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SYNEK's countertop draft system brings fresh beer home this summer
SYNEK's method for bringing draft beer to kitchen counters everywhere first caught our eye last summer, and after nabbing $650,000 in Kickstarter contributions, the final product is on the way. For the uninitiated, SYNEK developed a self-contained tap system that allows you to swap out 128 oz. bags of your favorite brew (that's just under a dozen 12 oz. pours) so that you always have fresh beer at home. You'll notice the finished model looks a bit different from the original, but rest assured that handy thermostat is still employed despite the temperature display getting moved from the front panel. And the ability to adjust CO2 levels remains inside, too. The company says that the new design also features improved insulation and makes it easier to change out those bags. There's also a removable drip tray too, so you want have to worry about getting your counter dirty.
SYNEK's countertop tap puts your kegerator out to pasture
There's no question that draft beer is the best beer, but the cost of getting fresh from the tap brews at home can be substantial. Purchasing a kegerator (along with all of its accessories), CO2 and the kegs of whatever varieties you prefer can add up quickly. But what if supplying a tap system was as easy as getting one of those reusable growlers filled? And what if the dispensing device took up minimal space on your kitchen counter? Well, that's what SYNEK is hoping to do. The draft system hinges on refillable bags that rest inside it's toaster oven-sized unit with adjustable temperature and pressure settings and easy-to-use hose connections. In the future, WiFi connectivity could be built in for monitoring supply levels and making the whole thing social amongst fellow imbibers. So what's the catch? Well, SYNEK offers a cost-effective solution for keeping a fresh beer supply around, but it'll need to convince breweries to allow bag fills before its project is ready for widespread adoption. For now though, this will resolve the headaches homebrewers face of individually topping off dozens of bottles when a five gallon batch is ready. And that's certainly worth the $349 ($299 for early adopters) retail price.
University of Tokyo builds a soap bubble 3D screen, guarantees your display stays squeaky clean (video)
There are waterfall screens, but what if you'd like your display to be a little more... pristine? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a display that hits soap bubbles with ultrasonic sound to change the surface. At a minimum, it can change how light glances off the soap film to produce the image. It gets truly creative when taking advantage of the soap's properties: a single screen is enough to alter the texture of a 2D image, and multiple screens in tandem can create what amounts to a slightly sticky hologram. As the soap is made out of sturdy colloids rather than the easily-burst mixture we all knew as kids, users won't have to worry about an overly touch-happy colleague popping a business presentation. There's a video preview of the technology after the jump; we're promised a closer look at the technology during the SIGGRAPH expo in August, but we don't yet know how many years it will take to find sudsy screens in the wild.
