Why immersive virtual reality is the next generation of gaming: part 1 FOV2GO (credit: USC/MxR) It’s now obvious that immersive virtual reality is finally back in the consumer market — with a vengeance. Especially with the recent advent of FOV2GO, a free DIY portable fold-out iPhone and Android viewer that turns the smartphone screen into a 3-D VR system. You can create one with foamboard and 2 cheap plastic lenses, and downloadable software lets you create your own virtual worlds or environments to display. FOV2GO for iPhone (credit: USC/MxR) (There’s also an iPad3 version.) What made this possible: high-resolution screens and built-in gyroscopes. That means we can now construct ultra-lightweight VR head-mounted displays. FOV2Go is actually a hardware and software kit for the creation of immersive virtual reality experiences using smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Harness the power to freely shrink and grow as you explore the uncharted worlds and solve environmental physics puzzles… (credit: USC Games) Nice try, no cigar (credit: Sony)
Name Puzzle | Wooden Name Puzzle | Personalised Name Puzzles ~ tinyme.com.au Our classic wooden name puzzles were our first ever product and now, over five years and many, many thousands of name puzzles later, they are still one of our most popular products. Here's a little bit about why they have become such a popular gift for kids all over Australia and around the world. What does CNC mean to you? To us this sweet acronym means Computer Numerical Control. What does 3 coats of paint and hand sanding each letter twice mean to you? Please note that non-alphabetical letters, hyphens or any other special characters cannot be accepted.Solid timber, with finger jointed construction.No more lost pieces, the integrated lid is also the puzzle base.
Our Fabulous Future: Corporate America’s Great Tech-Utopia Movies The best way to predict the future, as Alan Kay famously said, is to invent it. For decades, however, well-known technology companies have tried an easier approach: filming it. They’ve done so in the form of short movies featuring mocked-up versions of the wondrous technologies that will be everyday realities for the consumers of tomorrow. (Many of the tomorrows in question — 1960, 1976, 1986, 1999, 2o04 — have since come and gone.) Now that we do live in the future, we know that some of the movies’ visions were on target: for instance, they repeatedly showed in-home videoconferencing that’s very much like Skype or FaceTime. Thanks to the futuristic miracle known as YouTube, many of these productions are readily available for viewing, including both golden oldies and recent efforts. To New Horizons (General Motors, 1940) Year depicted: 1960 Amusing anachronisms: The automobiles and architecture of 1960 look suspiciously like the automobiles and architecture of 1940. Year depicted: 1986
May the force (& this Star Wars art print) be with you – Babyology I won’t lie – I know nothing about Star Wars. I use the saying ‘may the force be with you’ a fair bit but even so I had to Google to see if it had any connection to Star Wars. Coincidently I only suspected a connection because my husband always says something about some guy named Luke in an odd voice when I say it. Even though I’m a Star Wars dunce, I do know a great print when I see one. Choose from three prints – Return Of The Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope, all in a generous A3 size. Find all these priced from US$19 at Handz Restyle Shop, with prints sent anywhere in the world for US$5.90.
New wonder material replaces graphene for future electronic devices This diagram shows the flat-sheet structure of molybdenum disulfide — molybdenum atoms shown in teal, sulfur atoms in yellow (credit: Han Wang et al.) MIT researchers — who struggled for several years to build electronic circuits out of graphene with very limited results (except for radio-frequency applications) — have now succeeded in making a variety of electronic components from an amazing new material: a 2D version of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). The MIT researchers say the material could help usher in radically new products, from whole walls that glow to clothing with embedded electronics to glasses with built-in display screens. Tomás Palacios, the Emmanuel E. A report on the production of complex electronic circuits from the new material was published online this month in the journal Nano Letters, authored by Han Wang and Lili Yu, graduate students in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS); Palacios; and others at MIT and elsewhere. References:
UPDATED: Buy one $20 iTunes gift card, get one FREE at Harvey Norman until 17/12 [save 50%] - Gift Cards on Sale UPDATE: It appears shipping is now $5.95 on the website and stores are starting to sell out. Looks like Gerry’s pulling out all the stops this Christmas for iTunes bargain hunters. Starting today and running until the 17th of December (or while stocks last I’d say) if you buy one $20 iTunes card, you’ll get another one for free. The deal is available in-store and online with free delivery. Thanks to Jason and Sally who sent this in. [Source: Harvey Norman via OzBargain/Lifehacker] Other known gift card deals: [25%] Harvey Norman – 2 x $20 iTunes cards for $30 – ends 30/12 [20%] BP - 20% off iTunes cards - ends 3/1 [12.5%] Target - 25% off your 2nd iTunes card - ends 24/12
TV with 16 times resolution of HDTV passed by UN standards body IDG News Service - A new television format that has 16 times the resolution of current High Definition TV has been approved by an international standards body, Japanese sources said Thursday. UHDTV, or Ultra High Definition Television, allows for programming and broadcasts at resolutions of up to 7680 by 4320, along with frame refresh rates of up to 120Hz, double that of most current HDTV broadcasts. The format also calls for a broader palette of colors that can be displayed on screen. iGUESS: Speculation on what Apple HDTV might look like The video format was approved earlier this month by member nations of the International Telecommunication Union, a standards and regulatory body agency of the United Nations, according to an official at NHK, Japan's public broadcasting station, and another at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Japan has been pushing for international approval of the new format, which was designed and developed by NHK.
