Apr 13
Either the world is full of designers (and engineers) or ordinary folks are ready to get creative by the handful. There can be no other explanation as to why the … Continue reading
Apr 13
Last year we saw a robot cane for visually impaired people that warns its user of obstacles with an audible alert. The Virtual Aid for the Visually Impaired or VAVI by grade 10 student Roman Kozak is an even more convenient prototype for a high tech cane. It lets the user search Google Maps and be guided towards his or her destination by voice prompts.
VAVI is not actually a cane but just a short cylinder; instead of direct contact it uses an ultrasonic sensor to detect objects in the user’s path. A vibration motor and a buzzer alerts the user if there’s an obstacle in his way. As for the location search, Roman wrote an Android app that taps into Google Maps. When the app is open, the user can order it to search for a location by saying “go to _____.” The app will look for the destination and will then provide voice prompts to guide the user as he walks.
The app also accepts voice commands for placing a phone call, sending the user’s current location to someone else and for finding VAVI. For that last feature, the app will reach out to VAVI through Bluetooth and activate its motor and buzzer to make it easier to find. Roman also made it so VAVI can be charged wirelessly via induction so the user won’t have to bother finding an adapter and an outlet.
For all its capabilities, Roman estimates that VAVI only costs about $70(USD) to produce. Check out Roman’s website for more on his invention.
[via Hack A Day]
Apr 13
The critically acclaimed 1996 dark comedy film Fargo, written and directed by The Coen Brothers is coming
to the small screen. That’s right, the hilarious yodeling accent made
famous by actress Frances McDorman in the classic flick also featuring
Steve Buscemi and William H. Macy has cast equal star power for a TV
version about to kick-off on the FX network this week. But that’s not
the only reason Fargo’s in the news these days. . .
Apr 13
Parrot AR.Drone Controlled with Head Movement Using Oculus Rift: OculusDrone
Posted in: Today's ChiliLast year we saw a drone camera system that streamed live 3D video that can be viewed through the Oculus Rift headset. Diego Araos wrote a program that not only lets you use the Rift to view the feed from a Parrot AR.Drone 2′s camera, it also uses control the drone through the headset.
Diego’s program OculusDrone taps into the Rift’s head tracking feature to control the AR.Drone 2 remotely. However, you need to use a keyboard command to order the AR.Drone to takeoff (Enter) and land (Escape).
Zip to GitHub to download OculusDrone.
Apr 13
Just because virtual reality displays let us interact with 3D interfaces doesn’t mean there isn’t room for the ol’ two-dimensional view inside of them. Oliver Kreylos, a developer who’s been working with 3D software for nearly 30 years, recently demonstrated a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) client that sends a 2D feed of a desktop computer to a 3D virtual reality environment.
Oliver’s VNC client allows him to open and interact with any number of 2D desktops on a virtual reality environment. Why would you want to do this? Well for one, you can reverse telecommute: imagine working in an island paradise environment while you’re actually in the office. Because you can (theoretically) open multiple desktops at once, the setup also supercharges multitasking and group meetings. You can watch a video walkthrough while playing a 3D game, look at a hundred fullscreen documents at once, have multiple large video chat screens like they do in science fiction flicks and more.
As you’ll see in Oliver’s demo video, developers can also make 2D applications that interact with the 3D environment. In his demo he measured a table that was in his virtual space and then used a Razer Hydra to send those measurements to Microsoft Excel on his 2D desktop.
We really don’t know how far the rabbit hole goes with this one. Note that the video below may cause dizziness because of the constant change in perspective. It almost made me throw up to be honest. I’m ill-equipped for the future.
Head to Oliver’s blog for more on his custom program. I wonder if you can emulate this feature on the same computer that’s running the VR environment. That would be more useful, although it would probably take a beefy computer to pull it off. Also, watching Oliver’s demo, I can almost – almost! – visualize a four-dimensional space, where you can fit infinite 3D environments. Now I’m really dizzy.
[via Fast Co. Design]
Apr 12
PocketPrinter Robot: Reamba
Posted in: Today's ChiliPortable printers are nothing new, but they’re usually as wide as A4 sheets. Because obviously they have to accommodate paper right? ZUta Labs looked at the problem differently. The most important part of a printer is the part that prints, i.e. the print head. So they took that part out of a traditional printer and made it fit on your paper instead of the other way around.
ZUta Labs’ PocketPrinter is a small robot that’s meant to go on top of the paper you want to print on. It uses omnidirectional wheels to navigate on paper, a small ink cartridge and a battery that lasts up to one hour per charge. You can send a file to be printed from your desktop computer, but Zuta Labs is also working on mobile apps so that you can wirelessly queue files from your mobile devices.
There are significant tradeoffs to its size though. The PocketPrinter’s pace is a glacial 1.2 pages per minute. Also, the lone ink cartridge means you can only print in grayscale. ZUta Labs is planning to make a full color model in the future.
Command-P a browser window and pledge at least $180 (USD) on Kickstarter by May 10 to get a PocketPrinter as a reward.
Apr 12
Who would have thought mist to be the key element that marries interaction to technology? Take a look at the innovative MisTable, the brainchild of Professor Sriram Subramanian and Dr … Continue reading
Apr 11
Are you wondering what this beetle has to do with holding up an ATM? Well, this innocent looking bombardier beetle
is not so innocent; in fact, this beetle is the inspiration for a foam
bomb developed to explode in a burglar’s face if he tries to mess with
an ATM.
Apr 11
When you hear about or see designs that can really help people lead fuller lives, you want them available – now! That’s how MIT’s FingerReader
hit me. Well, I said, to no one in particular, if you can prototype it,
get it done, roll it out, let people who are blind or visually impaired
have access to it – right now! The FingerReader is something they will want.
Apr 11
Nikon has unveiled a new digital camera called the Coolpix S810c that is its newest camera to use the Android operating system. Since the camera has Android on board, it is able to run apps and can upload video and images directly to social media.
The Android 4.2.2 powered camera can access any app available on the Google Play store and can send email directly from the camera. The S810c features a 16MP sensor and has vibration reduction to make images clearer. Optical zoom is 12x and digital zoom is offered to extend that range to 24x. On the camera’s back is a hi-res 1229k-dot TFT LCD touchscreen monitor, with anti-reflective coating.
Video can be recorded at 1920×1080 (30p) resolution, and in-camera image retouching is supported. GPS functionality in the camera tags the images with location data. The camera is available for pre-order now from B&H Photo for $346.95(USD).
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