Next Big Trends

Rotator Bathtub turns into a Standing Shower (Video)

Luis — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:06:35 +0000

The Rotator Bathtub is a material which intends to provide a unique bathing experience to its user. Designed by Ron Arad, this bathtub can be turned into a shower only by rotating it along the wall in a swift motion.

A relaxing bath can be experienced when the bulkier end and the wide lip functions are at the bottom. As previously mentioned, it can also serve as a standing shower. By doing so, water is drained from the bath by rotation.

Designer and architect Ron Arad created the Rotator Bathtub for Teuco. With the concept of the malleability of duralight and the technology and expertise of Teuco in the business of bathing equipments, the Rotator Bathtub was polished to function well in which a continuous flow of water can be expected. In addition to that, it is very ideal for people living in confined spaces.

Source: tuvie

Watch your health with the help of Intel Health Guide

Luis — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:09:22 +0000

It is really more convenient to consult and have a check-up with your doctor just at the comfort of your home. That is improved more with the innovation of Intel Health Guide.
Intel Health Guide which is of course developed by Intel is a gadget that works like a personal health care system. One of its many functions is reading and collecting the vital signs of the patient. Another is it can remind the patients to take their medication on time. But its main function really is connecting the patient with his doctor in a more convenient manner. That is done by the presence of a small touch-screen PC that runs Windows XP as well as a web portal in the gadget. Through that program, patients can have a live video conferencing with their doctors. Confidentiality will not be a problem because the information sent to the Health Guide is encrypted and saved in the Intel’s Health Care Management Suite which is very secure to handle records of patients.
The Intel Health Guide has been approved already by the Food and Drug Administration and is expected to be released by late 2008 or early next year.

Source: arstechnica

Poker Bots have the skills in poker you might wish you have

Luis — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:05:08 +0000

Has your luck in poker run out already? Well, with the Poker Bot, that will never be a problem.
In Texas, a program focusing in poker has been made and it is called Polaris. It is a hold ‘em poker playing program which was developed by a computer poker research group at the University of Alberta. The Polaris program is composed of several robots like HyperBorean07 which is the winner of the limit equilibrium series held in the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Computer Poker Competition. The Polaris software also has defeated professional pokers such as Nick Grudzien and Ijay Palansky.
The software in the poker bots contain variations of fixed poker strategies and an adaptive component that lays out the play of the opponent and picks the best strategy to be used against the opponent. In the poker competition which the Poker Bot joined, each match was comprised of five hundred hands and the Polaris received the cards in a room while the professional players received the same cards in a separate room. That set-up is called the duplicate system where the aspect of luck is lessened and skill is the main determining factor.

Source: gizmodo

Paki the Hippo educates the kids on how to save the Earth

Luis — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:59:36 +0000

The world now is really making efforts to somehow save the environment from destruction. It is just the right thing to do since humans are also the ones contributing a lot to the damage in the world we live in. To lessen the waste and pollution, conserving energy, water and waste is important. Remember the Earth day where the whole world participated in an hour of conserving electricity? It seemed a big challenge but it worked. Now, to make sure that these kinds of activities towards a cleaner and greener Earth will continue, educating the children about its importance is necessary. To do that effectively, adults can ask for the help of Paki the Hippo.
Paki the Hippo is an eco-edutainment way for kids to know and appreciate the importance of energy consumption. The kids would not be bored in learning proper energy consumption with Paki’s cute eyes, ears, nose, mouth and teeth looking like a very friendly hippopotamus. Paki is designed by Paul Berger who intends to teach the younger generation the appropriate management of our resources so that in the future, problems like global warming would no longer be an issue.

Source: yankodesign

Shop around at the comfort of your home with the Telerobotic Shopper

Luis — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:53:01 +0000

Shopping at the comfort of our home is possible nowadays by means of online shopping like in eBay and other online shopping sites. But it does not stop from there. A new and different option of shopping for those who are not willing to drive the road to the malls and shopping centers is the use of a telerobotic shopper.

Telerobotic shopper is a robot developed by TMSUK in Japan. It is basically a remote-control that provides an alternative for shopping without the need to step out of the comfort of your home. All you need to do is get your cellphone and control the humanoid robot from there. You just move and maneuver the robot around the shopping mall through your handset. That is enabled by the cellphone communications technology specifically the NTT DoCoMo’s cellphone technology. The telerobotic robot’s shopping performance was put to test at the demo in Izutuya department store in Kitakyushu, Japan. The demo included a granddaughter doing the shopping for her sick grandmother with the robot. The girl with the robot’s help picked a hat and bought it for the grandmother.