Stocking Stuffers Tools for Camping Tools for Happy Hour Tools for Survival Tools For The Traveler Tools For iPads® & iPhones® Tools For Adventure Tools For the Athlete Tools For The Household Tools For The Gadgeteer Tools For The Office Tools For The Chef Classic Kid Fun & Games Vintage Toys & Games Classic Games & Amusements Toys For Creativity & Art Magic Tricks & Toys Classic Holiday Toys & Games Space Age Toys & Games Science Puzzles & Games Toys Tools Japanese geek builds awesome giant beetle robot for some reason (video) We are all doomed. A Japanese man from Ibaraki Prefecture with too much time has built a gigantic bug mecha that not only looks awesome but also actually works. Takahashi-san is 60 and has begun building the thing in 1998 and now owns a fifteen ton robot. The mecha, dubbed Kabutom RX-03, is equipped with a cool control panel, can be remote-controlled (which is especially awesome) and is shaped like a rhinoceros beetle. The Kabutom RX-03 was shown on Japanese TV last night. Via AltJapan
Buy Wine Online Flying drone controlled with mind power Researchers in China have produced a system to control a quad-rotor drone with the mind Image Gallery (4 images) Researchers based at Zhejiang University in China have produced a system for controlling a quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle with the mind. Controlling an airborne vehicle with the mind requires that one first learn some commands. Various demonstrations of the Flying Buddy 2 technology were thought up by the scientists, including a "boxing match" which pitted a mind-controlled drone against one piloted with a typical remote setup. The mind-controlled drone research is aimed toward enabling the disabled to interact with their environment in new ways, however it does not take too big a stretch to imagine a more mature implementation of the tech being attractive to those in the consumer, transport, industry and defense sectors. The Zhejiang University video below shows the research in further detail. Via: New Scientist About the Author Post a CommentRelated Articles
11 cheap gifts guaranteed to impress science geeks | DVICE - StumbleUpon Science comes up with a lot of awesome stuff, and you don't need a Ph.D, a secret lab, or government funding to get your hands on some of the coolest discoveries. We've got a list of 11 mostly affordable gifts that are guaranteed to blow your mind, whether or not you're a science geek. Click on any image to see it enlarged. 1. Aerogel Also known as frozen smoke, Aerogel is the world's lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. Aerogel isn't just neat, it's useful. Price: $35 2. Inside these sealed glass balls live shrimp, algae, and bacteria, all swimming around in filtered seawater. EcoSpheres came out of research looking at ways to develop self-contained ecosystems for long duration space travel. Price: $80 3. NASA has been trying to figure out how to get a sample of rock back from Mars for a while now. Every once in a while, a meteorite smashes into Mars hard enough to eject some rocks out into orbit around the sun. Price: $70+ 4. Price: $150 5. Price: $110 6. Price: $80 7. Price: $15 8.
10 Futuristic Materials Lifeboat Foundation Safeguarding Humanity Skip to content Switch to White Special Report 10 Futuristic Materials by Lifeboat Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member Michael Anissimov. 1. Aerogel protecting crayons from a blowtorch. This tiny block of transparent aerogel is supporting a brick weighing 2.5 kg. Aerogel holds 15 entries in the Guinness Book of Records, more than any other material. Carbon nanotubes are long chains of carbon held together by the strongest bond in all chemistry, the sacred sp2 bond, even stronger than the sp3 bonds that hold together diamond. “Metamaterial” refers to any material that gains its properties from structure rather than composition. We’re starting to lay down thick layers of diamond in CVD machines, hinting towards a future of bulk diamond machinery. Diamonds may be strong, but aggregated diamond nanorods (what I call amorphous fullerene) are stronger. Transparent alumina is three times stronger than steel and transparent. inShare28 Materials
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