Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve reported on some odd items in the past, but this has to be one of the oddest (and also one of the most intriguing). A group of scientists at MIT have developed a new vest that you can link to your Facebook account. Why would you want to link a vest, of all things, to your Facebook account? Because when people “Like” something that you’ve posted, the vest automatically inflates.

That sounds awfully weird at first, but there’s actually a rather touching reason for its existence. The idea of this vest – which has been dubbed Like-A-Hug – is to simulate the feeling of receiving a hug from your friends. “The vest inflates when friends ‘Like’ a photo, video, or status update on the wearer’s wall, thereby allowing us to feel the warmth, encouragement, support, or love that we feel when we receive hugs,” designer Melissa Chow writes on her website. Chow developed the vest with Andy Payne and Phil Seaton at the MIT Media Lab.

But wait, because it gets even better – by squeezing and deflating your vest, you can make the vest of the person who Liked your post inflate, essentially giving them a hug back. In addition to giving us a quick breakdown of the vest on her website, Chow also posted a video that takes a look at a world where people regularly exchange hugs via the Like-A-Hug. Check it out below:

Okay, so maybe this isn’t going to be something that catches on with mainstream consumers – having your vest randomly inflate could potentially make for some awkward situations, after all – but we have to admit that the idea of sharing “hugs” with people who are miles away is heartwarming. If this vest eventually makes it to market (what we’re seeing is only a prototype with no promise that it will ever become commercially available), would you consider buying one?

[via Ubergizmo]

New vest inflates when you receive Likes on Facebook is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A $2,300 3D printer isn’t really anything special anymore. We’ve seen them as cheap as $350 in fact. But all those affordable units are of the extrusion variety — meaning they lay out molten plastic in layers. The FORM 1 opts for a method called stereolithography that blasts liquid plastic with a laser, causing the resin to cure. This is one of the most accurate methods of additive manufacturing, but also one of the most expensive thanks to the need for high-end optics, with units typically costing tens-of-thousands of dollars. A group of recent grads from the MIT Media Lab have managed to replicate the process for a fraction of the cost and founded a company called Formlabs to deliver their innovations to the public. Like many other startups, the group turned to Kickstarter to get off the ground and easily passed its $100,000 within its first day. As of this writing over $250,000 had been pledged and the first 25 printers have already been claimed.

The FORM 1 is capable of creating objects with layers as thin as 25 microns — that’s 75 percent thinner than even the new Replicator 2. The company didn’t scrimp on design and polish to meet its affordability goals either. The base is a stylish brushed metal with the small build platform protected by an orange plastic shell. There’s even a companion software tool for simple model creation. You can still get one, though the price of entry is now $2,500, at the Kickstarter page. Or you can simply get a sneak peek in the gallery and video below.

Continue reading FORM 1 delivers high-end 3D printing for an affordable price, meets Kickstarter goal in 1 day

Filed under: Misc

FORM 1 delivers high-end 3D printing for an affordable price, meets Kickstarter goal in 1 day originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen amateur and professional developers alike do some really cool things with Microsoft’s Kinect since the motion control peripheral launched in 2010. Interestingly enough, many of these cool things have nothing to do with video games, but that’s another story for another time. The latest in a long line of cool gadgets that put Kinect in the spotlight is a new wearable device that has the ability to make maps in real time.

Specifically, this gadget is geared toward mapping the inside of buildings. Developed by MIT, the device combines a laser range finder with the depth-perceiving abilities of Kinect to generate maps of an area in real time. The unit also houses a CPU to process and construct the map (in the prototype, the user has a laptop in his backpack constructing the map as he walks around), and the map can be sent back to a remote station so those outside of the building can get an idea of its layout.

Also included in this package is an inertial sensor to compensate for the fact that it’s hard to keep the laser perfectly level while walking, and a barometer to measure changes in air pressure, allowing the gadget’s user to map out multiple floors. This technology was developed for use in emergency situations, with applying it to search and rescue operations specifically mentioned. The prototype seems to be a bit bulky at this early stage, but the developers imagine a finished product that is handheld. Check it out in action in the video posted below.

The US Air Force and the Office of Naval Research helped MIT with the project, which suggests that this device could have some military applications in the future. For now, its simply in its prototype stage, but that doesn’t change the fact that its still a really interesting device. What do you think of this latest MIT creation?

[via MITnews]

Kinect takes center stage in new map making gadget is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Researchers at MIT have found yet another use for Microsoft’s Kinect sensor. They’ve stripped it down, tacked on a sophisticated laser rangefinder, added wireless functionality, and turned it into a wearable sensor that will automatically map the inside of a building as the wearer moves through it. More »

After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it seemed everyone was on the brink of discovering the definitive method for separating oil from water. Hair. Straw. Sand. A lot of suggestions were thrown out there by the happy-to-help public. More »