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Watch these adorable robots dance better than you
We're used to seeing robots like MIT's Cheetah that are absolutely terrifying, so starting day two of Expand New York with an android dance party was a welcome change of pace. It came, of course, by way of the folks at Aldebaran Robotics who brought a trio of their fifth-generation Nao bi-peds to bust a groove. The outfit's James Dietrich said that while there are over 10,000 of the friendly little 'bots in use in some 70 countries, there are a more than a few things holding us back from having Rosie from The Jetsons in our homes. Namely, the price needs to come down: Developers can get one for $6,000 and a consumer model is a whopping $8,000.
Limitations drive hip-hop producer RJD2's creativity
"Basically, I'm here to make records." For a musician who has access to any piece of kit under the sun, producer RJD2 prefers limits to keep him on task musically. Anything else -- restoring old synthesizers or building new ones -- is just a distraction from his actual job. With hard rules in place for what you can or cannot do, ingenuity comes easier. "There's something to be said for an idea that's well discussed in jazz... oftentimes, for me, creativity exists in a threshold you pass where you stop thinking about what you're doing and you just start doing," he said in a fireside chat at Expand New York. "When you work in an environment with limitations, you can reach that creativity faster."
Calling all makers: the deadline for Insert Coin submissions is in 17 days
Before you party with us and RJD2 at Expand NYC in November (which is free, by the way!), you may first want to finalize those hardware designs. The deadline for Insert Coin entries is fast approaching, and you wouldn't want to miss the chance to win up to $25,000 to fund the project of your dreams. We'll only be accepting submissions until September 26th, after which we'll choose 20 contenders and whittle it down to 10 semi-finalists by your vote. These lucky 10 will receive $1,000 in travel stipend, so they can showcase their creations at the Expand show floor. We'll then let our panel of judges and you, our readers, decide which masterpiece (or two, if your tastes differ greatly) deserves a financial boost and time in the spotlight.
Open source can help the developing world, but it's not without challenges
Many see open source technology as an ideological tool -- a way to promote freedom in a world of closed, proprietary systems. For Canonical's Jono Bacon, Mozilla's Stormy Peters and Wikimedia's Tomasz Finc, it's more about improving humanity. Speaking at Expand, they argued that open code connects the developing world and delivers meaningful local content. However, the trio is also aware of the potential pitfalls, such as fragmentation. They know that a successful open platform isn't born overnight.
Expand NY 2013 wrap-up
Did you end up missing out on the sheer abundance of technology that was Expand New York 2013? Don't fret: we've rounded up everything from our expo. Whether you're interested in the Insert Coin competitors, our hands-on time with new products or discussions with big names like LeVar Burton and Spike Lee, you'll find all the articles and media you need. Check out the full range of stories after the break -- it's the next best thing to having been there in person. [Image credit: Jenna Bascom, Flickr]
Facebook's head of special projects talks wearables, WiFi and human connections
The last time we spoke to Erick Tseng, he was still working for Google as a senior product manager for Android. Since then, he's left the Mountain View company for one just down the road: Facebook. Tseng came on to head up the company's mobile division, which obviously proved to be particularly important the past few years. At Expand NY, Tseng talked about his new role as product manager for the company's special projects group, which is still very tied to mobile, but in different ways. In particular, he addressed Facebook's efforts to make it easier to connect to public WiFi hotspots and its early dive into the wearables space.
Expand NY workshops roundup: 3D Systems, littleBits, Leap Motion and more!
The stage at Expand acted as a platform for conversations between many people involved in the future of technology -- but there was a lot more that attendees were able to enjoy. Some of our nifty workshop sessions had 3D Systems show off its new Sense scanner; littleBits gave a demo of the Synth Kit; Leap Motion talked about its SDK and the implementation of it on 3D web apps; and Raspberry Pi revealed the results of the Make-Off contest. These are only a few of the workshops from our event in New York City, so head past the break to check out the full list -- we've got a video for each one.
