Archive for October, 2009
robot riding shotgun: aida the in-car robot companion
Developed by researchers at MIT’s SENSEable City Lab in cooperation with Audi, AIDA (Affective Intelligent Driving Agent) is a drivers’ companion that offers useful information while interacting in a “socially appropriate and informative way.” AIDA will be mounted on a car’s dashboard, where it’s “face” will be visible to the driver. As you can see…
Developed by researchers at MIT’s SENSEable City Lab in cooperation with Audi, AIDA (Affective Intelligent Driving Agent) is a drivers’ companion that offers useful information while interacting in a “socially appropriate and informative way.” AIDA will be mounted on a car’s dashboard, where it’s “face” will be visible to the driver.
As you can see from the pictures, AIDA has its own set of facial expressions, to help it “establish an affective bond” with the driver. I guess it is more amusing to interact with something that has a face, as opposed to speaking to the air like the Hoff used to do with KITT, but won’t it become a distraction?
What I like about AIDA though is its ability to familiarize itself with the needs and habits of a driver, like one’s usual destinations, or how one drives. It will then combine that information with real-time data like traffic or weather, stuff that may not be immediately available to the driver, to give hints and tips:
Click to View Embedded Video Clip
What do you think? Will AIDA be a helpful companion, or a nagger that you won’t be able to kick out of the car?
[via MIT via Popular Science]
Source: feedproxy.google.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
Freecom Hard Drive XS 3.0 with USB 3.0 SuperSpeed technology
 The USB 3.0 ball has started rolling more that a year ago, and finally, after so much waiting and reading about its SuperSpeed technology that will bless on all of us some day, we finally have it dated for November. In five or six weeks from now, Freecom will put its Hard Drive XS 3.0 on sale. Its an external HDD and the key feature is USB 3.0, of course.
Source: www.gadgets-reviews.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
Samsung introduces S5PC110 and S5PV210 application processors
 What are the best processor speeds in mobile devices nowadays? About 600 to 700 MHz, right? Samsung has introduced two new application processors today. The S5PC110 and S5PV210 based on ARM CORTEX A8 both clock at impressive 1GHz. From the todays Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum in Seoul we know that first samples will crawl out no sooner that December 2009, so we probably wont be able to buy any of two in a smartphone this year. And while we’re on the subject, new ARM CORTEX A8 series are not for mobile phones only.
Source: www.gadgets-reviews.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
Excel password recovery software works really fast
 One of the ideal and simplest ways to protect your data from fraud is having it encrypted with a password. Passwords are used on all the websites where people have any personal page. Passwords are also used to protect documents and important data. However, what can you do when you forgot a password to your excel document?
Source: www.gadgets-reviews.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
Excel password recovery software works really fast
One of the best and simplest ways to protect your data from fraud is having it encrypted with a password. Passwords are used on all the websites where people have any personal page. Passwords are also used to protect documents and important data. However, what can you do when you forgot a password to your excel document?
Source: www.gadgets-reviews.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
air board: the rich man’s segway
If you think that the Segway is too pricey, you’ll probably be disgusted with the Air Board, a $14,000 (USD) personal hovercraft. Then again, it’s a personal hovercraft! The product page clarifies for us peasants that “hovercrafts are not just very unique and unusual gifts, they’re actually available.” So we’re clear on that okay? Hovercrafts…
If you think that the Segway is too costly, you’ll probably be disgusted with the Air Board, a $14,000 (USD) personal hovercraft. Then again, it’s a personal hovercraft! The product page clarifies for us peasants that “hovercrafts are not just very very special and unusual gifts, they are actually available.” So we’re clear on that okay? Hovercrafts are real. They are actually available.
The Air Board floats about 8 inches off the ground. It can go as fast as 15 mph, and will last about an hour on 1.3 gal of gasoline. Two levers on the steering bar control the Air Board’s acceleration and brakes. The rider simply shifts his weight to turn. The Air Board also has a safety switch that kills the engine when the rider jumps off, so even if you’re hurled in front of it you won’t end up being sucked underneath.
