Posts Tagged ‘Conceptual Gadgets’
Philips Sustainable City Lights concept project
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on February 25th, 2010
What you are seeing here is the Sustainable City Lights concept project from our friends at Philips.
Yes, Philips has given us many terrific products in the past few decades, and I cannot help think that this one seems really obvious.
You see, our streets just have to be lit at night, right? Of course, these streetlights have to be powered by something, so why not the power of the sun? Well, for one thing, streetlights only come on at night.
However, streetlights don’t do much during the day except make themselves vulnerable to an ever-abundant energy source known as the sun. Therefore, I see absolutely no reason why streetlights can’t just have solar panels on streetlights that absorb energy during the day so they can be used at night.
Of course, I am certain there has to be something with my logic, or else we would be doing this already. Perhaps you can’t get that much power during the day to last you through the night, especially when there are times of the year when the days are shorter.
Of course, I’m speaking as someone who might not know any better. I hope Philips work out the kinks that I am thinking of associated with this particular project.
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[ Philips Sustainable City Lights concept project copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Omnitread can get to places that we can’t
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 31st, 2009
I’m not certain what it is, but there is a lot of cool robot stuff happening today. First the JO-ZERO, the Remo, and now the OmniTread.
The OmniTread isn’t a humanoid robot, and it isn’t a kit that you can special order just yet. The OmniTread is the work of some developers at the University of Michigan, and it is designed for some very rugged work.
As you can see in the video (after the jump), you will note that the design of the OmniTread resembles that of a train. The serpentine robot has treads on all four sides of its segments, and pneumatic bellows that can lift itself up like a caterpillar.
Right now, the developers at the University of Michigan have two models of the OmniTread. One of them, the OT-4, is named because it has the ability to crawl through a small hole only four inches in diameter. Their experiments show them working with an Omnitread with an AC cord, but they do have a working model that is good for 75 hours worth of use with the help of some battery power.
The uses of the OmniTread are similar to the robo hummingbird that we reported on a few days ago. It is a machine that can go to places that we cannot, such as a collapsed building or cave-in. Just imagine having a durable camera mounted on the front of this guy, and you’ll see what I mean.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the OmniTread at work on the job in the near future. In fact, my source claims it was “ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice” for a quake that recently occurred in San Diego, but I couldn’t find a secondary source to back this up. Until then, let’s just assume that the OmniTread is just concept tech.
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[ Omnitread can get to places that we can’t copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Robot Hummingbird could one day have a tiny camera
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 29th, 2009
One of the most intriguing creatures in the animal kingdom is the hummingbird. These small birds have wings that move faster than 30 times per second, and they are the only bird that can fly backwards.
It does not surprise me that a Japanese researcher named Hiroshi Liu modeled his flying robot after the hummingbird. His robo-hummingbird, for lack of a better word, weighs up 2.6 grams and 10 centimeters long. Just to let you know, this is about the size of a non-robo-hummingbird.
Believe it or not, research into this robotic avian is at $2 million, and counting. The end-goal of this project is to create a robo-hummingbird with a tiny camera. This will allow the robo-hummingbird to fly into tight corners for going to places that humans cannot reach.
For example, in situations where a mineshaft has collapsed, and there is only tiny openings for air. Just send in the robo-hummingbird and check on the status on survivors. Now, you could achieve the same effect by mounting a tiny camera on a small flying toy copter, but the toy chopper would not be as stable in its flight.
Personally, I can easily see this robo-hummingbird being used as some sort of spy camera. I’m not certain if adding a colorful hummingbird disguise would fool anyone, though.
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[ Robot Hummingbird could one day have a tiny camera copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Bloxels glow-in-the-dark interactive blocks
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 29th, 2009
Bloxels aren’t just any blocks, but they can change color and glow. Of course, it uses the power of technology to create this luminous and colorful effect.
Think of it as some colorful Legos, and each of the blocks has a transmitter so you can make some beautiful designs. Bloxels are not just some glowing cube, but the Bloxels work by obtaining its color data from the lower level Bloxel. Somehow the data is transmitted through a series of infrared high-speed flickers.
Bloxels are the creation of Jinha Lee, who had a vision of pixels that “escaped the monitor screen and became controllable by people”? I suppose the name Bloxel comes form a combination of the word “block” and “pixel”.
Each Bloxel consists of two full color LEDs for display, nine infrared LEDs for data transmission, a photo detector, battery, and micro controller. As I mentioned before, this is from the creation of Jinha Lee, but there doesn’t seem to be any toy companies in line to purchase this. I suppose that it could be sort of educational, and maybe they could figure out a way to make the blocks in all sorts of building block shapes. Of course, there are a lot of batteries to be sold separately here.
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[ Bloxels glow-in-the-dark interactive blocks copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Cipher Drinking Glass lets you know what the liquid is
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 24th, 2009
Have you ever been in a party where every glass was the same, and you didn’t know which was yours? What’s really sick is when you take a sip, and discover that it is definitely not your drink.
Now imagine that you had these Cipher Drinking Glasses designed by Damjan Stankovic. See all those random colored squares on the glasses? Apparently, they have some odd ability to make certain words depending on what the liquid is in the glass. Depending on what squares appear, that will show what is in them.
It’s like those glasses back in the eighties that had the muscular men or buxom babes with the outfits that would disappear if there was liquid in the glass. I suppose that this is some sort of sensors in order to spell out what is in the cup.
You will note that it knows that one is “Coca-Cola” as opposed to “Pepsi”. Those would have to be some interesting sensors, and I wonder if they could detect a virgin drink from an alcoholic beverage. I mean, there must be thousands of possible drinking combinations, and I’m just not certain that this one glass could really do them all.
