A Pen-style Personal Networking Gadget Package It seems that information terminals are infinitely getting smaller. However, we will continue to manipulate them with our hands for now. We have visualized the connection between the latest technology and the human, in a form of a pen. P-ISM is a gadget package including five functions: a pen-style cellular phone with a handwriting data input function, virtual keyboard, a very small projector, camera scanner, and personal ID key with cashless pass function. P-ISMs are connected with one another through short-range wireless technology. The whole set is also connected to the Internet through the cellular phone function. This personal gadget in a minimalistic pen style enables the ultimate ubiquitous computing.
Removing stains from garments using a washing machine is nothing new. But imagine a washing machine which removes stains from clothes without water. Yes, a washing machine without water.Two students - Tan Si Jin Gabriel, Chua Wenni Wendy - from the National University of Singapore’s school of industrial design have developed such a washing machine. This waterless washing machine can remove stains from clothes in a matter of a few minutes. Read the rest of this entry »
We already have the means to store a massive amount of images in our various devices, so many that we cannot possibly see them all in a lifetime. “flacon” offers the ways to casually enjoy such a volume of visuals. The images emerge on an inorganic electroluminescent display. Among them, images selected according to anniversaries and the user emotions are projected outward through a projector.
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Intelligent Cars Exchanging Information by Themselves
Enhanced vehicle data recognising traffic conditions and possible hazards. Local hazard warnings provided by direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Efficient communication network not requiring any infrastructure. Just imagine what it would be like to have a car able to “talk” to other cars around you! What would those cars have to tell each other? The BMW Group is working on autonomous, self-organising communication networks - so-called ad-hoc networks - connecting cars with each other. In this process cars collect local data from their immediate surroundings, process this information and exchange it with other cars. Read the rest of this entry »
Visual Memory in a Bracelet. Just like our memories come alive when we take our favorite objects in our hands, visual memories and their tools should be more closely related. The performance of visual memory devices, such as resolution and memory, will eventually reach their usability saturation points. However, just like wearing wristwatches, they will be worn like accessories rather than highly functional tools. Looking into the landscape through an opening, Read the rest of this entry »
Called the first consumer robot to replace the mop and bucket by Popular Science magazine, the Scooba (invented by the experts who created the Roomba) is the automatic robot that efficiently and simultaneously prepares, washes, scrubs, and dries tile, linoleum, or sealed hardwood floors, without human intervention. Using a specially formulated bleach-free solution, Scooba methodically cleans a medium-sized kitchen floor in as little as 45 minutes, navigating independently and adjusting up to 67 times per second to maintain the most efficient pattern. As it passes over flooring, the robot picks up loose dirt and sprays solution, while a rotary scrubber gently cleans, and a drier picks up the solution. Approximately the diameter of a dinner plate, the robot is compact enough to reach under cabinet kick boards and most furniture, and at the touch of a button, it courses through a room, moving around chair legs, ledges, and other potential roadblocks thanks to patented AWARE sensor technology that redirects the robot when it gently encounters an object in its path. The robot cleans a standard-sized kitchen floor on a single tank, and it can be restricted to clean specific areas using the included Virtual Wall (additional walls sold below) that creates an infrared beam the Scooba will not cross. Includes 32 oz. of cleaning solution (about four tanks full), a built-in rechargeable battery, and charging station. 3 1/2″ H x 14 3/4″ Diam. (12 1/2 lbs.) Only available for delivery in the Continental U.S. and Canada.. Read the rest of this entry »