The Air Board can be driven “over concrete, asphalt, grass or shallow wet areas, but you cannot hover over water, sand, stones or dirt-filled areas due to the bottomside vacuum.” I found a video that was probably made by the manufacturer. It’s about a year old, and the Air Board used in the video is a prototype, so I guess that explains why some of the information given in the clip isn’t consistent with what I found.
Click to View Embedded Video Clip
The $14,000 Air Board is sold at the aptly named Opulent Items. It’s in stock, in case you’re interested.
[via 7Gadgets]
Source: feedproxy.google.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
the real ghostbusters… halloween costume
I can’t say whether or not this Proton Pack will actually trap ghosts, but from this brief glimpse, there’s one thing I can state for certain: this badass project is sure to score the top prize at Halloween costume contests, and isn’t that worth more than a ghost in a box? The entire costume–you…
I can’t state whether or not this Proton Pack will actually trap ghosts, but from this brief glimpse, there is one thing I have the ability to state for certain: this badass project is sure to score the top prize at Halloween costume contests, and isn’t that worth more than a ghost in a box?
The entire costume–you didn’t think it was just the Proton Pack, did you?–took Instructables ghostbustin’ guru depotdevoid two years to perfect. Not two entire years, mind you, but two years of costume-compiling. I can’t state I blame him; if I made a costume this awesome, I’d wear it each year.
A khaki flight suit, lasers (!), props, and an Arduino are the key elements required to build your own Ghostbusters costume, though I also advocate such luxuries as time and enthusiasm. However, from the instructions, it seems like just about any huge Ghostbusters fan could put this together, if they were dedicated enough… thanks to the handy guide, anyway.
See the whole rig here:
Click to View Embedded Video Clip
[via Hack N Mod]
Source: feedproxy.google.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
LG Chocolate BL20 slider, 5MP camera is ideal in it
 LG Chocolate BL40 has been launched in early September. And now, right this Monday, 28 they have announced new Chocolate series BL20 slider. Is it much like Palm with its Pre and less well equipped Pixi sitting in the pipeline. Only that since Pre has gone cheaper, prices are on the different level. Ive brought Palm example because its the freshest of the case, all manufacturers do the same at some degree. Since LG Chocolate BL20 is not that much of a pump like Pixi, well just have a short specs walkthrough. Release of the BL20 is going to happen in Q4 in UK at O2.
Source: www.gadgets-reviews.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
star wars gets new tv games from jakks
Here’s a couple of fun games for Star Wars fans to play on their TVs. The guys over a Jakks Pacific (makers of all of those great retro TV game systems) have recently released two new standalone Television games from the Star Wars universe. The first of the game systems is called Classic Battles, which features a…
Here’s a couple of fun games for Star Wars fans to play on their TVs. The guys over a Jakks Pacific (makers of all of those great retro TV game systems) have recently released two new standalone TV games from the Star Wars universe.
The first of the game systems is called Classic Battles, which features a controller that looks like Darth Vader. The plug-and-play game includes five Jedi-themed battle games, including ship flying, lightsaber wielding, and battle droid blasting among others. Keep in mind that most of these games look like they’ve been recycled from an earlier version of the system.
The second console is brand new and looks like a major improvement over the Classic Battles system. Republic Squadron, which consists of a series of flying missions, played with a unique ship’s yoke style motion-sensing controller that let’s you really get into the action.
While Battles features mostly retro-style sprite-based games, Squadron appears to have graphics that look nearly as good as what you might find on a PS2 or Wii console. At least that’s how it looks from these screenshots. I haven’t had a opportunity to see the games in person.
You can find these and other Star Wars TV Games over on Amazon for about $30 bucks each.
[photo credit: kidstechreview]
Source: feedproxy.google.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
SurroundSense beats GPS 10 m accuracy
 GPS 10 m accuracy has been put under reconsideration this week after engineers from Duke University have presented their new fresh and shiny SurroundSense system. The thing here is: GPS is a space-based satellite system where SurroundSense is an application that collects various type of data from your mobile phone and transmits it to a server where the data is processed into a distinct fingerprint which can show your location even indoors and with much better accuracy.
Source: www.gadgets-reviews.com
Share This
Share This
No Comments »
|
Entries (RSS)