Epson Moverio – Android Powered See-through Wearable 3D Display

We have talked about wearable tech, science sure is getting us things we used to fantasize about or saw in fancy Bond series. The idea of wearing head gear like Iron Man or using glasses that give you the feel as if you’re from future is something all of us want. Anyhow, what we have for you right now is somewhat similar to Google Glass but there are some added features which you might not be able to find in Google Glass. Epson Moverio was supposedly meant to be used as a video reviewing device for personal use. However, as we all have heard, criss-crossing is the talk of the day, remember the flying car? The developers at APX Labs, it seems, are fan of making crosses too. So when this Epson Moverio got into their hands they saw an opportunity and seized it.

It does seem clunky, that’s a given. However, one of these clunky looking Epson Moverio has been tweaked.  The improvement comes in the form of a camera, microphone and a 9-axis motion sensor setup. It was kind of okay as long as they were adding camera and mic but this 9-axis motion sensor setup seems like they’ve gone overboard, do you think? Well, this setup has been added to provide with some brilliant Augmented Reality experience for the user. The gadget has some awesome voice and gesture controls. That’s not all that this gadget has to offer. This gadget has what the developers like to call the Northstar. What is Northstar? Northstar  is a collection of field of viewpoints. One may call them a series and one need only turn their head toward it to access the Augmented Reality content that is associated with them. A few examples of AR content include but are in no way limited to traffic patterns and directions to a particular location. Okay, that’s cool, yes? Well this one will really amaze you then; using the Northstar you can ‘jack’ into other person’s live video feed.  This feature is available for your friends who are included in your social network and using this amazing feature one can enjoy the view of mountains while he sits in his lounge on the comfy couch.

The Northstar is basically supposed to work as a cloud where people can store their content and it will be available to others. Quite slick concept, if you ask us.

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3D Printed Mobiles That Will Blow Your Mind

For all us tech nomads, there are finally few emerging projects that bring mobility to 3D printers. 3D printing, the new phenomenon in town, has helped Henry Segerman, a research fellow in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Melbourne and Marco Mahler, a kinetic sculptor specializing in mobiles, to come up with an astounding collection of 3D printed mobile phones

These mobiles are made from one of the most widespread materials used for 3D printing – laser sintered nylon plastic. The mobiles are fully printed & assembled using the 3D printers. All the models made for these mobile designs were done by hand and scripted accordingly.

Using scripts makes it possible to design such innovative ideas that would otherwise be impossible to do with conventional means, e.g., the 1365 piece design, the Quaternary Tree (Level 6). These mobiles are by far the first ones completely 3D printed, making them a breakthrough point in history of mobile phone inventions.

It is interesting to know that Mahler and Segerman met on Twitter in February 2013 and ended up with exploring possibilities that they could use their expertise to make 3D printed mobiles. The aftermath of a good long discussion through emails, Skype and exchange of information, they were ultimately able to come up with their amazing collection.

All those interested in buying the first of a kind 3D printed mobile can place an order at www.shapeways.com and get their mobile phone at a price ranging from US$10 to US$600. It seems like there is a design for everyone.

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Digital highlighter!!

Quickly scan any printed text right into your computer. Wherever you can type, you can use Scanmarker. Scanmarker isIt really works like magic. Just use it like a simple highlighter; run it over the lines in your book or article and the text transfers to your PC. The ultra-portable design lets you carry it anywhere. a pen shaped scanner. Scan any printed text and it appears automatically in any application on your computer. You will never need to retype printed text from documents again, letting you focus on getting your work done.It really works like magic. Just use it like a simple highlighter; run it over the lines in your book or article and the text transfers to your PC. The ultra-portable design lets you carry it anywhere. 

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Intelligent Rain Disappearing Headlights Now Available

Safety is one of the primary reasons why engineers work so hard, always improving systems to incorporate better designs and to make it safer to use and handle. While science is rapidly coming up with more and more gadgets, the first and top priority is safety of the users. Recently, Intel and Carnegie Mellon University have jointly introduced a new idea which they have also executed as a prototype. The key idea is to facilitate the driver during a rainy day. The gadget comes as a combination of a camera and projector.

