Hasta La Gadget!

The color of 3D printed objects is usually limited to the color of the filament that they’re made of. But the Iris 3D printer by Mcor Technologies can print objects in practically any color, allowing for more realistic replicas or sophisticated products and prototypes. That’s because it follows grandma’s recipe: it prints using paper. It also needs grandma though.

Iris uses Letter or A4 size paper to print, but it cheats a bit. Before using Iris, first you have to print cross sections of the object to be printed on a conventional 2D printer. But you can’t just use any type of ink. Mcor developed a special type of ink that soaks through paper to ensure that the finished product doesn’t have bits of white paper showing through.

When the cross sections are printed, you feed those sheets to Iris. The machine will then cut the paper and add adhesive to the cross sections, layer by layer until the object is finished. Resolution for the printer is 5760 x 1440 x 508 dpi on the X, Y and Z axes, respectively.

Who would have thought? The great thing about the Iris is that the objects you make with it are biodegradable and recyclable. However, just like ink printers, Iris costs a lot to use. You have to shell out $15,866 (USD) per year to rent one. But it’s not too bad, considering Mcor will also provide the materials and additional service along with the printer itself.

[via Quartz]

Want to take a virtual field trip? Or find a pizza place nearby? Or break up with someone? Well, there’s an app for that. And I mean, all of that.

The apps for the first two functions have been around for a while now. As for the third function – well, let’s just say the app for that went viral recently.

It’s called the BreakUp Text app and it will apparently break up with your not-so-significant-anymore other for you. Via text. Because yeah, some people actually do that and if you don’t have the guts to do it yourself, then you might find some use for this.

You can choose from serious and casual reasons for the break-up. Aside from that, you can also use the app to pen longer, supposedly heartfelt messages about why you want to end the relationship. Some people might take this as a joke, but don’t be surprised when others take this seriously as well.

One of the app’s creators, Jake Levine, explained: “As much as we did it as a joke, it has sort of captured a moment in time when tech is becoming more pervasive in our lives and relationships.”

Curious? The app can be downloaded from the iTunes app store for $0.99.

[via C|NET]

There’s something so neat about robots which are built to replicate the movements of animals and insects. But this biologically-inspired little guy has a gait all his own and makes me want to have one as a pet.

The STAR (Sprawl Tuned Autonomous Robot) was created by David Zarrouk, Andrew Pullin, Nick Kohut and Ronald Fearing at UC Berkeley’s Biomimetic Millisystems Lab. The 3D-printed robot uses six spinny “legs” can adjust its sprawl angle in order to navigate over difficult obstacles, so its little legs can change the amount of ground-clearance they offer. This allows the robot to scurry its way under doorways and other small spaces, and then resume walking normally – if normally means running around like a crazed millipede on speed.

STAR has had two prior versions, with this one getting some mechanical improvements as well as reinforcements to help keep it together after collisions.

Top speed for the STAR.V3 robot is a whopping 5.2 meters-per-second. That means that it can run 43 of its own body lengths every second. This agile robot can also climb over loose rocks, and even right itself if it flips over. Oh, and it can play pool.

Robots are everywhere. From making noodles in the background to serving diners and waiting tables, they’re no strangers to the restaurant scene. And now they might be making their way into hospitals.

This isn’t the first time a robot was built for the healthcare industry, but Veebot has built one that will draw blood from your arm. They’ve combined robotics with image-analysis software so that nurses and medical technologists can be on call elsewhere.

First of all, the machine inflates the cuff and tightens it around your arm. It shines an infrared on your arm to locate a vein and uses an ultrasound to check if blood’s ripe for the taking.

Before it goes to clinical trials, Veebot wants the robot to be right 90% of the time when it decides to plunge the needle into the vein. As of now, that value is at 83%.

[via iEEE Spectrum via DVice]

Talking toys are nothing new, but most toys simply spout off pre-recorded sound bites. Not Supertoy Teddy. He’s a teddy bear that can actually hold a conversation, i.e. it will listen to what you say and respond accordingly. It’s like Siri, but in a stuffed toy.

Supertoy Robotics, the company behind Teddy, also made Jeannie, a voice-activated virtual assistant app for Android. In other words, these guys know a thing or two about natural language user interfaces.

I’m not sure if the toy in the video was actually working or if that exchange was staged. What I do know is that the Supertoy Teddy will work like Siri and Jeannie. And it sounds a whole lot like Ted. When you speak to it, it will connect to several servers that will decipher what you said and send back an appropriate reply. It will supposedly understand 30 languages out of the box. How will it do all of that? According to Supertoy Robotics’ response to backers, you’ll need to place a mobile device inside Teddy to make him work. The device will run Teddy’s app and will be the one to connect to the servers.

The video below, which shows Teddy’s innards, should give us a better idea of how the toy will perform in real life:

Hopefully Supertoy Robotics will give a no-frills demo of the final toy to clear up any confusion and show people what it can really do. But if you’re already sold, pledge about $64 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Supertoy Teddy as a reward. I wonder if Teddy knows the Thunder Buddy Song.