezel-free, 1920 x 1080 resolution LCD display panel and a powerful
integrated computer system. They're set to make their public debut at
3M's booth at next week's InfoComm 2013 in Orlando, Florida. Read More
The treehouse-inspired Tower House by New York
based architectural studio GLUCK+ is a unique weekend property, which
takes the idea of living in the trees to an entirely new level. Located
in upstate New York, the single-family home stretches over four levels
and takes on the appearance of a small urban skyscraper. The slick
structure is almost out of place amidst its natural forest landscape,
however its glass facade does offer its occupants a great advantage
point from which to enjoy treetop living. Read More
In the seven months since Windows 8 was
introduced, it's seen its share of criticism, leaving many craving an
update to Microsoft's first touch-based desktop OS. Now the company has
officially responded to many concerns with the announcement of Windows 8.1,
the first major point update to Windows 8. A preview version will be
available towards the end of this month, and Microsoft's Jensen Harris
showed off some of the new Windows 8.1 features in the video embedded
below. Read More
A solar-powered wheelchair designed by students
at the University of Virginia has won first prize in a competition,
Change My Life in One Minute, to mark World Cerebral Palsy Day. Entrants
to the competition were asked to come up with an innovation that could
make a significant difference to a person with a disability. The
solar-powered wheelchair can run continuously powered only by the sun.
Read More
The British Army has taken ownership of its first
Terrier combat engineer vehicle, which maker BAE Systems claims is the
most advanced of its type. The armored vehicle has been described as a
Swiss Army Knife for the battlefield, capable of clearing routes or
creating cover. Perhaps most significantly, the Terrier is
drive-by-wire, and can be controlled remotely with a device very much
like a console game pad. Read More
Computex 2013 is now in full swing in Taipei,
Taiwan, and all the major players in the computer hardware industry are
showing off their latest products. Sony came prepared with its newest
touchscreen Vaio offerings, the mid-range Fit, the hybrid Duo 13, and
two lightweight Pro models. Read More
Over the past year, Elon Musk, billionaire
founder of PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX, has been floating the notion of a
"Hyperloop" as a future replacement for bullet trains; one that would
get commuters from San Francisco to Los Angeles in as little as 30
minutes. There has been much speculation over how the Hyperloop works,
as Musk has revealed very few details. So what has Musk actually said
and what might this translate to in the real world? Read More
The days of mechanical locks may be numbered as
Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled smart locks continue to evolve with devices
such as the Lockitron and August Smart Lock
turning a smartphone into a wireless key. Unlocking a door with a
smartphone from anywhere in the world is convenient by itself, but with
the Goji Smart Lock you can instantly know when someone opens your front
door and even see who it is. Read More
Recently, aerial drones have been used to bless festival goers with strategically placed beer drops and burrito lovers with air-borne deliveries.
The next step in the fast-food delivery evolutionary chain is the
DomiCopter, an octocopter designed to ferry Domino's pizza to your front
door. Read More
Smartphones can be hard to shut up, which is
where the ominously named Mutator enters the equation. Designed for the
iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, Mutator is a pyramid-shaped switch that
plugs into the headphone jack to make muting simple. Read More
A company called Shark Wheel is aiming to
reinvent, well, the wheel. Instead of the conventional circular shape
we're all familiar with, this new skateboard wheel is based around a
cube shape. While this might seem illogical, the company claims its new
wheels ride smoother, faster, and offer better grip than traditional
skateboard wheels. Read More
If there was any doubt that George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
was a prophetic piece of fiction, you can pretty much put that to rest.
The more skeptical among us have claimed for years that, in the age of
the internet, nobody has real privacy. During the last 24 hours, those
fears emerged from the shadows. Details leaked of the secret US National
Security Agency (NSA) program called PRISM, which may as well have been
called Big Brother. Read More
To monitor their infection levels, people
carrying chronic viral infections such as hepatitis and HIV need to get
their viral load regularly checked. This measures how many viruses are
present in a certain volume of blood or bodily fluid with current tests
being expensive and needing to be done through laboratories. However,
newly developed optical techniques being developed by two independent
teams at the University of California could deliver cheaper and faster
viral load tests that could be carried out in a medical office, hospital
or even in the field. Read More
Back in December of 2011, Stratolaunch Systems announced that it was designing a new air launch system
for both manned and unmanned spacecraft. Among other things, that
system would require the construction of what would be the world’s
largest aircraft. While some people might understandably be skeptical of
such grand plans ever seeing the light of day, the company recently
announced that a couple of important milestones have been reached that
bring the project closer to fruition. Read More
In the weeks leading up to Microsoft's Xbox One announcement, there was a lot of chatter about the system requiring an always-online internet connection.
