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March 30, 2007

Blob Bot Moves Like Amoeba

Roboticists at Virginia Tech have developed a new type of locomotion for robots inspired by the single cell amoeba. Instead of using wheels, tracks or legs, the Blob Bot's entire skin provides the means of propulsion. This method gives the bot total freedom on uneven and unfriendly terrain. Where wheeled and legged robots would get stuck, the Blob Bot could easily squeeze thru.

Future applications for such a bot are in disaster search and relief, construction and planetary exploration.

via Technology Review

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March 29, 2007

Sound Leaf

It was around this time last year when Japan's NTT DoCoMO's Sound Leaf handset made its rounds in the blogsphere. The device only works with their FOMA line of mobile phones so forget about importing one. For those of you who don't remember what it is, let me refresh your memory.

The Sound Leaf uses bone conduction technology to transmit sound to auditory nerves thru cranial bones instead of the ear canal. You could be attending a World Cup soccer match and still have no problem hearing since the sound is directly transmitted to your brain. For those same reasons, the technology also makes mobile phone use available to the hearing impaired.

So fast forward a year later and Vincent Nguyen from Slashgear got his grubby little mitts on one. You have to watch the video. Clearly, Vincent is impressed.

It seems like viable technology and perhaps future bluetooth headsets will use bone conduction technology in lieu of what we have now. It would solve the whole, "I can't find a bluetooth headset that'll fit my ear" problem.

Available now only for NTT DoCoMO FOMA phones for $85.

via Slashgear

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OMG The U.S. Is No Longer Tech King

1. Denmark
2. Sweden
3. Singapore
4. Finland
5. Switzerland
6. Netherlands
7. US
8. Iceland
9. UK
10. Norway

See the order of those flags (read left to right people)? Those represent the world's top 10 most tech savvy or to better put it, "network ready" countries. The U.S. is in 7th place knocked all the way down from 1st. What the hell happened and what does this mean?

Answering the latter question first. The annual report is compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Countries are judged on integration of technology in business, education, the infrastructure, innovation, government policy and promotion of the latest technologies. That being said, Scandinavia swept the top 10 with Denmark leaping to 1st place. Countries you normally associate with high-tech like Japan and South Korea are numbers 14 and 19. So how did Denmark make it to number 1?

Apparently Denmark has adapted to new technological trends faster than any other country. Everything from their telecommunications sector to government services are online and networked.

The U.S. dropped out of 1st because of a deterioration in the political and regulatory environment. HELLO BUSH ADMINISTRATION! However, the U.S. still has two of the most important ingredients to regain 1st place; innovation and the power of the almighty dollar. That's right, we have the ideas and the money. We just don't have the execution anymore.

Of course, I could care less about reports like these since they don't seem to take SIZE into consideration. I mean Singapore is essentially a city-state. If they can't network one city, then they really need some help. And what about my favorite tech nation, Japan? Well, it seems the Japanese have the same problem.; TONS of ideas, LOADS of money, but poor execution.

via BBC

Download the entire report here (pdf)

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Bathe In Your Favorite Tunes

A couple days, I wrote about a sonic bathtub. As cool as it sounds to use water as the resonance material to hear your music, a brand new tub is out of reach for most people.

Thanks to Victor, a division of JVC, a new floating MP3 player called XA-AW33-W or the "Healing Player" for short is on its way into production. The cone shaped player has a USB port to load up to 256MB of music. MP4, WMA and even DRM-WMA files are supported. Sonically, sound is reproduced visually by rippling water and blue LEDs. The effect is supposed to be good enough for indiscriminate audiophiles and like its namesake - healing.

The whole think runs off 4 AAA batteries (use Sanyo Eneloop!) which is good for 15 hours of playback. Not sure exactly when it'll hit the market but a price has been released, only $169.

via Newlaunches

Another picture after the jump.

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A Living Interface

We live in a world of symbiosis. Although we may be at the top of the food chain, our livelihood depends on the livelihood of others. I'm speaking in the natural sense of course, but what happens when that principal expands into our technological systems?

The Living Interface aims to answer that question; how we can rethink interaction design when it concerns communication between an animal and machine. In this experiment, very tiny animals called daphniens are used. The setup consists of a group of these organisms, a microscope (because they're so small), LEDs, a computer and a digital aquarium.

Daphniens are placed underneath a microscope in water surrounded by 3 LEDs. They're are incredibly photo sensitive and quickly swim to any light source. This movement is tracked via computer and displayed in a digital aquarium as lights. The computer creates a swarm of digital plankton to follow the lights.

The experiment is currently set up to measure water toxicity by measuring how fast the daphniens move and react to get away from the deadly water.

