Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Unfortunately for you budding energy stars out there, the Pentagon’s latest contest is over, so you’ve no choice here but to grit your teeth and applaud both DuPont and Germany’s Smart Fuel Cell. Out of the 170 teams vying for the $1 million prize, these two managed to impress the most; the winning gizmo was the M-25 portable power system, which is already being sold to the US Army for “limited use in the field.” Contestants were tasked with creating a new wearable power solution to juice up energy-hungry military gear (GPS units, night-vision goggles, head-mounted PMPs, etc.) without weighing soldiers down, and the winning device combined “DuPont’s direct-methanol fuel cell technology with SFC’s fuel cell and battery system.” Yeah, we’re totally expecting a PSP / DS compatible version of this before the holidays.

[Via FuelCellWorks, thanks Adam]

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Filed under: GPS, Wearables

In no way are we insinuating that farming is ever “easy,” but a new headset designed for cows could make cattle herding a much less stressful experience. The Ear-A-Round headsets are the product of a project involving the USDA and MIT, and essentially, the GPS-infused devices would transmit stereo sounds directly in a bovine’s ears in order to guide and direct his / her movements. Strange though the head-worn gizmos may look, the built-in solar panel should keep it juiced up and ready to dictate on command, giving farmers the ability to track and herd from the comfort of their computer desks. The overriding goal here is to “improve animal distribution on the landscape,” though we can think of quite a few other positives to having such a robust virtual fencing system.

[Via Core77]

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Filed under: Robots

Not like this is a new concept or anything, but Zhelong Wang and Hong Gu of China’s Dalian University of Technology have created a “bristled pig” in order to clean the clogged pipes that traditional pigs simply can’t. In most scenarios, unclogging devices (or pigs, as it were) are pushed through pipelines by force, though certain bends and changes in size can hamper their effectiveness. These bottle-brush styled bots can climb through portals on their own power and adjust to changes in order to make “unpiggable” pipes clean again. It’s a dirty job, but something’s got to do it.

[Via CrunchGear]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Wearables

If you’re scouting the strange, the weird and the weirder, you’ll find plenty to get absorbed in over at the research facilities of NTT DoCoMo. The Japanese giant is at it once more, but this time the invention is actually somewhat down to Earth. It’s mission? To create a method for easily controlling a music interface (on a PMP or cellphone) with just your eyes. By rolling one’s eyes and jerking them from side to side, the outfit is hoping to have the corresponding music player change tracks and get louder / softer. If you’re not exactly keen with freaking out fellow citizens on the street with completely erratic eye movements, you may also appreciate a similar technology it’s working up which can detect a user’s finger tapping to achieve to same goal. Of course, said technology would be halfway useless on the smash hit-packed ZVUE Journey (no way you’re bypassing any of those tracks, son), but we guess you could check out your toes every now and then to keep from constantly staying at 11.

[Via ShinyShiny]

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Filed under: Laptops

No, not that dual-screen, silly. Or that one. Or that one! The dual-screen lappie we’re talking about actually has two LCD panels, one of which takes the place of a traditional keyboard / trackpad. Reportedly, V12 Designs — which takes credit for dreaming up the design some four years ago — is working with an undisclosed US firm in order to bring said concept to market. We’re told that the keyboard display will likely support haptic feedback so users can feel when a keystroke is registered, and of course, voice recognition will also play a large role. It’s not that we don’t think these are coming, but V12’s Valerio Cometti is suggesting that they’ll be ready for consumption in a mere 16 months. Don’t hate us for being skeptical, but… we’re skeptical.

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Filed under: Wearables

So maybe your stress level isn’t sky high just yet, but even after an extended weekend, all it takes is that one email to get you right back where you were last Wednesday. As if you really needed something to tell you that (and if you don’t have time to wait for Sweety to become a reality), a host of researchers have created a sensor-laden vest that will be able to inform wearers just how stressed they are. Developed as part of the EU’s CONTEXT project, this sure-to-be-hip vest packs ultra-sensitive electrodes which register changes in muscle tension as individuals get more and more stressed, and in theory, letting someone know what’s happening will allow them to simmer down before they further jeopardize their health (and the livelihood of colleagues, if you dig). Eh, we still prefer the Dr. Whippy method, honestly.

