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All the weird things you missed at E3
E3 2017 will go down in history as the first year the show was open to the public, which means the crushing crowds filling the Los Angeles Convention Center were even more extreme. The rest of the show, however, was just as amped up: eSports tournaments took over downtown, Mario and the Rabbids formed a strange yet intriguing relationship, Bethesda held a carnival and band geeks commiserated with sports bros. Get a first-hand look at all of the madness in the carefully curated, painstakingly compiled "Weirdness of E3 2017" gallery below.
Touchy turns you into an over-friendly, clingy human camera
"Hold my hand for ten seconds and I'll take a picture of you." That's what you get to say to people when you're wearing Touchy. The idea's simple: You put on this camera-shaped helmet, and the shutters will keep you blind until you get help from someone by just touching him or her. As a bonus, if you manage to hold onto your new -- and maybe slightly terrified -- friend for ten seconds, the helmet will then automatically take a photo and display it on the back. This is the work of Hong Kong artist Eric Siu, who created Touchy in 2012 as a way to heal social anxiety, though we can't say we were entirely convinced when Siu approached us at CEATEC. That said, we now have a new idea for our Halloween costume.
A very surreal check-in at Japan's robot hotel
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-173137{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-173137, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-173137{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-173137").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Welcome to Henn-na Hotel. Here's what happens when you try to check into a hotel that's (mostly) run by robots.
Craft the latte foam kitty of your dreams with this insane 'gun'
If you love lattes but wish the foam could somehow be more adorable, good news! You'll soon be able to sculpt the most cloyingly cute animals you want using the Awa Taccino, a gun that fires measured dollops of foamed low-fat or soy milk. You just need to add the milk, whip it up for a minute with the supplied battery powered blender, sculpt it into shape and add chocolate features (as shown in the amazingly Japanese video below). You'll notice I said "sculpt": it does seem to require a modicum of skill, so for $60 you may end up with "formless blob" lattes instead of kitteh or panda lattes. It'll arrive at the Japan Trend Shop next month.
Artist creates hilariously surreal GIFs from Library of Congress photos
Despite the myriad communication options we as a technologically advanced have at our fingertips (literally), sometimes nothing gets our point across better than a GIF. Despite the amount of weird ones (and arty samples) we've seen, none quite hit the vibe that Droga5's art director Kevin Weir concocts though. As This Is Colossal has spotted, Weir uses historic images from the Library of Congress' online archives to create the sometimes creepy animated photos you see above and below. Weir says that he started making these in an effort to keep himself busy during downtime at a grad-program internship, and has since started posting them to his blog Flux Machine. Next time you need a trump card in a GIF war, well, now you have another place to look.
Madden's weird ad campaign stars Kevin Hart, Dave Franco
The start of the NFL season and launch of Madden NFL 15 is just around the corner, which means we're in the midst of the really weird part of the football offseason. Fans are desperate for anything new on Johnny Manziel and Madden players are clamoring for the last scraps of details for the game they'll be pouring hundreds of hours into. That restlessness must have seeped into EA Sports' headquarters, as the publisher just kicked off an ad campaign that stars comedian Kevin Hart and "Neighbors" actor Dave Franco. The three-minute commercial features cameos from NFL players like 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant and Broncos linebacker Von Miller, in which the players sputter "blah blah blah" for a good 15 seconds.
