Tag: tech Digest
AIST's New Robotic Hand implies world of techno-Simpsons to come
Our new robot overlords will likely have three fingers, not four, if the new AIST robotic hand for blue-collar robots is any indication. Robot hands in the past have either been overly pretty, fragile or specialized, whereas these may…
Onboard vehicle cameras to detect speed limit in 2008
In undisclosed models in 2008, German electronics giant Siemens AG will roll out (sorry) cars with onboard cameras that read speed limit signs and beam a chastising message on the windscreen. Those with cruise control enabled may find it…
Robot chair goes on tour with its fall-apart pull-self-back-together act
The Robotic Chair looks like a regular wooden straight-backed chair, until it falls apart into several pieces… whereupon the pieces invoke their 14 motors, 2 gearboxes, and various other components to pull the entire chair back together into a…
Light Display Projector for Ghosts now, Snowflakes later
"Darling," you say lazily, sipping another Solstice Punch and rolling over to apply yet another layer of coconut oil, "I do so miss the winter. Pull out the Light Display Projector and put on some snowflakes, would you?" Or…
Evesham Crusader Carbon3 PC trades horsepower for emissions
Fast, good, cheap, pick two, as the saying goes, and the Evesham Crusader Carbon3 PC goes for the latter two – if you define 'good' in terms of virtue. Running at 1.5ghz (a VIA C7-D chip, "the first ever…
Wi-Fi Walker saves you from miserable extinction
Wifi Walker is another little gizmo that lets you detect open wireless networks by pushing a small button rather than conspiciously unloading your entire gear and walking around peering into the screen with such intensity that you trip over…
Art-O-Meter rates art, gives you snotty comments
Why fool around pretending interest in Michelangelo's David or Guernica or Duchamp's Fountain when you can just glance down at your Art-O-Meter and have it tell you what you're supposed to feel? Okay, it's only a piece of art…
Net Tansor: The Voyeur Robot
We all remember those godawful X10 pop-up-over-under ads that plagued the net the way libido-booster ads plague late-night telly. Apparently tiny wireless webcams weren't enough for one planet, so Friendly Robotics have stepped up with the Net Tansor, which…
Are MMORPGs addictive? Yes, for some
I'm a 'chipper' smoker, which means I smoke about a pack a week; go through phases of more and phases of not smoking at all. So I'm better suited than most to say that addiction is a complicated phenomenon,…
SoundID Personal Sound Systems
'Just step over there if you want some privacy,' you say, fingering your SoundID in your pocket. Although this is technically a hearing aid – a powerful hearing aid at that – it seems inevitable that it'll be used…