Google Project Tango Smartphone Lets You Make 3D Maps: DIY Street View

Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP) recently unveiled Project Tango, a smartphone that lets users make 3D models of their surroundings. ATAP is also working on development APIs that will let developers use those 3D models in apps.

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The current Project Tango prototype is a 5″ phone with a 4 megapixel camera, a depth sensor, a motion tracking camera and two “computer vision processors.”

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The sensors supposedly take about 250,000 measurements per second, which the phone processes into a 3D model in real time.

You’re not going to let the Google Street View crew into your house, but a harmless little smartphone? Come to my pocket and my life! The NSA wants a pendant-sized version of this thing yesterday.

[Google ATAP via Ubergizmo]

Put a Giant Xbox 360 Controller on Your Wall

Looking for something to decorate your game room wall with? How about an Xbox 360 controller that’s bigger than your head?

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That’s exactly what the guys at Pop Out Art have created. This gigantic version of the Xbox 360 controller measures about 24″ (w) x 17″ (h) x 6″ (d).

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Each one is backlit with remote-controlled LEDs so you can us it as an accent light too. They’re made from heavy-gauge plastic using vacuuforming, with the buttons assembled separately. Each piece is hand-painted to give it a great, finished look.

If you’re interested in hanging one on your wall, head on over to Kickstarter and pledge before March 12, 2014. A pledge of at least $144 will get you in on the giant controller action.

Just don’t expect to play any actual games with this thing.

‘Ukrainian Spring’ Is Just Around The Corner – Wait, It’s Here!

'Ukrainian Spring' Is Just Around The Corner - Wait, It's Here!As many northern climes are still reeling from the harsh snowstorms of 2014 – the Ukraine is no exception. Yet, today’s report has more to do with a climactic versus climate change. Like the Arab Spring
that also commenced in the dead of winter [December 18, 2010] and
spawned dozens of revolutions throughout Africa and the Middle East,
similarly, news of the Ukrainian uprisings are now being conveyed by
digital technology, social networks and citizen journalism.

BigRep One 3D Printer is Big Enough to Print Furniture: 3DXL

It’s not the world’s largest 3D printer, but the BigRep One still dwarfs most of the consumer 3D printers available today. With a build volume of 1.3 cubic meters, it’s big enough to print furniture in one piece.

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BigRep One can print using a variety of filaments, including the wood-infused Laywood and the sandstone-like Laybrick. Here’s a side table made with the printer:

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And here’s a time-lapse video of the table being printed:

Sadly most of us would have to print a huge stack of money to afford the BigRep One, because each unit will set you back $39,000 (USD). Contact BigRep to order.

[via C|NET]

OpenKnit Clothing Printer: Programmer Wear

The burgeoning small scale 3D printing industry is focused on producing plastic or metal objects. A small team of makers led by Gerard Rubio hopes to turn the spotlight on a more practical material: fabric. The OpenKnit is a work-in-progress open source printer that automatically knits thread to create clothing based on digital templates.

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The printer is powered by an Arduino Leonardo and can control three needles at the same time. Like the pioneering RepRap, the OpenKnit printer itself will have parts that can be 3D printed to further save on costs. Gerard says the printer should cost around $750 (USD) to build.

Aside from the printer itself, OpenKnit also has a companion program called Knitic that can be used to design clothes. Knitic was developed by Mar Canet and Varvara Guljajeva, who used their experience from hacking old electronic knitting machines to create a user-friendly program for designing clothes. Finally, there’s Do-Knit-Yourself, a “virtual wardrobe” where people can share their designs. Think of the site as the Thingiverse of clothing.

Obviously, all three parts of the OpenKnit project are still in their infancy, and the clothes that have come out of it are not much to look at. But I hope the project takes off and democratizes fashion, because that industry badly needs a wake up call. Check out the OpenKnit website to learn more about the printer. Makers should head to Gerard’s Github page to find out how they can replicate the device.

