We’ll be joined onstage by artist, writer and musician DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid to discuss technology’s impact on music.
For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.
Filed under: Misc
Remember those old-school NASA mission patches that spacefarers would proudly wear upon their shoulders as they bounced around the great beyond? CASIS, the agency’s newly-minted non-profit wanted to commemorate its first experiment being put on the International Space Station, and so enlisted the talents of Shepard Fairey, the graphic designer behind the Obama “Hope” campaign and those Obey T-shirts. We’ve snagged one of the patches for our own homemade astronaut jacket, but if you aren’t here at Fort Mason, you can watch the design process in the video after the break.
Filed under: Misc, Transportation, Science
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.
March marks the start of spring, and this week we saw lots of fresh new unveils in the world of green architecture — including the futuristic winners of the 2013 eVolo Skyscraper Competition. This year’s winner was the Polar Umbrella, a buoyant skyscraper designed to rebuild the shrinking polar ice sheets affected by global warming. Some of our other favorites are these jellyfish-shaped PH Conditioner Skyscrapers, which combat air pollution while producing fresh water, and Project Nomad, an out-of-this-world mobile skyscraper that could terraform Mars to make it habitable by humans. Meanwhile architect Michael Charters designed “Big Wood,” a prototype for a large-scale wooden skyscraper in downtown Chicago.
Although six designs were awarded in New York City’s Reinvent Payphones competition, it remained to be seen which of the six would be the people’s favorite. After about a week’s worth of voting on NYC’s Facebook page, the people have made their choice: NYFi will serve is their favorite concept for street-side payphone overhauls. It’s not hard to see why, as the proposal would theoretically solve several urban hassles at once. Each NYFi hub would dish out free WiFi, taking the load off of the cellular network. It would also use open, smartphone-like software and easily adaptable touchscreen hardware to consolidate many of the boxes that clutter the sidewalks, such as ticket machines and bike sharing stations. We’ll admit that most of the concepts sound a little optimistic to us — we wouldn’t be surprised if any finished city project fell short of the ideas. Even if we don’t get a WiFi hotspot on every corner, though, the reinvented payphone will likely be a welcome replacement for landline phones that have mostly collected dust in recent years.
Update: We’ve adjusted the post to clarify that NYfi is not, per se, the overall winner. During the initial demo event five awards were up for grabs from the city, and a sixth award, Popular Choice, was to be chosen by the public. Whether NYC ends up using one of these designs as a direct inspiration will remain to be seen. The awards are more or less a way for the city to see what the public would propose and potentially use those ideas when it comes time to request for designs within a mandated set of specifications. Check out our post about the event for more details.
Filed under: Misc, Networking
Via: The Next Web
Source: NYC (Tumblr)
We didn’t really get to see the Plair in action when we last saw it at CES, but luckily, it’s here with us at Expand 2013! This time round we have a better understanding of what makes this $99, micro-USB-powered HDMI dongle so special: not only can you beam native video clips from your mobile device (through an iOS or Android app) or your desktop Chrome browser’s extension to it, but the Plair can also grab the video source from your current page in Chrome and then stream the clip independently — as in once the video’s started, you can shut your computer down and still keep the stream going on your TV! You can actually see this demonstrated in our video after the break, where we streamed an episode from NBC’s Saturday Night Live website through a WiFi network (but the Plair can also create its own hotspot for direct WiFi connection, which is handy for avoiding slow hotel networks).
In our opinion, the Plair is a neat little gadget for its price, but you’ll have to wait until early April for the next batch coming off the production line. Interested buyers will be able to order a Plair on its website around then.
Follow all of Engadget’s Expand coverage live from San Francisco right here!
Source: Plair
Kinect has branched out from its gaming roots to PC interaction, and we’re chatting with Bob Heddle, director, Kinect for Windows at Microsoft to see how the hardware is changing natural user-interfaces. We’re also set to get a sneak peak at what’s coming up in the next release of the Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit. The chat gets started at 7PM ET, sharp.
