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LuminAR robot finally shows us what pico projectors were meant for (video)
Still looking for an excuse to buy a pico projector? We might just have the perfect thing. LuminAR, a project of MIT student Natan Linder, is something like a sentient desk lamp of the sort that will make any dedicated Pixar fan's heart skip a beat. It can follow a user's actions, using a camera to detect gestures and beam information down to augment whichever reality they're currently experiencing. Interestingly, the whole thing is built into a bulb socket, meaning it could be thrown into any lamp you like -- if you can do without the whole automatic motion aspect. It's based on what looks to be a Microsoft Lifecam Show webcam and what is certainly a Microvision Show WX projector, which is both focus and care free. There's a demo video after the break but, sadly, little hope that this thing will be replacing your current desktop lamp any time soon.
T'Light lamp for major nerds with good taste (should such a thing exist)
The T'Light lamp isn't the first one we've seen which boasts things like chargers, docks and USB. It is, however, the nicest looking one we've ever seen. The modern stainless steel lamp has an iPod dock in its base, plus a USB port and a jack for charging laptops -- though there's no adapter for MacBooks as of yet, apparently. The T'Light is available now for $90 -- hit up the source for more details.
LEDSAUR Tyrannosaurus Rex desk lamp makes chewing through paperwork less monotonous
We'll be straight with you: it was pretty much love at first sight for us and dinosaur bones, and while we've always harbored a secret desire to someday acquire a real T-Rex fossil for our private collection, the LEDSAUR is probably our best shot at anything even close to that. Besides taking on that famous shape we love, this carnivorous piece of lighting is pretty stylish, with each of its vertebrae represented with an LED. The lamp is made of stainless steel, it's bendable, and it comes with a remote control. It's sadly only available in Japan for the time being, and runs between $115 and $270. [Via CrunchGear]
Robotic AUR desk lamp doubles as collaborative lighting assistant
If you've just not been in the DIY spirit of late, and would rather your lamp console you than just brighten up your surroundings, the AUR desk lamp should do the trick. Concocted as part of a Ph.D thesis on human-robot fluency and nonverbal behavior, the robotic desk lamp "serves as a non-anthropomorphic robotic platform," and was conceived around a 5-DoF robotic arm to "evoke a personal relationship with the human partner without resorting to human-like features." The so-called objective lamp seeks to "explore the relationship that can be maintained through abstract gestures and nonverbal behavior alone," and is animated using a "custom pipeline enabling the dynamic control of behaviors authored in a 3D animation system." A lot of fancy phrasing, we know, so click on through to catch it on video and let things sink in.[Via Pasta and Vinegar]