The camera works to find the individual drops and the projector blackens them to provide the driver with a rain drop free view which is safer! This is a dream come true for drivers who have to frequently drive during heavy rainfall! If you have ever experienced such a scenario, then you must have wished for those raindrops to vanish and let you drive in peace. So, what we are looking at is a combined project from Intel and Carnegie Mellon University, as mentioned earlier. The Headlight projects not a single beam but rather a grid of several tiny beams. The camera behind the projector looks for raindrops and the processor is used for determining the paths of these raindrops. The projector then helps in blocking out the parts of image where the raindrops are. So the grid where raindrops come in gets blocked by darkening of pixels, resulting in a rainless view.

Intel has stated that this gadget will be available for commercial consumption in about a decade. Since its a prototype, there are imperfections such as some drops still getting through and being visible. However, it is still quite a leap forward in automobile industry!

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The Expedition Shoe Lights

The National Geographic Society was created 125 years ago, in 1888, with the purpose to increase the geographic knowledge and to support scientists and people with explorer spirit inside. 

Are you looking for a new entertainment for your kids and maybe for yourself too? A good way to succeed is to use the Expedition Shoe Lights, which is a part of the National Geographic Outdoor Explorer Series.  There are two modes to choose from: white LED pathfinder mode and red LED night-view mode, and you can easily switch them. To attach them to a shoe you can use the built-in clip or weave the laces through the clip. The shoe lights could be attached in 9 different angles, which is a pretty good number of choices

The Expedition Shoe Lights allows you to light the way without a flashlight, which leaves your hands free to protect yourself from trees, bushes and to perform other tasks. 

The Expedition Shoe Lights set include an Explorer Activity Guide full of ideas and recommendations for better outdoor experience. And along with that, you can always be creative and use your imagination while exploring the outdoor with your children.  

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Digital Sketch Pen

Sketch your ideas on standard paper or sketchbooks while capturing a digital likeness of your sketch with the Wacom Inkling Digital Sketch Pen. Store hundreds of sketches on the Inkling receiver before transferring them to your Mac or PC via USB Export your layered sketches from the included Inkling Sketch Manager software into Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator (CS3+) or Autodesk SketchBook Pro (2011+). 

Layers button on the receiver allows you to add layers to the digital file while sketching on paper Inkling Sketch Manager software allows you to add, delete or modify layers after a sketch is transferred to your computer Inkling is a great tool for capturing ideas and concepts for later refinement on your computer using Wacom Intuos pen tablets.

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Fun Adhesive Bandages

These are some of the coolest adhesive bandages around, if you need to wear a band-aid then why not do it with with flair? There is certainly something for everyone here. Not only are these cute and super cool but they are also a great idea for kids, when you need to get a smile after a childhood accident or when you need to encourage a child to leave the bandage in place when they are away at school all day. 

Each tin contains twenty-five bandages and a bonus trinket/toy. These bandages are designed to assist in the healing of minor cuts and abrasions by covering the site to protect it from germs and putting a smile on your face! 

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StickNFind Bluetooth Tracker

StickNFind is a new series of some of the smallest and most lightweight Bluetooth trackers that are commercially available! Great for ensuring you always know the whereabouts of the children or pets you love, StickNFind trackers are a true shortcut to peace of mind. Stick-N-Find Stickers are only 0.16 Inches (4.1mm) thin. With a compatible size, Stick-N-Find Stickers can be easily stuck on to many items. An amazing app: The Radar Screen displays all of your devices within range. You can tap the Sticker on the radar screen and decide if you would like it to buzz, flash the lights, or do both. The radar screen can only be used to approximate the distance of the Stick-N-Find from your phone but not the exact directions

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The Biggest (man-made) Hole In the World

This ginormous hole seems like a scene from some bad”End of World Movie”. But in reality it’s a diamond mine in Mirna, Siberia. It measures 525 m deep and 1.25 km in diameter, making it the biggest man-made hole in the world. The suction from the hole is so powerful that helicopters flying over it have crashed.