The Sims 4 gets 'weird' in latest trailer
For a clip entitled "Weird Stories Official Trailer" the above footage from The Sims 4 depicts an exceedingly dull, staid Sim whose most impressive achievement is making pancakes for two. EA's description of the sadsack above as the "most least interesting Sim in the world" indicates that he's a spoof of the bearded fellow in those omnipresent Dos Equis commercials. Where the beer company depicts its hero as a rugged adventurer, the embodiment of The Sims 4 lives an oppressively boring life. The tagline "Smarter Sims. Weirder Stories." attempts to remind viewers that chronic, crushing blandness is only one avenue available to Sims 4 players, though the closest to "weird" we see in this video is our protagonist leaving the gym in a dour pout to the dismay of a half-naked stereotype. The Sims 4 makes its debut on September 5, at which point players will have a chance to demonstrate just how strange things can get in EA's latest virtual sandbox. Even without babies and swimming pools, we're sure the Internet masses can come up with some weird things for their Sims to do. [Image: EA]
The creepiest app on the App Store is now free
You might think you've seen the strangest of the App Store, but unless you've downloaded Watching Cute Girl, I promise you that you haven't. Watching Cute Girl is an app that was originally released way back in 2012, but despite being one of the strangest concepts ever, it never really got much attention. It was a hefty US$3.99 for a long time, which might have been the reason for most ignoring it, but now it's free, so you have no excuse not to experience the curious app. Watching Cute Girl is exactly what the name implies: It's a girl -- who I would say is cute -- staring at you. She moves, looks around, but mostly just stares at you and occasionally speaks. The app is designed to be a companion when you're lonely and just want to see another human face. The app description suggests taking her to dinner with you, working with her on your desk, or simply staring at her when you "want to feel eyes from someone." The girl is made up of over 180 video clips, and she can even respond to your voice. Despite being available worldwide, and having its menus translated for the english release, the girl speaks only in Japanese. I think this is probably for the best, since I'm not sure I actually want to understand what she's repeatedly saying to me. Sometimes she doesn't even speak words, she just lets out a little chirp and smile, which ramps up the creepy level a great deal. Poking her or shaking your phone causes her to get upset, which I imagine would also be the case if you were to poke or shake an actual girl, so I guess that makes sense. You can download Creepy Strange Lady, er, I mean Watching Cute Girl for your iPhone right now, but apparently an iPad version is still on the way, just in case you wanted a life-sized virtual face for a dinner date.
'Wearable eyes' take all the work out of having emotions
Ever seen one of those funny novelty spectacles with eyes drawn on them? Dr. Hirotaka Osawa from Tsukuba University in Japan has designed a high-tech version of those called AgencyGlass, and they have eyes that actually move. The digital eyes blink when you nod or shake your head, look up when you tilt your head down and (best of all) it stays open even while you doze off, all thanks to a gyroscope and an accelerometer that detects head movement. That's not all they can do, though -- the eyes also automatically look up when the system determines that a person is looking at you, as taken by the accompanying camera. In fact, Osawa designed the bizarre smartglasses for that purpose: to make you look friendlier and less socially awkward than you actually are.
Expect anything but math in zany PC sequel Frog Fractions 2
Among our Best of the Rest picks for 2012 was a small, free Flash-based game called Frog Fractions. Now, the game's sequel is seeking $60,000 on Kickstarter to bring more unexpected fun to players. Developed by Jim Crawford (under the guise of the developer name Twinbeard), the first Frog Fractions operated under the premise of being a piece of "edutainment," as players expected to learn about fractions while catching flies as a frog. As the game unwound, the adventure became strange and fractions became an afterthought. Crawford's pitch for Frog Fractions 2 carries on with the same charade, even noting that "most Kickstarters are very detailed about what you're paying for, but the nature of this one is that you're paying for a surprise." Crawford said he created Frog Fractions "explicitly to evoke the air of mystery that all video games held in the 1980s," and that "Frog Fractions 2 will evoke that same feeling even more strongly." Crawford also noted that the game's final name will not be Frog Fractions 2, and it will be "larger in scope than Frog Fractions, containing multiple levels of secrets that will take you many play sessions to discover." "I can't describe what I'm going to make in detail, but I can tell you that I've been thinking about how to properly follow up Frog Fractions for the past year, and I believe I can make something genuinely awesome," he said. The crowdfunding campaign for Frog Fractions 2 (working title) will end on April 9. The game is planned for PC, with Mac and Linux ports to follow. [Image: Twinbeard]
