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Infiniti prototype melds a 1940s race car with EV power
As a rule, electric car concepts embrace the future. Even those with a retro flavor are clearly products of the 21st century. Don't tell that to Infiniti, however -- it's going deep into the past. Nissan's luxury badge has unveiled the Prototype 9, an EV whose design unabashedly recalls 1940s race cars (particularly those from Auto Union). And it's not just the long nose, spoked wheels and massive front grille that pay homage -- the prototype was even built using traditional techniques. Inside, of course, it's very much the product of 2017 know-how.
NASA backs deep space habitat made with old ISS cargo module
NASA has given Lockheed Martin the go-ahead to build a full-scale prototype of the deep space habitat it proposed for the NextSTEP program. That means in around 18 months' time, it might start testing new space travel technologies for the agency. No, not in orbit, but right inside a facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. To meet the agency's affordability goals, the aerospace corporation won't be building the habitat from scratch -- instead, it will refurbish an old container space shuttles used to transfer cargo to the ISS. Plus, it will rely on a mixture of virtual and augmented reality to design the prototype.
Tesla Model 3 'release candidate' drives off the lot
As Tesla continues its march towards producing a mass-market electric vehicle, CEO Elon Musk gave us a brief glimpse at the latest prototype. This Vine-length clip showed the first drive of a "release candidate" Model 3. Autoblog explains that unless there's some unforeseen problem, it's unlikely there will be any major styling or content revisions from this before the car goes into production, but engineers can still test and tweak things like brake calibration.
Bring out your inner 'Calvin and Hobbes' at Alt.Ctrl.GDC
Ah, the Alt.Ctrl.GDC booth. It's the real reason thousands of people flock to downtown San Francisco every year, under the guise of attending panels, networking and showing off their work at the annual Game Developers Conference. Alt.Ctrl.GDC is a collection of games that use experimental controls -- that means no keyboards, no mice and no gamepads. Instead, the booth is filled with things like laser harps, spaceship control panels, giant inflatable dark rooms, DIY bookcases, record players, furry cat hats, cardboard boxes and waist-high, carpeted treadmills.
Photo of Magic Leap AR prototype leaks out, backpack and all
In December, a report by The Information indicated that well-funded startup Magic Leap wasn't nearly as close to producing its vaunted augmented reality headset as demo reels had suggested. CEO Rony Abovitz responded by claiming it had completed a "PEQ (Product Equivalent) build of our target form factor," and now Business Insider has what it says is "the first public photo" of the device. Delivered by an unnamed source, it shows a person wearing not only a headset, but also a backpack-like setup with an exposed circuit board and processor, and apparently holding the battery pack.
The US Army successfully flies its hoverbike prototype
The Army has proven that the hoverbike its contractors are developing actually works during a flight demo with the Department of Defense. Dr. William Roper, director of the Strategic Capabilities Office for the Secretary of Defense, watched the large rectangular prototype quadcopter take off at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland on January 10th. The hoverbike began as a Kickstarter project by creator Malloy Aeronautics. Once Malloy secured a contract with the military, it teamed up with defense company Survice Engineering Co. to continue the bike's development. It has since become a joint project between the Army and the US Marine Corps.
The iPhone could have been very different
Apple's decision to give the iPhone a touchscreen was a bold and controversial one at the time. In an era where Blackberry was thriving with its keyboard phones, the idea of removing them entirely seemed baffling. History shows that Apple made the right decision with a full-screen touchscreen, but that wasn't the only option. We've heard of the iPod-esque touch wheel prototype iPhone before now, but a new video from tech leaker Sonny Dickson now shows this interface going toe-to-toe with an icon and (touch-controlled) iteration.
Razer's new prototypes stolen from CES booth (update)
While CES 2017 has drawn to a close, news surrounding the products unveiled at the world's biggest consumer tech event continue to make the headlines. Take Razer, which had a very encouraging week after unveiling two new gaming prototypes (one of which won two Best of CES 2017 awards). However, things ended on a sour note after company CEO Min-Liang Tan confirmed that two of its concept products were stolen from its booth on the last day of the show.
Razer built a laptop with three screens, because why not?
Multi-display setups are increasingly common for desktop gaming rigs, as they provide valuable extra visual real estate. But no matter how graphically powerful gaming laptops have been in the past, the onscreen action has always been limited to just that -- a single screen. At CES today, Razer unveiled a prototype that could change the way we play. Behold: Project Valerie, the world's first laptop to incorporate three -- count 'em, three -- built-in monitors.
Tesla Roadster prototype up for auction starting at $1 million
Tesla's Roadster is a seminal electric car, but it's not exactly a vintage model -- it first went on sale in 2008. So how does user "Jester944" justify the $1 million minimum bid for a Roadster prototype in his eBay auction? "A million dollar Tesla may be crazy today but ... imagine what the first Ferrari prototype models would go for. Take that 30 years into the future when most cars are electric and they'll be able to trace their history back to Tesla," he says.
