curtain
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Robotic curtain tries to guard your privacy, save on fabric (video)
Of all the things that could potentially be roboticized, we can't say a curtain would be high on our list -- but then again, we're not hardware hacker Niklas Roy. In an attempt to create a "little piece of privacy," Niklas developed this curtain that can watch passers-by outside (with the aid of a surveillance camera) and automatically follow them along the window to block their view inside. Of course, as Niklas notes, a sentient curtain does also have the unfortunate side effect of actually attracting the very passers-by it's trying to guard against -- such are the perils of innovation. Head on past the break to check it out in action, and hit up the source link below for all the necessary details to build your own.
New Apple Store coming to London's Covent Garden
Shanghai and Paris just got new Apple stores, and now it's London's turn. A red curtain in London's Covent Garden district shows the latest location for an Apple Retail store -- rumor has it that the store will open as soon as the end of this month, and will likely be a popular destination in the tourist-busy shopping and theater district. Apple's Regent Street store recently got recognized for making incredible amounts of money as compared to its size -- £2000 per square foot. Apple Stores, as you well know, tend to be a little bit larger than usual retail spaces, and the sales pitches are pretty low pressure, with the opportunity to just play with the products. But it works, apparently, so Apple's Covent Garden store will be the latest of 40 to 50 different store openings around the world this year.
Micro Reactor System's flexible electronic curtain
Since you probably don't want every surface in your house of the future illuminated, Micro Reactor System has come up with a solution to make curtains that are a bit more practical but equally futuristic. Their flexible electronic "curtain" consists of two plastic panels with liquid crystal molecules in between them, which can be activated to make the curtain totally opaque, but are clear when turned off. It's apparently possible to make them in different colors as well, although it doesn't seem like one curtain can display more than one color. Like most things that we really, really want, there's no word yet on pricing or availability.
