News about Conceptual Gadgets:
ITP Thesis shows that the touchscreen is not enough
The touchscreen has revolutionized the last decade, and it will continue to improve this decade. However, this ITP thesis by Michael Kneupfel for NYU’s design program has shown that the touchscreen could use a little more accessories.
Ollie the robot comes in blimp form, with a child’s mentality
The other day, we reported on some telepresence robots that were essentially miniature blimps that fly around with someone’s head on it, and I equated the floating heads with something rather dystopian.
Ubiquitous iRemoTap is a Wi-Fi connected power strip
If you are like me, you have “that desk” in your house that is sort of the hub for digital information. On the desk is a laptop or desktop computer, and all kinds of accessories.
The Invisible iPhone prototype
Here’s some interesting App developed by Patrick Baudisch and his team of researchers at the Hasso-Lattner Institute.
As you can see from the video, they have figured out a way to make the iPhone invisible. Actually, they just figured out a way for the user to put the interface on a hand thanks to “an Xbox-like camera”. Special software is able to determine where the fingers are on the palm, and transmit the commands via WiFi radio.
Shell to build massive floating juggernaut
So what do you do if you are Big Oil and need to get a little more oil before all the oil runs out? You build yourself the largest floating object in the seas!
In the future, our heads will go more places than our bodies ever will
We have covered devices that allow for telepresence before. Usually, they come in robotic form, like the Anybot. This particular method of mini robot blimps is nothing short of freaky.
Stay to the right with the Lenticular floor pattern
This strange pattern on the floor that you see in the photo is a product of research from people at the Tokyo University of Electro-Communications. The arrangement of the tiles has nothing to do with an art-deco or seventies aesthetic, but it sends a subliminal message.
Bye-5: Turn off the lights by slapping it some skin
I have no idea of who invented the high-five, but this hand-to-hand slap has become one of the first things we learn. We are always so proud when our little babies can high five. Yes, there is something very positive about this hand slap, and designer Da Deng has channeled this positive energy into a device that can save energy.
Samsung and Toshiba both have flexible screen displays on display
I think that we all know that the future is going to be bendable displays, and two big companies, Samsung and Toshiba, have their screens in the spotlight recently.
I’ll start with the one from Toshiba, pictured here to the left. It measures at about 3 inches on the diagonal, and it is only 0.1 mm thin. It was made with an oxide semiconductor TFT to a plastic substrate at 200 degrees Celsius. This makes it light at one gram, and it can also retain image quality over a long period of time.
Vieria Concept Car actually cleans the air
I think that we all know that nothing contributes to the growing problem of air pollution than the automobile. However, this Vieria concept car is not planning on being a contributor, but it will clean the air.
Human-powered helicopter breaks record with a four-second flight
It seems like human-powered flight is becoming more popular, with the flight of the ornithopter in September of last year, and now a flight of a human-powered helicopter.
Willow Garage’s PR2 robot being trained as a cashier
I worked a for few years at Wal-Mart, and it’s very weird to shop there when you have worked there yourself. With only one exception, I can tell that the cashier doesn’t want to be there any more than I wanted to.
Fujitsu’s Touchpad keyboard concept
I think Fujitsu’s concept devices have figured out what consumers really want. Last week, we reported on the hybrid notebook/tablet that can fold into quarters, and now this touchpad keyboard.
This ride gets more thrilling as you get more scared
So what is it that we are looking at here, some sort of swing that doubles as a torturing device?
You are close. Imagine if there was a thrill-park ride that got more thrilling as you were thrilled. I realize that there was way too many variations of the word “thrill” in that last sentence, but here is what people at Nottingham University are attempting:
Japanese Researchers working on this Aero Train
I always liked how those maglev trains can hover on the tracks, and Japanese Researchers are working on another type of floating train with this prototype that you see here.
Fujitsu hybrid notebook/tablet folds into fourths
I have always envisioned a world where there is a portable device that works like a laptop, but has the portability of a cell phone.
