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Mimbo the iPhone robot will smile for you, still doesn't get your 'Seinfeld' references
This here is Mimbo. He's the kindly sort. Smile and Mimbo smiles back. Sure, others in his place might let their cardboard bodies, iPhone faces and all of the male bimbo jokes stand in the way of having a good time. Not Mimbo. The happy little 'bot uses facial recognition to generation a corresponding emotion on that cardboard-wrapped iPhone head of his. His face is composed of four LEDs for eyes, an empty label eyelid and a mouth made from a multifader, all created using TouchOSC. And using facial tracking via a program like FaceOSC, little Mimbo can mimic your expressions. Check out the 'bot in a video after the break and find out how to manufacture your own Mimbo at home in the source link below.
Zen master Zimoun asks: what is the sound of 138 motorized cotton balls rolling on cardboard? (video)
Unlike most of us, Zimoun sees a pile of DC motors, cotton balls, and cardboard boxes and thinks "I can work with this." That, along with his mysterious single name, is what makes him an artist. We're all fans of gadget-centric art -- especially when it involves fire or seemingly worthless parts -- and the Swiss sculptor certainly loves the latter. His installations feature dozens of motorized cotton balls rolling across cardboard; the result sounds something like a heavy rainstorm. Or like the incessant, deadly chewing of the Langoliers, depending on your point of reference. Check the video after the break to decide for yourself.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Brain-shaped bulbs, houses that fly, and hydrogen bolts from the sky
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. This week Inhabitat showcased several hot new eco vehicles including the world's fastest plug-in hybrid and an insane screwdriver-powered tricycle that sends you flying through the streets headfirst. The field of alternative fuels also advanced by leaps and bounds as the U.S. Department of Energy announced a new breed of cost-effective biofuel and a team of researchers discovered a way to efficiently produce hydrogen from urine. From flying houses held up by balloons to skyscrapers that harvest energy from bolts of lightning, this week we also showcased some of the world's most incredible buildings. We were wowed by the futuristic finalists of the eVolo skyscraper competition, which included underwater spires made from plastic debris and massive megaprojects that contain entire cities. This week we also spotted several exciting new examples of green consumer tech - from a clever brain-shaped CFL bulb to ASUS' new line of cardboard computers to a wearable mix tape you can pin on your sleeve. We also celebrated the launch of Apple's latest tablet by rounding up 14 of the best eco-friendly iPad cases, sleeves and bags. Finally, we kicked off a contest where you can win a beautiful recycled leather iPad case from Dewdrop Designs, and we shared 11 chic travel essentials for jet-setters on the go.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: ice castles, cardboard columns, and the Geneva Auto Show
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. This week Inhabitat showcased several jaw-dropping feats of architecture, starting with a series of amazingly complex computer-designed cardboard columns that boast between 8 and 16 million facets. We were also struck by a stunning new net-zero Solar Academy in Germany, and we showcased a Swiss chalet that is the world's first apartment building to be heated entirely by solar thermal energy. On the cooler end of the climate spectrum, a Minnesota man has created a series of soaring ice castles using water from his geothermal heating system. The Geneva Auto Show also kicked off with a bang this week as Koenigsegg unveiled its supercharged Agera R racer and SAAB rose from the ashes with a futuristic PhoeniX hybrid. We also heard big news from some of the world's most luxurious automakers as Bentley rolled out a biofuel-powered supercar that can go 200 MPH on ice and Rolls-Royce unveiled their all-electric 102 EX Phantom. Two-wheeled transportation also took a leap forward as Daymak unveiled the world's first wireless electric eBike and Los Angeles approved plans for 1,690 miles of bikeways. We also kept on the cutting edge of consumer tech with a look at the green credentials of Apple's iPad 2, and we brought you researchers' plans for a hot new breed of batteries made from "frozen smoke". Finally, we learned from a recent study that cellphone signals actually boost brain activity, and we shared a fresh new line of iPod nano watch straps just in time for spring.
Recompute cardboard PC in the flesh: it's real, it boots, it's made of cardboard
We took delivery of a Recompute recently. This doesn't sound like a stunning statement: we get fancy new tech to play with all of the time, some of it stamped with the "green" moniker for better or worse. But the Recompute is just so far fetched: an entire desktop PC... built with cardboard! Sure, the internals are standard off-the-shelf PC components, but from the outside Recompute looks like nothing we've ever seen, and that's really saying something for a desktop industry that's tried just about every look twice. Check out our impressions of the green machine after the break. %Gallery-104047%
Move-It: the stick-on recyclable cardboard trolley (video)
If you're rockin' the suburbs, chances are your Suburban comes in handy when making those weekend jaunts to Home Depot. But if you're a city dweller, particularly one who has to make his / her way up and down subway stairs, things are just a tad more difficult when it comes to transporting purchases. Enter Move-It, a bloody brilliant concept that has currently been entered into the running for the James Dyson Award in the UK. Put simply, this recyclable, disposal and potential reusable device is crafted from cardboard and fully capable of strapping to any size or shape box. Simply peel and stick the handle to the box's top, and slap a pair of rollers on the bottom -- in about three minutes, you've got your very own trolley. Prayers, answered. Hop on past the break for a video demonstration, and hopefully the collective crossing of fingers will enable this thing to actually hit the market someday soon.
