Hasta La Gadget!

Nostalgia is a powerful force. It’s driven some to search Google through a Bulletin Board System-like interface or, in the case of programmer Peter Nitsch, it’s compelled him to graft ASCII art onto the physical world. Simply plug an address into his project’s website and you’ll be able to pan through an ASCII facsimile of a real-world Street View vista. Leveraging WebGL and Javascript, the system samples the search giant’s images and generates text art using the appropriate characters and hues. Nitsch’s fondness for retro visualizations don’t end there, however, he also created a system that superimposes a gaggle of characters in the wake of a physical paintbrush using a Kinect and a projector. Built as a plugin for the openFrameworks toolkit, the code relies on a GPU for the real-time image conversion and is freely available for tinkering. Hit the source link below to see the modified Street View in action or head past the break for a video of the ASCII painting. For some of the technical nitty-gritty, tap the more coverage link.

Continue reading Google Street View goes retro with unofficial ASCII treatment

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Google Street View goes retro with unofficial ASCII treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When I was a kid, I used to be so jealous of my cousin who had more toys than I did. But mainly I was jealous of her humongous doll house that she wouldn’t let me play with. I have since gotten over my dollhouse-less childhood, but nothing brings up not-so-fond childhood memories than seeing images of this gigantic, life-sized dollhouse.

At first glance, I thought it was something someone pieced together using Photoshop, but this thing is actually real. It was created by Canadian sculptor Heather Benning, who took a ruined farmhouse and replaced one side of it with plexiglass.

Benning came across the farmhouse back in 2005 and probably got the idea to transform it into every little girl’s dream (play)house then. It took a long time to demolish certain parts and remodel the interior of the structure, but as you can see, her efforts were well worth it because her finished work looks amazing.

[via Architizer via Crib Candy]

Located at the Lotte Department Store in Busan—the second largest city in South Korea—this mesmerizing fountain actually plummets five stories from the ceiling. And as the water drops tumble towards a small pool on the ground, they create complex designs and even spell out words like “Busan” and “Lotte.” The ten minute show, which runs at the top of every hour, could give the waterworks at the Bellagio in Las Vegas a run for its money. [Busan For 91 Days via Neatorama] More »

The Landsat satellites have been watching Earth uninterruptedly for a record 40 years. During that time they have acquired millions of amazing images of our home world, available for everyone in the planet. These are the five most beautiful ones, according to NASA. More »

Many people regard Bigfoot as nothing more than a hoax or an urban legend. Scientists have disputed the very existence of the creature for years, but it has always been an important element in American folklore.

Several decades ago, a man named Clifford LaBrecque was fascinated by these creatures and set out to build a life-sized replica of Bigfoot after years of research into what the creature might actually look like.

If you’re loaded, fascinated by Bigfoot, and have room in your den to spare, then you might be interested in owning the aforementioned replica that LaBrecque built back in 1976.

It has been in storage for the past thirty years, but its owners have decided that it’s high time Bigfoot find another home – but they’re not letting it go for cheap, listing it on eBay with a starting bid of $80,000.

Ready to take out a second mortgage on your house? Then check out the listing on eBay and see if it’s worth your money.

[via Nerd Approved]