[Via Talk2MyShirt, thanks Tony]

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Filed under: Transportation

Look folks, just because Dyson can build a motor with enough oomph to power a vehicle, that doesn’t mean it’s actually going to. At least that’s the message a company spokesperson wants you to believe. Contrary to earlier reports, James Dyson is not looking to enter the electric automobile sector in any way, shape or fashion. Said spokesperson was quoted as saying that “James Dyson did say that [Dyson’s] new digital motor could power a car, but it is not working on, and [we] have no plans to create an electric car.” Okay, but can you at least make the Ball 2.0 street legal?

[Via AutoblogGreen, image courtesy of Telegraph]

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Filed under: Transportation

Dyson (yes, that Dyson) could be looking to play a role in the next great electric automobile. Just let your brain simmer on that a moment, and see if you can stifle any forthcoming laughter. Believe it or not, the British inventor famous for his iconic vacuum designs is actually developing a “powerful lightweight motor that could enable electric cars to zoom along for hundreds of miles without causing pollution.” In theory, the eventual vehicle would scoot about much quicker than the majority of sluggish electric vehicles and solar panels would be tacked on the roof for regeneration in sunlight. Of course, some analysts are suggesting that he continue to keep his innovative motors in household gizmos, and rather than strike out on his own to invent a new car, he could simply partner with an existing automaker and toss in his design genius to craft something that’s not horrifically ugly. Sounds pretty good to us.

[Via Core77, image courtesy of Telegraph]

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Filed under: Household

You can find a washer just about anywhere that promises to consume less water than most of its rivals, but finding one that’s “virtually waterless” is still a chore. Yeah, there was that one contraption from Singapore a few years back, but c’mon, it’s no bona fide washing machine. Nevertheless, a University of Leeds spin-out company — dubbed Xeros — has already received £500,000 in order to commercialize a device that “uses less than 2% of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine.” Instead, it relies on a plethora of plastic chips that are tumbled with the clothes to remove stains. We’re not sure how comfortable we really are with the thought of that, but folks that have already warmed to the idea can look for these things to hit the UK market in 2009.

[Via MetaEfficient]

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Filed under: Transportation

Another day, another potential find to avoid the imminent fuel crisis. On the docket today is Ernie Brookins’ hybrid drive system, which “captures, compresses, and stores wasted drive-train energy produced when a vehicle’s engine is running.” Ernie here has concocted a hydraulic transmission that can reportedly power vehicles without the engine running all of the time, and he expects the solution to save motorists around 50-percent in fuel costs. Better still, the contraption could theoretically work on nearly any vehicle — from school buses to grain trucks to high-octane Power Wheel Jeeps. As these things seem to always go, the project has hit a roadblock without a source of funding, so if any VCs out there are looking for a somewhat solid place to shove $250,000, give this man a ring. [Warning: read link requires subscription]

[Thanks, Rachel]

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Filed under: Transportation

Another day, another potential find to avoid the imminent fuel crisis. On the docket today is Ernie Brookins’ hybrid drive system, which “captures, compresses, and stores wasted drive-train energy produced when a vehicle’s engine is running.” Ernie here has concocted a hydraulic transmission that can reportedly power vehicles without the engine running all of the time, and he expects the solution to save motorists around 50-percent in fuel costs. Better still, the contraption could theoretically work on nearly any vehicle — from school buses to grain trucks to high-octane Power Wheel Jeeps. As these things seem to always go, the project has hit a roadblock without a source of funding, so if any VCs out there are looking for a somewhat solid place to shove $250,000, give this man a ring. [Warning: read link requires subscription]

[Thanks, Rachel]

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Filed under: Transportation

Make no mistake, Terrafugia’s outlandish airplane / motorcar hybrid has been on the drawing board for years, but it looks like the rubber is about to hit the proverbial road (or take to the skies, whichever) this July. A team of ten is working feverishly to ready the Transition for its debut at this year’s AirVenture, where it hopes to catch more than a few eyes with its zany “roadable aircraft.” As you can likely guess, this thing is meant to both fly and drive, and yes, that means it’ll have to pass safety regulations from both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If all goes well, the startup expects to deliver its first vehicle to a customer in 2009, while mass production isn’t scheduled to happen until 2012. We’re no experts in the field, but it seems like it’ll take a Christmas miracle for either of those feats to actually be accomplished.

[Via Slashdot]

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Filed under: Displays

DIY multitouch surfaces may be relatively new to the do-it-yourself library, but we have a feeling they won’t be fading anytime soon. Engineering and design firm Eyebeam has spent the weekend demonstrating a kit (Cubit) that enables folks to build their own multitouch tables, and all individuals will need to provide in order to enjoy their very own is an “inexpensive” video camera and projector, among other small pieces of hardware. Unfortunately, details beyond that are pretty scant, but we’d count on hearing a lot more in the coming days now that it has stolen the limelight at Maker Faire.