But try and think of this as a computer process. We control he LEDs so we initiate the process. Our goal is to get the organisms to move in the direction we want. There is no predefined circuitry for the daphniens to follow. They biologically know to get to the light source as fast as possible. This process is simultaneously displayed in a digital aquarium so we can view it on a larger scale. The digital plankton we create can be thought of as computer processes that know to follow the daphniens without the need for complex circuitry.

Now image this system on a massive scale. Interacting with devices in the future may mean using organisms that live in a self contained and self-sustaining environment, with both human and organism relying on a symbiotic relationship to control our computers and electronic devices.

More pictures and VIDEO after the jump.

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March 26, 2007

Goodbye Sidekick, Hello Helio Ocean

Helio sorta surprised everyone this morning by unleashing its third device called the Helio Ocean. Although many people are calling it an iPod competitor, I think it's more of a Sidekick killer.

First the specs. The most unique aspect of the Ocean is its dual sliding keypad revealing a QWERTY keyboard in one direction and full numeric keypad in the other. The phone is equipped with a 2 megapixel camera with flash, a full HTML browser, 2.4" QVGA screen, stereo speakers, 200MB of internal memory with a microSD slot, bluetooth 2.0 and GPS all running on Helio's fast 3G network.

Design-wise the Ocean looks sorta like the Sony Mylo, but the comparisons end there. It has more in common with the Sidekick - currently champion of teenagers all across America. The Ocean is slimmer than the Sidekick, has a better camera and a screen with almost twice the resolution. Software integration is where the Ocean really beats out the Sidekick. You've got AIM and Yahoo chat, Windows Live, SMS, MMS, music, video, POP and IMAP email and surprise! It supports push-email.

With Helio's tight MySpace integration and bargain price plans for 3G service, I can't imagine why teenagers wouldn't want to drop T-Mobile and finally jump on the Helio bandwagon. For just $65 a month, you get 500 anytime minutes plus;

• Free nights and weekends
• Unlimited text messaging
• Unlimited picture messaging
• Unlimited video messaging
• Unlimited mobile MySpace
• Unlimited web browsing
• Unlimited file transfer
• High-speed 3G
• Buddy Beacon
• GPS enabled Google Maps

iPhone killer it ain't but jaded Sidekick users who want a messaging phone device with better tech, more features and 3G need to give the Helio Ocean a look. You'll be able to pick one up for $295 this Spring.

Posted by tranism at 4:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | | |

March 25, 2007

Be A Rocketeer

Like you can totally live out your childhood fantasies of flying around with a rocket powered backpack. Dubbed the Rocket Belt, developers TAM claim it can send a human weighing up to 300 pounds into the air

They ain't lying. This is the same device marketing gurus used during the premier of James Bond Casino Royale. For just $250,000, you too can own your very own Rocket Belt. The hefty price tag also includes 10 training lessons and machine parts maintenance.

I'm still very weary about having rocket exhaust barely 2 feet behind my dangling legs but hey, no pain no gain right?

The company site has a couple videos of the thing in action.

via Geekologie

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March 20, 2007

Chapit Can Automate Your Life

Aww, isn't he precious? That's Chapit, designed by Japanese robotics company Raytron. Chapit was recently on exhibition at the Napia Nakanoshima housing project. The project demonstrates how future homes in Japan will all be digitally connected with Chapit functioning as the conduit between house and human. Think of Chapit as a precursor to HAL before he went bad.

Some of the things Chapit can do are waking you, answering and redirecting phone calls, control lighting and thermostats, sync with your computer and act as a media server, control home appliances and electronics. You interact with Chapit by speaking to him in a natural tone. He currently only understands about 100 words but he's designed to learn. Raytron believes Chapit is capable of learning 10,000 words given the time.

In addition to verbal communication, Chapit uses flashing lights and body movements to convey emotion. If you're unhappy, he's unhappy and which point he'll try to cheer you up. Maybe put on some music and dim the lights, turn on the T.V. to your favorite evening program. If that sleek white body is too . . . well, sleek for you. Don't worry, Chapit has clothing options for you to outfit him in.

I personally think he looks like a page torn right out of Sega's Super Monkey Ball, but who am I to judge a robot that can literally control my life. He does however have a bizarre baby-like speaking voice.

Raytron hopes Chapit will be in stores by 2008 for 200,000 YEN ($1944). I'm even tempted to bequeath him the QRIO we can actually afford. Home automation or path to human enslavement? You decide.

Check out video of Chapit in action after the jump.