German designer brings Wipeout racing game to life, burns up cardboard tracks with an R/C car (video)
The intersection of video games and real life is a fantastic place to play, as evidenced by Roombas, Halo and the occasional six-string guitar, but all you really need to blur reality is a webcam, an R/C car and a studio filled with cardboard. That's what Malte Jehmlich and company used to create this rendition of Wipeout, which moves practically as fast as the PlayStation original due to the blinding scale speed of its 1/28 model cars. It's all controlled by an arcade racing cabinet complete with steering wheel and on-screen display wirelessly connected to an Arduino board. Originally a two-month hobby project, the designers are presently working towards an advanced version with force feedback and powerups (including boost!) using sensors built right into the track -- and hopefully a forklift to lug all that corrugated wood pulp around. See it in action after the break.
Keepin' it real fake: Likea Leica, only not
Of all the KIRFs in all the world, this might be one of the laziest. Sure, aesthetically it does a fine job of aping the Leica rangefinder it takes as its "inspiration," but the Likea camera goes downhill very quickly when you move in a little closer. The first thing you'll notice is that, instead of the finely engineered Leica body, this thing is made out of, well, cardboard. Then you find out that the pinhole element isn't provided in the box and you're faced with the impossible judgment of deciding whether the need for a pinhole element or its omission is the worse offense. Ah well, what do you expect for 20 bucks? Just go buy some film and let your imagination fill the (vast) gap between the Likea and the real stuff.
iPad arcade cabinet built out of cardboard
ThinkGeek posted an iPad arcade cabinet as an April Fool's joke this past year, but gamer Hideyoshi Moriya actually did build just such a cabinet out of cardboard and hardware -- you plug the iPad into a dock, and then you can control software with the joystick and buttons via an Arduino board. You can see a full video of the device running (along with some cute puppies) after the jump below. ThinkGeek was only kidding, and Moriya is just joking around, but there is definitely a viable demand for something like this. Sure, the cabinet form built out of cardboard is totally a prototype, but a little stand that you could just plug the iPad into and then control arcade games with buttons and a joystick? That thing would sell like hotcakes.
Amazon's frustration-free packaging is anything but for hard drives
It's all well and good to cut corners when you're ridding durable, miniature electronics of their brittle plastic clamshells -- but this time, Amazon's "Frustration-Free Packaging" initiative has gone too far. The company's shipping computer hard drives in the stuff. According to dozens of irate customers, Western Digital hard drives shipped by the e-tailer over the past several months have arrived in damaged cardboard containers, thin layers of bubble wrap, or even loose in a simple electrostatic discharge bag without an ounce of padding to keep them from harm. And while some buyers shipped them back immediately when they saw what had happened, many who tried them anyhow found their magnetic storage dead on arrival. While we're not certain whether Western Digital or Amazon was at fault for placing the drives on the "frustration-free" list in the first place (Seagate drive buyers haven't reported similar issues), Gadget Lab reports that Amazon is aware of the problem, and already working to ensure future (lack of) packaging avoids causing more frustration than it's worth. Read the horror stories with pics at our source links below.
DIY DSLR iPhone
Sure, you can take the commercial approach and just buy a telephoto lens for your iPhone, or hack together a macro lens, but if you're looking to combine the two into a hacked-up telephoto lens held together with a heaping of duct tape, look no further. Bhautik Joshi created the Phone-O-Scope as an experiment "to transmit light from one optical device to another to make an image". The result is an iPhone with duct-tape, cardboard, putty, PVC pipe and an SLR lens attached. It certainly won't win any design awards, but it does produce some very unique imagery. Check out the tutorial for instructions on how to create your own, as well as side-by-side comparisons of a standard iPhone's pictures compared to the hacked-up iPhone shots. If you're not a tinkerer at heart, you'll probably wonder why he bothered to produce an item as large as a standard DSLR but took worse photos. However, if you were one of those kids who quickly took apart your new toys just to see how they worked, this may be a little experiment you could appreciate. [via Hack-a-Day]
French prisoner snakes past guards in cardboard box
The first time someone snuck out of a real-life prison by stuffing themselves inside a cardboard box, we found it amusing. The second time, though, we have to wonder how this keeps happening. According to the Telegraph, French inmate Jean-Pierre Treiber constructed a cardboard box in the prisoner's workshop at the Auxerre, Burgundy "high-security" prison at which he was awaiting trial. When no one was around last Tuesday morning, Treiber himself hopped in the box and awaited loading with "dozens" of other boxes, only hopping out of his concealment well after the truck had left the prison. In 2004, Treiber was accused of murdering French actor Roland Giraud's daughter, Geraldine, as well as her friend Katia Lherbier. Giraud calls the escape an "avowal" of Treiber's guilt, while Treiber's lawyer says it may be an indication of his client's absence of faith in the justice system. Either way, one thing's for sure: We either need fewer cardboard boxes in European prisons or more prison guards with suspiciously narrow vision cones. [Via Kotaku]
DIY geodesic media pod: forged from cardboard, filled with shame
While those with tens of thousands of dollars to burn can buy themselves a pre-built, space age media pod like the Ovei, the rest of us have to have to either make do with a comfy couch and a darkened room, or improvise, as one enterprising Instructables member did with this so-called Geodesic Media-Pod. Both recession and environmentally-friendly, this contraption is apparently constructed almost entirely out of recycled refrigerator boxes, and it even employs a ventilation system (including parts salvaged from a Shop Vac) to ensure that it stays somewhat comfortable inside. Of course, while it's partly intended to be used as a flight simulator, there isn't actually any movement going on, although there are at least accommodations for some surround speakers and, of course, a mount for a monitor. Head on past the break for a video, and hit up the link below for the complete how-to if you're feeling inspired.