[via Gadgetify]

JimmyCASE Wood iPhone/Samsung Galaxy S4 Case Doubles as a Wallet

If you’re in the market for a smartphone case and looking for something a bit different than all of the others out there, you might want to check out the JimmyCASE.

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The JimmyCASE offers the stylish looks of a wooden case, but also the practicality of a wallet case. The case combines a silicone bumper with a genuine mahogany backing to protect your phone. Wrapped over the wood back is a stretchy piece of custom-designed elastic which can hold credit cards and money.

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In my experience, I was able to stack my license and three credit cards, as well as a few dollar bills under the elastic without a problem, and with even a single credit card, it held securely. And even with the wallet loaded up, the iPhone’s camera and flash are completely unencumbered.

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The sides of the case offer a nice textured grip to them, and there are openings for the charging port, speakers, headphone jack, microphone, and mute switch. Volume and power controls are hidden beneath silicone, which keeps stuff from getting into them, but still providing enough tactile feel to be usable.

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Of course, the JimmyCASE is about style too, so you can choose from four different elastic fabrics at this point, including the navy blue and black striped of my review unit, gray/orange, navy/orange, and a preppy kind of pink with colorful stripes. In addition to the iPhone 5/5S variant, it’s can be had in iPhone 4, iPhone 5C and Samsung Galaxy S4 models.

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The JimmyCASE is available for order now, and sells for $39(USD).

Landmines Warmed By Chickens and Other Tales of Animal Warfare

Landmines Warmed By Chickens and Other Tales of Animal Warfare

During the Cold War, the British military proposed placing nuclear land mines throughout the North German Plain to ensnare Soviet troops if they invaded. But how could they keep the bombs at the right temperature underground? Enter the idea of live chickens, which, if supplied with feed, could warm mines for about a week at a time. The project was scrapped—but the proposal was very real.

Read more…


    



11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Human Space Exploration

11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Human Space Exploration

Space is a weird place, and the quest to explore its mysteries in person has been no small source of strangeness and surprise. Here are some lesser-known facts about humanity’s ongoing missions beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Read more…


    

Roku Players get Showtime Anytime On-demand Content in the U.S.

If you have a current generation Roku player and live in the U.S., you can now get a new streaming channel to enjoy. Roku has announced that U.S. owners of its set top boxes can now get access to Showtime Anytime. That means you can watch all your favorite Showtime shows and catch up on past seasons you missed.

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Showtime Anytime gives you access to all the series that Showtime offers like Ray Donovan. You can also use Showtime Anytime to watch movies being shown in any given month.

As with Showtime Anytime on any device, you do have to subscribe to Showtime on a participating cable or satellite provider in order to use the service. Participating providers include DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, and several others.

Datainer Modular Storage Device Organizer: Storage for Storage

Where do you store your extra hard drives? In boxes? In a drawer somewhere? How about your flash drives and SD cards? If you’re having trouble tracking or protecting your storage devices, check out Datainer. Designed by Burkhard Bürgerhoff, Datainer is a family of drawers and cases that makes it easier to store, organize and transport hard drives, memory cards and flash drives.

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You can see Datainer’s modules displayed in the image above. Starting from the part numbered “1″, there’s a drawer for 3.5″ drives,  a mobile version of the 3.5″ drawer, a non-slip base mat, a compartment with room for two 2.5″ drives, a compartment with 35 slots for flash cards such as CF cards and SD cards and a general purpose drawer for storing thumb drives and other doodads.

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As you can see the drawers all fit in a stackable case. In addition, each drawer has a slot in front where you can place a label or sticker.

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Burkhard also designed a USB 3.0 dock and an open-ended version of the 3.5″ drawer that lets you clone drives without taking them out of the drawer.

Pledge at least $25 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a set of Datainer drawers as a reward. I’m assuming Burkhard will also make each piece available separately once they go on sale.