[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE3fmFTtP9g[/youtube]
WildCat is the newest creation from Boston Dynamics. With a frame that’s somewhat reminiscent of their previous quadruped robot, LS3 (also referred to as mule), WildCat is actually more closely related to a cheetah. Either way you look at it, WildCat is a step forward for robotics.
Continue reading… “WildCat: Boston Dynamic’s new robot that can run and gallop”
GE rolls out their vision of the future. Sometimes we often wind up with a bunch of design concepts that have zero chance of making it to market because those design concepts are usually designed for “the home of 2050” or some other far-off date that nobody’s really thinking about yet. With GE’s “Home 2025” design concepts, they have made it their goal to stay within the realm of possibility. (Photos and video)
Continue reading… “GE reveals vision of what our homes will be like in 2025”
Nest
The smoke detector screams, people panic, arms and hands flail and someone with a towel furiously fans away smoke in the kitchen. Then you need a chair to reach the ceiling to hold down that impossibly tiny red button, which never seems to silence the wailing device. So you rip out the batteries–and maybe don’t put them back for days or weeks. (Video)
Continue reading… “Nest reinvents the smoke detector”
DeepFlight Super Falcon
The DeepFlight Super Falcon (DFSF) is a sleek vehicle that flies, but it’s not flying in the air, it’s flying through the water. It is shaped like a stout fighter jet with two stubby 8.8-feet wide “wings” at each side, with a super slim chassis and domed semicircle waterproof windows. The 20.11 feet DFSF soars through water instead of simply sinking like traditional submarines. (Video)
Continue reading… “DeepFlight Super Falcon flying submarine”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1vUNd9hBDM[/youtube]
At the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year, Toyota showed up with a three-wheeled escape pod of an electric vehicle called the i-Road. At the time Toyota declared the diminutive vehicle production-ready. Not many “production-ready” concept cars ever actually see the light of day, but as it turns out, in the case of the i-Road Toyota has already begun producing the slick little vehicles. (Photos)
Continue reading… “Toyota’s i-Road EV concept enters production”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQjntXvMVTE[/youtube]
Ford’s European researchers could one day help you avoid collisions with its new technology. I could also help you squeeze into a tight parking space with the help of radar, ultrasound, and a digital camera.
Continue reading… “New Ford Focus parks itself and prevents collisions”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukdV3aQc8jY[/youtube]
One of the most promising applications of 3D printing is the customization of everyday objects to the most personal and variable thing we possess—our bodies. A new example of this is the Blizzident toothbrush, which is made possible by two intersecting technologies—3D scanning and 3D printing.
Continue reading… “Blizzident: A 3D printed toothbrush that cleans your teeth in just 6 seconds”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_joxrZ6vdYc[/youtube]
Gartner Research released a report in 2008 in which it identified the number one IT grand challenge as “Never having to manually recharge devices.” Physicist Hatem Zeine has invented what he believes to be the answer to this challenge. The Cota wireless power transmission system uses intelligently steered phased array antennas to focus a beam of microwaves on a receiver module – and only on that module. The inherently safe technology can deliver electrical power up to 30 feet from a central transmitter without any line-of-sight requirement and without interfering with other devices. The system is projected to hit the market in 2015.
Continue reading… “Cota charging system transmits power wirelessly at up to 30 feet”
The Tikker campaign on Kickstarter is escalating the smartwatch craze with its proposed “death watch”. The idea behind Tikker is that you calculate how much time left you have before you die, set the watch’s countdown and then have a perpetual ominous reminder to seize the day, kind of like a lower-stakes version of the Justin Timberlake movie “In Time.”
Continue reading… “Tikker wrist watch counts down how much time you have before you die”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPKOnZDR00A[/youtube]
The U.S. Air Force goes to great lengths to train their fighter pilots. But even the best simulations lack the visceral experience of a real live fire dogfight. To give their pilots the most realist experience possible, the USAF is working with Boeing to convert some of its old F-16s into pilotless drones that can actually engage in a real dogfight with their pilots.
Continue reading… “U.S. Air Forces converts F-16 fighter jets into unmanned drones”
An example of Contour Crafting.
Researchers at the University of Southern California believe that within a couple of years 3D printing techniques will be used to construct entire buildings in less than a day. (Video)
Continue reading… “3D printing will be used to construct buildings here and in outer space”
Jimmy, an open source robot.
If you could build your own robot, what would you have it do? If you’re the type of person who is into building stuff and coding, you may soon get your chance to answer that question for real, courtesy of an interesting project coming from the labs of chipmaker Intel. (Video)
Continue reading… “Futurist at Intel shows how you’ll download and program your own robot”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.