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Handy Bookmark

Have you ever lost your place when you nod off in the middle of a sentence? With handy bookmark by Fingerprint you can stop reading mid-sentence and not have to re-read an entire paragraph the next time you pick up your book! This is everything a bookmark should be, and makes a great gift for moms that love to read Bonus: Can be used as a handy book strap too!  

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Amazing Garden Paths

One thing that landscapers know for certain is that paths can make or break a nice garden.  Plain concrete is certainly durable and cost effective but is unsympathetic to most landscapes.  Conversely, while not overly durable, a bark path will fit in most situations and is very inexpensive to put down.  Here are lots of ideas for you to use or adapt according to your needs… Here are two lovely examples of garden paths. 

An amazing garden path and when you add the fact that it is made from bamboo, it is kind to the environment too. 

Here’s a good example that uses “glowstones” in concrete mix. 

This is the DIY version of “glow stones”. Simply paint your stone pathway with glow in the dark paint. It will “charge up” during the day, to give this effect at night. The stones are used in aquariums and they look like regular quartz stones, but are really a synthetic aggregate stone that has photoluminescent pigment and synthetic resin. After being exposed to the sun all day, the off-white pebble with the light sensitive pigment will start out with a strong glow and then fade over the evening. You’ll get the best effect if you use the stones in an area with lower ambient light so the stones really shine. They can be added to pebble paving stone for a long-term wow, or scattered in the driveway for a magical effect. Since they look like normal stones during the day no one can complain your walkway or driveway doesn’t comply to your condo codes. After dark the stones will turn blue green or yellow green. 

It’s amazing what you can do with fallen trees and a chainsaw… 

here are two types of a garden path made from recycled timber and pebbles. 

Okay, it’s not practical if you are carrying groceries, have little kids or like to come home on the tipsy side regularly, but if you can get past all of that, don’t you think this is a great entry? Also suitable option for restaurants in eastern style furniture.

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Arrow Magnetic Bookends

DCI Arrow Magnetic Bookends

These cool magnetic bookends appear to defy gravity! It look as if your books are being held upright by two red arrows that are not attatched to anything! A hidden metal bracket sits inside the cover of the first and last books to support the arrows. 

Each arrow measures 3.5 x 2 inches and the contruction materials include both metal and plastic. A fun and interesting way to display books at home or in the office or a neat gift for your favorite bookworm. 

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A Pirate-Themed CАT scanner

With pleasure and hope for more such places present you this funny CAT scanner, which is located at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital – that makes it’s patients feel like buccaneers casting off on an open sea adventure.

When the time came for New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital to replace their CT scanner this year, the hospital’s radiology staff were primarily concerned with their equipment delivering the lowest possible dose of radiation to their patients, but that strategy came with an aesthetic bonus. 

Following a study in 2001 by New York-Presbyterian finding that CT scanners might be harmful, the institution which is one of the biggest children’s hospitals in country and the only one in Manhattan, worked with GE to design and install a machine that is both safer and makes kids feel like they’re sailing the high seas. 

“There aren’t scary pirates — there’s a pussycat pirate and one that looks like Curious George,” says Dr. Carrie Ruzal-Shapiro, chief of Pediatric Radiology. “The parents have been really positive too. It makes it less scarier for the kids.

”On average, New York-Presbyterian has about 200 inpatients per day, treating about 150 kids each day in the pediatric emergency room. And every day kids ranging from newborn to age 21 come in for CT scan for ailments from neonatal abnormalities to abdominal pain to head trauma. “Our more adult patients ages 17 to 21 ask for the pirate scanner, too,” Ruzal-Shapiro says. 

