There’s a bad moon rising?
Last year, we heard about a new technology to identify individuals based on the pressure signature of their feet on the ground. Now, Japanese scientists at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology built a system that can identify an individual by the pressure signature of his or her ass. They’re not, er, resting on their laurels though. There’s work to be done!
Continue reading… “Butt biometrics”
DISPLAX Multitouch Globe from DISPLAX™ Interactive Systems on Vimeo.
The demo kind of falls apart when they start poking around Windows, but Displax’s new 40-inch diameter Multitouch Globe looks like an absolute joy when it comes to navigating interactive maps. It’s just too bad it’s a bit impractical…
Continue reading… “Multitouch Domes are a great way to display maps”
A new way to deal with political problems.
Over the past two weeks, staffers from HUGE, the Dumbo-based digital agency, have been at work on a different kind of interactive campaign. Yesterday around noon, a skunkworks team made up of software engineers, interaction designers, information architects, and more finally unleashed their side project on the world: a platform called We the Lobby that “makes the United States political system available to the 99% who can’t afford a lobbying group.”
Continue reading… “Needs your own lobbyist? Kickstarter knock-off funding to Anti-SOPA cause”
Two new laws proposed by US legislators, the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, have been attracting a very negative reaction from the web community over the past couple of months, which is today culminating in a day of protests. Aiming to curtail copyright infringement on the web by giving the US government unprecedented new powers, both SOPA and PIPA have been rejected as overreaching and unhelpful laws that cannot coexist with a free and open internet.
A lot of websites (most notably Wikipedia) are going dark today in protest of SOPA.
But the humor site The Oatmeal easily wins for its hilarious GIF about the proposed law. In its own way, it does a better job of explaining what SOPA means than a lot of the serious sites out there.
Here it is after the jump. Watch and laugh…
Recycled stuffed animals never looked so good!
Artist Agustina Woodgate makes her skin rugs out of recycled stuffed animals. Keep her away from your cherished teddy bear.
Her Skin Rug series consists of a group of rugs made out of dissembled stuffed animals and turned into large quilt-like rugs that almost look like a kaleidoscope…
Continue reading… “Artist recycles stuffed toys to make stunning, psychedelic rugs”
Today’s Kickstarter Creativity Spotlight focuses on balloon mapping. What the heck is balloon mapping you may ask?
Balloon mapping is sending a camera up on a balloon, snapping photos, and stitching them into a map. Over the past year and a half these fine folks have built a global mapper community and this is your chance to participate in all the excitement…
Continue reading… “Balloon mapping kits by Mathew Lippincott”
Will you become a member?
Pirates and file-sharers, rejoice! The Missionary Church of Kopimism (just say it out loud) has been recognized as a religion in Sweden:
Since 2010 a group of self-confessed pirates have tried to get their beliefs recognized as an official religion in Sweden. After their request was denied several times, the Church of Kopimism – which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols – is now approved by the authorities as an official religion. The Church hopes that its official status will remove the legal stigma that surrounds file-sharing.
All around the world file-sharers are being chased by anti-piracy outfits and the authorities, and the situation in Sweden is no different. While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates, there is a large group of people who actually consider copying to be a sacred act…
Cycling transportation gets a boost in Sweden.
If you want to find an unassuming place where bicycling is a way of life and nobody makes a big deal about it, head south. The south of Sweden, that is, where the small university town of Lund has a big bicycle habit. They just don’t advertise it.
In Lund, 60% of the populace bikes or takes public transport to go about their daily tasks. And then there’s Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city – only 20 miles southwest of Lund. Malmö also doesn’t have a reputation for fantastic biking. But some say it is the country’s best biking city – ahead of both Stockholm, the capital; Gothenburg, the second largest Swedish metropolitan area, and a host of smaller bike-friendly burgs…
Continue reading… “A new cycling superhighway. Not in the U.S.A.”
Space gas has its consequences.
Humans produce two flammable gases: hydrogen and methane. Flammable gases accumulate in an enclosed space and can ignite. Astronauts are humans who spend lots of time in enclosed space. The logic is irrefutable. So, what’s the risk to farting astronauts?
Between 1968 and 1971, researchers Edwin L. Murphy and Doris H. Calloway published three, count ‘em, three studies on flatulence. The 1969 paper was about astronauts and their farts, specifically a study to determine the level of flatulence produced by difference astronaut space diets. Picturing how the study went brings into focus the many indignities astronauts face for their shot at space travel…
Continue reading… “The danger of farting in space”
Unless you work at the Pentagon, the key locks on your desk drawers are probably easy to compromise. So with their new Covert, the folks at Quirky figured that a drawer lock can’t be picked if it can’t be found.
The sliding locking mechanism comes with adhesive tape for a temporary solution, but if you were hoping for any kind of real security you’ll want to screw them in. Once installed on the inside of a drawer the mechanism is completely invisible, and the only way to open it is with an included magnetic key that lets you slide the latch across…
Continue reading… “Quirky’s invisible drawer locks only open with a magnetic key”
The “Star-Turn” installation was made as part of a fundraising effort Help for Heroes, a charity for wounded war veterans. The installation featured a geodesic dome that protected riders of a static Specialized Sirrus bike, which when pedalled, would spin attached armatures mounted with a helix of tea light candles each.
According to the press release, Munro’s design was inspired by accident..
Continue reading… “Museum’s geodesic dome houses human-powered light show”
Changing the way you buy clothing.
This seems like the kind of invention we’ve needed for a long time now-a virtual dressing room that allows you to try on clothes without all that nudity and pointless human interaction.
There are no salespeople to hard sell you into buying that ill fitting garment, you simply try it on for size via touch screen and see what you think for yourself. Here’s how it works…
Continue reading… “The dressing room Of The future”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.