couch
Latest
Robocouch takes students to class without all of that exercise nonsense
There's a different kind of two-seater roaming the sidewalks of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia: a motorized couch. Thanks to the efforts of a few engineering students, what started as a joke amongst friends is now a Xbox gamepad-controlled robotic sofa. Under the cushions, there's an electric scooter motor and an armrest-mounted Raspberry Pi to wrangle the vehicle's four independent wheels. All told, it took a group of nine students a year to get the kinks worked out of the mechanical, software and assembly systems. "We were thinking about making a fridge robotic, too, so you could call it over," said co-creator Will Andrew. One thing's for sure: they'd certainly improve gameday lounging.
Resource Furniture makes Ikea designs look unwieldy (video)
Sometimes a so-called "revolution" really can be revolutionary. New-York-based Resource Furniture specializes in highly engineered space-saving furniture from Clei (and others) that really is extraordinary in its design and ease of operation. Something that's particularly important if you or your family is stuffed into a tiny, big-city apartment. The lifetime warranty is just a bonus. So sit back, slip off your trousers, and prepare to be amazed at each step along the six-and-a-half-minute video overview found after the break.
Ringing in the New Year on your sofa? Join the crowd.
It's probably a foregone conclusion at this point, but the days just before and after New Year's Day make owning an HDTV oh-so-sweet. Just in case you haven't already worn a nice imprint into your sofa catching all those NCAA bowl games in HD, you can give your set a bit more play tonight with a variety of marathons and the all-important ball drop at midnight. For sports fans in particular, however, it's going to be hard to leave the den in the near future. Some of college's best bowl games kick off on New Year's Day, and to commemorate the occasion, ESPN is even holding an Ultimate Couch Potato Competition at the ESPN Zone in New York City. So, dear readers, are any of you spending tomorrow huddled around the television?
I am an awesome guitar strap
I am 8-bit, the neato game-art exhibit, has collaborated with Couch Guitar Straps to make some awesome straps designed for Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitar controllers. The straps come in blue or black and feature a neat cascading Space Invader graphic. Since the company makes real guitar straps, and since holding up a fake guitar relies on the same principles as holding up a real one, there's probably no reason you couldn't use one of these for the real thing, so you can look like a huge nerd onstage*. And then you'd at least be getting your $32.95 out of it. If it's even possible to get $33 worth of value from a guitar strap. But quibbling over the price does little to obscure the simple fact that these look cool, and we Wii owners, who are extra-sensitive about controller straps, can appreciate them.*The Couch website warns that the end tabs are not as heavy-duty as those designed for real guitars, and "may not last as long."[Via Joystiq]
Sofa sets new land speed record for furniture
Besting his own "world's fastest office" in both comfort and speed, this souped-up sofa from furniture-modder Edd China laid claim to the top spot in the Fastest Furniture category in the Guinness Book of World Records over the weekend, reaching a top speed of 92 miles per hour. Sofa-driver Marek Turowski (who won his place in the driver's seat in an eBay auction) described the record-setting run as "terrifying," adding that "you feel every bump... worse, you feel like you might take off." What's more, the sofa is supposedly street-legal, and will apparently soon be motoring around the streets of West London to help attract potential sofa-buyers to Sofa.com (which, sadly, only seems to sell stationary sofas). Of course, no one breaks sofa speed records without taking a camera along, the results of which you can see by hitting up the video after the break.
Haberdashery for your couch
What is your poor couch to do when it wants to look jaunty for a night on the town? Nothing. That's why your couch doesn't go out. It's ashamed.If you care about your couch at all, you'll buy one of these Mario or Luigi hat cushions from NCSX. It's the least you can do, considering what you do to it all day. You know, the sitting.Alternately, you could buy one of these plush toys for decoration. That would be pretty weird, though, right? Also in today's NCSX update: awesome Bomberman t-shirts and cell phone straps, Chocobo cushions, and even more Animal Crossing toys.
Danielle Sobik's electroluminescent couch encourages nearness
Although today's not exactly a good day for some furniture manufacturers, Danielle Sobik's electroluminescent couch is looking to cure the boring couch blues by offering touch / location-sensitive lighting in an ultra-mod sofa. Clearly designed with the female in mind, the couch emits blue flower patterns when a couple is sitting apart from one another, and as the two move nearer, the patterns change in relation to their proximity. Once the two are close enough to finally get over that gripe they had earlier, the deep blue colors begin to turn to a light pink, presumably aiding everyone in just getting along. Nah, it doesn't look like Danielle has landed a deal with Berkline just yet, but this would definitely be the perfect seating location when typing away on your Luxeed keyboard. Psychedelic, man.[Via ShinyShiny]
The Twilight Zone: Negative Wii press
You're probably reading Wii Fanboy because, well, you're a Wii fanboy. Or, at the very least, you're mildly enthusiastic about Nintendo's next-generation offering. As such, you might want to brace yourself for the following...ready?NEGATIVE PRESS.That's right. Some punk over at Arena Magazine had the gall to point out a few problems he had with the system. Let's take a look: First off, video games have long been seen as a blessed haven in an otherwise weary day; after coming home from work or school, all some people want to do is to plop down on their sofa and blast a few zombies to kingdom come. The Wii, with its emphasis on motion and energy, may simply require too much effort for many gamers to bother. The Wii is effectively shunning gamers with smaller TV sets, since it will be difficult to aim the pointer on a tiny display. Many living rooms hardly have the space for a regular console, let alone one where up to four people might have to stand and wildly swing their arms about. To be fair, these are legitimate concerns. On the first point, Nintendo is attempting to play the strategy of "second console"...if one wishes to plop, then all one needs to do is pick up another game system. On the second, the direct pointing feature doesn't seem to be currently implemented in the first person shooters we've seen for the system, and hopefully Nintendo can come up with a work-around for those that do. Lastly, on the final point of contention, well...we're willing to break a few expensive vases if y'all are. What do you guys think?