Narrative Clip lapel camera shows up at Expand in its final form, we go hands-on
The last time we saw the Narrative Clip lifecasting camera, it had a see-through casing allowing you to see the circuitry within. Heck, it even had a different name. As it happens, though, the company's co-founder, Oskar Kalmaru, stopped by Engadget Expand this weekend, so we got a chance to see the lapel camera in its final form. If you choose to shell out $279 to buy one, you'll see it has a metal clip and lightweight plastic housing, with black being the color of choice for everyone who pre-ordered on Kickstarter. (If you were to buy it now, you'd have a choice of gray, white and orange.) Since our first look, however, the functionality has remained exactly the same. Which is to say, the camera automatically takes a photo every 30 seconds, but you can tap the housing to take a snap at any time. Inside, there's 8GB of internal storage; to upload your pics to Narrative Clip's cloud service, you'll need to plug the camera into your computer using the built-in micro-USB port. Once you upload your photos, you can choose to share just individual shots if you like, or what the company is calling "moments" (i.e., groups of shots). That's all she wrote -- if you want more of a refresher, check out our earlier hands-on video after the break.
The future of motion interfaces: Wave goodbye to the mouse
We're still big fans of Douglas Engelbart's original pointing device, but human/computer input is moving past traditional peripherals. We're rapidly approaching a future of touchscreens, motion sensors and visual imaging control solutions. "Gone are the days, probably, of the keyboard, mouse and maybe even touch input," Samsung's Shoneel Kolhatkar told us. During a panel on the future of gesture and motion controls at Expand NY, Kolhatkar suggested that these technologies could fade away within the next 20 years. His fellow panelists, Pelican Imaging's Paul Gallagher and Leap Motion's Avinash Dabir agree that there's more to the future of computing than the traditional point and click.
The industrial revolution in your basement: You don't own it unless you make it
"I was a graphic artist" says master modder Ben Heck. This hacking expert got into making as a hobby thanks to a library of items available at his job. With the 3D printing boom, it's now easier than ever for hobbyists and tech enthusiasts to design and prototype ideas on a small scale without the need for expensive manufacturing. Thanks to the DIY movement, a community has blossomed for makers, offering support and inspiration to keep the ideas and new devices flowing. So how does one get started tweaking electronics and building rockets? That's precisely what a panel of expert makers tackled on stage at Expand NY this weekend.
Pebble CEO bets big on developers for the smartwatch's future
Pebble has come a long way since its debut way back in April 2012, having sold more than 190,000 smartwatches and growing the company from 11 employees to 40 in the span of a little over a year. Now that the hardware has proven immensely popular, the company is shifting its focus to software, and nowhere is that more evident than its big announcement this week. It not only seriously expanded iOS 7 support, but it also introduced the second version of its SDK, which should hopefully get its nascent developer community excited about making even more apps for the eponymous smartwatch. Eric Migicovsky, CEO of Pebble, sat down at Expand NY to give a little more insight into the origins of Pebble and the vision of the company going forward.
The green issue: It's never been easier, but will we do our part?
The green message has never been stronger. It's something that we all play a part in, even more so as lovers of technology. What can we do, as consumers, to make sure that we minimize the impact we make on the environment? Greener energy is an obvious choice, but there's also the issue of conflict minerals, which has never been more relevant to technology. Speaking at Expand NY today, Jill Fehrenbacher (Inhabitat), Shayne McQuade (Voltaic) and Beth Ferguson (Sol Design) expressed the challenges they, as industry players face and how that affects every one of us.
Forget devices; the future of technology is seeded in biology
A lot of you, dear readers, may remember a time when mobile phones didn't exist, let alone smartphones with touchscreens, apps and pro-grade cameras. Some may even recall a childhood completely devoid of TV, when the phrase "playing in a sandbox" meant literally that. Not content with books that glow in the dark, among other electronic conveniences, we're now strapping computers to our heads and a second smartphone screen to our wrists. io9's Annalee Newitz and Joichi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab, took to our Expand stage to talk about what technology of the future might look like, and both agreed we'll see much less built from circuits, and much more from (somewhat) natural ingredients.
The wearable dilemma: forming habits first, then building ecosystems
"Getting people to want to wear things all the time -- whether it's on or off" is a huge stumbling block, said Becky Stern, director of Wearable Electronics at Adafruit. Sure, smartwatches and activity trackers are becoming increasingly more visible in the tech space, but mainstream adoption is still key for the long-term success of the diminutive gadgets. Here at Expand NY, a trio of wearable-tech experts from across the spectrum of devices discussed the tech and the roadblocks to widespread use from consumers. Currently, there's still a challenge with getting the public to want to wear anything, let alone a smartwatch or activity tracker. Not only does the device need to look amazing, but it also has to provide a function that we can't live without. If you think about a diabetes tracker, that wearable serves a vital purpose for a niche of consumers. For Co-founder of Narrative Oskar Kalmaru (the outfit that makes the Clip life-logging camera) the usefulness of wearables is a software issue. "[It's] making it smart enough to do something for you." With a large number of Americans using either activity-tracking gadgets or services, the interest is clearly there -- even now in infancy -- and Kalmaru is convinced the sector will continue to grow with more improved software.
