Razer is an old hand when it comes to rolling out gaming peripherals, and you know by their pedigree that they do follow a no-nonsense procedure when churning out quality products. Well, this time around, it would be the Xbox 360 community who is set to benefit from what Razer has in mind – the company recently introduced a major closed beta program that intends to encourage community feedback on the design of a highly-customizable arcade stick for the Xbox 360.
Yes sir, it sounds as though Razer wants to endow Xbox 360 owners with an arcade stick that is set to stand the test of time – design-wise as well as in terms of build. This arcade stick will be developed with pro-gamer feedback, where it currently resides at the prototype stage.
Conceptual Gadgets
Levitatr Portable Bluetooth Keyboard
I must admit that I could not do this post without a physical keyboard with keys. I tried to do a post from my Droid X before, and it just didn’t work.
Apparently, James Stumpf has had the same problem when he was typing on his iPad, and he was on a an airplane when he had a funny yet inspirational thought. What if the keys could just grow up out of the glass?
This is the idea of the Levitatr, a Bluetooth keyboard that can retract its keys when not in use. The idea is to prevent accidental key presses, and keep dirt and crumbs out. You can watch a video of it after the jump, and they really try and make retractable keys as dramatic as possible.
OggBoard could spell the end for “bored” games
This is the Oggboard, and the “Ogg” is short for augmented reality. The Oggboard combines traditional turn-based strategy games with augmented reality, a nifty piece of technology that I have reported on more than once, for sure.
The board has a simplistic yet unusual design where each user places his or her smartphone to view the specially made tiles. This board folds up easily for compact storage.
You can watch the video after the jump to see that the phone’s view creates lifelike game avatars that battle each other out.
Privacy Shell will get people looking at you
What you are seeing here in this photo are Wearable Privacy Shells. I believe that the purpose of this device is to shield out the rest of the world for at least a few moments.
I am guessing that a few moments of peace is all that you will get as everyone will be looking at you after that. However, I have seen situations where people ignore the strangest and most unusual things. Just go to a big city and you’ll see all kinds of people that people just walk by every day.
You will notice that this Privacy Shell is designed for two people, but there are Privacy Shells that cover just the face, or just the eyes. You can see more at my Source link after the jump.
Get to Space via Balloon with the Bloon
Now that the Space Shuttle program has been essentially grounded, it is time to start thinking of new ways to leave the atmosphere.
Virgin Galactic may be banking on expensive trips with space planes, but this is the first time that I have heard of traveling to space via balloon.
This lighter-than-air spacecraft, the Bloon, will reach 22 miles (36 kilometers) into space. That is enough to see the curvature of the Earth, but not enough to float the passengers with zero gravity. Check out the video after the jump to see what it might look like.
MABEL, the running robot
What you are seeing here is MABEL, a special project at the University of Michigan’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and it is the “fastest bipedal robot with knees”.
How fast can it go? It’s top speed is 6.8 miles per hour, and that is on a flat, circular track. The speed is pretty good, and it is due to a “human-like weight distribution”.
You can watch a video of it after the jump, and I can tell you that no special effects were used in the filming. I wouldn’t have minded if they had used a greenscreen to make the rod invisible.
Umbrella doubles as a squirt gun
Just to let you know, this particular device is not out on the market yet. Which is too bad, as I can think of a few mischievous uses for an umbrella that also has a squirt gun.
After all, if it is raining outside, you might as well be funneling the water on the top of the umbrella into a squirt gun on the handle. Too bad this gun is too obvious, as it would have been better as a concealed weapon. After all, who wouldn’t want to be the only one who stays dry in the midst of umbrellas while it is pouring out? Let the other umbrella-bearers be wet and not know why.
Dave Forbes’ LED-TV Lab coat set for Burning Man
I’ve seen attempts at mixing displays with clothing before, and they usually end up being a stiff screen on loose clothing. Yeah, it isn’t really a good fit, but Dave Forbes has created a 160 x 120 LED video coat that somehow plays video all over. You can watch a video of it after the … Read more
The Aid cane helps track of vital signs
I think it is a huge stereotype that senior citizens don’t deal well with technology, but this tech cane can do some very helpful things.
The cane, which is known as the Aid, has a built-in navigator that provides the user directions to a certain location. So if you get lost, this cane will point the way home.
Additional features include monitors for the user’s pulse, blood pressure, as well as body temperature. These important numbers are displayed on the LCD screen on the cane’s clasp. It even has a button for sending out an SOS in case of emergency.
The future of eyeglasses
In the future, our glasses could help us see better in a different way. I’m talking about using some electronic technology on the glasses.
Some Oxford researchers are working on some frames that have cameras mounted on the edges, along with lenses studded with lights. This allows the users with macular degeneration to see a simplified version of their surroundings. They also have some other interesting features like face detection, tracking software, position detectors, and depth sensors.
If you think this is cool, I found another concept set of eyeglasses that can do yet even more. This one is under development by Rosalind Picard of MIT and Rana el Kaliouby at the University of Cambridge, and their glasses have a tiny camera as well. The difference is that this camera has a tiny computer that will “read” someone’s expressions. It will even tell if someone is responding negatively or positively by a flash of a green or red light that only the user can see.