Hasta La Gadget!

Japanese engineer Yasushi Matoba interacts with his aquatic display by protruding his fingers from underneath the surface.

(Credit: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP/Getty Images)

One day in the future, your bathtub could become a spectacular arcade that lets you play video games by splashing your hands around.

A projection system called AquaTop uses water as an interactive display, allowing users’ limbs to freely move through, under, and over the projection surface for a more immersive experience.

The prototype setup, created by a team of engineers from Tokyo’s University of Electro-Communications, projects games, movies, and photos (or, presumably, e-mail and spreadsheets, but they’re not as much fun) onto a liquid surface made cloudy with an opaque powder. A Microsoft Kinect depth sensor detects motions from above and beneath.

Sinking a hand into the water erases or deletes icons. (Whether the researchers intend any Microsoft symbolism here, we can not say).

(Credit: Video screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)

AquaTop, which has its own dedicated operating system, recognizes specific gestures. Spread your fingers apart for a full-screen version of “Waterworld.” Scoop the… [Read more]

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OPPO will take on Samsung’s Galaxy Camera with the new OPPO N-Lens range, the company has confirmed, with what are expected to be new Android-based smart snappers to challenge traditional point-and-shoots. The N-Lens line-up will be the “most important flagship series for Oppo going forward” the Chinese company told Engadget, as well as confirming there’d be cellular connectivity.

Exactly what OS the OPPO cameras will use is unclear, though the most likely option is Android given the company has some experience using Google’s platform. Beyond that, the only other tidbit is chatter of both a high-resolution sensor and strong low-light performance in a previous Android Authority leak.

So-called smart cameras have taken a number of different approaches in recent months. The Samsung Galaxy Camera, for instance, effectively replaced the in-house OS in one of Samsung’s existing cameras with Android and paired it with an LTE radio for data-only use; however, the more recent Galaxy S4 Zoom – which we reviewed earlier this month – attempted to blur the lines a little more between camera and phone, including both an optical zoom and voice call support.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s Galaxy NX interchangeable lens camera sticks to the original Galaxy Camera pattern, though with more ambitious optics.

Right now, it seems OPPO is viewing the N-Lens range as cameras first, which might indicate connectivity limited to getting photos off the device and shared on social networking services. The company has already experimented with high-resolution sensors on phones, putting a 13-megapixel CMOS into the OPPO Find 5 for instance.

Beyond that, we don’t know pricing or availability for the N-Lens, though it’s possible OPPO could aim for an IFA 2013 launch in a few months time.

VIA Android Community

OPPO N-Lens smart cameras to take on Samsung’s Android snappers is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Robots are everywhere. From making noodles in the background to serving diners and waiting tables, they’re no strangers to the restaurant scene. And now they might be making their way into hospitals.

This isn’t the first time a robot was built for the healthcare industry, but Veebot has built one that will draw blood from your arm. They’ve combined robotics with image-analysis software so that nurses and medical technologists can be on call elsewhere.

First of all, the machine inflates the cuff and tightens it around your arm. It shines an infrared on your arm to locate a vein and uses an ultrasound to check if blood’s ripe for the taking.

Before it goes to clinical trials, Veebot wants the robot to be right 90% of the time when it decides to plunge the needle into the vein. As of now, that value is at 83%.

[via iEEE Spectrum via DVice]

Ep. 1309: Where Stacie can run fast but not far

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In this day and age, more and more people are paying attention to the effect we’re having on the environment. Gone are the days where were believed that pollution wasn’t a big deal. Instead, many people are putting a great deal of effort into using alternative fuels, and finding ways to cut back on their carbon emissions. Unfortunately, while we all wish that we could do more, we can’t all afford to drive hybrid cars, or ride bikes everywhere. But what if there was a way to cut down on the amount of CO2 that our cars are putting into the air?

The CO2ube is a new gadget that hopes to cut down on the amount of pollution the average car gives off. It might seem crazy that a small gadget could cut down on the emissions from your car. (The ATMOS anyone?) However, this one isn’t promising to just magically make it disappear, or anything. Instead, it’s supposed to use a combination of algae and sodium hydroxide to filter out the CO2 as it exits the muffler.

While this sounds like a great idea, it’s going to be a hard sell for consumers. The device is only going to set you back $45 right now ($60+ after the Kickstarter campaign is over), which doesn’t seem too bad. However, you’re going to need to replace it every 8-10 weeks. While people might want to feel better about saving the environment, most aren’t going to want to shell out that much money every couple months, when they’re not going to see a return on their investment.

Source: Technabob
[ CO2ube cuts down on your car’s CO2 emissions copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]