Now, we’ve never been to this “Hall of Presidents” at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida (our parents instead taking us to real, disused dungeons and battlefields for family entertainment), but we’re thinking about heading down there today — not because the newest animatronic addition — President Barack Obama — has just been unveiled, but [...]
Drawing faces is hard; and as children suckled at the teat of MTV we posses neither the patience nor the discipline required to learn the skill. So imagine our surprise to discover the Self-Portrait Machine, a device that snaps your photo and then forces you to draw your own face by dragging your bound hands [...]
We’ve seen plenty of tiny UAVs (or NAVs — Nano Aerial Vehicles — as they’re also known), but none quite like the robo-hummingbird that’s been in development at DARPA-contractor AeroVironment for the past couple of years. While we haven’t heard much about it during that time, the company recently completed its most advanced prototype to [...]
Designed for search and rescue missions - which, let’s face it, are only ever one loose word away from “search and destroy” - the SCRATCHbot uses its whiskers to detect disaster survivors in inhospitable or dangerous areas. The Bristol Robotics Laboratory developed the rat-inspired people searcher over the past 6 years and now hopes to [...]
Robots and other devices linked to social networking sites aren’t exactly anything new, but few have been in the form of tiny robot penguins, and even fewer have been tiny robot penguins with hats. That bit of mold-breaking comes courtesy of upstart Arimaz of Switzerland, which is now busy showing off its MyDeskFriend “Facebook companion” [...]
After what must’ve been a few painful minutes of rehearsal, a few robots built by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research have preformed what we assume to be their first and last paid gig: a rendition of Happy Birthday to celebrate the 100th of the Science Museum in the UK. What’s interesting about these [...]
Step aside, Wall-E: Buzz Lightyear, courtesy of Thinkway Toys, has arrived to claim his rightful place at the top of the robot-based-on-Disney-character heap. Maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but Buzz’s facial animation, sexy moves and trademark catch-phrases have all been wrapped up into a nice little bow here to rake in the cash [...]
We’ve reported on many a creepy looking and dangerous sounding robot in the past, but this one might just take the cake when it comes to dominating your nightmares for the next few nights. Developed by a team at Duke University, the bot uses ultrasound to identify areas of density in human flesh, then starts [...]
Yes, you could just run out and buy a vocoder, but they’re kinda pricey and this way is so much more fun! Using an IKEA clock, a fluorescent desk lamp, an HT8950 voice modulator, a condenser microphone and some miscellaneous stuff you’re crafty self is bound to have just laying around, you can make one [...]
Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.
Previously on Movie Gadget Friday, we tapped into the near dystopian future of fear in Brazil. Keeping on that 1980’s near-future vibe (but with a slightly more sentient twist), this week we check out Michael Crichton’s [...]