Loc8tor Plus provides all the benefits of the Loc8tor enabling misplaced items to be found (Locate mode) and also comes with the additional Alert mode. In Locate mode audio beeps and the on-screen directional display guide users quickly and easily to mislaid tagged items even if they are out of sight. The Alert mode enables an invisible boundary to be set around the Loc8tor – near, medium or far, and warns the moment any tagged item goes out of your preset safety zone with an audio alarm, on screen display detailing the item/s missing and a vibration Alert. Ideal for protecting your possessions whether you’ve accidentally left it behind, it’s been stolen or to inform you that your child or pet has wandered off. In Alert mode both the Homing or Panic Tag can be attached to a child or dependent and will warn if they move out of your preset safety zone. The Additional button on the Panic Tag enables a child or dependant to set off a distress alarm on the Loc8tor Handheld advising that help is needed. Read the rest of this entry »
Tokyoflash have managed to get hold of a shipment of SCOPE that was due to be sent forward to 2157. We didn’t have any KX-400 Combat-bots nearby to test them out on, so we’ve modified the programming to display time. These custom models can now accurately indicate your current position in time. A press of the scan control sends the SCOPE into action and it will home in your current time frame, accurately displaying the hour and minute. The SCOPE is available in Brushed Silver or Gun Metal (The darker model is “Gun Metal”) and includes a full operation manual. Reading the time is simple. The vertical line indicates the Hour & the horizontal is for Minutes. Minutes on the main screen are in groups of 5 (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 etc) then add the number of Red LED’s shown on the right. So 25 + 2 = 27 minutes. A second press of the button goes into date mode where the month & day are shown in the same manner. • Time and Date modes • 1 Year Warranty • LED & LCD watch • English & Japanese Instructions • All Stainless Steel strap • Patent Pending Read the rest of this entry »
On April 19, Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. announced the development of new volume optical storage technology that can provide terabyte-level storage capacity in a compact device. Relying on unique nanoimprint technology, the company has succeeded in reducing the thickness of DVDs to 0.092 mm (92 micrometers) — which is 1/13th the thickness of current DVDs — while maintaining the standard capacity of 4.7 GB. The system features what the company calls Stacked Volumetric Optical Disc (SVOD) technology, which consists of 100 ultra-thin optical discs (12-cm in diameter, the same as current DVDs) loaded into a 6.5-cm (2.5-inch) thick cartridge. The result is a compact optical disc library system (1/10th the conventional size) capable of combining random access memory and long-term storage. When laminated on both sides, disc capacity will reach 9.4 GB, bringing the 100-disc cartridge up to near-terabyte level with 940 GB of storage. The company claims that next-generation blue laser technology could boost cartridge capacity to 5 terabytes (50 GB for each double-sided disc). According to Hitachi Maxell, potential applications of this storage media include library systems for business and institutions. While continuing to investigate other applications, the company aims to cultivate the market by presenting this technology at academic conferences and exhibitions. The discs will be priced at under 40,000 yen (US$325) for a stack of 100 Read the rest of this entry »
Digital Information Development (DID) has developed a highly portable virtual piano that is played with a keyboard consisting of projected laser beams. The box-shaped device measures about 10 x 3 x 3 cm (4 x 1 x 1 in.) and weighs about 100 grams (3.5 oz.). Using a red semiconductor laser module and holographic optical element, the device projects a 25-key 2-octave keyboard onto the surface in front of it (black surfaces don’t work because they absorb the light). A CMOS camera module and infrared (invisible) red semiconductor laser module detect which keys are touched, and the corresponding notes are emitted from speakers built into the device. Chords can also be played, and DID claims it is technically possible to reproduce weighted notes (but presumably not with this version). The keyboard has 3 other voices in addition to piano — organ, pipe organ and harpsichord. It is scheduled for release in Japan in November 2006 and is expected to cost around 15,000 yen (US$130). DID says that a virtual 88-key grand piano can be created by increasing the size of the device. thickness of DVDs to 0.092 mm (92 micrometers) — which is 1/13th the thickness of current DVDs — while maintaining the standard capacity of 4.7 GB. The system features what the company calls Stacked Volumetric Optical Disc (SVOD) technology, which consists of 100 ultra-thin optical discs (12-cm in diameter, the same as current DVDs) loaded into a 6.5-cm (2.5-inch) thick cartridge. The result is a compact optical disc library system (1/10th the conventional size) capable of combining random access memory and long-term storage. When laminated on both sides, disc capacity will reach 9.4 GB, bringing the 100-disc cartridge up to near-terabyte level with 940 GB of storage. The company claims that next-generation blue laser technology could boost cartridge capacity to 5 terabytes (50 GB for each double-sided disc). According to Hitachi Maxell, potential applications of this storage media include library systems for business and institutions. While continuing to investigate other applications, the company aims to cultivate the market by presenting this technology at academic conferences and exhibitions. The discs will be priced at under 40,000 yen (US$325) for a stack of 100 Read the rest of this entry »