Posted by tranism at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | | |

Storytron

Some in the gaming industry believe the holy grail of video game design will be user driven narratives that dynamically change, never ending the same way. Storytron is software for interactive storytelling designed to immerse the player in a dynamic world. Hmm sounds like a match to me.

Storytron has been in development for years and now just seeing a pre-alpha release to early adopters. Creatives use Storytron's authoring tool called SWAT to build a universe of dramatic possibilities by presetting the personalities of characters along with locations and occurrences. With multiple paths that lead in different directions, the story changes depending on the player's actions.

I've seen dynamic narrative programming before, namely procedural used in Spore, but this is the first time I've heard of Storytron. It sounds like an interesting tool. The founder, Chris Crawford, does have some impressive credits on his resume, developing Excalibur for Atari and author of the popular book "The Art of Computer Game Design". It all sounds good to me. I'd love to see epic games like Final Fantasy move towards nonlinear stories.

via Cool Hunting

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Baby's First Digital Audio Player

My first soft toy (that I remember) was a polar bear. I use to drag that thing around everywhere much to my dad's dismay. When I was 7, my battle hardened bear got a tech upgrade - my first gadget! My mom put a tiny cassette player in it with her saying "I love you" so I wouldn't be lonely when she worked late. It helped me sleep at night all by myself.

Newborns have it worse. To be torn away from the womb and lose the assuring sounds of that environment must be traumatic. So TakaraTomy created the Issho Ni Nenne, a soft toy with an integrated digital audio player. Place it in baby's crib and let the prerecorded sounds of the womb comfort and lull baby to sleep. The web site reveals some pretty interesting stats about the toy; how 81% of babies fell asleep within 5 minutes with said toy in their crib.

I have to admit, that soft toy is so damn cute. In fact, that's an officially licensed baby Mickey Mouse. The Issho Ni Nenne (say that 5 times and tell me it doesn't sound cute) also comes in Minnie Mouse form. Too bad it's Japan only.

I wonder where my polar bear is now.

via Ubergizmo

Posted by tranism at 5:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | | |

March 19, 2007

I'm Talkin' But I'm So Sleepy

That's because I've never had it so easy. Look, it's the perCushion bluetooth enabled pillow by Urban Tool. How many of you have stayed up late yappin' away only to be stopped by the ache in your hand holding the phone or the awkwardness of laying down with a headset wrapped around your ear? The perCushion makes it easier for us bedtime yappers to conversate (I know it's not a word, so sue me) totally handsfree.

Inside this tempurpedic-like (oh my god, trademark!) foam cushion are a bevy of electronics that take pillow-talk into the 21st century. You've got your bluetooth module for pairing to your bluetooth enabled phone. You've got your lithium ion battery for easy recharging. You've got your integrated talk/answer buttons and status LEDs sewn in. Most important you've got a built-in speaker/microphone for a real handsfree experience - be it friendly, loving or dirty.

Of course I must remind you people it's quite rude to fall asleep on the phone and the perCushion looks like it'll be easier than ever to do so.

Here comes the bad news, it's concept only. I know some manufacturers that read this blog so get in contact with these people and get-ta-mass producin' dammit. I expect to see perCushions of all color persuasion at Sharper Image, Discovery stores and Brookstone by year's end.

via NextLust

More pictures after the jump.

Posted by tranism at 12:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | | |

March 17, 2007

It Passes Tissues

In 2218 Japan will be overrun with elderly people with snotty noses. Leave it to a Japanese robotics company to take the lead and develop the Mospeng-kun, a tissue dispensing robot.

For now, you'll find Mospeng-kun at high-profile social gatherings, conventions and expos. The forever smiling bot knows when you approach and in act of friendship, offers you a free pack of tissue. You can't help but smile as you hear it thank you in its high pitched voice secretly counting every person that comes by. Sure it's obedient now but just wait, you'll see. . .

You can rent one for $835 for 5 days. I wonder how they came to that figure. I digress, if that's a bit too pricey for your parties then just watch this video and pretend.

via bornrich

Posted by tranism at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | | |

March 16, 2007

OMG It's A Mickey iPod Nano

By now, regular readers know I'm obsessed with special edition electronics. Namely this, this and this. What can I say, I just love it when companies team up and offer something different from their usual product lines.

I'm adding this to my list of must have items, yes it's an official Mickey Mouse iPod Nano. You get a 2nd-gen 2 gig silver Nano, laser-etched Mickey on the back, leather carrying case, hand strap, 3 interchangeable click-wheel covers and a certificate of authenticity. Only 500 of these babies were made. Currently on sale in Japan (33,600 YEN) and Europe (220 EUR).