And there was at least as much speculation about the system possibly
blocking used games. Though Microsoft was pretty vague on the subjects
when it announced the console, we finally have some solid info. Read More
When we think of aircraft that study hurricanes,
most of us probably either picture powerful manned airplanes that fly
straight through them, or perhaps unmanned drones
that fly safely over them. The University of Florida’s Prof. Kamran
Mohseni has something else in mind, however. He’s developing tiny
unmanned aircraft – and submarines – that will be swept up with the hurricane, gathering data on the strength and path of the storm as they go. Read More
There are a lot of sports cars on the road that
make claims of being street-legal race cars. Few of those claims are as
legitimate as the Radical RXC's. A Le Mans prototype-inspired racer that
looks like it was plucked from the circuit and slapped with a pair of
license plates, the RXC is the car that a company named "Radical" calls
its most advanced ever. Read More
After a short three-week crowdfunding campaign,
Dutch startup Fairphone has just reached its goal of 5,000 pre-orders
and is slated to start deliveries in October. The company is producing
an "ethical" high-end smartphone by watching over the entire process,
from mining the ores to the assembly phase, making sure that workers are
treated fairly and the environmental footprint is as small as possible.
Read More
The official residence of Australia's current
Prime Minister (known as "The Lodge") was only ever intended to offer
temporary accommodation when constructed back in 1925. To celebrate this
year's Canberra centenary celebrations, the University of Canberra and
the Gallery of Australian Design invited architects to produce a modern
replacement for the venerable lodge. Sydney-based Other Architects duly
produced its "A House That Floods" concept. Read More
Vapur has added a helpful feature to its line of soft, collapsible "Anti Bottles."
Not one to get too fancy with names, Vapur calls it the MicroFilter and
sells it in a package with its 1-L Eclipse Anti-Bottle. The system
provides a light, convenient way of purifying, carrying and drinking
water in the wild. Read More
Chandeliers can be pretty classy if
they’re done right, but they can also take up a lot of space and gather a
lot of dust. What someone should do is make a tiny chandelier, and
encase it in a light bulb-like globe. Well, wouldn’t ya know it, that’s
just what UK designers Brendan Young and Vanessa Battaglia did – and you
can buy one, if you’ve got the cash. Read More
If you're the person at a party who
likes to be noticed, then donning a pair of sunglasses which react to
sound may be just what you've always wanted. Such a thing now exists, at
least in prototype form, with DropShades taking the Kanye West-style
shutter shades design and adding multi-colored LED lights to the
equation. Read More
There has been a trend of late towards standing
desks, borne out of the very real notion that sitting down for long
periods of time is bad for your health. The problem is that standing
desks don't suit everyone, and can in fact cause bad backs, sore feet,
and varicose veins if not used correctly. One solution may be to aim for
somewhere betwixt sitting and standing, which is where the Standing
Task Chair may prove its worth. Read More
Chandeliers can be pretty classy if
they’re done right, but they can also take up a lot of space and gather a
lot of dust. What someone should do is make a tiny chandelier, and
encase it in a light bulb-like globe. Well, wouldn’t ya know it, that’s
just what UK designers Brendan Young and Vanessa Battaglia did – and you
can buy one, if you’ve got the cash. Read More
Mood Map is an art exhibit created by New
York-based E/B Office that expresses the mood of the South Korean
populace by analyzing their tweets. The data is visualized through six
fiber optic lights located on the roof of the Data Curation section of
the Museum of Art, at Seoul National University. Read More
Following in the footsteps of the Tiny Leaf and Tiny Tack
homes, self-professed design geek Aaron Maret has finally completed his
very own micro home on wheels. The Pocket Shelter home has been five
years in the making, and Maret’s labor of love has paid off with a cozy
portable eco-retreat ready for adventures around the United States. Read More
Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL) have come up with a promising design for a lithium-sulfur
rechargeable battery that is considerably cheaper and energy-dense than
standard lithium-ion. Using a solid electrolyte rather than a liquid
one, the battery is also testing much safer and more durable than
previous designs. Read More
A student from Northumbria University has
envisioned a sustainable hostel to house both birds and water sports
enthusiasts in Blyth on the northeast coast of England. Positioned on
dramatic sweeping beaches, a series of 9-story towers will provide
protected nesting and bird watching areas in the winter, and transform
into a communal campsite for water sports enthusiasts in the summer.