The Daxian N100i is a phone you can literally plug into the wall (video)
Gone are the days of bizarre phones with some special practical use, but not all hope is lost. Earlier today, this author stumbled upon a shanzhai Android 4.0.1 phone with a built-in power plug! It's a bit awkward, though, as you have to take off the back cover to flip up the Type A plug -- we're assuming it has a world-friendly voltage rating, but we'll double check. Should you wish to juice the phone up the old-fashioned way, the micro-USB port is still there. Externally, this Daxian N100i seems to be very much "inspired" by the Xiaomi Phone 2 or 2S. Given the HK$599 (about US$80) price point (or about US$40 each in bulk), don't expect too many goodies from this outlandish candy bar: there's a dual-core 1GHz MT6517 chipset, a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 TN display, 4GB of storage, a microSD slot, an 1,800mAh cell (plus a spare in the box) and dual-SIM slots -- but for GSM 900/1800 only. The front and back cameras both have a resolution of just 3.1 megapixels, and it was hard to judge the picture quality on that horrible screen. Still intrigued? Then check out the flip plug in action in our video after the break.
Facebook Home 'Airplane' ad brings one traveler's News Feed aboard -- literally
Sure, Facebook had a weird ad with Blink-182 for the HTC Status, but this sneak peek at its newest TV spot for the First and Home is on another level. Posted today on the company's Facebook page, the campy piece literally brings one traveler's feed to life inside the cabin of his flight during boarding. We won't spoil the goods for you, but it's interesting to see Facebook's first thrust at marketing this skin and smartphone combo out to the masses. Catch the full clip after the break.
Finland sets new mobile phone record... by throwing one
Admittedly, Finland's seen better days in the mobile industry, but that hasn't stopped the townspeople in Savonlinna from hosting the 13th annual Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships to brighten things up. In fact, the recycling awareness event went so well that 18-year-old Ere Karjalainen set a new championship record of 101.46 meters. The secret? Just an old Nokia device (obviously) plus a bit of preparation the day before -- "mainly by drinking." While Finnish organizer Christine Lund claims this is a new world record, a little digging revealed that Britain's Chris Hughff threw -- as a guest participant -- a 102.68 meter distance at JIM Mobile's Belgium Championships earlier this year. Despite the utilization of a laser rangefinder plus video proof after the break, Lund dismissed the "unofficial" event's record, according to the AAP. Regardless, Karjalainen is no doubt the latest sweetheart amongst Finnish geeks.
TshirtOS is web-connected, programmable, 100 percent cotton (video)
An LED display, camera, microphone, speaker and accelerometer all packaged into a t-shirt and controlled via your smartphone? That's the concept behind tshirtOS, a wearable platform for "self-expression" that currently only exists as a prototype. It can show off tweets, play music videos, capture belly-height photos and send them off to Instagram, and pretty much do anything except play percussion. CuteCircuit, which came up with the idea in cahoots (inexplicably) with Ballantine's whisky, says it's about to conduct product tests and will mass produce the smart-shirts if enough folks register interest. There's no Kickstarter page, definite specs or pricing for any of this, but based on CuteCircuit's history and the video after the break we're inclined to believe TshirtOS is more than just viral marketing stunt for the sake of a dram -- click onwards and judge for yourself.
Japanese company takes pod concept mobile, keeps ants from your Grey Poupon (video)
The great outdoors not civilized enough? From the country with a dearth of space but no shortage of singular ideas comes the Zero Pod, letting you renounce the flimsy tent and enjoy nature in solid-framed style. Made up of "about 40 components," the structure can be placed on flat ground, steep hills, or even turned into a kit houseboat, judging by manufacturer DCW's video after the break. Claiming it can be assembled easily "by two women" in half a day, with knock-down taking a bit longer, the company added that the pods could also be put together as modules for use as hotel annexes. We'll have to see about the price, but if the pod lets us be in nature while keeping it off us, we're not going to quibble about a few yen.
