Hasta La Gadget!

In 2003, LA-based graffiti writer, publisher, and activist TEMPT1 was diagnosed with the degenerative neuromuscular disease ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease). The disease has left him almost fully-paralyzed, except for his eyes. He has since teamed up with the Not Impossible Foundation and Graffiti Research Labs to create the Eyewriter, an open-source project that will allow users to control what a machine draws using only the movement of their eyes.

I’ve never been a huge fan of graffiti art, but knowing that an image like this was created only using the movement of an eyeball is beyond impressive.

Eyewriter 2.0 made its debut at the recent 2010 Cinekid festival in Amsterdam. The technology combines the Eyewriter software with the ROBOTAGGER, an industrial arm that is able to replicate human-like marks on a huge scale. (Video after the jump)

The Eyewriter project not only aims to develop this technology as a low-cost communication tool for those whose physical bodies may otherwise be impaired, it is also a shining example of how a group of artists, hackers, and assorted techno-folk can create an impressive piece of technology outside of a corporate setting.

And that’s hopeful for so many reasons.

Duct tape. Is there anything it can’t do?

I am convinced that duct tape is the stuff that allows civilization to
continue unabated and that which keeps the very earth from falling in
upon itself. Duct tape can fix broken hoses; seal cracked windows; tape
wires together; repair leaks in tires and inner tubes; remove warts (yup); and I
assume, tape ducts together–though as far as I know, nobody ever uses
it for that.

For its latest feat, duct tape takes on its most profound challenge: laptop
sleeve. Duct tape has long been known as a durable and fashionable
makeshift textile. But it took until now for someone to utilize DT for a
laptop accessorizer and protector. And duct tape has, as it always does, performed flawlessly.

This sleeve is easy to put together
and costs a fraction of some store-bought sleeve. And since it is made
of duct tape, you know that it will never fail you.

It needs no
warranty. It is duct tape.

via instructables

Last week, we introduced you to a robot that could grab anything utilizing a balloon filled with some coffee grounds. It is a simple–almost genius–innovation in robotic design. And now, you can build your own coffee balloon robot and have hours of fun lifting thimbles, dreidels, paperclips, and other small objects from one location to another.

Mr. Wizard would be proud.

Of course, the original universal gripper was connected to a complex automated robot arm that could maneuver some precarious choreography. The video demonstration of the homemade incarnation (available after the jump) is a poor man’s coffee balloon robot, for sure. But still, this is a lung-powered proof-of-concept that this design can be recreated anywhere which could spawn a whole industry of homemade robots and other gadgets.

via hackedgadgets, Carlos Asmat

The age of the underbody lighting craze on cars passed about as quickly as a bottle of N2O lasts on bracket night at the local strip, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have some fun on your man-powered means of transportation. No, we’re not talking a skateboard here, it’s a Ripstik, featuring two narrow inline skate wheels and a weaving motion that will get you going where you’re going without kicking — so long as you aren’t in a great hurry. Now modder metsfan1938 over at instructables is showing us how to add a little underbody bling, wiring up blue LEDs that are as practical as they are stylish if you tend to ride in an area that could see you getting run over at night. A little soldering and a bit of Dremel action is all that’s required here, so if you live your life a wobbly quarter-mile at a time you’ll want to click on through.

DIY Ripstik underbody LED kit will make you look styley at night, still get heckled by skaters originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Pick Punch should be a Steetfighter special move, but it is in fact much more mundane, and arguably more useful. Looking a lot like an office stapler, the Pick Punch works like a paper hole-punch, only it is strong enough to cut through old credit cards, and deposits 351-style guitar-picks instead of confetti.

According to a review by the Gadgeteer, the resulting picks are smooth edged. The problem is, they’re not sharp-edged. If you have used a store-bought pick, you’ll know that the sides taper to a single edge, sharp (ish) and not squared off. You could address this problem with a file, but as picks are about the same cost as the small-change people sometimes uses to play their guitars (and damage their strings), then it’s hardly worth the bother.

On the other hand, this will let you use all the plastic crap that drops through the mailbox for purposes of good, instead of for landfilling evil. Credit cards, store-cards, over-packaged CF-card boxes, anything that will be stiff enough to twang a string can be recycled for your musical experimentation.

It even offers a measure of security: chop the chip, and a section of numbers, from your Visa card and you can toss away the rest free of fears of identity-theft. The price for this fun, practical yet ultimately superfluous piece of musical stationery? $25, and the company will even sell you sheets of plastic to chop through.

Pick Punch product page [Pick Punch via Gadgeteer]

Photo: Gadgeteer

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