HouseOfTheFuture
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Movie Gadget Friday: Brazil
Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.We last left off Movie Gadget Friday on board the Icarus II in the near-futuristic film of Sunshine. This week we transition from space travel to a totalitarian, 20th century, terrorist-ridden society in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. A hybrid between the sexy saxophone solos and gender role reversals of the 1980's with the "Keep Calm and Carry On" culture of the 1940's and 50's, this film dabbles between reality and a dream-like state. Cyborg TypewriterThis "handhold" device clamps around your hand and five fingers for allowing typing speeds upwards of 150 wpm. Wired between stereo headphones and a flat touch-sensor keyboard, the brace around the hand augments the user's typing accuracy and pace. The exposed wires act as inputs from any user-received audio and mechanically command via electric impulses exact transcripts to be typed out. The system is spoken-language friendly and can determine onomatopoeias, thus eliminating Google-like "did you mean...?" behavior. While it may make a secretary job more efficient, we have to wonder if the inevitable constant hand cramps are worth it. More after the break.
Disney brings back the House of the Future -- with help from Microsoft and HP
The Disney parks have been getting all kinds of upgrades lately, and the latest is the revival of the "House of the Future," which originally opened in the 50s and showcased such space-age household technologies as microwave ovens and plastic furniture. The new attraction eschews the original's pod-shaped exterior, pictured above, for a more traditional look, but it's inside where the action is: Disney, Microsoft, HP and LifeWare spent over $15 million on hardware and software designed to give visitors a glimpse of a hyper-connected future. Tech on display will include home automation, automatic networking, Surface and touch-based computing, and smart appliances -- all things the designers envision as being five to 10 years away. The new House of the Future is set to open in May at Tommorrowland -- any guesses how long it takes before someone builds a complete replica?Read - New House of the FutureRead - Original House of the Future (with pics)
