9 results for gadgets (View a list of all tags)
- zOMG iPHONE!!1! 1 comment | 10 Jan 2007 @ 04:01 AM
- I/O Brush - The Coolest Thing Since the Invention of Photoshop Post a comment | 17 Aug 2006 @ 09:08 PM
- PowerGlove Mouse Post a comment | 12 Feb 2006 @ 12:02 AM
- Optimus keyboard Post a comment | 08 Jan 2006 @ 02:01 AM
- eXtreme Segway
Post a comment | 14 Dec 2003 @ 05:12 PM
- Mobile Computing Tablet PCs Post a comment | 03 Dec 2003 @ 07:12 PM
Big Mouth Billy Bass Videoconferencing
In the worthwhile contributions to world culture dept: Via slashdot I recently came across a link to a hardware hacking project by a well-established Stanford Graduate. His goal was to take those annoyingly popular Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish, and not only allow users to interface it with their favorite linux box, but also to allow it to lipsync, and eventually be used as a videoconferencing peripheral. Quite an interesting read, complete with step-by-step instructions to make your own, and software source to be played with.
Device Changes Red Lights to Green
Someone had once told me that policemen, firemen, and drivers of ambulances possess a device which can change red traffic lights green in emergencies. Like anyone else, I was intrigued - how does it work? (probably radio waves or infrared or something). Well it turns out that someone must have gotten a hold of one of these devices, reverse engineered it and started manufacturing their own. Police and other officials are worried it will cause chaos on the roads. I'm not sure if it only works in certain areas, but for $300 it's definitely an investment worth looking into.
Cool New Speakers
In this article, entitled "Audio's Next Big Thing," the future of hypersonic speakers is discussed:
The ultrasonic speakers create sound at more than 20,000 cycles per second, a rate high enough to keep in a focused beam and beyond the range of human hearing. As the waves disperse, properties of the air cause them to break into three additional frequencies, one of which you can hear. This sonic frequency gets trapped within the other three, so it stays within the ultrasonic cone to create directional audio.Step into the beam and you hear the sound as if it were being generated inside your head. Reflect it off a surface and it sounds like it originated there. At 30,000 cycles, the sound can travel 150 yards without any distortion or loss of volume.
One cool example of this technology in use is the one speaker stereo.