Oculus' prototype headset points to VR's wireless future
Tucked away inside the dark hallways of the San Jose Convention Center is a meeting room with signs that read "No photos" and "No food or drink." I shook the hands of the Oculus spokespeople who were there to greet me and proceeded to try to get in the door. But before I could do that, I was instructed to leave my backpack, my purse and my phone behind. When I was finally allowed in, I was surprised to see that the room was decorated to look like a giant living space, with a large sofa and chaise in one corner and pillows, books and paintings placed throughout. But I wasn't there to judge the interior design. No, I was there to try the prototype of Oculus' newly announced standalone VR headset. Its name is Santa Cruz.
Oculus' next headset is a cross between the Rift and Gear VR
Virtual reality is kind of stuck between two markets right now: an extremely mobile but lower quality, phone-powered experience, and an very high end, expensive, wired PC experience. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg says neither is really good enough for the future of the platform. Virtual reality needs to be high quality, wireless and mobile. Today at Oculus Connect 3, Zuckerberg announced that it's coming. Referred to as the "Santa Cruz," the company now has a prototype wireless virtual reality headset designed to bridge the gap between the high end Oculus Rift and the portable Gear VR,.
30 minutes with Fujifilm's medium-format mirrorless GFX 50S
Fujifilm made the biggest splash at Photokina with the GFX 50S, a mirrorless camera with a giant sensor stuffed into a fairly compact body. When it arrives early in 2017, the company will be in the weird position of having APS-C and medium-format cameras, but no full-frame model. So, it's a big risk: Fujifilm is introducing a new format, complete with brand new lenses, and hoping that the market is open to the idea.
Nissan made a working prototype of its BladeGlider EV hotrod
Nissan is getting serious again about its futuristic BladeGlider EV. The delta-shaped, single-front-seater (with two rear seats) was first introduced in 2013, but after saying it might sell the car, the automaker quietly dropped the idea. Now, Nissan has revealed two working BladeGlider prototypes in Rio de Janeiro that it built in conjunction with Formula 1 fabricator Williams. With twin 130-kilowatt motors producing 268 horsepower and 521 pound-feet of instant torque (yep), the EV can get to 62 mph in under five seconds and reach a 115 mph top speed.
Ben Heck powers on the Nintendo PlayStation's CD drive
When we got our hands on the legendary "Nintendo PlayStation" prototype last November, the device worked fine as a Sony-branded SNES console sans audio, whereas its CD drive -- the part that eventually led to the birth of the PlayStation -- failed to be recognized by the system. The device has since been handed over to renowned modder Ben Heck, who has just revealed that he finally got the CD drive to power up. First of all, Ben cleaned the contact pins on the Super Disc driver cartridge to get its 256KB of extension RAM talking to the console, then he removed one of the mod wires on the logic board, which got the CD drive to make a ticking noise and even pulling its tray back in.
Spector captures printed fonts and sends the details to InDesign
When a designer sees typography they like or a color that might be useful for a project, the first move is usually to snap a picture with their phone. I can say that because I'm a designer myself, frequently capturing textures, hues and letterforms for reference later. Royal College of Art MA student Fiona O'Leary came up with a better solution though, one that gets those bits of type and color into a desktop design app even faster. O'Leary built Spector: a small camera that logs typography and palettes before sending them directly to InDesign.
Researchers create Rubik's cube-like touchscreen display
While modular smartphones like Fairphone or Google's Project Ara are still works-in-progress, a group of researchers from the University of Bristol's Interaction Group have designed a slick new reconfigurable form for touchscreen displays. The Cubimorph, as BIG calls it, is a single display built out of smaller, six-sided display cubes that are daisy-chained together and can be repositioned not unlike a Rubik's cube with a little more flexibility.
Glowing bandages can reduce the chances of antibiotic-resistant bugs
Bacteria that can shrug off antibiotics is a medical problem that still needs answering, but this prototype could help reduce how much antibiotics are used on patients, and decrease the chances for bugs to become resistant. The experimental bandage from researchers at the University of Bath glows green when it comes into contact with unfriendly bacteria, (hypothetically) alerting medical staff when a wound is infected. A film formed by the body when defends against bacteria releases toxins that react with the bandage, puncturing the membrane of dye capsules stored in the bandage. That dye then glows (in case bright green didn't stand out enough) when it dissolves in the gel around it.
We turned on the Nintendo PlayStation: It's real and it works
The "Nintendo PlayStation" is now the stuff of gaming legend, with reportedly only about 200 prototypes ever produced.
Inside Apple's Mac accessory testing lab
Design seems to be at the heart of every new Apple product. In the company's eyes, a new laptop or tablet shouldn't just perform well -- it has to look, feel and sound right too. But just how far does the company go to maintain this vision? Ridiculously far, it turns out. To coincide with the latest iMacs, Backchannel was given an exclusive look at the Input Design Lab where Apple tests new keyboard, trackpad and mouse prototypes. The methods used are numerous, extensive and eye-opening; in one, Apple attaches sensors to testers to measure muscle fatigue and memory, acoustics and accuracy. In another, robots type repeatedly on keys and move mice around to measure their general performance, endurance, and adaptability on different surfaces. Some of these tests can reportedly require up to five million key taps. It's rare for Apple to give this much insight into its R&D facilities, so hit up Backchannel's article for all of the photos and intriguing tidbits.