Filed under: Desktops, Misc, Gaming, Laptops, Software, Microsoft
Since last we saw the Ekso Bionics robotic suit, which helps folks with lower-extremity paralysis or weakness to stand up and walk, the $110,000 exoskeleton has been on the market for about a year. About 30 have sold so far, and the company’s director of marketing and communications, Allison Sojka, reckons that medical centers have already helped rehabilitate somewhere between 500 and 1,000 patients. By allowing them to stand up and walk, the bionic suit not only helps users overcome issues like bone density loss and neuropathic pain related to their condition, but also to gain reams of confidence — an oft-overlooked factor in the recovery process.
The production model is a polished-looking assemblage of aluminum and judiciously placed titanium and carbon fiber, along with sensors, motors, joints, off-the-shelf DSPs and custom circuitry and software. Two lithium-ion batteries power the device (four are included), each of which will go for three to six hours after charging for an hour or so, allowing continuous use of the suit by facilities. Three walk modes are available, namely FirstStep, which is actuated by a therapist with a button push; a user-controlled mode called ActiveStep; and ProStep, which senses user body cues for movement control. The suit also provides audio feedback to help users achieve ideal positioning and transmits stats and data for further review and reporting. Sojka said that the company will release new variable-assist software option in June that’ll let patients contribute from zero to 100 percent of the walking power, with the exoskeleton providing the rest — though there’s no pricing yet for that update. To hear her describe how the suit works and see it in action with patient Sarah Anderson, check the video and gallery after the break.
Gallery: Ekso Bionics robotic suit hands-on
Moedls (pronounced moy-dles) inventor John Fehr, being a semifinalist in our Insert Coin competition, is obviously on hand here at Expand. While we were impressed with what we saw from afar, we were really excited to see the low-cost 3D scanner in person. The laser-cut housing for the lasers is delightfully DIY, but it will eventually be replaced with a more polished case. The specially sourced lights, which cast a delightful green glow, are part of what allows the scanner to create surprisingly high-quality results. For the moment they don’t actually connect to the companion app on the phone, but Fehr promises to at least consider the possibility if he wins our $20,000 grand prize. There’s no need for a direct connection, however. The camera on your smartphone is ultimately what is really doing the heavy lifting here. In conjunction with the aforementioned app of course.
The biggest stumbling block when trying to generate these 3D models is stability. To that end, Fehr has built a custom mount for a phone, based around a standard dashboard version. The robust joints minimize movement and the spring-loaded holster allows it to fit practically any device… at least until Samsung’s 6.3-inch Note VII hits the market. The belt-driven turntable is also specially sourced — this is not just a hacked up record player. The prototype is still a little bulky and wobbly, but the final version will be slimmed down, have an aluminum base and ball bearings under the platform to minimize vibrations. The models come together pretty quick under the app, which is still clearly under development and has a view rough edges, though it’s certainly functional. In total we’re still looking at about $300 in hardware and you’ll have an opportunity to throw your weight behind the project on Monday when the Kickstarter launches. Head on after the break to get a quick video tour of the device.
Gallery: Moedls hands-on
Filed under: Misc
Yep, the crazy looking guitar you see above from 3D Systems (being manhandled by our own Andy Bowen) was printed. Not created by machines or people, but pieced together by a 3D printer — at least the body, that is. The neck, strings, and various jacks / knobs are all fabricated via other methods, but the body is all printed. That includes the many America-centric icons seen throughout the body, from the Statute of Liberty to the Brooklyn Bridge — okay, okay, it’s rather New York-centric, but 3D Systems head Avi Reichental tells us that 3D Systems used iconic New York locations as a representation for the “Americana” the guitar is supposed to embody. He says — and we can’t help but agree, many of us being New Yorkers — that New York is an “emotional” symbol for the USA. Join us for a visual tour of the Americana, set to the backdrop of the San Francisco Bay, won’t you?
Gallery: 3D Systems’ Americana guitar
Filed under: Misc, Peripherals
3D printers might one day be as common as inkjets, letting you conjure up plastic visions of whatever pops into your head. At least, that’s the vision of its promoters and there’s now a wide variety of models and form factors in the market ranging from sub-$1,000 price tags up to $3-4k for more sophisticated systems. But despite the obvious utility for designers, prototypers and the like, will less demanding users warm to the tech? Join moderator Brian Heater for a discussion of 3D printing’s future with Hod Lipson, Professor of Engineering, Cornell University; Max Lobovsky, Co-Founder, FormLabs; and Avi Reichental, President & CEO, 3D Systems.
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