origami
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ASUS Transformer Prime origami-style Smart Cover is ready for its closeup (video)
ASUS Taiwan's been busy updating its Facebook with pictures of all its BFFs, completing the 30-day music challenge and posting a video of the Transformer Prime's new origami-style smart cover. Slotting into two hook-holes on the side of the bezel, it folds into a cunning stand that props the tablet at a variety of angles -- disconnecting with a gentle pull (and a slightly sickening metallic scraping noise). After which, it probably posted a message about wanting an unlike button and played some Farmville. If you wanna see how easy the cover is to position, head on past the break to watch it in action in glorious high definition. [Thanks, dy4me]
Scientists make magic auto-origami using ink and light (video)
We've seen nano-origami and robo-origami, but nothing quite as rapid and simple as this. Researchers at North Carolina State University have figured out how to neatly fold plastic using infrared light and an inkjet printer. Deep black lines are printed onto the plastic sheets, which then absorb the light and cause the material to fold without anyone having to touch it. The wider the line, the greater the angle of each fold, so it's possible to set, say, a 90-degree bend for a cube or 120 degrees for a pyramid. What's more, by giving the lines different patterns, folds can be made to work in specific directions, potentially producing the most perfect, most hygienic bento box that's ever contained your lunch. Click past the break to watch the folding unfold.
HDI 3D to ship new line of 3D projectors next year, we mortgage our homes
We were pretty impressed when we got the chance to gaze at HDI 3D's silky smooth, 43-inch 3D LCD last year, which is why our eyes widened when the company announced that it's begun producing a new line of 3D projectors, slated for release as early as 2012. First up in the awkwardly named Laser-Driven 2D/3D Switchable Dynamic Video Projector series is the LSS Pro 1 (pictured above) -- a tank that's powered by as many as two Laser-Drive Engines and capable of displaying both 2D and 3D images on HDI's 300 inch Laser Silver Screen. A full 100 of the systems will be available on February 14th as part of a pre-production run, but they certainly won't be cheap, with prices ranging from $55,000 to $85,000. As many as five similar models are expected to begin shipping by the end of next year, including the Industrial, Origami and Polygon. Beam past the break for more details in the press release, or check out our gallery to see the full lineup. %Gallery-130325%
Flottille unfolding origami is anti-nanotechnology, pro-chilaxing (video)
Turn the lights off, crank up your Music for Airports LP, and clear your appointments for the rest of the afternoon -- it's time to get your relaxation on with Flottille, tiny paper snowflakes that unfold as they're exposed to water. French artist Étienne Cliquet uses a computer to design the machine-cut pieces, folds them by hand, and then gingerly dips them into the water with a pair of tweezers. The shapes expand slowly and hypnotically, likely the result of absorption through capillary action -- not quite self-folding origami, but it'll do in a pinch. Cliquet hopes they'll shine some light on the "disturbing potential of micro and nanotechnology." Fine, but what about the disturbing potential of origami-based technology?
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Cities of the future, the Aqua Star, and 0-60 in 3.4 seconds... with a go-kart
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. What will the high-tech city of the future look like? This week Inhabitat brought you a sneak peek as we took an exclusive look inside Abu Dhabi's carbon-neutral Masdar City, which just opened for business. We also brought you brand new photos of the world's largest wooden structure, and we spotted several innovative solar-powered buildings - Sweden's rotating photovoltaic cog building and a self-sustaining pod home that can be perched on any roof. Green transportation also took off with a blast this week as the Linde E1 Electric Go-Kart set a Guinness World Record by traveling from 0-60 in 3.4 seconds and Synergy's folded-wing glider plane announced plans to compete in the CAFE Green Flight Challenge. We also saw greener vehicles gear up around the world as France announced plans to deploy a fleet of all-electric garbage trucks next week and Nissan unveiled the NV200 -- New York City's taxi of tomorrow. And for those looking for an underwater escape this summer, don't miss out on the Aqua Star - a submersible electric scooter capable of charting the ocean depths. In other news, this week we showcased several high-tech concept gadgets made from paper - an origami cell phone that folds into a flat piece of cardboard and the world's first interactive paper computer. We also brought you a sensor glove that could help stroke patients recover through gaming, and we covered a clutch of wired home furnishings that bring new meaning to the term geek chic -- from an interweb chaise made from 1,100 feet of coaxial cable to an analog cassette tape chair, to a modern computer mouse made from fine wool felt.
Self-folding origami folds itself, so that you don't have to
We've always thought maybe we'd dedicate ourselves to learning cool things like origami and yo-yo tricks in our twilight years, but it's starting to look like we might not have to bother, after all. A team of researchers have created "programmable matter" -- essentially origami that folds itself. Made from paper that's edged with programmable actuators which cause it to 'fold itself,' its creators hypothesize that it could be used to make things like cups that adjust to the amount of liquid they contain, but really, does something like this need to justify its existence? Check out the video below, and hit up the source for a full read of the research.