Recompute: a closer look at the sustainable, cardboard PC
We just recently saw some of the entries in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition that's happening in New York on February 27th. The designer of one of those entries, the cardboard-housed Recompute, was kind enough to contact us with some more detail about his computer, including a few specs. The fully functional PC houses all off-the-shelf components, including an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, and 2GB of RAM. The designer, Brenden Macaluso, also mentioned that there's been some concern over the safety of using cardboard -- but his reasoning with regards to the materials is that cardboard is more heat-resistant than many plastics, with a much higher fire and ignition point -- 258°C and 427°C, respectively -- where plastics begin to melt at about 120°C. The designer also stressed that the material that Recompute is made out is just one facet of its sustainability: just as important in this design is the idea that less time, labor and parts go into the production of the unit, and that there will ultimately be far less to dispose of when the computer has reached the end of its life cycle. Check some more photos of Recompute after the break.
Wave of mutilation ends as Best Buy, Sony and Microsoft take a stab at clamshell-free packaging initiative
It looks like Amazon started a trend last week when they announced their "Frustration Free Packaging" initiative, which boils down to the elimination of clamshell-style packaging for a lot of their top-sellers, and the introduction of more eco-friendly materials, like good old-fashioned (recycled) cardboard. According to The New York Times, a number of other companies, including Best Buy, Sony, and Microsoft are joining the club in eschewing heavy duty materials in favor of less aggressive ones. Anything that reduces our level of annoyance with the retail experience while pitching in to help out our increasingly threatened Mother Earth is something we'll gladly get behind. And we're pretty sure our dentist will agree.
Simple gun mod makes use of scraps
Don't feel like laying out the money for a Zapper or another gun shell, but feel the need to adapt your Wii remote for shooting? Follow the example of Wii owner Chung Dha Lam and slap something together from sheets of plastic or an old cereal box. But don't be fooled by the deceptively simple design of this "shell." It may not look like much, but the template was carefully designed in Adobe Illustrator, and the creator has kindly made it available for download if you'd like to construct your own from whatever's lying around in your house.
Cardboard case mod comes ready to ship
Calling that thing pictured above a "case mod" is a near travesty, but we're at a loss for words outside of that. This box is almost devoid of specifications entirely, but judging by the artwork on the "chassis," it's powered by a totally rare Intel Pentium 3 CPU, hums along on Ubuntu and features a curiously placed fan, audio in / out, VGA output, a power supply and lots of fasteners tape. Truth be told, we're not even certain this concoction is capable of processing anything, but at least it's primed for a shipping label should the creator opt to cut his / her losses.[Via Technabob]
Boxing the Optimus Maximus
As opposed to unboxing, that is. Yeah, that's right: in their seemingly endless mission to document every bit of minutiae related to the Optimus Maximus OLED Keyboard, the Optimus Project guys have taken pictures of the box that will contain the keyboard. Some key points of the box: Made of brown cardboard, with a glossy white exterior. Features foam padding. Has two layers of foam. Includes cut outs to keep the power supply, cable, and keyboard seated. Comes with handy white handle. Yes, we're over analyzing this to make a point. C'mon Optimus Project, get this out the door already.
Shell House provides cheap, radio-equipped housing for homeless
Hey, we can't all live in the pimped out mansions or nicely appointed lodges, but an NYU graduate student is making it her personal mission to do something substantial about it. The living portable project has yielded a cardboard-based Shell House contraption that requires just $35 worth of material, a bit of time, and a hearty dose of generosity. The DIY project allows interested citizens to build collapsible houses for homeless individuals, and moreover, gives them an opportunity to experience ubiquitous computing by way of an integrated radio network. Moreover, you can couple this with a homegrown solar heater, and you've got yourself a date with nature.[Via Core77]Read - Instructions on building a Shell HouseRead - Shell House homepage
Gears of War 2: Electric Boogaloo
While we haven't seen it ourselves, this breakdancing glitch in Gears of War makes us want to throw down some cardboard and go to town on some Locust Horde folks. Maybe it'll be a possible Xbox Live Marketplace download as an additional kill animation in the game. Hit X to curb stomp, or press A to headpin their ass into the pavement.
