Archive for February 7th, 2012

Have we finally achieved that 3D revolution with the Glasses-free 3DeeScreen

3deescreen-peter-gabrielThis is one of the big problems with 3D. You need a lot of space in your living room/home theater, and it can get pretty expensive if you want the proper equipment to make it look good. It seems like after Avatar was released, it seemed like 3D was going to be the next big thing. Of course, it wasn’t the next big thing back when it was first released decades earlier, but Spatial Keen’s newest device could change that.

This is the 3DeeScreen and it is designed to snap onto 15.6 inch laptops like Windows 7 types and change the 2D images into autostereoscopic 3D.

Yeah, that sounds great, doesn’t it? I really hope it looks as nigh holographic as this image is showing us. I wish I could try this out for myself, but I’m not certain that is going to happen anytime soon. I have heard that there is no 3D “sweet spot” here, and that the 3DeeScreen adjusts to a user’s position thanks to eye-tracking software.

If you want to check this out for yourself, I believe that you can get this now here for a price of $129.99.

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Posted by on February 7th, 2012 No Comments

Robot can bring heat to cold places

hagentheater-thumb-550xauto-82789What you see in the photo here is the Hagent. I believe that its name is some sort of mashup of the words “heat agent”.

The Hagent is a robot programmed for one thing: to bring the heat into cold places. For example, if you have a fireplace in your home that is piping hot, the Hagent will warm itself by it, and then redistribute that heat to a drafty place in your household. I believe that it is black because this is a color that absorbs heat the best.

It looks like the Hagent is pretty small yet pretty big, but hopefully it has some moderately loud alert system so I don’t trip over it. Then again, I guess we are used to those Roombas that go around and clean our house.

Now here’s the big question: is it easier to built a house that keeps in warmth, or just make a robot so all the warmth within it is redistributed?

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Posted by on February 7th, 2012 115 Comments

NERF bring back Lazer Tag thanks to smartphones

2-6-2011hasbrolazertagSome of you might remember our coverage of Xappr, a way of creating a laser tag style game with a smartphone. It looks like toy giant NERF (owned by bigger giant Hasbro) is getting in on this eighties action as they are bringing back Lazer tag.

Unlike the funny guns and helmets back in the day (my day, if that doesn’t show my age too much), the NERF versions pair with an iPhone or iPod Touch. With the use of an app, you will have some augmented reality going on the gun sight.

Like the guns back then, you can play against others, but this new version lets you play against virtual opponents. By the way, there is also a global Lazer Tag leaderboard. By the way, there is a way of unlocking new attacks and gear.

So, in short, these upgrades are good, yes? In fact, for the first time, your paired iDevices show where your blast went.

You will have to wait until summer to see the latest edition of NERF’s Lazer Tag, and will cost $40 or two for $70.

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Posted by on February 7th, 2012 328 Comments

Google working on some new augmented reality glasses?

For some reason, I seem to be reporting on the neatest stuff lately that makes me really believe that the future really is going to be as fantastically futuristic as the ones that we have watched in science fiction for years.

Take a look at this new augmented reality video that I found this morning. If you aren’t familiar with augmented reality, it is when you have a camera that manipulates the images seen in the display in real-time. Generally, most AR has a jerky effect as the computer scans the object in question and hurries to put the pre-programmed image in place. This Obvious Engine system has created some software that really isolates the software from the rest of the scene, and makes the Dr. Pepper can do a lot. Watch the video above, and listen to more about what Google might be planning on doing with augmented reality.

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Posted by on February 7th, 2012 232 Comments

 

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