Lucky bastards. I got tons of readers in Great Britain. You guys know I was born in the U.K. right? See, we're almost kinfolk. I LOVE you guys. If you love me, you'll cross the channel and get me one! I'm looking at YOU CHRIS DAVIES.

Posted by tranism at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | | |

March 13, 2007

OMG It's A New Mickey Phone

Yesterday I gushed over the Nokia N95. Consider this another gushing. The Mickey Kuso may look like another ordinary phone but its got Mouse House branding dammit! Sold by Omnipotence, Asia's equivalent of Vertu, the phone aims to satisfy people whom have an affinity for all things Mickey. To make gushing matters worse, the phone is designed by BMW! Yes you heard right and like BMW, it rolls in style with its carbon fiber and metal finish, packaged in a gorgeous perforated leather box.

The Mickey Kuso is SLIM, 10mm thin. The phone specs are a little sub-par tho, just a 1.3 megapixel camera but it does support bluetooth 2, a micro SD slot for expansion and dedicated feather-touch audio/video controls. In keeping with Mouse House branding, the phone's UI is studded in bright colors and cute icons with a slew of Disney wallpapers.

Hardcore phonies may be left wanting more but most luxury phones like his often sacrifice features for style. Tie it in with an international brand like Disney, limit its quantity to just 130, throw in a certificate of authenticity by one of the premier auto companies in the world - you've got yourself one lusted after phone.

via Phone Daily

UPDATE: Some people have been emailing me about the authenticity of this phone. Just who is Omnipotence and why would a co-branded Disney/BWM phone misspell "Micky"? Although this isn't the first Disney collectable phone (see Dmobo M900), it is quite telling if they can't even spell Mickey's name correctly.

More pictures after the jump.

Posted by tranism at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | | |

I Kinda Sorta Want The Sanyo Xacti DMX-CG65

Sanyo just announced their new mid-range Xacti DMX-CG65 digital pocket camcorder. Still sporting the 6 megapixel CCD and 5x optical zoom but all recordings now support H.264. Use it with the new 8 GB SDHC cards and you can record up to 10 hours of footage.

Japan only for now but it's a Xacti so it'll show up in other parts of the world sooner than later. The Japanese will get the obligatory silver and black models along with a green goblin color. Not sure how I feel about that one.

via NextLust

Posted by tranism at 3:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | | |

It's Like Mario Paint On Steroids For DS

With the interactive portion over at this year's SXSW festival, there were quite a few interesting things on hand at the show. My favorite one is a painting and animation program created for the DS.

Software designer Sabiston is most well known for his rotoshop software used to create a stylized type of rotoscoping animation. He saw untapped potential in the DS's dual screens and touch interface and so he created a paint program with keyframe/flip-book animation possibilities. You have full control over many types of simulated paint mediums. Once completed, those images can be animated into a flip-book style animation. It doesn't stop there. You can add audio using the DS's mic and then upload the finished production to a computer via wi-fi.

His presentation at SXSW shows the DS's dual ARM processors are quite powerful and even mentioned Nintendo was at least watching his progress. He hopes his software will see release but even if it doesn't, he has plans to release it as a homebrew app.

Check out the video.

More pictures after the jump.

Posted by tranism at 3:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | | |

March 12, 2007

Nokia N95 GPS Does Work In North America

I had some reservations about the Nokia N95 namely because I knew some of its features would probably not work here in America. One of those features was GPS. I searched long and hard to find info on whether or not it would work outside of Europe and I'm happy to say, yes it will. Not only will it work in the U.S. but it comes with preloaded maps from over 100 countries making it a true global device.

Plankton was able to score one and we both can't wait to finally touch it in person. I've been fed up with my Windows Mobile and have been looking for a phone that could act as an interim until the release of the iPhone. I think the Nokia N95 may be it. Although it looks big, it's no wider or taller than the Sony Ericsson K800. In fact, with its excellent 5 megapixel CCD, it's better to think of it as a really compact digital camera that does GPS and smartphoning.

Full specs here

Posted by tranism at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | | |

Designed For The Aquabahn

With its striking design by Porsche and the engineering by Fearless Yachts, I'm lusting to see more of these great looking yachts. There are five models in the works ranging from 28 to 150 feet. Only the 28 and 44 feet models are actually produced and ready to be sold at this time, both of which were revealed during a boat show in Florida a few weeks ago.

The above model is the Fearless 28, the number equivalent to its length and its name perhaps a warning to its competitors such as Cigarette and Donzi. With its max power of 550 hp, 80+ mph, sleek design, and countless details crafted by hand, it's truly among the top in its class.

I really like the velocity shape of its stern (rear); truly has the feel of a Porsche.

More photos of both models after the jump.