Google's Timothy Jordan: Glass is a complete break from the past
Many wonder whether Google Glass has legs as a technology. Will we still be using it (and talking about it) years from now? If you ask Google's Senior Developer Advocate Timothy Jordan, absolutely. Speaking at Expand in New York, he described the wearable eyepiece as a fundamental shift in user interface concepts that will remain exciting for a long time to come. There has even been a surprise or two for Google itself, he says.
Pivothead's new video capture glasses let you mix and match power, storage and wireless add-ons
Pivothead's video-recording specs have undergone only a slight evolution since they launched early last year, gaining live broadcast abilities through the Air Sync add-on. Here at Expand NY, however, we've seen what's next, as the company's been kind enough to bring along a prototype of its next-gen model: the Pivothead SMART. Nothing's changed on the camera front, so the SMART carries the same 8-megapixel sensor as its predecessor and records up to 1080p footage at 30 fps. What's different about this new pair, though, is the addition of ports at the end of each arm into which you can plug one of three modular accessories, called Fuel, Air and Live Mods. Essentially, these Mods split the three functions of the bulkier Air Sync peripheral -- streaming, storage and power -- into individual parts. Each Fuel Mod contains a 800mAh battery to supplement the 250mAh internal pack; the Air Mod adds Bluetooth, WiFi, Android for app development and a microSD card slot for bolstering the 16GB of built-in space; and the Live Mod contains a WiFi module for livestreaming your POV. The Pivothead SMART glasses we got to try out weren't quite the finished product -- the company's going to shorten the arms, for example, as they're a bit too long when paired with Mods. It's worth noting that the accessories didn't add much extra weight, so sore ears shouldn't be an issue. For early adopters and eager developers, Pivothead's releasing an SDK and starting an Indiegogo campaign for the SMART specs next Tuesday (November 12th), prior to a true consumer launch in March. Check out the gallery for snaps of the prototype pair and Mods, as well as some obligatory modeling shots, of course.
Lunar elevators and asteroid mining: Kickstarting the next chapter of space exploration
Privately funded space missions might sound like the preserve of the financial elite, but the truth is actually a little more pedestrian. Speaking at Expand New York today, Michael Laine (LiftPort) and Chris Lewicki (Planetary Resources) both extolled the virtues of people power, and the critical role it will play in the future of private space exploration. Head past the break to find out how you might play a part in the next chapter of space research.
Visualized: Marty McFly impersonator shows off ZBoards' hoverboard-inspired creation
It's Back to the Future-inspired, it's for charity and it's an electric freaking skateboard. What's not to like? Oh, and it's at Expand New York, of course, being demoed by one of ZBoard's cofounders, dressed to the nines in the latest 2015 fashion. It's no Pitbull, but it'll do in a pinch.
GrowCube promises to grow food with ease indoors (hands-on)
Food. It's a bit of a big issue. After all, half the world doesn't have enough, and the other half has so much it doesn't really know where it comes from. Chris Beauvois, a software developer turned inventor, has created a device that could potentially solve both of these problems in a single swoop. GrowCube is a gadget that's designed to grow plants with aeroponics -- think, hydroponics, but with mists instead of trays of water. It uses just two square meters of space and 95 percent less water than traditional farming methods. Now the company is here at Engadget Expand as an Insert Coin semi-finalist in the hope of earning a big stack of cash to help bring this product to the wider world.
Hands-on with BITalino, a microcontroller board for quirky and serious projects alike (video)
It's safe to say that BITalino isn't your average DIY electronics board. For starters, the sensors that spring from the main unit (which comprises the microcontroller, Bluetooth module and power unit) are more at home in a hospital than they are scattered over a tinkerer's workstation. Jutting off the main board are a light meter, accelerometer, heart-rate sensor (ECG), muscle activity sensor (EMG) and a sensor to measure sympathetic nervous system activity (EDG). There's also a standard LED, and while all the above forms a single structure, each module can be snapped off to mix and match for specific projects. BITalino is a semi-finalist in our Insert Coin competition being held at Expand NY this weekend, but before that kicks off, we caught up with its creator Hugo Silva to talk about the board's inception, applications and what lies in its future.