[Thanks, Duke]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

You know those elephant-sized medical scanners? Totally amazing machines, sure, but things like that aren’t apt to be shipped into obscure jungles throughout Africa. Thankfully, a team of researchers have developed something that could bring medical scanning to an even larger chunk of the world: a real live Tricorder. Of course, it’s not really going by that moniker, but the diminutive scanner is able to interface with a cellphone via USB and utilize its 3G / WiFi access to send raw scan data to servers and receive images back. Granted, you won’t get any high-resolution viewing from your average mobile, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Braille phones in and of themselves aren’t all that unique, but a former professor (who just so happens to be completely blind) from Tsukuba University of Technology has crafted a variant that jumps and jives. Dubbed the world’s first vibrating Braille cellphone, the device is programmed to emit pulses depending on which key is pressed; more specifically, a pair of terminals attached to the handset “vibrate at a specific rate to create a message.” Those currently involved with the project are now toiling to make the keypad-to-vibration converters smaller, but there’s no word just yet on whether the technology will be picked up commercially.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

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Filed under: Household

It’s one thing to exemplify laziness; it’s another to buck the habit just long enough to invent something to keep you idler, longer. Enter Enrico Berruti, an everyday fellow who has created something that almost anyone with a bed could see as useful. His Selfy bed, quite simply, uses a variety of moving parts, bars and linens to make itself at the push of a button. To be fair, Mr. Berruti was thinking of disabled individuals who would have a difficult time making their own traditional bed when conjuring this thing up, but he didn’t hesitate to mention his own indolence as motivation. Hopefully there’s some kind of safety feature to prevent users from accidentally activating the thing while they’re still snoozing — can’t imagine that being any fun.

[Via Physorg, image courtesy of AFP / Getty Images]

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Filed under: Robots

Rufus Terrill’s stocky handmade robot is more than your average drinking buddy — in fact, the four-foot tall, 300-pound robotic security guard makes it his job to discourage vandals and vagabonds from marring the streets of Atlanta. The inventor is an engineer-turned-bar owner who got tired of drifters and thieves hanging around his business undeterred. Rather than calling in the professionals, he constructed a remote controlled robot that can flash a spotlight, blast out water and resist even the toughest of 40oz. cans that inevitably come its way. Best of all, he can even make the creature talk, and apparently, its array of scare tactics has been fairly effective thus far. Talk about protecting and serving.

[Via MetaFilter]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Self-healing materials are far from revolutionary, but a team of gurus at France’s National Center for Scientific Research has teamed up with Arkema to create a newfangled material that can literally reattach itself if simply pressed together after a break. Reportedly, the self-mending takes place due to weak hydrogen bonds that mesh networks of ditopic and tritopic molecules back together, essentially acting as a kind of “atomic glue.” The matter is able to reconnect with any long lost pieces at room temperature (at least 68°F), and apparently, creators are already looking to commercialize their discovery and get products on the shelves within two years. So much for breakaway cables, eh?

[Via Physorg]

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Filed under: GPS, Wearables

We’ve seen some pretty well equipped helmets in our day, but UMass Amherst student Brycen Spencer seems a touch more interested in safety advancements than integrated speakers. His concoction, dubbed the Wireless Impact Guardian (WIG), looks like your average helmet at first glance, but a quick look inside reveals electronics designed to sense an impact, judge if you’re conscious and dial for help if necessary. Essentially, an alarm is triggered upon impact, and if you’re not cohesive enough to disable it after 60 seconds, it automatically rings up 911 and beams out your location via GPS so that medical personnel can get moving. Currently, the device is quite a ways from going commercial, but considering that Mr. Spencer has already invested in a provisional patent, we’d say it’s well on its way.

[Via textually]

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Filed under: Robots

C’mon, be honest — the unofficial cutoff age for playing with Legos sans kids is sometime way before puberty, but thanks to a new development from Carnegie Mellon University, we adults may soon be able to unashamedly indulge in those desires once more. Posey, hailed as a “hands-on way of interacting with computers,” features a plethora of snap-together, sensor-laden parts that can communicate with PCs through ZigBee. When a user attaches a leg to a body, for instance, an on-screen representation immediately mimics the movement, providing hours of fun and some real promise for future applications. No word on whether these things are set to go commercial anytime soon, but we’d sure love to replace this aging (and seemingly busted) voodoo doll with one of these critters, pronto.

[Image courtesy of Posey Code Lab Wiki]

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