Tagged: Cool

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Never have a messy room ever again

Trash cans haven’t really changed much in the past, but this Japanese genius just made all the wait worth it.

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He has created the Smart Trashbox, a moving can which uses a Kinect to track airborne garbage and make sure you’ll never miss ever again.

Check out the video of it in action.

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A lot of work went into this project and the creator (Modder FRP) states that there is still a lot of work to be done, but right now it is pretty impressive.

@maniac13

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Everything will be touchable with Touché

Disney Research is always working on some cool stuff and now they are showing off a pretty cool and quite sophisticated touch-sensing technology called touché.

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Compared to capacitive touch screens that measure 1 frequency this new technology is measuring a range of them which means it not only can detect multi touch and gestures, but also distinguish between different objects or parts of the body.

It will also add touch to non-traditional surfaces, like liquid.

Check out the video below and see some of the examples on how Disney sees this technology being implemented in the future.

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@maniac13

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Are you related? – Genetic Portraits

Ulric Collette, canadian-based artist and photographer, put together photos of his family members and friends and photoshopped them together for his gallery of genetic portraits.

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He calls it Research work on photographic genetic similarities between members of same family.

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There are a lot more here

@maniac13

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Use your phone as a virtual projector

Researchers in Germany, Canada and the US may have come up with an elegant solution that can work with any smartphone and an external display: virtual projection.

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The system works by using a central server that constantly takes screenshots of the external display and compares them with the images from the phone’s camera to track its location.

It then replicates what’s on the handset’s screen, while allowing you to add multiple image windows and position and rotate them.

Additionally, multiple users can collaborate and virtually project pictures or videos onscreen at the same time.

Personally I think your battery life will suffer the most, but in general it is a cool idea.

check it out in action below:

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@maniac13

Christmas Party Teaser

Christmas is a lively time of the year with everyone feeling quite festive and eager to have fun, last year Amnesia celebrated it whilst lawn bowling and it reminded me of a bad episode of ‘Murder she wrote’, (sorry Jessica Fletcher)

Put it this way if the grinch stole Christmas that year, I wouldn’t exactly be over-exerting myself to try and stop him.

This year a few of us decided to stir things up and let me tell you…you can never have enough sauce.

The 2011 xmas party is a secret yet to be revealed and we decided to make a teaser trailer as a lead up to our short film to get everyone excited.

Check out the youtube video below!

@Kreyman

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The next generation shadow puppets brought to you by Microsoft

I have been writing about Microsoft Research quite a bit and lately it seems that they are showing off our future every few days.

Last week was no different and they gave us 3 different projectors that allow you to interact with them through shadows and augmented reality.

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3 devices, split up into camera, room and SLAM models, incorporate pico projectors, coaxial IR cameras, inertial measurement units (IMUs) and the company’s Kinect to project augmented visions onto surrounding surfaces. The environmentally aware systems allow for shadow- and touch-based interaction with the CG overlays, offering pinch functionality, icon selection and even painting.

Pretty cool you think? Check out the video

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One day we might all have one of those to check out the latest furniture and what they will look like in our home.

@maniac13

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Disney's Appmates – the future of iPad gaming

If you have kids and a tablet you know that your kids love them and you hardly get any time with it yourself.

Disney is going to release their Appmates toys next month and then you won’t get your tablet back at all from your kids.

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So what is Appmates? It seems to be a new iPad interface which lets the user (or small and big Kids) control a Cars-themed iPad games using the toys above.

The toy cars have special conductive pads that are recognized by the iPad and interpreted by the app.

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As you drive around the virtual environment of Radiator Springs, you’ll hear the character’s voice react to each bump or jostle. Mirrors inside the toy car will reflect light from the iPad through the toy’s headlights, and Mater’s siren as well.

Check out the video after the break

Continue reading

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We like the UNIQLO Voices Website

Video content tends to play a standard role in most websites. The functionality is seldom messed with : Users click a play button to start (or get annoyed it played without your permission) and play only one video at a time. Normally video sits in a fixed position and will be of a set size. Indeed, screwing around with ‘standard video UI design’ can be a dangerous game but when it’s done right, it’s easy to start believing that video should be some much more in so many sites. Check out the Uniqlo website… it’s cool, fun, breaks some boring old rules and is our site of the day.

http://www.uniqlo.com/nyc/voices/

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HT to @lyndonjhale

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Real Life Outrun

We all remember the original 8bit Outrun Game from 1986. I remember playing it until my fingers were bleeding.

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So what would it be like if you could have this in real life? That is what the people at the University of California Irvine ask themselves and they created a system that, with the help of cameras and some customized software, looks in front of the vehicle and reproduces a map of what lies ahead of you onto the screen in 8bit rendering just like Outrun.

All you have to do now is follow the route. Simply awesome.

check out the video

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@maniac13

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Viral Marketing puts girl in an iPad helmet

Promoting the launch of Cosmo For Guys, Viral marketing company Thinkmodo thought it would be a great idea to put a girls head in a 4 iPad contraption and turn heads. Some people will call it awesome, some will call it creepy, I am just wondering how she is seeing where she is going and if that guy touching her “face” is really annoying her.

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Cosmo for Guys is a new digital magazine that is exclusive to the iPad.

check out the viral in actions

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iPad girl turns heads

@maniac13