iBar is a system for the interactive design of any bar-counter. Integrated video-projectors can project any content on the milky bar-surface. The intelligent tracking system of iBar detects all objects touching iBar tracks any objects on the survace and creates dynamic interactive lighting effects. Far out. From i-Bar: Bar is a system for the interactive design of any bar-counter. Integrated video-projectors can project any content on the milky bar-surface. The intelligent tracking system of iBar detects all objects touching the surface. This input is used to let the projected content interact dynamically with the movements on the counter. Objects can be illuminated. Read the rest of this entry »
On June 19, Japan’s Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken), SGI Japan and Intel announced the development of a supercomputer with a theoretical peak performance of 1 petaflops (one million billion floating point operations per second). Known as the MDGRAPE-3 (or the Protein Explorer), the computer system is designed to perform molecular dynamics simulations of such phenomena as non-bonding interactions between atoms. The system consists of 201 units equipped with 24 of RIKEN’s MDGRAPE-3 LSI chips for molecular dynamics simulation (total of 4,808 chips), which are connected to 64 parallel servers equipped with 256 of Intel’s Xeon 5000-series cores and 37 parallel servers equipped with 74 Xeon 3.2 GHz cores. In the future, RIKEN plans to further upgrade the system with Xeon 5100-series processors (codenamed Woodcrest), and testing is now underway. The LINPACK Benchmark, which is the standard for the Top 500 List, could not be performed on the system, so the performance cannot be compared directly with the world’s other top supercomputers. However, the system’s theoretical peak performance of 1 petaflops will set the computer firmly at the top of the list, with a speed about three times that of IBM’s BlueGene/L at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (currently No.1 on the list). The system will be unveiled to the public on June 24 at RIKEN’s Yokohama laboratory. Read the rest of this entry »
GE Imagines the Kitchen of the Future with Consumer Convenience, Personal Style and Innovation . The concept kitchen is envisioned as an interconnected suite of products with interactive controls. This suite of appliances is designed for efficiency. A modular approach to the kitchen configuration affords efficiencies in energy, advances in usability and a sleek minimal style The entire suite offers a full-width display combined with touch sensors across the entire surface. What does that mean for consumers? Imagine new possibilities for recipe presentation and entertainment. In total, this surface affords multiple levels of interaction and the navigation of complex information. Interconnected pieces communicate with each other and coordinate the effort using predictive computing. Imagine a kitchen taking inventory of the food in the refrigerator, presenting menu options and creating a shopping list. A cooking guide walks consumers through the process of new cooking techniques or simple meal preparation. GE’s industrial designers and engineers envision organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology as the primary lighting source in the kitchen of the future and have represented this with a fabric canopy with lights above the kitchen. The height of each appliance offers comfortable access to the work and information areas within an easy to reach “strike zone.” It can be installed at varying heights depending upon user preference and is advantageous to those with limited mobility Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s another neat spying gadget, the spy sunglasses. The spy sunglasses record everything you see in front of you within a 92-degree field-of-view, allowing you to capture a much broader spectrum than you may be actually looking at. Your regular, direct vision captures only 3-degrees. The camera lens is situated above the nose-piece, in between your eyes. Small wires run from the back of the glasses, to the included media device, which stores the recorded video in MPEG-4 format, allowing you to keep the hardware in your pocket, and not get any suspicious looks. It also requires no external battery besides the device, so you can travel light. Not only does it capture video, however, it also records crystal clear digital audio so you don’t need to have any separate equipment for your top secret mission. I bet there’s a lot of things I could do with this gadget, although I’m not really the sunglasses type, and my friends are suspicious of most things anyway. Although I think it would be fun to try, this gadget is being aimed at small businesses, which may make it a bit harder to get your hands on one.more–> http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20060712/video-recording-spy-sunglasses/#more-1475/#more-1475/
