Wondering just how we mere mortals were going to even give a robot enough smarts to completely overtake our societies? Oddly enough, some of that artificial brain power could come from studying the way fruit flies, um, fly. A completely bizarre flight simulator at Caltech actually plays “scenes” that flys react to, and considering that the fly is constantly held, researchers can closely examine how the insect attempts to navigate away from lines, blobs and all manners of incoming obstacles. Those working with the installation suggest that these studies could one day help autonomous robots function better, potentially taking some of the load off of our human workforce. We know, you’ve got three bold letters and a question mark running through your noggin right now — just hit the read link to see what it’s all about.
The Blu Jacket concept from Lunar Design aims to turn our children’s children into walking billboards using an electronic fabric based on e-paper technology and space-age organic fabrics. It could display your mood throughout the day, pull up maps using a built-in GPS module, display photos, video and (gasp) even advertisements.
Imagine a future filled with people getting paid to wear annoying ads everywhere you went, or attention seekers getting in your face with a shirt filled with their stupid propaganda. It’s a good thing we will all be long dead before this sort of technology becomes widely available. [Lunar Design via Gizmowatch via DVICE]
Whoops! Apple’s gone and leaked its brand new aluminum MacBook and redesigned MacBook Pros to the interblogs. Yeah, it seems old Jobsy has really loosened the binds over in Cupertino — he doesn’t care what gets out these days. No, but seriously, some cats on the internet supposedly discovered a .Mac page which appears to display mockups (or actual product renderings) for a new line of laptops, as well as adverts for iTunes 8 and iPhones in the 32GB variety (for Australia, naturally). Of course, this is wild, crazy, unfounded speculation, and likely has no basis in reality at all. Then again, you never know… stranger things have happened. Steve, we await your takedown requests. See full pages for yourself in the gallery after the break.
Update: Looks like MacRumors got duped by its own forum members — these are fan-made mockups. Oh well, at least we can dream.
Just in case you need 500 pixels or more to really determine whether something is sexy or not, MSI has finally put together a sweet pack of press shots that really do the Wind justice. Needless to say, we’d be mighty hesitant to start bangin’ out the 42nd page of our dissertation with grease-covered digits on this beauty. Did someone say high maintenance? Hit the read link for lots more looks.
Sirius’ update to its Starmate line, the Starmate 5, is currently in front of the FCC for testing, and it looks like it might have a little trick up its sleeve. The gadget includes the standard abilities to pause, rewind, and replay up to 44 minutes of live radio, a memo feature to store up to 30 favorite artists or songs and a wide-angle 5 line display, but it also might just have the ability to play XM radio stations as well.
Though the function to grab sweet sounds from its partner-to-be isn’t listed in the Starmate 5’s spec sheet, a memo between a testing firm and the FCC authorization staff hinted at Sirius XM interoperability. In a letter asking the testing firm to do another bandwidth test, the FCC said that it “used the satellite radio signal coming from either XM or Sirius.”
If the hint means what we think it means, the Starmate 5 could be the first hybrid satellite radio receiver out on the market — kind of a bold move, considering the FCC isn’t even thinking about voting on the merger until late May or early June. [Electronista]
Oh bum bot. We remember when you were fresh out of the hands of creator Rufus Terrill. Now look at you — featured on the Colbert Report. You may have seen photos of this vagrant-deterring robot before, but you haven’t lived till you’ve seen the hard-hitting, in-depth coverage that Stephen Colbert delivers on it. Take a look at the video after the break to see a defender of America (and bot) on the front lines of battle.
If you still haven’t gotten a Wii for yourself, Toys “R” Us has truckloads of them in stores today for Mario Kart fever. Problem is, they’re probably 1985 Datsun trucks, so you’ll need to head down to your local branch quickly. To overseas readers, yes, we’ve still got a Wii shortage going on. Nintendo’s apparently shipped most of them to the EU or keeping them in Japan because of how little the dollar is worth now. [Kotaku]
Just in case you need 500 pixels or more to really determine whether something is sexy or not, MSI has finally put together a sweet pack of press shots that really do the Wind justice. Needless to say, we’d be mighty hesitant to start bangin’ out the 42nd page of our dissertation with grease-covered digits on this beauty. Did someone say high maintenance? Hit the read link for lots more looks.
ADVERTISEMENT: We still don’t see the big picture surrounding Smallville director David Nutter’s latest series “Scarlet,” but industry insiders are promising us that it will be the biggest thing to hit TV since, well…the TV. Check it out.
The arduino platform has been the basis for a lot of bizarre gadgetry over the years, and the audio ping pong project by Mike McCracken certainly stands up to the best of them. The game is essentially the classic Pong with one major alteration—instead of using your hands and eyes, the game is controlled with audio cues and head movements.
When the headphones are on, the player hears a sound (the ball) that seems to be getting closer. In order to return “the ball” you tilt your head to one side or the other depending on which side the movement is heard. The challenge is to center the sound and return the volley. As the contest progresses, the speed increases until you miss the ball or you break your neck—whichever comes first. As you lie twitching on the ground, a buzzer and a light from the machine will mock your defeat. To discover just how stupid all of this makes you look, check out the video below.
Wondering just how we mere mortals were going to even give a robot enough smarts to completely overtake our societies? Oddly enough, some of that artificial brain power could come from studying the way fruit flies, um, fly. A completely bizarre flight simulator at Caltech actually plays “scenes” that flys react to, and considering that the fly is constantly held, researchers can closely examine how the insect attempts to navigate away from lines, blobs and all manners of incoming obstacles. Those working with the installation suggest that these studies could one day help autonomous robots function better, potentially taking some of the load off of our human workforce. We know, you’ve got three bold letters and a question mark running through your noggin right now — just hit the read link to see what it’s all about.
The Blu Jacket concept from Lunar Design aims to turn our children’s children into walking billboards using an electronic fabric based on e-paper technology and space-age organic fabrics. It could display your mood throughout the day, pull up maps using a built-in GPS module, display photos, video and (gasp) even advertisements.
Sirius’ update to its Starmate line, the Starmate 5, is currently in front of the FCC for testing, and it looks like it might have a little trick up its sleeve. The gadget includes the standard abilities to pause, rewind, and replay up to 44 minutes of live radio, a memo feature to store up to 30 favorite artists or songs and a wide-angle 5 line display, but it also might just have the ability to play XM radio stations as well.
If you still haven’t gotten a Wii for yourself, Toys “R” Us has truckloads of them in stores today for Mario Kart fever. Problem is, they’re probably 1985 Datsun trucks, so you’ll need to head down to your local branch quickly. To overseas readers, yes, we’ve still got a Wii shortage going on. Nintendo’s apparently shipped most of them to the EU or keeping them in Japan because of how little the dollar is worth now. [
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