I believe I have shared my story of how I tried to report from CES 2011 on my Droid X. The smartphone is just too small a device, but I don’t like lugging around a laptop or notebook.
Charge your Cell Phone – With Sound
It happened again, I was 50 miles from home with a million things that needed to be done, when I got a flat tire, and my cell phone was dead. I didn’t have a charger, I was in the middle of nowhere, and I had to get to a dentist appointment AND I pick my daughter up at school. Why is it the phone never goes dead while I’m texting nonsense to my best friend in Minnesota?
This Touchscreen lets you feel your touch on the other side
Some of you might remember yesterday when we reported on the PaperPhone, and how it could be the new touchscreen for mobile devices. Today, it is another concept touchscreen that could change mobile technology as we know it.
Could the PaperPhone change the way we do mobile devices?
I think we all know that consumer electronics companies are struggling to make their devices thinner and thinner. We all know where this is heading, to a future era where every piece of paper is like a tablet PC, like on the failed Caprica TV series.
Bio Robot Fridge keeps food cold in gelatin
Every year, Electrolux Design Lab has a a design contest where they challenge students to come up with new home appliances for a future era.
Puppy Robotic concept vacuum makes Roombas into cute pets
Considering that most of us have Roombas or other robot vacuums patrolling our floors in search of stray dirt, it almost seems like they are pets in some households. This particular concept device really takes the pet vacuum cleaner to a whole new level with Puppy Robotic. You can probably see how it works.
Microsoft shows off the house of the future
About two years ago, we reported on a video of what Microsoft’s version of 2019 would look like. As I recall, it was full of giant touchscreens, and simple handhelds that can do just about anything. What you can see after the jump is another video showing what the average house of the future could look like.
Get rid of those clothing store fitting rooms with mybestfit
I don’t do a lot of clothes shopping, and I usually treat the fitting rooms as one of those “necessary evils”. Generally, they are too cramped, and trying on clothes for “the right size” and “the right look” can be time consuming if you are shopping with your wife.
Japanese technology creates a kiss over the Internet
What we are seeing here is not a man drinking out of a large juicebox, but a project from students at Japan’s Kajimoto Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications. It is a way of sending a kiss through the Internet.
Robot is inspired by the caterpillar
I have said before that if you are going to build a robot, then you should imitate something of nature. I have seen robots inspired from snakes and birds, but this is the first one that I have seen that have looked to the caterpillar.
Lego Audio Book Helmet can read to kids
Since the beginning of recorded audio, there has been books written to work in tandem with a record, cassette, CD, or digital file so that children can be read to.
Electric/Hybrid Car comes with a scooter in the back
This is the McCar, and before you crack the most obvious Mcjoke that you are thinking, it is built by Geely, the same Chinese company that owns Volvo.
Music Echo concept
If you would have noticed by now, there would be a bunch of product design students attached to the University of Dundee who have to come up with a final year project, and they are busy pinging gadget and design blogs all over the place to pimp their design, hoping to gain as much accolade and bouquets as possible. Jennifer Crossley has come up with a rather interesting Music Echo concept, where she intends for this device to help those out with hearing impairments.
AvA 299 DROP Heliboarding concept
This is a concept copter that addresses an issue that I don’t really have. If you or someone that you know likes to go up to the summits of high mountains in order to ski or snowboard down, then this is probably the chopper you want to take to get there.
Fraunhofer IPMS OLED microdisplay-based eyetracking HMD
For those of you that don’t know what HMD is, it is an acronym for Head Mounted Device. This particular HMD has a microdisplay, like the Lumus PD-20 that we reported on a while ago.
Check out this the HECTOR spider robot
This spidery looking robot is designed by the University of Bielefeld’s Department of Biological Cybernetics, and it is the HECTOR, which is a weird quasi-acronym meaning the HExapod Cognitive auTonmously Operating Robot.
