Hasta La Gadget!

One thing everybody does is walk. You could drive a car or ride the bus to work or to school, but you’d still have to walk to do various stuff throughout your day. Now a group of students called the ‘Agitation Squad’ from Rice University are taking that very basic action and coming up with ways to use that kinetic energy, starting with the PediPower.

The PediPower is a prototype device that’s meant to be attached to the heel of your shoes. Energy is generated every time the heel hits the ground (or with every step that you take), and the PediPower harvests this as you go along. The device has an arm attached to the heel of the shoe which hits the ground first and moves up as the person puts his or her weight on the foot. The arm, in turn, is attached to a gearbox, where gears turn with every step to drive a motor that has been mounted on the side of the shoe.

This movement generates electricity, which is transported via a voltage regulator and through wires to a belt-mounted battery pack.

The initiative was a response to a challenge from Houston-based company Cameron International, which called for the creation of a device that could harvest energy from human activity.

The Agitation Squad gives an overview of the PediPower in the clip above. Check it out to see how putting your foot down will one day generate energy to maybe even power up your gadgets!

[via Gizmag]

Aside from its functional uses, mirrors come in pretty handy when you’re trying to achieve some cool optical illusions. A good example of this is the classic infinite effect. It looks like a pretty complicated effect, but it’s easily achievable and only requires a mirror, glass, and a light source.

Employing this effect to create an uber cool computer desk is Redditor Jacks_RagingHormones. His setup makes it look like his keyboard is on the surface of an abyss that has no end, which is what makes it so awesome.

Want to try and do what Jack and his raging hormones did? Head over to Imgur for more details on the build.

[via Obvious Winner]

There’s no doubt about it, but retro-modernism is here to stay. Check out this amazing concept created by Aston Martin to celebrate their 100th anniversary! I can already imagine toupées and hair flying all over the place, as the Speedster zips down the road. One the plus side, once you get one, you will no longer need a blow dryer.

The CC100 Speedster was unveiled this past weekend at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring race in Germany. It packs a front-mounted 6.0-liter V12 engine. The rear wheel drive is coupled with an automated manual gearbox. To help keep weight down, the whole upper body is carbon fiber. All of this will make the Speedster go 0 to 60 MPH in 4 seconds, with a top speed of 180 MPH. Of course, at that speed, you’ll need to wear a helmet or some Steampunk-style goggles to keep the bugs from leaving dents in your face.

There’s still no word yet whether the Speedster will be available for sale, but I’m sure that if it ever is, it will be well out of my price range!

[via Wired]

Amazon has revealed ambitious and architecturally striking plans for its new downtown Seattle buildings, a cluster of “biosphere” bubbles filled not only with space for eager workers but plants and even full-sized trees. A rethink of Amazon’s original plans for the block, the triple-bubble design presented at a Seattle design review this week is intended to allow the company’s employees to “work and socialize in a more natural, park-like setting” that creates a “microclimate” suited to plants and people alike.

Positioned between 6th and 7th Avenues, and in the shadow of the high-rise buildings also intended by Amazon, the proposed structure would have a ground level for retail approached from 7th Ave, while the opposite entrance would open into the floor above, where some degree of retail would also be accommodated. Three further levels above would be filled with fully-grown trees and “living walls” of plant-life.

The new biosphere design is a significant departure from Amazon’s previous approach to the “Rufus 2.0″ block, which was approved before. Then, the retailer had intended a large, block-like structure, hardly unimpressive but certainly more mainstream than the updated vision.

In total, Amazon’s architects, NBBJ, have designed 65,000sf of high-ceilinged space within the structure, with a variety of “botanical zones” being modeled. In all, the project – along with the trio of 37-floor towers – is expected to take a minimum of six years to complete.

Amazon isn’t the only company with ambitious building plans of late. Apple’s spaceship-style “Campus 2″ is a huge undertaking in Cupertino, though the company has recently pared back plans after the project was revealed to be both behind schedule and a whopping $2bn over budget.

VIA: PhysOrg; GeekWire

Amazon reveals striking biosphere-bubble building plans for Seattle is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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I’ve shared a couple of wild concepts for cameras here before. This one made by students from the University of Design Schwäbisch Gmünd is also highly unusual, but it’s also something that might actually make sense for most photographers. It’s called the Aspekt, an MILC camera with swappable components.

As you can see in the image above, Gabriel Brückner, Johanna Gedeon, Christoph Hiebinger, Bianca Koch and Jessica Lederer imagine the Aspekt as having separate components for the CPU, the 24mp CMOS sensor, the battery (which is connected to a camera grip) and a viewfinder with an OLED monitor and controls. Other modules that could be added to the Aspekt include a module with a Thunderbolt port and one with slots for external storage.

According to designboom, the team’s main goal with the Aspekt was to design a camera that will “enable users to attach older lenses which are not supported by SLR devices.” But wouldn’t it be neat if you could also upgrade your camera piece by piece like a desktop computer? Or if you could mix and match its parts to suit your needs? Or if it could transform into a giant robot that you’ll use to defend Earth from an alien race, only for you to find out later on that you’re half-human and half said alien race, so you venture to your other home planet and abolish the oppressive class system there with the help of your giant camera robot?

[via designboom]