“Hurry up and get out so I can play,” says Registered Nurse Naomi Hawkins, when asked what’s the best response she’s received from a child seeing the pirate scanner for the first time

A 14-year-old patient at New York-Presbyterian prepares for her pirate scan.

In actuality, there are no toys or games or techs dressed up like pirates for the patients to play with; it’s a monkey painted on wall wearing a bandana, a tiger with an eye patch, and a device normally used to detect bone trauma, tumors, and hemorrhages dressed up like the helm of a ship. “Kids who are sick know so many ways of distancing themselves from what is going on physically,” says Hawkins. “Much more than grown-ups do. I mean, we pay for yoga, it doesn’t work. We’re told if you can meditate you’re smarter — the children are the smartest.” 

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Robot snake for clear ocean

Designers Hsiang-Han Hsu, Tzu-I Wen, Jhih-Jie Wang and Yih-Wenn Luo from Fortune Institute of Technology have come up with an interesting robot concept that can remove toxic metals from water. It works by using Shewanella oneidensis, a bacteria that causes harmful heavy metals that pollute water to disintegrate — packed inside a robotic snake. The bacteria generate electricity as part of the cleaning process, which powers the robot snake, allowing it to swim around. 

A built-in GPS helps users locate the robot, and it lights up with red LEDs when it’s working and green LEDs when it’s finished cleaning. The team expects their heavy metal pollution cleaning system to be launched in 2020, which is another way of saying that it’s just a concept and they have no idea if or when it might actually become real. 

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Project Mars One Taking Applications For Astronauts To Live On Mars Forever

Why live on Earth when you can go and live on Mars, wouldn’t you agree? Mars One has come up with a mission to take human civilization to Mars in 2023. The idea is to choose astronauts from all over the world and send them to Mars to start civilization there and never come back. Mars One is accepting applicants on basis of videos that are being submitted. Each Applicant explains why he/she want to go to Mars and why should he/she be given preference over other candidates. Mars One will be selecting 24-40 applicants as finalists who will be sent in groups of four to Mars. Ideally speaking, they want the first four to be from different continents. The next batch would be sent in after every two years. As per CEO, Bas Lansdrop, applications will close on August 31st, 2013.

Mars One is a non-profit organization and has planned to go on air with the final round of the search in 2014. A genius way of coming up with revenue for the project, right? However, due to the filming of the final rounds, astronauts might very well be Reality TV stars. Mars One has opted for public ratings to choose the astronauts for this mission. Our inside sources tell ( just kidding, the information is from Norbert Kraft, the Chief Medical Officer and Head of the Astronaut selection program) us that the applicants for new civilization on Mars should have the following qualities;  resilience, adaptability, curiosity, empathy, and creativity. Although the company has chosen public rating to help it in selection of the candidates, it also took other measures to filter out the video applications by imposing an application fee that varies from country to country. The video’s parameters are quite simple; a 30-70 seconds video that should be able to convey two points, why you are willing to go to Mars and why you are the right person for the job. Company hopes to narrow down the pool to 24-40 in 2015.
Let’s move on to how it works; once chosen you will move to United States for a period of seven years as a full-time, salaried employee of Mars One. The per year breakup is as follows; candidates will spend nine months each year where they will learn dentistry, emergency medicine, general medicine, engineering, biology, mechanics and any other relevant knowledge that would help them in living on an inhospitable planet as a group of four. The other three months, they will be subjected to Mars like atmosphere to train them mentally for the tasks that lie ahead. Emergencies will be simulated that include but are not limited to 40-minutes communication delay with the outside world and broken down toilets. CEO, Lansdrop says that a broken toilet is the point when people get out of control.

The project’s cost is $6 billion just for the first four that will be sent to Mars. Mars One is hoping to fund the mission via the Reality show. The company will use SpaceX spacecraft to send supplies ahead of the arrival of new residents of mars and later SpaceX Falcon will get the crew to Mars. The selection of the candidates has to be done quite carefully because once in Mars, they will be making their own laws and shall not be under control of Mars One. So are you ready?

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