Posted by diverseawareness at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | | |

Microsoft Research Actually Has A Cool Idea

Video: Career in Computer Science - MS Research

Just imagine, a robot small enough to fit in your backpack, intelligent enough to follow you around like a puppy and useful enough to read your emails, record video and project computer interfaces for you to interact with. Is this the future? A robotic companion to anticipate and serve my every whim? I HOPE SO!

This clever video was created by Microsoft Research to promote careers in computer science. Man, maybe majoring in fashion design was a mistake after all.

via Core77

Posted by tranism at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | | |

March 9, 2007

iPhone Shoulda Been

Let me preface by saying I'm ecstatic about the iPhone. Everything from its hardware design to tight software integration. However, screen tech is where I felt Apple could have really leapfrogged its competition. Not that this technology is unexplored by other manufacturers. It's just that Apple could have been the one to find mass market success with it.

Although the multi-touch screen is a marvelous gem, why LCD instead of OLED? Organic light emitting diode screens are far more saturated, perfect for viewing movies and photos. Power consumption/savings compared to LCDs mean longer battery life. I refuse to believe Apple engineers didn't consider it. Was there some technical stumbling block with multi-touch not being compatible with OLEDs? I mean here you have a device purported to be THE mobile gadget to use when watching movies on the go, yet its screen tech is anemic.

Of course the real reason could be costs. OLED is still expensive but com'on, $500 - $600 a brick should be more than enough to subsidize the costs. I remember Sony's last PDA used a brilliant OLED screen loved by everyone who glanced at it. Surely OLED prices have dropped since then. That was almost 3 years ago.

Just like the beautiful BLANK concept designed by Chris Kujawski, the iPhone should have been a sleek multi-touch OLED screen with a customizable interface. It should have had a replaceable battery powering a 3G antenna and at least a 3 megapixel camera. His BLANK concept goes a step further by allowing one to download static or even kinetic skins to adorn the OLED screen to really express one's personality. His concept was the closest to what I hoped the iPhone should have been.

another picture of Chris Kujawaski's BLANK concept after the jump

via the most awesomest blog in the blogsphere Yanko Design

Posted by tranism at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | | |

March 4, 2007

Revolutionary Interface Means Bye-Bye To The Mouse

In the future, the mouse may disappear altogether if Stanford doctoral student Manu Kumar has his way. His research project titled GUIDe, Gaze-enhanced User Interface Design, uses eye tracking software with a hi-definition camera to interact with a computer. Mouse tracking is replaced by your gaze and where you focus. Mouse clicking is replaced by you blinking. As the technology matures, we could potentially navigate files much faster than today since the eye is optically much more accurate and faster.

One of the barriers they're hitting is tactile feedback. As evident from the onslaught of electronic devices that have dropped tactile feedback for open digital interfaces, it's difficult to know exactly where you're looking without reference. Originally the researchers included a blue dot to indicate where you were looking but during tests, it seemed to slow people down since they tend to focus in on the dot. When it was removed, people were forced to just trust their instincts and navigating become much more fluid and natural.

I can see it now. We all agree future interfaces will be represented in true 3D. However using a 2D interface like a mouse doesn't seem efficient. The human eye can discern depth and space much more accurately. Combined with our hands, manipulating data will become much easier.

via Technology Review

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March 2, 2007

Automatic Dishmaker, Eat Your Heart Out George Jetson

Okay, when I first saw this I knew I had to have it. It's an automatic dishmaker. The inventor, Sam Sarcia, created a machine that could quite possibly revolutionize the kitchen not only in the home, but also in restaurants and any public food court.

The machine uses non-toxic acrylic discs that come in small stacks of circular sheets. Anytime you need a bowl, plate or cup - just put in a disc, press some buttons and a minute later, TA-DAH!

So why would anyone want to make their own dishes? Well for starters, clean up is a cinch. When you're done, just throw it back into the machine. It recycles the material into new discs ready to be made into more dishes on the fly.

Although just a prototype, there are plans to continue research to make way for a more consumer friendly machine. As of now, it's as big as a dishwasher but hey, a computer once filled up a whole room just to add some numbers together.

Watch it in action!

Posted by tranism at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | | |

LG Says Cool It With Art

Apparently Europe loves art but hates air conditioners. They're big blocky machines that hog up window space in an already small room. Befitting of LG's motto (Life is Good), they've invented a new slick air conditioner called ArtCool. Essentially, it's an air conditioner with vents on the side and a picture frame in front. The unit not only cools with the best of them but the environment inside the plate glass frame protects and preserves your priceless art work.

Europe only because North America uses something called central air conditioning.

via Akihabara News

Posted by tranism at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | | |