Hasta La Gadget!

Japan comes up with the weirdest exercise gadgets, but they’re usually targeted for the face. A couple of examples are the Hana Tsun Nose Straightener, the Eye Slack Haruka, the Rhythm Slim Chin Exerciser, and the Face Slimmer Mouthpiece,.

Korea proves they’re right up there with the Land of the Rising Sun when it comes to weird exercise machines with the Horse Riding Fitness Ace Power. It’s extremely unusual and also oddly inappropriate. You’ll see why in a bit…

As you can glean from its name, the exercise machine aims to let people mimic the action or movements that are associated with horseback riding. Picture people wide-legged and moving up and down while sitting on some odd machine, and, well, you’ll begin to feel uncomfortable yourself.

If words don’t do it for you, then check out the video below to see what I mean… (But you’ve been warned!)

[via Geekologie]

I have to say that this electric bike looks pretty awesome. It was designed by San Francisco-based Faraday Bicycles and this is their first production model. The team is looking to fund the production of the Porteur through Kickstarter.

The Faraday Porteur is an electric bike and it’s been designed for commuters. The lithium batteries are hidden inside the frame, allowing the rest of the bike to look pretty elegant and comfortable. The boost mode feature has an active assist that will help users ride up slopes. There are built-in sensors that analyze how much pedaling is being done, and it matches foot strokes with an electric motor. The bike includes a quick-release front rack for storage and high-powered front and rear LED lights. The battery supposedly can be recharged in under an hour(?) and it has a 10-15 mile autonomy. It also has disc brakes, allowing it to stop quicker than other commuters that don’t have these.

The Faraday Porteur has been launched through a Kickstarter project, where it’s selling for the rather extravagant “introductory” price of $3500(USD). At the time of writing, with 21 days of funding left, the project has amassed $73,000 out of a $100,000 goal, so it’s got a very good chance of getting funded.

[via designboom]

When it comes professional soccer around the world, FIFA is the league where most of the major teams play. It’s not uncommon for the referees to have a difficult time calling a goal during a match because it can be hard to determine when the ball passes the goal line. FIFA has just approved a new high-tech soccer ball that will eliminate any misunderstandings when it comes to scoring a goal or not.

The ball itself looks normal on the outside, but has bands of copper sensors on the inside that wrap completely around the ball. When a player kicks the ball through the goal, as soon as the entire ball crosses the goal line antennas mounted to the goal pick up the score. A light on a watch worn by officials then comes on to signify the score.

It’s not clear at this point when the ball will make its first appearance in a professional soccer match. However, this technology should easily end any arguments about whether or not the goal was good down at the pub.

It looks like the Nike+ FuelBand is working well for consumers, and people who like to track their physical activities are rejoicing everywhere because nothing sucks more than buying tech that just doesn’t work (like the Jawbone UP). There is a new version of the Nike+ FuelBand coming out, and it’s called ICE.

The Nike+ FuelBand ICE looks pretty spiffy, since it’s transparent and lets you see the guts of this high-tech bracelet. The FuelBand is designed to encourage you to work out, even if it’s just by taking a couple of walks a day, or just performing everyday activities.

The ICE version of the Nike+ FuelBand is will be a limited edition, and will be available starting July 27th in the NikeTown stores in London, San Francisco and New York. It will be available online starting the 12th of August, and will sell for $150(USD).

[via Geek & Hype]

These new glasses are supposed to amplify the wearer’s ability to interpret the emotions and health of other people, by emphasizing the differences in color as well as brightness of their skin tone. The O2amp glasses were developed by 2AI Labs and I’d like to try them out to see how accurately they work.

The tinted glasses are supposed to have numerous medical applications as well. By reducing parts of the visible light spectrum, they highlight skin oxygenation and hemoglobin concentration. These could even help medical professionals locate veins, detect trauma or cyanosis.

These kinds of tinted shades could also be used in sports, security and poker. However, I’m sure they’ll get banned soon enough if anyone uses them in sports or poker to read the emotional state of other players.

The O2Amp glasses are currently being tested at a couple of regional hospitals for their effectiveness.

[via designboom]