Read More
In our increasingly connected world, isn't it
about time the humble street sign received a high-tech upgrade? That's
certainly the thinking behind Points, the newest project from Breakfast,
a New York-based design group. Points is an internet-connected
directional sign that pulls data from social media and spins its arms up
to 360 degrees to aim in the direction of a location or event. Read More
Any Swiss watch will give you an accurate time
reading, and most will look great on your wrist. Not just any Swiss
watch will put you in touch with a personal contact or emergency
services at the touch of a button, however. That watch is the Limmex.
Read More
With over 820,000 Porsche 911s being built and
sold over the past fifty years, one could say the model has been a bit
of a hit. Since 1963 Porsche’s very much iconic model (and we can use
iconic here in proper context) has been the mainstay of the German
automaker's performance hut. Now fifty years on it seems only fitting
for the company to celebrate the car with the release of its 911 50th
Anniversary Edition. Read More
If you're the person at a party who
likes to be noticed, then donning a pair of sunglasses which react to
sound may be just what you've always wanted. Such a thing now exists, at
least in prototype form, with DropShades taking the Kanye West-style
shutter shades design and adding multi-colored LED lights to the
equation. Read More
Imagine the first manned mission to Mars is three
months out from Earth when a one-of-a-kind vital component fails.
Today, such an accident would mean a choice between desperate invention
and death, but it may not be too long before astronauts will just
download a file and print out any part as needed. Turning such a
potential drama into a simple task is the goal of NASA and Made in Space
Inc., whose plan is to send a 3D printer to the International Space
Station (ISS) next year as part of demonstration to show the potential
of the technology. Read More
The continuous panorama function on digital
cameras and smartphones can create stunning photographs in the right
hands. But, to get that shot just right, those hands need to be steady.
The Spinpod is a portable motion control unit which is designed to make
creating panoramas easier, while removing the need for you to spin on
the spot. Read More
A company known as They Innovate has
designed Clipless, a mounting device that fastens a smartphone to
almost any place imaginable. A wall, clothing, car dashboards, and
essentially anything with a moderately flat surface will work with it,
according to the creators. Read More
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have
done away with all that tedious joystick work by developing a
mind-controlled quadcopter. It may seem like the top item of next year’s
Christmas list, but it also serves a very practical purpose. Using a
skullcap fitted with a Brain Computer Interface (BCI), the University's
College of Science and Engineering hopes to develop ways for people
suffering from paralysis or neurodegenerative diseases to employ thought
to control wheelchairs and other devices. Read More
It has the Corvette
and it has the Camaro, but since slicing Pontiac back in 2010, GM has
lacked a non-premium rear-drive performance sedan in that same vein. The
2009 Pontiac G8, particularly the LS3 V8-powered GXP version, was the
last car to fill that niche. The all-new Chevy SS puts the rear-drive
performance sedan back in General Motors. Read More
We're all familiar with the smartphone rivalry
between Apple and Samsung. And though the two companies also sell
competing tablets, things aren't quite the same on that end. Apple's
iPad is still firmly planted in the driver's seat: in terms of sales,
brand recognition, and critical reception. Maybe part of that can be
chalked up to the fact that Samsung's Galaxy Tabs, unlike its Galaxy S smartphones,
are all decidedly mid-range. Let's find out just how mid-range, as we
compare the specs (and other features) of the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 and 4th-generation iPad. Read More
“Quick, send in the robots!” Far-fetched as it
may sound, fire-fighting robots are indeed coming closer and closer to
common use. While some of them are intended to actually put out the flames, others are designed more to scout out structures
before human firefighters enter, letting those people know how to
safely get around and where to concentrate their efforts. One of the
latest machines in the second category is the self-balancing
Firefighting Robot (FFR), being developed at the University of
California, San Diego. Read More
Detecting bombs in places such as airports could
be getting easier, thanks to a new fluorescing polymer. While you might
expect the material to glow in the presence of explosives, they actually
cause it to stop glowing. Read More
Toshiba has announced three new additions to its
Excite range of Android tablets, two of which beat the Retina iPad and
rival the Nexus 10 in terms of display resolution. All three run Android
4.2 (Jelly Bean) and will hit Toshiba's online store on June 25, ahead
of more widespread availability from July 7. Read More
Teams vying for a spot in the historic DARPA Robotics Challenge
(DRC) must first prove themselves in the Virtual Robotics Challenge
(VRC) later this month. The VRC digitally simulates the physical
challenges slated to take place at the tail end of the year, where real
robots will get down and dirty for the first time. A total of 26 teams
qualified to take part in the VRC, but only eight of them will earn the
privilege of working with their very own ATLAS humanoid. Others will participate with their own unique robots. Read More
0 comments:
Post a Comment