Jan 03
Look at these grey circles. They look bent, right? Like somebody put a ring in a vice and squeezed it? Actually, it’s just an incredible optical illusion courtesy of @SciencePorn. Both circles are perfectly round. Really. No really.
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Nov 10
A lot of things can bother you while you’re trying to work, but what about things that you only perceive as nagging? In Keyfleas, little lights follow your fingers around a keyboard like a swarm of fleas, and can create the sensation that something is nipping at your fingers.
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Sep 08
It’s disorienting to walk into a room where nothing is as it seems. Your doctor might be grimacing even though your test results are fine. Or everything might look normal in your house until you realize that there’s a cable outage and your internet is down. But if everything were an optical illusion you would probably just give up and go with the flow. Which is the whole point of the ILLUSION exhibit at Science Gallery in Dublin.
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Aug 23
Are you a shop owner looking for an eye-catching advertising platform? Perhaps you have a design firm and you want a flashy way of presenting your concepts? Or maybe you’re a genius, billionaire, playboy and philantropist who already has plans for an armored suit but not the extravagant display worthy of your grand schemes? Check out the new Holocube HC40. And give me a pair of your spare jet boots while you’re at it.
While it’s not as arresting as Holocube’s human-sized displays, the 2013 release of the HC40 boasts a number of improvements over the previous model that make it a visual spectacle nonetheless. First off, it’s got a new LED backlight display with 1080p resolution and a 178º viewing angle; the previous HC40 only had a 720p resolution. Rated at 170W, it consumes 100W less power than its predecessor, perhaps due to its switch to a 4GB CF for storage and its use of a heatsink for cooling. The previous model used a 40GB HDD and fans to keep cool.
The new HC40 is also lighter than the previous model, thanks to its sheet metal housing and synthetic optics. Its housing is also much slimmer and is finished with matte white or matte black to provide more emphasis on the hologram. Finally, Jan Vanbriel of Holocube boasts that the new HC40′s built-in 7W sound system is also much better than the previous model. Man, we really bashed the previous model didn’t we? Technology is harsh.
The HC40: a display fit for Cortana. Or at least her upper half. Fire up your omni-tool and head to Holocube’s website to order the HC40.
Aug 12
Remember that holographic illusion of 2Pac? It actually wasn’t a hologram, but it was done using projectors and an angled surface with both reflective and transparent properties. Now you can recreate this illusion in miniature, using nothing more than your tablet, and an inexpensive device called the i-Lusio.
Set your iPad or other similarly sized tablet into the top of the i-Lusio, then install the companion app, and you can view simulated 3-dimensional objects that look like they’re floating in space. It’s a pretty cool illusion, though it’s probably best used for things like store displays and museum exhibits. I’m not sure how useful this thing would be at home – though kids might get a kick out of it for a little while.
Check out the video below to see a few examples of what you can do with the i-Lusio:
The i-Lusio is currently available for pre-order via an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. A pledge of at least $44(USD) will get you one of your own – including the app and one download – which makes it sound like there will be a charge for downloadable content once the app is available.
May 23
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]
Dec 07
Just how many ways can one guy use the video capabilities of his mobile devices to entertain us with? Well if you’re tinkerer Mark Rober, I guess the answer is “plenty.” After amusing us with his iPad Halloween costume and Gorilla Cam, Mark is back with another fun hack – the animated ugly sweater.
By mounting an iPad inside of a sweater rigged with a fake fireplace surround, Rober created the illusion of a warm holiday fire burning in the middle of his gut. Here, check it out in action:
You can grab the fireplace animation as part of Mark’s DigitalDudz Christmas iOS app. Be sure to keep an eye out on Mark’s youtube channel in the coming days for a video showing how to make your own ugly fireplace sweater.
Oct 29
A couple of years back, a cool device came out called the Holocube. This unique display creates the illusion of a 3-dimensional moving image with a tremendous sense of depth. Now, an updated version of the Holocube has been released with improves brightness and a new trick up its sleeve.
The 2012 Holocube is illuminated by a bright 1600 cd/m² LED backlight, which allows the display to be used in just about any lighting conditions. It’s also been redesigned in a way that renders the bottom projection source invisible when you walk by the display, improving the holographic illusion greatly when compared to the original.
Photos and video don’t really do the illusion justice though, and you need to see the display in person to really appreciate it. Expect to see these turn up in retail and trade show exhibits in the near future. You can find more information on the 2012 Holocube over on their website.
Oct 04
Here’s a neat LEGO trick that I haven’t seen before. Made by husband and wife team Sean and Steph Mayo, their Invert Island enlists the help of your computer to show off its trick:
That is not the actual appearance of Invert Island. Here’s what it really looks like:
As you may have deduced, the island was made with blocks that have the inverse colors of the objects they’re supposed to represent. If you want to see the switch for yourself, just hold alt+shift+print screen on your keyboard if you’re using a PC, ctrl+option+command+8 if you’re on a Mac (or follow these directions if you’re on Mountain Lion.) Of course, there are other ways to invert the colors of your browser or screen. I highly suggest you head to Sean and Steph’s Flickr page so you can switch while viewing the high resolution image of the island.
[via Brothers Brick]
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