Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s a super clever art installation by artist Markus Raetz. As the two paper chandeliers spin, the light source from behind mimics a ghost head turning its head from side to side. The paper is specifically cut to create the illusion of motion from the invisible head.

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While I’m sure some of you out there really enjoy hunting, it’s not really for me. Now don’t get me wrong – I can eat meat, wear leather and shoot guns with the best of them. I just don’t really have the stomach for the hands-on killing part. So while real hunters might like animal head trophies lining their walls, I much prefer these more humane wall trophies.

These 3D-printed animal heads were designed by DotSan, and come in a variety of wild animal forms, including tigers, elephants, deer, rhinos and zebras. Each one is based on an abstract 3D model of the animal’s head, deconstructed down to just its wireframe.

And if you’d rather go with something even cuddlier, you could always opt for one of DotSan’s 3D-printed kitties.

The animals can be had in sizes ranging from under 3-inches-tall for around $15 to $20(USD) all the way up to a massive 20-inch-tall deer for over $1700. The mid-sized versions are the best deal, with prices around $20 to $30 for an 6-inch-tall critters and just under $40 for a 11-inch-tall sculpture. The 4-inch-tall kittehs sell for about $16 each.

You can check out DotSan’s full menagerie of 3D-printed animals over on Shapeways.

It’s been relatively easy to get your hands on an expressive robot face… if you’re rich or a scientist, that is. XYZbot would like to give the rest of us a shot by crowdfunding Fritz, an Arduino-powered robot head. The build-it-yourself (and eerily human-proportioned) construction can react to pre-programmed actions, text-to-speech conversion or live control, ranging from basics like the eyes and jaw to the eyelids, eyebrows, lips and neck of an Advanced Fritz. Windows users should have relatively simple control through an app if they just want to play, but where Fritz may shine is its open source nature: the code and hardware schematics will be available for extending support, changing the look or building a larger robot where Fritz is just one part. The $125 minimum pledge required to set aside a Fritz ($199 for an Advanced Fritz) isn’t trivial, but it could be a relative bargain if XYZbot makes its $25,000 goal — and one of the quickest routes to not-quite-lifelike robotics outside of a research grant.

Filed under: Peripherals, Robots

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Source: Kickstarter

Who among us hasn’t dreamed about mounting a Rancor head above their fireplace? The problem is, it isn’t easy to travel to another star system and travel back in time to hunt one down. I guess that’s the problem with all of the Star Wars creatures.

I mean, check out that Bantha head. How awesome does that look mounted above the fireplace?

How about a Wampa head? A Gungan? A Gungan I would love to see. Especially Jar Jar. I have a special place reserved for him just where I can throw stuff at him.

These photos are all from Tauntr and they are all Photoshopped, but I would love to be able to buy these. You hear that Kickstarter? Please someone make this real. If nothing else, I need Jar Jar’s head now.

[via Buzz Patrol via Neatorama]

I’m not sure that I could bring myself to pull out a knife and start slicing into this gory skinless human head cake, but it’s still pretty awesome.

It was made by the guys over at Conjurer’s Kitchen, and offers a disturbing amount of anatomical detail. It looks like one of those “visible human” models I used to build when I was a kid, showing off all its muscle and blood vessels after its skin was peeled back. Delicious.

This gruesome, handpainted dessert was actually based on an old anatomical wax mold from the late 18th century. You can check out more pics of this disturbing, yet amazing cake over on the Conjurer’s Kitchen Facebook page. There’s no word on what the insides look like, but if I wouldn’t be surprised to find edible grey matter and blood.

[via Boing Boing via Obvious Winner]