When I first saw this gadget, I thought it was too good to be true! I find this gadget almost puts the Spy Sunglasses to shame. The Wireless Bullet Camera is, as assumed, a wireless camera, with a highly sensitive microphone as well for audio. The tiny camera has a built in 2.4 GHz transmitter which almost makes you wonder where they fit all the video and audio hardware! The receiver can receive data from the transmitter up to 25m away, or 50m outdoors! The included receiver comes with all the equipment you need to hook it up to a television or monitor at a safe distance to avoid detection. There are provided adapters for both the camera and the receiver, however the camera can just as easily be powered by a 9V battery.With such tiny equipment you still get quite decent quality. The video camera records 356,000 pixels which is roughly half of the pixels displayed on a standard 1024×768 resolution monitor, while the microphone can capture audio from across rooms of most sizes. I think what I might try to do if I had the gadgets is combine the bullet camera and the MP4 recorder to make the ultimate spying camera for recording! The Wireless Bullet Camera is available from Gadgets.co.ukmore–> http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20060713/wireless-bullet-camera/#more-1497/
This pair of gadgets is something I would really like to try out. The Walkie Talkie Watches are two completely functional watches with all the power of a set of two-way walkie talkie radios. To the average person they look just like an ordinary digital watch, however with the almost hidden retractable antenna, they double as two-way radios that can communicate with crystal clarity up to 3km. There are 8 channels and 38 sub channels to choose from, giving you over 300 possible secure lines of communication to ensure your privacy. There is also auto channel scanning and squelch control included. Read the rest of this entry »
Never lose your child again with an RFID tag that will let you track them down. Soon I am sure you’ll be able to embed these under the skin. Big Brother? From ABC News: SafeTzone uses radio frequency technology which almost instantly pinpoints the location of every member of a family whenever a parent or child swipes their SafeTzone wristband at kiosks around the park. SafeTzone also eliminates the need to carry cash. Parents authorize a specific spending limit and their kids can make purchases at restaurants and shops flashing their wristband not their wallet. “She just scans it and she doesn’t have to come running back carrying wet, soggy money and it’s really nice,” Greenhalgh said. Read the rest of this entry »
The Google Vision concept is a cell phone sized devise with a roll-up flexible screen. The device would have image recognition and a GPS so you could figure out where you are by letting the device look around. “The only “downside” is that physical objects would need to be indexed somehow. The best way to do this would be via a Wiki somehow—it would require volunteers with digital cameras taking pictures and feeding them to the image recognition database, along with GPS coordinates—a kind of Wikipedia for images.” - Personal Tech Pipeline Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve seen a number of video games brought into the real world as art. Real Life Tetris, shown here, was created using crates on a giant wall in Melbourne. The art was created by “Sam. Jerome, Ed and Gab.” . Read the rest of this entry »
Why use two peripherals when essentially one will do? This simple yet undeniably brilliant concept is the driving force behind the new VAIO VN-CX1 from Sony. No need to choose between navigation and calls — you can have both! The model can transform in an instant from a stylish mouse boasting an innovative and unique design to a practical Internet telephone. This multi-functional device really has its finger on the pulse. Read the rest of this entry »
Nokia announced that their N93 handset has begun shipping out in Europe today. I bet everyone seen and heard a lot about Nokia N93 so just go through a lil bit with you, this phone features a 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, 50MB of memory, miniSD card slot, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology, and a vibrant 2.4-inch QVGA display (160-degree viewing angle). Here’s a short video demonstration of the N93 multimedia capabilities Read the rest of this entry »
