Google Concept Shoes Can Talk, Still Can’t Tie Their Own Laces

Google presented the Glass’ funny younger brother at the 2013 SXSW multimedia festival. While the Glass was made to act like your butler, the aptly named Talking Shoe is meant to serve as your hype man. What? It’s not like everything Google does has to be useful. Remember Google Wave? Or the Nexus Q? The company has a sense of humor.

google talking shoe

As is only appropriate for a talking shoe, its brains are mounted on its tongue. It has a pressure sensor, an accelerometer and a gyroscope to help it detect whether you’re stationary or moving about, and what kind of movement you’re doing. It also has a Bluetooth radio to help it connect to an Android phone or computer. Last, but not least it has a built-in speaker, which it does not hesitate to use. It can also broadcast its comments over the Web if you’re brave enough to allow it.

Google made the shoe in collaboration with interactive media specialists YesYesNo and the wearable tech enthusiasts of Studio 5050. Just in case you’re thinking that the video above isn’t for real, here’s a demo filmed by The Verge straight from SXSW:

Up next, Instagram’s Talking Fork.

[via Google via Inventor Spot & The Verge]

Zombie Perfumes: Smell Like the Undead

Fragrance company Demeter makes the most of what was relatively a small niche of specialized fragrances. By specialized, we mean that they shy away from making the typical floral and musk-scented perfumes that you normally find in stores. Instead, they make perfumes with the weirdest and most atrocious scents.

Their latest offerings are these zombie scented perfumes for men and women.

demeter zombie perfumesThe Zombie for Him fragrance is formulated with the scent of dried leaves, mushrooms, mildew, moss, and earth. In short, you’ll smell like a decomposing corpse once you spray this on. Zombie for Her is a “A slightly lighter version of the Men’s fragrance with a touch of Dregs from the bottom of the wine barrel for that feminine touch.”

A 1 oz. cologne spray sells for $20(USD), while the 4 oz. bottle sells for $39.50. Since they’re only going to be available through April 30, you might want to stock up for the zombie apocalypse. Or you might just save yourself a few bucks and just roll around in your front lawn instead. Pat the dirt away and voila – instant zombie-like scent.

[via Refinery29]

iPhone 5 Bubble Wrap Case: Therapy for Texters

Secure your precious iPhone 5 in Strapya’s Bubble Wrap case. This is one of the few times that you’d rather own the imitation than the real thing, because the bubbles on the case will never burst. More protection for your phone and more popping for you.

iphone 5 bubble wrap case by strapya

Just look at how much fun this guy is having:

Well, that escalated quickly. You can go order the Bubble Wrap iPhone 5 Case from Amazon for about $19 (USD). I’ll be over here, rinsing out my eyeballs.

[via Inventor Spot]

Crocheted Bane Mask: You Have My Permission to Hug Me

Pretend like you’re Gotham’s reckoning – whatever the hell that means – without the discomfort or drunk Sean Connery voice that goes along with it with this awesome crocheted Bane mask made by Etsy crafter Rose Pope.

crocheted bane mask by rose pope

Rose makes each mask by hand using nothing but acrylic wool and a few wooden sticks to make the piping stable. If you look closely at the picture above you can see that there’s a gap in the mask to help the wearer breathe.

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Rose is selling the crocheted Bane mask on her Etsy shop Stitch Finder General for about $93 (USD). However, if you want to order one don’t click on the “Add to cart” button; Rose says she’s struggling to cope with the demand for her creation – the League of Shadows probably placed a bulk order – so you have to contact her to place your order.

[via Geekologie]

“Near-mythical” Viking Navigational Aid Discovered in Ancient Shipwreck

A debate has raged among historians and archaeologists for decades over how the Vikings were able to navigate their ships. There have been some reports in ancient literature of a navigational aid used by Vikings called a “glowing sunstone.” However, no firm evidence of the existence of such a device has ever been discovered.

That has all changed now after an example of a Sunstone described as a “near-mythical” navigational aid was discovered in the remains of a shipwreck from 1592.

viking ship

Viking Ship Image via ShutterStock

The shipwreck was first discovered about 30 years ago, and is believed to have been dispatched by Queen Elizabeth I – though it sank before reaching its destination near the island of Alderney.

