Tech Innovations
Maptor
Maptor is a cross between a mini projector and a map, which allows you to discretey project a map onto any surface – wall or hand, for example – when you are lost in a strange place. The device is lipstick-sized and GPS enabled. Read more on Yanko Design.
3D Mars
James Cameron has persuaded NASA to put a 3D camera on the 2011 Curiosity Mars rover mission, and is helping them design and build the camera. Read more on CBS News.
All Terrain Robots
Meet seven all terrain robots – invented by Dennis Hong his team at RoMeLa, Virginia Tech. The include Strider, CLIMBeR and DARwin. Watch them in the video:
Solar Powered Satellite
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has successfully launched a space probe – Akatsuki – which is carrying a solar-powered kite called IKAROS. Akatsuki is headed to Venus, while Ikaros will disconnect and travel to the other side of the Sun on a three year scientific journey . Read more on MSNBC.
Weta Legs
Walking like an Egyptian might have been in vogue last century; today it’s all about walking like a goat… or a dragon… or a satyr. Weta Legs are a kind of hinged stilt that allow humans to walk (dance, and go up and down hills and stairs) like animals, most often used in fantasy movies [...]
Budget House
Engadget reports that the series finale of House was shot entirely on the Canon 5D Mark II camera – “a stills camera that shoots amazing HD,” according to the show’s director Greg Yaitanes. Read a Q&A with PetaPixel that was conducted via Twitter.
Wild Robots
The New York Times has rounded up several sightings of robots in the ‘wild’ - from the supermarket robot that will carry your shopping basket for you to Hanako a robot with bleeding, saliva-excreting mouth designed to help dentists train. Seem more robots at work and play in The New York Times.
Virtual Autopsy
Just as the furore over the all-seeing scanners at British airports starts to take hold, along comes another piece of technology to creep you out. The Virtual Autopsy Table constructs a 3D image of a living – or dead – body using x-ray imaging. Doctors can then make a diagnosis without resorting to surgery. It [...]
Celebrity Body Scans
Yahoo News India reports that, far from being freaked out by the new all-seeing body scanners at airport security, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan seized it as a PR opportunity. On his way through London’s Heathrow airport on the way to an appearance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross he signed copies of his x-rays [...]
Biometric Monitor
The WIN Human Recorder is a Japanese biometric device that is designed to be worn on the skin on a day to day basis as it measures heart rate, brainwaves, skin temperature, velocity and respiration. It wirelessly transmits data to a mobile phone or computer where the data can be managed. Read the full article [...]
