Tag: Robots
FlyClear lets you buy-fly-pass
After standing in line for six hours and taking your shoes off once an hour for all that time, the FlyClear starts to sound like a heckuva deal. Costing $100 and in (as it were) pilot projects in the US, FlyClear uses a biometric card to let you quickly slide past the peons who’d rather pay with their feet. So far, available in Orlando, NY-JFK, Indianapolis, San Jose and Cinncinnati – but hopefully tomorrow the world, before I start my book tour. [GT]
FlyClear [via CrunchGear]
Music robots roundup
You’ll say domo arigato to these musical Mr. Robotos who play everything from trumpet to DJ scratches. Also, if you missed the John Coltrane robot rendering be sure to add that to your Friday caffeine relaxation moments. Video of Georgia Tech’s “Haile” the drum player after the jump. [GT]
Bernina Artista 730E sewing machine with Windows
Combine Home Economics with Computer class through the Bernina Artista 730E sewing machine with Windows. This sewing machine quilts, embroiders and does conventional sewing, sporting 850 stitches, 6 alphabet styles, monograms in 3 sizes, 10 buttonholes, 31 quilting stitches and hundreds of decorative stitches which you navigate through via the Windows interface, begging the question of what role exactly you play in all this, aside from a) paying for it and b) asking it for fashion tips. You can even design embroidery patterns via the Artlink software and upload them to your sewing machine, which is both incredibly cool and slightly creepy. Contains USB hookup to your home PC. [GT]
Bernina Artista 730E sewing machine with Windows [via UberGizmo]
Seiko E-Ink Spectrum Watch
The potentially very beautiful Seiko E-Ink Spectrum Watch uses E-Ink to render the time in a delicately scrollworked (and presumably selectable) display that is encased in 360-degree continuous sapphire crystal. Diameter: outside 75.3mm, Inside 61.5mm, Width 22.0mm, Thickness: 6.9mm and the weight is 80g. Soon to be your new favourite piece of functional jewelry at $2,000. [GT]
Seiko E-Ink Spectrum Watch [via SciFi Tech]
Dimitri CD holder
Instead of the typical CD holder which takes up a lot of space on your desk, this little plastic weightlifter named Dimitri will hold them for you for quick retrieval. This is really helpful if the CDs didn’t have a case to begin with. Lift with the legs, Dimitri, lift with the legs! $6.99. [GT]
Dimitri CD holder [via i4u]
Hotdoll: Real Doll for dogs
If, uh, your dog, has a habit of, uh, befouling, certain of your possessions, and you’re willing to pay anything (and you mean anything) to have it stop, the Hotdoll might start to sound like a really good idea. It is a pseudo-realistic sex doll for your dog. Whether or not your dog would legitimately mistake it for another dog and want to cuddle afterward remains to be seen, but if this incredibly weird-looking mess of latex means your sofa’s spared, it’s probably worth whatever FeelAddicted charges for it (and it is “whatever”; no price given). [GT]
Hotdoll: sex toy for your dog [via Gizmodo]
Drop speaker: water resistant iPod speaker
This ZumReed Drop Speaker lets you listen to your iPod while taking a shower in the bathroom, doing dishes in the kitchen, or lounging on a towel at the beach. The iPod is securely nestled inside but has external waterproof controls. It also looks cool as it comes in orange, white, and teal. The price is an unexpectedly cheerful ¥4988. [GT]
ZumReed Drop Speaker [via technabob]
Space shield to block radiation
Scientists at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting in Preston, UK are debating whether a Star-Trek-like deflector shield is feasible to protect astronauts from cancer-causing radiation from cosmic rays and solar flares. The shield would be magnetically generated and filled with ionised plasma gas. As the energy particles interact with the plasma they’d have the energy damped down to the point where they couldn’t damage the astronauts. “You don’t need much of a magnetic field to hold off the solar wind. You could produce the shield 20-30 kilometres away from the spacecraft,” explained Dr Ruth Bamford, from the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory in Didcot, UK, one of the scientists on the team. [GT]
Replace your iRiver H320 Or H340 battery yourself
The good people at iRiver have made the H320 and H340 in such a way that you can replace the battery yourself – provided you have the nice DIY video from videojug showing you how to do it. (Someone else over there will also show you how to fold a t-shirt in 2 seconds). [GT]