Swiss-manufacturer VIPN has confirmed with the Jaren Goh’s “Black Diamond” Smartphone. It is a Windows Mobile 5.0-powered handset features a 2-inch display, 400MHz XScale processor, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 128MB of internal memory, an SD memory card slot, and a touch-sensitive keypad. This product will be a limited product, only 5 units on sale and each unit cost $300,000. Product will be on sale next year. Read the rest of this entry »
Straight luminous glass borders in format 5.5 x 40 cm and in the colours blue, yellow and white complete the light concept and are a perfect match with “Flow” and “LED Tiles”. The luminous borders make every room an eye-catcher – in your private oasis of wellness as well as in an object area. The borders are used in various applications such as indirect lighting, innovative skirting and guide at steps or just as an exclusive design element. Combined with white tiles of sizes 30 x 40 cm or 40 x 70 cm, they create purist cool worlds of living. Combined with the series of mosaic floor and wall tiles from Steuler, the borders allow most different and varying design worlds to be created – for every demand and taste. Read the rest of this entry »
Increases productivity by assisting you in reaching areas of the home that traditional ladders cannot. Eliminates the need to use bricks and blocks to make your ladder level Read the rest of this entry »
Optical camouflage is a kind of active camouflage. This idea is very simple. If you project background image onto the masked object, you can observe the masked object just as if it were virtually transparent. This shows the principle of the optical camouflage using X’tal Vision. You can select camouflaged object to cover with retroreflector. Moreover, to project a stereoscopic image, the observer looks at the masking object more transparent. Optical camouflage can be applied for a real scene. In the case of a real scene, a photograph of the scene is taken from the operator乫s viewpoint, and this photograph is projected to exactly the same place as the original. Actually, applying HMP-based optical camouflage to a real scene requires image-based rendering techniques. If you want to know the mechanism of this optical camouflage demonstration, please see the following brochure: M. Inami, D. Sekiguchi, S. Tachi, Le manteau transparent! (Transparent Cloak!), Brochure of Demonstration at Laval Virtual 2003, Laval Virtual 2003, France, May 13-18, 2003, (French Version), (English Version) And you can find more detailed information at the pulication section. Read the rest of this entry »
In contrast to conventional furniture which falls towards the earth, Floating Bed falls towards the sky. The history of architecture and design is, to a large extend, embedded in the struggle with gravity. When excepting the architecture in microgravity, off the earth, gravitational force is a psychological starting point for all architects constructing. The goal in this project was to make a usable artefact of respectable size that doesn抰 have gravity but another force as it抯 image dictating starting point, namely magnetism. The shown object here can be seen as the captured form used by Stanley Kubrick in the 1968 movie ?2001: A Space Odyssey?. The monolith, as Stanley Kubrick and science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke suggest, must have been made by other powers than those responsable for the usually circular planetary bodies and other more liberal forms, such as organisms. The rectangle as a metaphor for the existence of intelligent life. The object is held up 40 cm by a permanent magnetic force due to the use of neodymium (NdFeB) elements in the floor as well as in the object. Thin steel cables assure it抯 position and the smart use of steel plates and air make the object userfriendly by strongly decreasing the magnetic force where it抯 not necessary. Different possible uses such as a bed, sofa, Japanese dining table, display for objects or as base for a floating pavilion can be thought of since the artefact can carry a load of 900 kg. The shown scale model is at scale 1:5 and also for sale. The concept with all possible functions, products and images are registered and protected by it磗 designer Ruijssenaars. For more information: +31 (0)20 6165424. Read the rest of this entry »
The Cone is a sex toy designed with pretty lavender color and tasteful cone shape. It is a hands-free design with 16 different vibrating speeds, and when the time is right, there’s a handy orgasm button that takes the rider to that sometimes-illusive Higher Plane. It came with the size of 7.5 inches in diameter and 4.5 inches high and uses three C batteries. This item is available at sextoys.co.uk for £49.99 (around $92). Read the rest of this entry »