AT-AT PC Case Mod: and you thought it was just geeky on the outside
This isn't the first Star Wars-themed peripheral we've featured. Not by a long shot. Not even today. It's not even the first AT-AT case mod we've had, but we can safely say it poses the most danger to the alliance. With a mini-ITX mainboard, Intel Core i7-2600K CPU and 8GB of RAM, this walker might actually have enough brains to avoid a harpoon and tow cable, and with elaborate watercooling the Hasbro plastic shouldn't get scorched either. The icing on the imperial cake is weapons and interior that light up with the touch of a remote. Want to see how modder Asphiax made it happen? Then pewpew the source link.
iPhones smuggled into China in beer bottles
It's pretty easy to understand most of this story. Someone in Hong Kong wanted to get a bunch of iPhones into Shenzen, China, so they decided to smuggle them across the border. That's illegal, but it makes sense. China charges heavy taxes on importing goods like these, and whoever ran this scheme wanted to avoid the tax. What doesn't make sense, however, is how they did it. The culprit cut open empty beer bottles, placing iPhones inside three at a time, and then resealed the bottles with tape. You can see the full Chinese news report below. Over 200 iPhones were being smuggled in beer bottles. I guess the best explanation is that people often bring empty bottles into China for recycling, and the hope was that these would just get lost in the mix. But it's definitely an unusual scheme. [via OBP]
Samsung patents phone skins, mood swings, Amazon
See that crazy faceplate with matching wallpaper that sells for two-a-penny on Amazon? Well, Samsung wants to patent something even worse. It's so bad we had to hide it away after the break. (Honestly, don't look at it -- unlike the USPTO, you won't get paid for your trouble.) At first we believed the hype that it was some kind of wild Super-OLED-lenticular-transparent-flexible-display concept for smartphones, but now we're not so sure. The patent application simply refers to a printed "film layer" stuck onto a smartphone's case, which aligns with images on the display and gives the impression of a seamless all-over skin. Refuse to believe that anyone would try to claim exclusive rights over something so old and so commonplace? Go on then, have a gander.
Fish are lazy, naive, easily led by robots (video)
What does a fish look for in a leader? No doubt a nice fishy smell is important, and maybe a sense of direction too, but the overriding factor happens to be something much simpler, and indeed simple enough for a robot to mimic. Our old friend Maurizio Porfiri and a colleague from New York's Polytechnic Institute have shown that a fish-bot will quickly attract live followers if it has a nice, fluid swimming motion. When the stroke is just right, real fish will pull up alongside and visibly relax their own motion to conserve energy, just like geese flying at the rear of a 'vee' formation. It's hoped that, in the future, robots might be used to guide endangered fish populations away from oil spills and other calamities, in much the same way as battery-powered leaders have guided humanity since the dawn of time (allegedly).
iPhone stops a bullet, saves the life of a Rotterdam contractor
Image: Shutterstock According to De Telegraaf, a 49 year-old Rotterdam contractor was shot at and an iPhone in his pocket may have helped stop the bullet from hitting his heart. According to my limited Dutch language skills and Google's translation, "The bullet went straight through my phone back and then only in my chest. My cell phone worked as a brake job and probably was adjusted so that no serious damage was done." In the picture shown attached to the story, it appears the bullet had to travel through the glass of his van as well, which certainly also helped slow the velocity of the bullet before it hit the iPhone. Back in 2007 we wrote up a story about a soldier in Iraq who had a bullet hit his iPod, saving his life. Oh, his body armor helped as well. Remember, it's important to slow the velocity of a bullet down when protecting the body, so anything between you and a high velocity slug of lead is a good thing. And although body armor is pricey, it's still cheaper per square inch than covering yourself in iPhones. Thanks to Ronald Detiger for sending this in!