Origami-like Play MP3 Player concept makes tunes, not cranes
We're going to go ahead and admit up front that this is not the most practical concept we've seen come out of Yanko Design before, but it is quite intriguing -- even if its name is not. Called the Play MP3 Player it's inspired by origami and to control it you fold it to create the shape of what you want to do. A triangle to play, a square to stop, and overlapping triangles to go forward or backward (another pic after the break explains it). You can see where the lack of practicality comes in, as it'd be a chore to fold and refold this thing every time you wanted to skip that Miley album your little sister wanted you to hear, but it is rather more intuitive than certain other screenless MP3 players.
World of WarCrafts: The world of papercraft
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; contact our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations. digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/WoW_The_World_of_Papercraft'; New from the Department of Old News (wait ... wut?): We're still nuts about papercrafting. While we've spotlighted papercraft before on the site, we haven't featured it specifically on World of WarCrafts. Never let it be said that World of WarCrafts left a creative stone unturned! Papercrafting is not the same thing as origami, which is the Japanese art of folding paper into intricate representations, preferably without cutting or glue. Papercrafting, in contrast, is the process of creating scale models from heavy, pre-printed paper or stock. Craftsy types download patterns rated by difficulty from sites such as World of Warcrafts Unofficial Papercrafts. Site manager Pascal was profiled last year by the Blizzard's official European WoW community site. We talked to Pascal recently for a fresh spin on WoW papercrafting. %Gallery-20544%
First Look: Neat Receipts Origami Organizer
The Neat Company is best known for their diminutive scanner and powerful scanning software. You'll remember that we gave away a few of their Neat Receipts scanners a while back. Well, their innovations continue with the announcement of the Neat Receipts Origami Organizer. (Sorry about the use of the Windows Vista screenshot below; their Mac version isn't available yet...but has been announced). This new device and software not only perform the same organizational tasks as the original Neat Receipts, but now also provide the added functionality of turning your receipts into beautiful works of art. Simply touching the new Origami button on the Neat scanner (below) scans and folds your receipt, turning the receipt into useful data and either a swan, elephant, sea lion, or hummingbird. The Windows version ships today, April 1; Neatco announced that they'll be shipping Neat Receipts Origami Organizer for Mac coincident with the June 30th ship date for Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard". You can view a video of the Origami Organizer in action on the Neatco website; it really is amazing!
Eee PC 701 prototype UMPC mod spotted, photographed, lusted after
If you ask us (and you did) all signs seem to be pointing towards an Eee-branded UMPC at some point in the near future. Clearly there is some interest in such a beast, and we've definitely heard some chatter, and now we've got several delectable pics of an Eee PC 701 prototype with more than a passing resemblance to the Origami -- including those telltale keys. According to X-Gadget, the thing weighs 1.68 pounds (as opposed to over 2 pounds for the venerable netbook) and comes complete with a stylus. There's no word yet on a release date, or whether or not the thing will ever swing into production, but we'll keep our eyes peeled. In the meantime, be sure to check out the gallery below.Update: Looks like this is just a prototype of a case mod based on the Eee PC, not a prototype of a new ASUS product. Thanks, Andy!%Gallery-43959%[Via Portable Monkey]
Video: ASUS teases with folding Origami laptop concept
As of today, CES 2009 is all ASUS' show. We're impressed with both the hardware on display as well as the custom UIs they've developed to take advantage of their new touchscreen displays while waiting for Windows 7 to arrive. In a nod to the future (the very distant future), ASUS leaves us with a conceptual bow inspired by folded Origami... and Battleship, apparently. Check the video after the break.
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Papercraft
While we're awaiting the recently-completed, more competitively-priced Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 2, the official site has given us a way to bide our time. Introducing The Official PAA Papercraft™, which includes regulars Tycho, Gabe, Anne-Claire and Fruit ... erm, Lover. Also available are Episode 2 foes Hat Spider, Asylum Patient and Dr. "I see you've been staring at my balls" Wolfington (his balls are not currently available as papercraft). Fun fact: In a display of irony, should you find yourself surrounded by papercraft Fruit Lovers, the use of fruit juice will actually harm them. Gallery: Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2
"Researchers" hope to launch paper airplanes from space
There's certainly plenty more than just hard science going on in space, and it now looks like a group of researchers from the University of Tokyo are aiming to get in on that action as well. To that end, they've teamed up with the brains behind the Japan Origami Airplane Association to develop an origami aircraft that'll supposedly be capable of surviving the flight from the International Space Station to the Earth's surface. They even seem to have made some progress already, with them set to test an eight centimeter long prototype in the wind tunnel at the University of Tokyo later this week, where it'll face wind speeds up to 5,300 miles per hour. Of course, it'll face a few more obstacles than that in space, although the researchers assure us the plane has been "treated to withstand intense heat."[Via Tech Digest]
Video: Hands-on with Microsoft's Origami Experience 2.0