Unfortunately, this is still a concept device, so I doubt you’ll be seeing these glasses at a party anytime soon.
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[ Cipher Drinking Glass lets you know what the liquid is copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Toaster that mimics a printer
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 23rd, 2009
The toaster is probably one of the most boring gadgets out there, which is probably why designers enjoy altering the classic toaster so much. Well one more designer is trying their hand at changing up the way we use our toasters. This one seems to take its inspiration directly from a printer. Instead of printing out pages though, it spits out fresh toast.
It’s be cool if it did actually print something onto the toast, since the design is so similar to a printer. On the top of the toaster you place several different pieces of bread. Then as it toasts the bread it drops them down below in a nice little stack. It’d be great for large families that need a stack of toasted bread in a hurry. So far it is still a concept though.
Source: OhGizmo
Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Toaster that mimics a printer copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Toshiba and Electrolux Escargot snail vacuum cleaner
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 23rd, 2009
I think we all know what comes to mind when we think of a vacuum cleaner. You know, that stand up job with the wide front? I don’t think that vacuum cleaner design has changed in the past 30 years.
You got to admire that Toshiba, in a partnership with Electrolux, has created the Escargot, a vacuum that looks like a snail.
It’s always good to see a concept device that is “borrowed” from nature. The Escargot rolls up like that slimy gastropod, but it will fit in between the space of the large wheels that make up the Escargot’s “shell”.
It weighs about 2.1 kilograms, and it can it can be rolled around or carried with a shoulder strap. My source does not reveal how large this vacuum cleaner is, but if it was as large as a regular vacuum, than it wouldn’t be so compact, would it?
Personally, I’m already sold on it just by its shape alone. In fact, I highly recommend that Toshiba paints it in bright colors to look like Gary the snail from Spongebob Squarepants.
Yeah, I realize that that is unlikely, because by the time this concept probably sees the light of sales, Spongebob will have been canceled.
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[ Toshiba and Electrolux Escargot snail vacuum cleaner copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Art Lebedev’s See-through Semi-truck
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 23rd, 2009
Some of you have at least heard of Art Lebedev, the creator of the Optimus Maximus, the keyboard with a screen on every key. Some of you thought that was impractical, and it was quite expensive.
Art Lebedev has now conceived another idea that will probably very expensive to implement, but very useful. It is called the Transparentius, and it is a Harry Potter spell to turn a truck invisible.
Seriously, it actually is a way to put two LCD screens on the back of a semi truck to show what is in front of it. Of course, there would have to be a camera in front of the truck to create this sub-standard invisibility trick.
I can see the inspiration for this Transparentius, because we have all been behind a big semi trucks before. They usually move so slow, that we have to pass, but those trucks are massive that we can’t see around them. With these screens on the back, now you see when it is safe to pass.
Of course, those screens have to be pretty expensive, and then there is the camera that it feeds to. It could be an easy target for truck-stop robbers.
Well, this is still a concept for now, so maybe Mr. Levedev can iron out all the kinks of this device soon. Perhaps LCD screens will be really cheap by then.
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[ Art Lebedev’s See-through Semi-truck copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Dungeons and Dragons played on the Microsoft Surface
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 18th, 2009
It has been decades since I have played Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Decades. I’m not certain why I ever stopped. Maybe because I realized that playing D&D gave you an automatic label of “geek”.
However, this team from Carnegie Mellon has developed a D&D that can be played on Microsoft’s Surface. There is a video of it after the jump if you want to see it in action, and I highly recommend that you do, even though it is quite long. And you thought the SCOPE augmented reality game looked neat.
The video shows that players can put their miniature figures on the Surface, and it will automatically give the stats on the display.
As for the Dungeon Master’s (DM) role, he or she can make maps, and then go in for closeups and scroll with some device exists that outside of the surface. You’ll have to watch the vid to see what I’m talking about. It would appear that the DM is linked to the Surface with a laptop for their own personal privacy.
Now, the whole Dungeons and Dragons game is dependent on dice, and it appears that there is a kind of virtual dice that the character can “roll”.
Even though I am not in the Role-Playing Game scene any more, I can see how this technology could take off. However, we are a long way from having a Surface in every household. Honestly, I can’t help but love the Surface and want one for my very own.
SurfaceScapes Gameplay Session from Surfacescapes on Vimeo.
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[ Dungeons and Dragons played on the Microsoft Surface copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Yotaro Baby Simulator, with real tears!
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 18th, 2009
Personally, I think that the target audience for the Yotaro baby simulator would be children who have just learned that they will have a new brother or sister.
As you may be able to tell from the shot of Yotaro’s oversized head, the fake baby has a projector behind it to simulate a face, albeit a freaky one. This projected face can even respond to a touch. You know your skin turns a lighter color when you press your fingers against it? The Yotaro baby’s face can do that.
It also has, from what I can tell, authentic tears. The video that you can watch after the jump shows the Yotaro connected to a water tank.
As I said before, I’m not certain who this Yotaro baby simulator is designed for. If it is designed to prepare potential parents for caring for a real child, I just can’t help but think that it won’t work. Trust me, nothing prepares you for a real baby.
You can’t always calm a baby’s crying by doing a series of actions to calm it down, believe me. Maybe they’ll program the Yotaro to a “fussy” setting where nothing will calm him or her down, and it takes hours before the baby tires him/herself out. Now that’s realistic parenting.
Of course, Yotaro is just a concept technology from Japan’s University of Tsukuba. It isn’t available for purchase…yet.
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[ Yotaro Baby Simulator, with real tears! copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
