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The weird world of offbeat wearables
While most of us have yet to morph into a gadget-laden "gargoyle" (like the one in Snow Crash) the wearable market has still lavished an endless assortment of devices to scatter about our person. The majority of offerings fall into the fitness tracker and smartwatch categories, all with a relatively predictable set of features. There's an oft-missed underbelly to the wearable category, however, one that's rife with devices bearing more unique qualities. Some are valiant and useful products, while others treasure entertainment value and extreme fashion above all else. We've collected a few samples of the weird and wild side to the wearable world that may finally help you pull your new look together.
Good Times knows when you're concentrating, sets your phone to 'do not disturb'
There's a reason we cover technology instead of create it. When we see a pair of Necomimi ears we see a opportunity to embarrass a poor intern. (Thanks for being a good sport Daniel!) Ruggero Scorcioni, on the other hand, sees a way to automatically control AT&T's Call Management system. At the company's mobile hackathon in January, he was presented with a pair of the brainwave-tracking novelties and immediately cracked it open to gain access to its precious torrents of data. The project he whipped up, Good Times, feeds readings from the cat-eared electrode to an Arduino, which then interacts with the Call Management and M2M APIs. When a significant amount of brain activity is detected, indicating that you're concentrating on something, calls are rerouted. Instead of distracting you from the task at hand, would-be interlopers simply receive a message that "this is not a good time to call please try again later." The version Scorcioni brought to AT&T's Foundry showcase this morning, in New York City, was a little more sophisticated. The Arduino was gone and the motorized ears were replaced with a MindWave from NeuroSky. The EEG monitor communicated directly with a computer running an application that triggered the do not disturb setting through the API. For now there's a static threshold for activity, which led to quite frequent fluctuation in availability. Future versions should be trainable -- making it possible for the app to recognize what serious concentration looks like for different people. For now it's just a proof of concept. For one, brain wave monitors are hardly unintrusive, but it's a glimpse at what's possible with powerful APIs and a little creativity. Check out the gallery below. %Gallery-184779%
CES 2013: Crapgadget roundup
For every big name present at CES, there are literally hundreds of smaller companies littered throughout the show's many halls and venues. We make it our mission to walk every aisle in search of hidden gems. However, that treasure hunt sometimes leads us to the most useless of products, otherwise known as Crapgadgets. While there was plenty of shameless branding in Vegas this year, we didn't find nearly as many pointless novelties as we expected. Nevertheless, it just made the ones we did spot all the more special, so head past the break to see what took top honors as this year's "worst in show."
Crapgadget CES, round two: Necomimi brainwave cat ears (video)
Mee ow... Daniel Orren contributed his brain and dignity for this report.
Tokyo Game Show 2011 wrap-up
All good things must come to an end, and likewise with this year's Tokyo Game Show which wrapped up yesterday. Despite the PS Vita's dominance and the lack of newly-announced hero hardware at the show, we were still able to keep ourselves entertained with the odd peripherals here and there, alongside some very interesting exhibits both at TGS and the Amusement Machine Show next door -- head past the break to humor yourselves. Alternatively, feel free to catch up on our TGS coverage while you're here (we have a list after the break as well), and don't forget to check out our awesome buddies over at Joystiq for even more gaming news. %Gallery-134244%
