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Midori-san, The Blogging Plant

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech, Science

Midori-san

We once witnessed a plant’s reaction with a lie detector to someone’s bending one of its leaves and were pretty impressed that the plant exhibited stress. But Midori-san, a Sweetheart Hoya, makes that look juvenile in comparison. Satoshi Kuribayashi of KAYAK has developed sophisticated technology that allows the house plant to blog on line. With surface potential sensors, it measures changes such as temperature, vibration, and nearby humans. An algorithm translates that data into Japanese sentences that make up the blog. You can monitor Midor-san and offer it a dose of light through its site, which seems to lose something with the translation.

Read More | Pink Tentacle

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Oregon Weather Light Rocket Clock

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science

Oregon Weather Clock

Want to know what the weather will be like when you get up in the morning without listening to a real human? The Oregon Weather Light Clock has 3 illuminated icons to give you a reading of sunny, cloudy, and rainy. Wave your hand and you get both Atomic time and in and outdoor temperatures. Set it on auto-toggle display and it will do just that. With LED backlighting, the rocket clock can be set for 12 or 24 hour time with either Celsius or Fahrenheit measurement. It comes with outdoor sensor and is available for £49.99 (~$100.00.)

 

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Streetline Informs Drivers of Available Parking

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Transportation

Streetline SensorStreetline has gotten together with San Francisco, which is apparently willing to spend $95 million so that 25% of the city can find a place to park. Drivers will be notified via smartphone and signs and will be able to pay via their phones as well eventually. The city is hoping to cut down on traffic congestion.

Streetline claims that their service gives the status of curbside, lot and garage spaces 24 hours a day, every day. The system consists of a wireless sensor inside a 4 x 4-inch piece of plastic fastened to the pavement next to the space.

Read More | Chip Chick

Monkeys Control Robotics With Brain Waves

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science

Monkey with Robotic ArmIn order to assist those who are paralyzed, researchers have been training monkeys to feed themselves with the use of a robotic arm. The monkey uses its brain to control sensors and let the arm know that it wants a marshmallow. The team say that one monkey has already achieved a 78% success rate. Head of the U. of Pittsburgh team, Andrew Schwartz, says that it won’t be long before the technology will be tested on humans, but it may be a several years before making it to the mainstream.

Read More | CNN

FATS Shoes for Fat Kids

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Clothing, Design, Videos

What better way to remind your child that she/he is on their way to obesity than to present them with a pair of FATS (Fitness Achievement Technology System) shoes. Created by students from the Utrecht School of Arts in the Netherlands, the more the kids work out, the more the color appears. This is accomplished by a motion sensor integrated into the shoe’s heel that, along with glass fiber yarn woven on the outside, reflects the light from LEDs. While we think that most kidlets we know would prefer being rewarded with a twinkie or more video game time for exercising, we suspect that this prototype may work on the same little ones that wear those blinking light shoes for safety reasons. 

Read More | FATS Shoe Project

Military Uses Wii With Packbot

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science, Video Games

PackbotWho says the military is not into games? When we last told you about the iRobot Packbot, it had barely taken off as a prototype that could fly with a parafoil system. The USDE has been busy and is now teaching its battlefield model, which features a gun and sensory equipment, to run via a Wii controller. It seems that the soldiers spent more time operating the bot than in reading data and they figured this would be a more useful alternative. Engineers have developed software that will send back vibrations if it finds something of importance, like an injured soldier. They would also like to hook it up to an iPhone sometime in the future.

Read More | New Scientist Tech

DIY Drum Machine

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Music, Science, Toys, Videos


We are thinking that sometimes people have way too much spare time on their hands. However, the Yellow Drum Machine is a clever bot all the same. It moves around, collects data, then finds an isolated object to keep the beat. After sampling this for a “good sound,” it will play along with it. It will also keep time if you decide to make a noise or clap. The robot was created for about $120.00 in about twenty hours and runs on 4 AA batteries. Full instruction and details are on Frits’ site.

Read More | Let's Make Robots!

Ladybag Alerts You to Missing Keys

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Clothing, Design, Misc. Tech

Ladybag

Students at Canada’s Simon Fraser University have come up with an idea to remind you if you forgot your cell phone, keys, or other important items before you leave your home or office. Utilizing RFID technology, they have created the Ladybag. The handbag reacts by showing what is missing on its LED display. Taking it one step further, the bag reflects emotions via sensors. Grab its sides and it shows a happy face. Play with the zipper and it shows nervousness. While we are not sure that we like the second attribute, we can’t wait until this prototype is picked up by an enterprising backer.

Read More | Ladybag Project

BigDog Balances in any Terrain

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science, Videos


Funded by DARPA, Boston Dynamics has developed the BigDog. About the size of a goat, it also has the dexterity of one. The gas-powered bot’s control system keeps it balanced so that it can navigate on all types of terrains. Sensors monitor such aspects as hydraulic pressure, oil temperature, engine temperature, rpm, and battery charge. Its legs move in an animalistic way and if something interferes, it simply absorbs the shock and carries on. Watch what happens when some dude decides to give it a kick.

Read More | Boston Dynamics

ZFlyer Takes Off

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Toys, Transportation, Videos

With all that fuss about the recent Endeavor launch, we just couldn’t resist this ZFlyer Hand Command. This astronaut is no ordinary toy. You can lead it around since it has stabilizing rotors and sensors. It will then recharge on its base unit in 10 minutes for another 7 minute flight. We don’t know if it will make it all the way up to the Space Station, but maybe it will meet the returning paper airplane half way. The ZFlyer will become available March 30 and you can pre-order for £17.99 (~$36.00.)

Read More | Toyology

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