Source: unwiredview

Ozone Concept Car - A Very Futuristic Vehicle

Luis — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:50:01 +0000

As the people’s desire to save the Earth from all the harmful vehicle emissions increase, interesting ideas on how to do this rise as well. One of these is the Ozone concept car.

The concept car named Ozone is a hydrogen powered fuel cell transportation vehicle. Since it is powered by hydrogen, it does not have damaging emissions and is very eco-friendly. What’s more attention-catchy about this concept car is its design. It looks like a giant segway/car with glass walled around it and runs on two large wheels on both sides. Two seats are situated inside the wheelbase where the driver (or shall we call him controller) controls the motion of the car with a joystick panel in the dash. The driver and his companion can move in and out of the car through the huge glass doors which slide 360 degrees. It would really be hard to think of it as a car when you see how it looks like.

It makes me wonder how it feels like inside the car once it starts to move especially when it gets on a bumpy road.

Source: ubergizmo

Lemonade juice? No, It’s Lemon Light

Luis — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:34:59 +0000

What comes to your mind when you see a lemon? If you are creative enough, you would come up with a lot of things. But I am sure, no matter how creative you might be, it would take a lot of time for you to think of using the lemon as a power source for a light. Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki was able to do that.

The “Lemon Light” is a DIY project which uses a lemon as power source, as its name suggests. It is a portable light device which incorporates the use of a fruit as source of power instead of batteries. This concept is not actually the first ever fruit-powered project to be launched but it still is very interesting.

To be able to use this, you need to have a real lemon and then, cut it into half. After that, just insert the light into the half of the lemon. Once you have done that, you surely will never be left in the dark.

The designer’s goal in making this project is to highlight how people nowadays waste energy and at the same time, to increase people’s awareness about the origins of electrical energy.

Source: gadgetsclub

AMPbot - Have your own DJ the Robotic style

Luis — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:58:57 +0000

Are you getting so used to wearing earphones and headset while walking around and listening to music and no longer amused by it? Then, you must add this new item to your must-haves list.

AMPbot or the Automated Music Personality Robot is a robot that can follow you around while playing the music you like. It actually looks like a robotic DJ following you around. It is able to do that by its segway-like self-balancing drive system with two wheels. Its tracking mode keeps tab of your location and keeps the speaker facing you at all times. In the AMPbot’s hands, there are pads that work like a virtual mixing deck intended for adding sound effects such as scratching noises over your tunes. The tunes played by the AMPbot come from a back-mounted MP3 player. More on its appearance, the robot has 49 light LED animations making it more visually hip.

To avoid bumping into walls and other objects or tumbling down, it is equipped with an Obstacle Avoidance System.

This music-player robot measuring 29 inches tall is manufactured by Sega-Hasbro and is said to be available around October or November at$745.

Source: dvice

Is your Dog Smarter than a 5th grader?

Luis — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:51:54 +0000

Many admire your dog for its cuteness. How about your dog’s brain skills?

If you want to gauge your dog’s IQ, the Dog IQ Test is the answer. It is a kit that features 12 different tests which cover problem solving, ability and memory. This self-scoring intelligence test for dogs is created by Dr. Stanley Coren, a professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. He is an author of a number of books about dogs like the seminal works “how to Speak Dogs” and the “Intelligence of Dogs”. Dr. Coren is a prize-winning dog trainer and authority on dog behavior and intelligence so you can be sure that the Dog IQ Test is not just a waste of your time as well as your dog’s.

The test lets you determine the Canine Intelligence Quotient (CIQ) of your dog. Five of the tests are about problem solving and the other seven tests are about the learning ability and memory of the dog. Included in the package are score and result guide and a stopwatch for timing the results. It can be used for dogs as old as ten weeks or older.

They say that dog is man’s bestfriend. And another saying goes “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”. So if your dog proves to have a high IQ, I guess that will somehow reflect to the owner.

Source: iwantoneofthose

Click and Dial - Skype Mouse Phone

Luis — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:00:11 +0000

We have seen computer mouse that appear in cute designs and have cute features but have you seen a mouse that can be used not only for scrolling and clicking but also for dialing? That is what the Skype Mouse Phone is about.

Skype Mouse Phone is the first sliding cover USB VoIP mouse in the world. The mouse features an LCD display and a keypad so users can directly dial the number of the person they want to call via Skype. Aside from that, it has an integrated microphones and speakers that can play music in your computer, a handsfree function, an auto detection switch that distinguishes when you are clicking or dialing, an independent sound chip for handling softphone VOIP voice quality and has a USB cable to handle both mouse and phone.

So if you are looking for a different twist and style in your computer mouse, try having the Skype Mouse Phone. The design might not be as cute spongebob, hello kitty or any of your favorite character but it offers a new sense of functionality.

Source: ubergizmo

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