Hasta La Gadget!

The advent of cheap cameras and free online streaming services means teachers can stream or even pre-record their lessons so students can watch them at their own pace and even in advance. But using conventional blackboards or whiteboards means the teacher is often facing away from the camera. That’s why Prof. Michael Peshkin of Northwestern University made the Lightboard.

The Lightboard is a 4 x 8 ft. pane of architectural glass lit by 8 ft. strips of white LEDs at the top and bottom of the frame. The transparent board lets Prof. Peshkin write and look at the camera at the same time. He uses fluorescent markers and a black background to make his notes and sketches more vivid. He also uses the board to superimpose images from a projector.

When he’s recording his lessons, Prof. Peshkin shoots himself and the board through a mirror to correct the orientation of his notes and sketches.

If you want to make your own Lightboard, check out Prof. Peshkin’s guide here.

[via Laughing Squid]

Color-changing LED lighting is probably the most obvious way of introducing some smart home tech, and though Philips’ hue is the best known system, that hasn’t stopped startup rivals from trying to take its crown. Lumen turned to crowdfunding to get its TL800 Bluetooth 4.0 bulb off the ground, and now it’s headed to store […]

Here’s a fun kit that you can use to make simple electronics, even wearable ones. Circuit Stickers are just that – electronics with adhesive backing. The star of the kit are the LED stickers. Put them on a conductive surface – wire, foil, conductive thread or fabric etc. – connect a power source at one end and you have a light show.

If you want to add an element of interactivity to the LEDs, you can also get the Effects Stickers, the Sensor & Microcontroller Sticker or both. The Effects Sticker modifies the LEDs, making them blink, fade, twinkle or pulsate like a heartbeat. The Sensor & Microcontroller Sticker on the other hand adds a light sensor and a sound sensor to the mix. It also has a trigger that can turn on your Circuit Stickers for five seconds at a time.

Pledge at least $25 (USD) on Crowd Supply to get a Circuit Stickers Kit. Aside from the electronics themselves, each kit will also come with additional materials such as copper tape, coin cell batteries and binder clips so you can experiment out of the box. I think the Electric Paint Pen complements the kit well.

[via Boing Boing]

We live in an era where many consumer electronics have silly names, often with lowercase i’s, an abundance of z’s or a lack of vowels. But not Tail Lights. Because that’s just what they are, a set of LED strips that strap onto horse tails, giving the animals and their riders improved visibility and enabling owners to pimp their living rides.

At first glance, the idea of Tail Lights might be as silly as its name is plain. But it may end up saving lives. Sami Gros was moved to invent Tail Lights when she and and a friend were hit by a car while they were on horseback, even though both of them were already wearing reflectors and were even in a town where horseback riding was commonplace.

Tail Lights have two main parts. Its CPU and battery are in a case small enough to be stowed in practically any saddle bag, while the LED strips themselves are connected by a cable to the battery. The strips are waterproof and will be available in different colors. Tail Lights has two brightness modes as well as a strobe mode.

Gallop to Kickstarter and pledge at least $160 (USD) to get a Tail Lights unit as a reward. Sami should make a unicorn horn light for frontal visibility. And also because that would be awesome.

[via CNET]

Nike is betting that maybe one or two snowboarders like to showboat. So if you’re more corkscrew, than chicken salad, the firm’s LunarENDOR QS boots — complete with 30 LED swoosh — might catch your eye. If not, they’ll certainly catch everyone else’s as you tear down those nighttime black runs. Back in daylight, you can save power by switching off via the power button on the cuff. That said, we know any self-respecting, gear-loving riders out there will have enough juice to keep their whole techno-shredding set-up going all day. You’ll have to wait until mid-December though before you can pull on your regular sneaks and head to a store to get a set.

Filed under: Wearables

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Via: Onboard

Source: Nike