We had high hopes that the Origami Experience 2.0 would be more than just two apps and a new password system, but we were pretty disappointed when we spent some time playing with it at Microsoft's booth. Picture Password, Origami Central and Origami Now were running on a variety of UMPCs, including the Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium, Fujitsu U810, Kohjinsha SH-series, and our demo unit, an HTC Shift, and while everything pretty much worked as advertised, it certainly wasn't an "experience" -- and probably the least fun we've had with OE in a long time. Check out a bunch of screenshots in the gallery, and make sure to catch the video of a Vista dev manager telling us that Origami Now and Central aren't "launchers" and that HD DVD is doing "just fine" after the break.Update: Video's back now -- sorry for the delay, we had to fly back from Vegas sometime!%Gallery-13395%
Microsoft unleashes the Origami Experience 2.0
We're not really sure you can call a new home screen and app launcher an "experience," but considering the point of a UMPC is to run bog-standard Windows, we suppose Microsoft has to take what it can get. The Origami Experience 2.0 consists of three elements as of right now: Origami Central, a revamped browser / media interface / RSS reader, another centralized home app called Origami Now (pictured) which drops in weather, email, and to-do widgets as well as an RSS reader, and, uh, Picture Password, which replaces the traditional password with a cartoon puzzle. Yep. Apparently there's more, but the Origami team hasn't posted more on its blog -- but you know we'll try and pry some more deets out of them on the CES show floor tomorrow.[Via jkkmobile]
Starcraft origami ignites paper wars
Behold the glory of an epic Starcraft battle staged by folded paper. We've read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and we wonder if making a thousand Hydralisks counts toward wish fulfillment as well? We definitely hope it would count toward our wish of an origami based RTS that's for sure. The photos in the gallery below were originally found on a Korean Yahoo groups website and since then have wandered across the internet for people's viewing pleasure. The pieces get much more detailed on closer inspection and are quite impressive. Now this is what we call "Folding@home."[Via Hemmy.net]%Gallery-5609%
The newest DS accessory: squares of paper
Here's a training game we'd totally spring for: Minagara Oreru DS Origami (Fold While Watching DS Origami). Just like you'd expect, this nongame shows tutorials of origami patterns and invites players to fold along. You can watch the steps as a slideshow with variable speed, or you can manually step through the diagram.The game contains 100 patterns, and has voice controls so you can page through the tutorials while your hands are full! Unfortunately, it costs 3900 yen ($31) which is a little over our origami aid budget. Guess we'll have to stick to folding and unfolding the DS over and over again.
How would you change the UMPC?
Let's face it: even the folks over at sites like UMPC Buzz and Only UMPC would have to admit that the much-vaunted Origami platform from Microsoft, Intel, and friends hasn't exactly taken the world by storm, and although the second round of these devices promises to offer a host of improvements (see: Q1 Ultra), there are still a number of problems that have yet to be addressed. Sure, future tech like flexible displays and 10-hour fuel cells would be great, but what could manufacturers be doing right now to make UMPCs a more attractive buy? That's the question we're posing to you, dear readers, and we'll get you started with the following suggestions: Higher resolution displays across the board (with smartphones already going VGA, we shouldn't be settling for no 800 x 600 here) Better input methods (forget styli and on-screen keyboards: we want tactile thumboards (not split, either!) and / or voice / gesture recognition) As usual, bring the prices down!
Water reactive sheets could become critical part of MEMS
While we've seen mention (and patent applications) of origami-based gadgetry before, the latest gizmo to incorporate crafty folding also melds it with a water reactive plastic in order to create diminutive shapes that "could be used to make certain microscopic 3D structures in large quantities." Gurus from ESPCI and the Paris Institute of Technology have teamed up to concoct specialized plastic sheets which react in curious ways to wee water droplets, and while the process itself seems more interesting than useful, the bigger picture could enable this technology to become a staple of microelectromechanical systems used in printing heads and video displays. Interestingly enough, the scientists were even kind enough to create a time lapse video of the morphing process in action, so be sure to tag the links below if you're even remotely interested in seeing a two-dimensional triangle mystically convert into a pyramid.[Via NewScientistTech]
Hands-on with Samsung's Q1 Ultra, Ultra Mobile PC
After bringing you the exclusive details on Samsung's Q1 Ultra UMPC, we got the chance today to get down and dirty with Samsung's second generation UMPC here at the big CeBIT show. Now, let us tell you something right up front: it's here, UMPC v2 is finally here. The Q1 Ultra brings a smaller form factor, lighter weight, integrated thumb-board, HSDPA data, 60GB disk, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Vista Home Premium running on a 7-inch ,1,024 x 600 WSVGA screen. Hell, it will even pack WiBro data when introduced into the S.Korean market in a few months. As to the processor? Surprise, we received confirmation that the 800MHz Intel processor is an unannounced dual-core (not Core Duo) ultra-low voltage processor that Intel will be announcing in the next few months -- so that's 800MHz on each core. The Origami Experience made finger-tip control of media on the Q1 Ultra a slippery-smooth experience while the keyboard provided plenty of tactile squishiness -- a luxury our sausage thumbed brethren will have to pass on since the keys are very (very) close together. Click on through the gallery below for plenty of steamy hot pics of ultra portable goodness. Damn, did we really just say that about a UMPC?%Gallery-2125%
