Hasta La Gadget!

Instructables member Patrick aka Mizchief100 made what he calls the Visual Impairment Aid or VIA, a wrist-mounted device that alerts the wearer of nearby objects by vibrating and emitting a beeping noise. It’s like the Spider Sense toy but in a more practical form, not to mention one that you can build yourself.

Like the Spider Sense toy, the VIA uses an ultrasonic distance sensor. Patrick added a buzzer and two vibrating motors to provide feedback. He also made a 3D-printed case for the device, adding Braille labels to its power switch and two buttons. One of the buttons lets the wearer select whether to use haptic, audio or both types of feedback. The other button switches between long and short distance modes: “…in short distance mode the beeping/vibrating is scaled so it’s easier to tell differences between things close up (<3 feet) and long distance mode makes it easier to tell things far away (~10 feet max).”

Head to Instructables to find out how you can make your own VIA. If you’re looking for a more practical version of Patrick’s device, check out the UltraCane.

[via Hacked Gadgets]

Many mid- to high-end headphones have noise-cancelling features. But sometimes you need to hear what’s going on around you. That’s where open ear headphones come in. The Sound Band is one such device. It’s a Bluetooth headset that conducts sound through your bone and tissue. Your ears will be uncovered and you’ll be the only one who hears what’s coming through the Sound Band.

As I said, Sound Band falls into an existing class of headphones. Similar products include the earHero and the AfterShokz. What intrigues me about the Sound Band are its two omnidirectional MEMS microphones. Hybra Advance Technology, the company behind Sound Band, claims that the microphones have noise reduction and echo cancellation.

If they can get that part right, they might have a leg up on the competition.

Pledge at least $125 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Sound Band as a reward (Hybra says the product will retail at $189). Or just take your earphones off for a minute. That’s an option too. I’m just putting it out there.

The water batteries however, have no such problem. Aqua Power System Japan were the first to introduce NOPOPO – an eco-friendly battery that generates No Pollution Power – thus the name NoPoPo. The battery is completely rechargeable and it can be totally recycled. The water used within the battery is regular drinking water. No need for special water like that used in a car battery.

While this R/C car technically doesn’t run solely on water, it’s still a pretty interesting scientific toy to have around. This new revision of the hydrogen-powered R/C car is more energy efficient and cheaper than the 2008 original.

Water is poured into the i-H2GO car’s refueling station, then it is electrolyzed. The process splits H2O into hydrogen and oxygen using the power of a solar panel. The hydrogen is then directed into the car, and the car basically runs off hydrogen by converting it into electricity. On cloudy days, you can use a USB cable to electrolyze the water.

The i-H2GO is controlled by an iOS app at the moment. An Android app is forthcoming.

You can get the whole setup for $180(USD) from Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies. It will ship on August 15.

[via Werd]

Julian Oliver’s toy tank is a destructive weapon. You can’t even see its ammo, and it hits everything around it. That’s because it has a signal jammer that can block mobile phone signals within a 20 to 50 ft. radius. No wonder Julian calls it No Network.

No Network blocks signals sent via widely used standards, including CDMA, GSM and 3G. Based on the images on Julian’s website, I think No Network is based on Tamiya’s 1:35 scale model of the Mk 5 Chieftain. He didn’t say where he got the signal jammer, but it’s easy to find gadgets like that these days.

The tank is the second in Julian’s series of functional art that represent cyber warfare and cyber weapons. The first piece he made is the Transparency Grenade, which snoops around and sends the data it gathers to a remote server. Julian said he’ll make two more tanks: one that blocks GPS signals and another that blocks Wi-Fi signals. He should make a drone that shoots EMPs. Or sprays water. No Network? How about No Electronics?

[via Julian Oliver via DudeIWantThat]