Hasta La Gadget!

Kirobo is a 13-inch talking robot that will keep Japanese astronaut Kochi Wakata company on the International Space Station. He is now on his way to the ISS after being launched on an H-2B rocket from Japan.

Kirobo is the first talking robot to be sent into space. He’s a pretty adorable robot too. He was launched on board an unmanned spacecraft that’s scheduled to arrive at the ISS on August 9th. Along with the robot, the craft is also carrying drinking water, food, and other supplies.

Wakata will arrive at the ISS in November to take over as Commander. Kirobo will talk to Wakata and even keep a record of their conversations during the mission. Captain Kirk just has a captain’s log. Kirobo is so much neater.

Here’s some footage of the little guy being weighed, packed and shipped like so much space baggage:

If many more robots get into space, we will need to be careful they don’t build a death ray up there and kill us all.

[Kibo-Robo via Geekosystem]

Last year we heard about Monitor2Go, a portable external monitor. It seems very well made and has lots of convenient features, but it’s also expensive. The Able-HD is on the other end of the spectrum. It’s a portable monitor at nearly a third of the price of Monitor2Go. There’s a reason it’s cheap though.

The Able-HD is basically a 17″ or 18″ LED laptop monitor. It just has a custom circuit board that makes it work without the rest of the laptop. Otherwise, it’s a standard LED monitor. It’s a 1080p display, it accepts HDMI, DVI, VGA and audio ports and it has a socket for a charger. With all of the unnecessary parts stripped away, the Able-HD weighs just 570g (approx. 1.26lb). In other words, it’s an 17″ or 18″ 1080p monitor that weighs less than an iPad.

Actually it is missing one necessary part: an external case. Its anonymous inventor said that future versions may have an aluminum case, but the first version of Able-HD – the one he’s offering as a reward on Kickstarter – will look exactly like the one you saw in the video. At least you can get or make a case with the money you save. Pledge at least $110 (USD) on Kickstarter to get an Able-HD as a reward. If you have a spare laptop screen, you can just pledge $35 to get the Able-HD conversion kit.

We’ve yet to see how helpful – or harmful – Google Glass can be to people with sight, but you might be surprised to know that it can be used to help blind people too. A two-man company called Dapper Vision is working on OpenGlass, a system of tools and services that can help identify objects as well as provide additional information via Google Glass.

In the video below, you’ll see two of OpenGlass’ services that can help the visually impaired – or anyone for that matter – identify objects. The first is Question-Answer, wherein the Glass user takes a picture of an object and uses voice commands to send the picture to Twitter or Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service to be identified. The Glass user receives the answer via voice as well. The second is Memento, which is like a real-time version of Question-Answer, but it requires someone to build a database of images and annotations for it to draw data upon.

That was awesome, but I hope as wearable technology improves that OpenGlass will be less reliant on online sources of data. Maybe someday Dapper Vision can cram in a visual dictionary of sorts in Glass. As I said, the video only shows a small part of OpenGlass. Head to its official website to see more information and videos.

[via Engadget]

The global human population is booming. Some studies predict that we’ll soon run out of resources (read: food) to feed everyone as this growth continues.

One of the proposed solutions? Breed insects and use them as an alternate protein source.

It might sound gross, but one day, that might be the unfortunate reality we’ll all find ourselves in.

Most people didn’t think that idea through further, but one who actually did is industrial designer Katharina Ungel. She came up with a concept called Farm 432 that’s basically a countertop breeder of insect larvae. That way, you can raise your own black soldier fly larvae (yes, she mentioned that species specifically because of its high protein content) without having to go to some farm or store to get them.

Ungel explains that the adult flies don’t need to be fed anything but bio-waste. Each batch of tasty bugs will be ready after 432 hours (hence, the name of the concept.)

Ungel writes: “Farm 432 enables people to turn against the dysfunctional system of current meat production by growing their own protein source at home.”

I’m not crazy of the idea now because I’d rather get my protein from beef, but if bugs are where we’re headed, then I think Katharina’s on to something.

[via C|NET]

Receiving transmission. Here’s our intel: an independent developer called Reactive Studios is working on a top secret game for iOS devices. It’s called Codename Cygnus, an interactive drama where you play a spy. Here’s where it gets interesting: the game plays like old drama radio shows, except you can talk to it. I hope it doesn’t have commercials.

From what I’ve seen, er, heard, it plays out like a cheesy crime drama crossed with a choose-your-own-adventure type of game. Other characters talk to you to relay what’s happening and to give you hints and options. You then select your response by speaking into your iOS device.

You can also respond by tapping an onscreen button, but that’s not too gimmicky is it?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pledge at least $10 (USD) on Kickstarter to obtain a copy of Codename Cygnus.

Seriously though, if I had to play a game that required me to talk, I’d rather play one that lets me give orders, like a general or a basketball coach. Or maybe a detective or scientist who has to dictate findings to a recorder. Instead of making you feel like a spy, it seems to me like Codename Cygnus could unintentionally turn you to a caveman who only converses in one word grunts: “Hostile!” “Down!” “Me!” “Winner!” Then again, the game’s not finished yet; maybe it’ll end up being way more exciting and varied than I think it is.