Hasta La Gadget!

A team of young engineers have invented a wearable keyboard. They’re calling it the G.A.U.N.T.L.E.T. – the Generally Accessible Universal Nomadic Tactile Low-power Electronic Typist. I can’t decide which is more awkward, the acronym or the G.A.U.N.T.L.E.T. itself.

The glove was conceptualized by Jiake Liu, who was inspired by sci-fi movies Children of Men and Minority Report. The glove pairs with devices via Bluetooth, which makes it convenient. What doesn’t make it convenient is the position of the letters, which are scattered all over the glove.

It appears that Liu and his peers invented G.A.U.N.T.L.E.T. as part of a school project, so even though the device itself isn’t that practical I am still thoroughly impressed. Liu imagines a future where the glove can be used to operate almost any device: “Need to microwave something? Touch the microwave oven with GAUNTLET (version 10), and through NFC (near field communication) you are paired with the oven, whose interface will pop up on your glasses, and you can use GAUNTLET to set the cook time.  Need to print something? Touch the printer, and now you can control the printer. Etc.” But if you need to type something? Stick with your phone’s keyboard.

[Gauntlet via Ubergizmo]

I was sitting around the house the other day thinking what I really needed to make my life complete was a pair of articulated cat ears that I could wear on my head. I mean, I have a cool car, a gigantic television, and a sweet job (not this one mind you). The only thing lacking in my life is a nice set of giant plush cat ears. You can imagine how happy I was to notice that Necomimi has now officially launched its Brainwave Cat Ears in the United States.

We talked about these things last year and apparently you could previously find them at certain geek conventions. Apparently, they will now come to other retail locations for you to purchase for $99.95(USD). The idea is that the cat ears are on a headband that has a sensor that rests on your four head to read your brainwaves. The ears will tell other people what you’re feeling so you don’t have to bother with stupid stuff like talking to people.

The cat ears are able to show three emotional states. When something catches the wearer’s attention, the ears stand straight up. When the wearer is relaxed, the ears will droop down. When the user is both highly focused and highly relaxed the ears wiggle back-and-forth. Sadly it’s missing the indicator for “I’m going to dust you with bath salts and chew your face off.”

We’ve seen androids that have crossed the uncanny valley in terms of their face. But what about their other parts? Well, thanks to 24-year old Nobuhiro Takahashi, you can scratch realistic butts off of that list. Takahashi has invented Shiri, a mechanical butt that responds to touch.

Shiri – Japanese for buttocks, and my prime proof in my theory that Apple Japan was facepalming when they heard the iPhone personal assistant’s name – has three main parts: a silicon skin, a pair of actuators and a microphone. The actuators serve as Shiri’s muscles while the microphone senses how the skin is touched. Stroke it and it will clench its cheeks; spank it and it will quiver. Yes this is very creepy, thanks for asking.

Takahashi says he invented Shiri because he’s aware that humans don’t just communicate verbally; we also have physical reactions or expressions. Takahashi also said that Shiri is a great starting point because our butts have large muscles and thus make more visible movements. I hope for his own sake that his friends and family believed him. Seriously though, I assume the rest of the world is now behind Japan in robotics, amirite?

[via Daily Mail]

The Booth lounger is a good way to say “I don’t want to talk to you but I kindly invite you to stare at me.” With a removable hood, you can send the memo that although you don’t want to be bothered, you still welcome attention and intrigue. More »

Some people look to connect with others by joining clubs or organizations. Others end up meeting lifelong friends or the love of their lives online.

Then there are others, (okay, just one) like Lori N., who thinks that the way to connect with people is to “sell” her soul on eBay.

How she’ll manage to deliver her soul to the winner is beyond me. Unfortunately, none of us will find out how she plans to do it because eBay has since pulled the plug on the auction.

Lori’s reason for selling her soul was because she was running out of options after figuring in a car accident last year that has left her with a number of injuries that made it hard for her to find a job. So yes, it’s to raise some money but at the same time, to connect “with somebody else’s soul.”

This isn’t the first time that someone has tried to sell his or her soul on eBay. They were all cancelled, of course, for the following reason:

eBay does not allow the auctioning of human souls for the following reasons: If the soul does not exist, eBay could not allow the auctioning of the soul because there would be nothing to sell. However, if the soul does exist then, in accordance with eBay’s policy on human parts and remains, we would not allow the auctioning of human souls.

Best of luck to you, Lori. And don’t lose hope: tomorrow’s another day. And who knows? A miracle might be on its way.

[via Dvice]