The navigational aid is described as an oblong crystal used to find the sun on a cloudy day or in fog. Researchers have long believed that this device was used by Vikings to navigate their ships in fog or mist. They say that the crystal was discovered in the shipwreck alongside of navigational dividers. The researchers believe that the crystal could have been used as a backup to a magnetic compass.

The stone has now been confirmed as calcite, known as a Iceland Spar. The crystal discovered is discolored from being under the ocean for so many years, but researchers tested the crystal using one with similar properties. The researchers say using the crystal, they were able to locate the sun in poor light conditions and after sunset with accuracy.

[via Digital Journal]

LEGO Stephen Hawking Kit: A Small Replica of Man

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a tiny LEGO sculpture of the world famous physicist and author Stephen Hawking, complete with his wheelchair and computer. I bet there’s a Higgs boson in there too, we just can’t detect it.

lego stephen hawking by the living brick

Its creator, The Living Brick, calls the replica The Standard Model, after the particle physics theory of the same name. I may not have understood what I just said, but The Living Brick made sure that even I can assemble Dr. Hawking, because he included a booklet of instructions with each kit. Actually no I’m pretty sure I’ll end up losing half of the pieces.

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You can order the kit from Amazon for just $40 (USD). Got LEGO? Head to Eurobricks and there you’ll find the building blocks of Dr. Hawking.

[via Kottke]

Army of Two the Devil’s Cartel to Get Co-op Demo on 3/12

EA has announced that it will be offering a downloadable co-op demo for its videogame Army of Two The Devil’s Cartel. The game demo will be available to download for Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers on March 12, 2013.

a2 dc

The demo will put players in the boots of private military contractors Alpha and Bravo. The contractors are on a mission to rescue a kidnapped politician from a dangerous Mexican drug cartel. Players will have to work together to survive and progress in the mission.

Players will also have a chance to split up at one point in the demo, with one player going off to fight face-to-face with the cartel soldiers and the other taking to the sky in a helicopter using a mini-gun to provide cover.

Army of Two The Devil’s Cartel is set to launch on March 26 for $59.99(USD). If you pre-order from Amazon, you’ll get a special bonus $20 promotional credit you can apply towards other purchases.

The C3POscar Actually Exists: And the Jedi Academy Award Goes to…

When I first saw this illustration made by Rodrigo Ferreira I wondered why no one ever thought of it before. It turns out someone at LucasFilm did put two and two together, because the company actually gives away C3POscar trophies. How awesome is that Rodrigo?

cr3po oscar c3poscar lucasfilm award by brad bird

Image by Brad Bird

Filmmaker Brad Bird – the man who helmed The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, among other things – tweeted the above picture on Mar 1, 2013. This is one droid that LucasFilm employees are looking for; Bird said that the C3POscar is only given to those who have served the company for 20 years. The one in Bird’s picture belongs to a LucasFilm veteran named Paul Matwiy.

[via GeekTyrant]

CryFace App: Turn that Smile Upside-Down

There seems to be a never-ending barrage of photo editing apps for the iPhone that will instantly transform your portraits into something else entirely different or entirely humorous.

CryFace happens to fall in the latter category.

CryFace

With the push of a button (aptly labeled “Time to cry!”), your otherwise smiling or neutral-faced portrait is instantly transformed into one that shows you with a huge frown and with tears running down your face. Of course, you’re not limited to cryface-ing just your pictures.

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Sharing the end image is a breeze, since the app allows users to share them via Twitter, Facebook, and email. The CryFace app is available for $0.99 (USD), and for an extra $0.99, you can unlock its text editing feature so you can make the image look like a meme.

[via Chip Chick]

LED Ampli-tie: Daft Punk Formal

Have you seen those t-shirts that have a built-in equalizer? They look cool in theory, but they’re not really awesome up close. Most of them have this awkward-looking large cardboard in the middle where the LEDs shine through. Then there’s the fact that you have to carry around a battery pouch. This necktie variant is a lot cooler.

adafruit led ampli tie

Becky Stern of Adafruit calls her creation the LED Ampli-tie. This particular tie runs on Adafruit’s FLORA, an Arduino-compatible board. The Flora detects ambient noise via a small microphone hidden behind the tie’s knot. Adafruit already wrote the program that will make the 16 Flora RGB LEDs react to the noise. The best part? The Ampli-tie runs on the FLORA’s battery.

Check out Becky’s post on Adafruit’s website for the full walkthrough.

[via MAKE]