Control your cell phone with a ring with the Nokia Nenya
When I saw this particular concept product from Finnish cell phone giant Nokia, I thought I was looking at some delayed April Fool’s Joke like the Google Motion. That, or someone really can’t wait for the Green Lantern movie (coming this summer).
Would someone manufacture the Tron Light Cycle Board Game
What you see in the photo is a Tron Light Cycle board game, but it is not for sale.
It is a DIY project from Brett King. Apparently, his kids loved the movie Tron Legacy so much, and he loves his kids so much, that he made this for them. Hopefully, you understood that, and you should check out a video of it after the jump.
DARPA augmented reality goggles
For some reason, whenever I hear DARPA, I always associate it with some nifty technology that may or may not exist.
Sticky Light is the coolest thing you will see all day
You know how cats like to play with the ball from the laser pointer? This is Sticky Light is a laser ball that people can play with.
The Sticky Light is designed by people at the University of Tokyo’s Ishikawa Hasimoto Laboratory, and it uses a laser diode, steering mirrors, and a non-imaging photodetector in order to perform its amazing ability that you have to see.
REETI the robot can show its emotions
I know some of us never want robots to ever have emotions, but I suppose that no one has any qualms about creating a robot that could show emotions.
This is the desktop robot known as REETI, and I am not certain what it stands for, but it is a communication robot and a multi-media tool that could be used to convey a very particular type of message. You can watch the video after the jump if you want to get an idea of how this works.
Smart Spectacles – “See” the World Through the Eyes of a Gamer
Welcome one and all, to the future, the days have arrived where the cheesy sci-fi movie scenes of yesteryear are actually coming true. Case in point, check out these new eyeglasses, you’ve seen them before, they just weren’t a reality, until now…
You have got to like the SWITL spatula
Sometimes it is the simple things in life that you appreciate the most. For example, something that can clean up a ketchup or mayonnaise stain without leaving any trace evidence (for lack of a better word).
Neutral Power Drill combines screwdriver, laser level, and stud finder in one
I am definitely in need of a new electronic screwdriver, as this old Wal-Mart one seems to have out-lasted its short life.
iChair arrives at KickStarter
KickStarter is a pretty interesting initiative since it allows budding ideas to take off as long as enough people buy in into the idea. One of the more recent ones would be the iChair, and judging by the ‘i’ prefix in front, one would think that this has something to do with a device from Apple. Of course, such thinking is spot on, as the iChair is an integrated stand that offers hands-free viewing in either portrait or landscape mode. This is also a dual layer case for added protection, where the slider style lets one access all third party accessories in the process.
Cyberdyne’s HAL-5 Exoskeleton, that’s right, Cyberdyne
While I was at CES last January, I passed a booth for Cyberdyne. I saw that and wondered: “don’t they know that this is the organization that ended the world in the Terminator movies?”
Origami DVD Player – Go Easy on the Creases
I came across this amazing foldable DVD player concept while browsing online, but before I could marvel at its ability to be fold up and be put in a pocket, I had to understand the technology behind it. Unbeknownst to me, For almost 30 years now, over a dozen companies have been working on what’s called, electronic paper technologies. Their work has now evolved into being able to combine the flexibility of digital information with the convenience of a foldable, bendable paper-like product, well, more like a thin foldable plastic placemat.
Check out this 26 foot snakebot camera!
Even though I am based in the United States, I am constantly thinking about Japan after the tsunami and earthquake.
A while ago, we reported on a snake-like robot known as the Omnitread that is essentially a train of treaded cars that can got through rubble. It is a design that I have seen before in the Firegard, and this model here.
LockCracker picks any combination lock
Have you ever been blocked from something by a combination lock that you didn’t know the combination for? I once had a locker in junior high school that someone put a combo lock on. Not one of my better days.
This skyscraper harnesses the power of lightning
This building is one of those concept buildings that I probably will never see built, but it certainly is downright useful.
This Hydra skyscraper is made of graphene, which is light, strong, and very conductive of electricity. You will note that this structure is one big lightning rod, and there is a lot of open space on this building.
