In 2012, the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) teamed up with Royal College of Art product design students to create functional and innovative chairs out of American hardwood. So Thomas Gottelier and Bobby Petersen made a boat.
Collectively known as Featuring Featuring, Thomas and Bobby worked with programmer Jonas Jongejan and boat builder Will Reed to create the Floating Chair, aka Auto Boat. The boat gets its names – and a seat at AHEC’s exhibit – from its ability to ferry the rider to a location that’s set in an app.
Using just a pair of motors, it has no rudder or paddle. You simply activate the boat via the app and off it goes, leaving you free to chill throughout the journey. Hopefully to somewhere safe. The video below implies that you can stop and restart the boat in the middle of the journey, so it seems you do have a chance to nope out of there if needed.
That does seem like a fine way to get around. It’s not a chair though.
Last March, the performing arts group Extant held a unique rendition of the novel Flatland. The installation was set in complete darkness inside a disused church. But the audience members were able to make their way around the set with the help of the Animotus, a haptic navigation device that points to the destination by changing its shape.
Yale University researcher Adam Spiers designed and built the Animotus. The cube’s upper half rotates to point to a direction, and extends forward to give you an idea of how far you need to go in that direction. This allowed Flatland’s viewers to move in the right direction even in complete darkness.
Aside from having the potential to aid the visually impaired, Adam thinks even sighted people might find Animotus useful. It’s less disruptive than looking at a map or listening to directions, and Adam thinks that could encourage sightseers to appreciate their surroundings even more. I think it’s too simplistic for long-distance navigation or even to find your way in winding streets, but I get where Adam is coming from.
It’s rare that I get my hands on a gadget these days that lives up to my expectations, let alone exceeds them, but Yuneec did both with their incredible Typhoon Q500 4K drone. This is no toy quadcopter. This is a serious piece of aerial filmmaking equipment, and it does a spectacular job doing what it’s made for.
The Q500 4K is designed to be both easy to use and incredibly powerful, packing in technologies to help make flying safe and simple for beginner drone pilots, and also provides advanced controls for those who prefer to have full control over even the smallest movements.
When purchased in its premium kit for $1449, you get a complete package that not only includes the drone, its touchscreen remote, and its accessories, but two battery packs, a heavy-duty aluminum travel case and an accessory that lets you use its 4K camera and gimbal as a sort of portable Steadicam – basically giving you two pieces of pro video gear for the price of one.
Using the drone is as simple as screwing on its four propellers (the “A” props tighten one direction, and the “B” props tighten the other), placing an MicroSD card in the camera slot, sliding the battery pack in, and then turning on the controller and the drone itself. Once on, the touchscreen remote automatically finds and pairs with the drone, and displays useful messages to confirm connectivity.
Stand back at least 26 feet away, press the Start/Stop button on the remote, and the propellers start spinning. In the default “Smart” mode, pressing forward on the left stick lifts the drone, and pulling back lowers it. Letting go makes the drone hover at the current height. Pushing left or right on the left stick rotates the drone in position, while the right stick acts moves it forward, backwards, left or right from your current position. In addition, Smart mode has two sub-modes: Follow Me and Watch Me. Follow Me makes the drone fly wherever you walk, and Watch Me aims the camera at the holder of the remote and stays fixed on them as they move. It’s ridiculously simple and intuitive.
In addition to showing exactly what the drone’s camera is seeing, the remote also includes controls for adjusting the tilt of the camera, as well as the speed at which the flight controls operate. I recommend starting off in slow (turtle) mode, and gradually ramping up to fast (rabbit) mode as you get more comfortable. The controller also has a mode called “Angle” which works more like a traditional R/C flyer, where your moves are relative to the position of the drone itself. This is much more difficult to use, and really best left to pro flyers and show-offs. I can see no good reason to use this mode for most people. The last mode is called “home” – which I like to call “oh crap” mode. This automatically returns the drone to whoever is holding the controller (about 13 to 26 feet away from them), and lands it safely (assuming the area is clear of obstacles.) This panic button comes in handy if you lose the drone in the bright sun or just want to bring it home from a long distance. Speaking of bright sun, I wish the screen on the remote were a bit easier to see outdoors. There is a snap-on screen shade that helps a bit, but it’s less than an ideal solution.
The camera in the Yuneec captures sharp 4K (3840×2160) resolution video at 24, 25 or 30fps, or 4096×2160 at 24 or 25 fps, and also can do 1080p at 60 or even 120fps for 2x slow motion video, among other frame rates. Overall, the video quality is very good – on par with my GoPro Hero 4 Black, though not as film-like as a high-end pro camera like a RED One or a Canon XC10. Still, it’s more than sufficient for most applications, and is clear, smooth and easy to watch. While you can pan and tilt the camera, there’s no zoom feature. The on-board gimbal does a great job keeping shots smooth in flight.
Check out some of my sample footage below (note that any compression artifacts are due to YouTube compression, and not there in the source video). Be sure to switch to 4K playback if your computer supports it.
A few specs worth mentioning are flying time and range for the drone. Air time is approximately 25 minutes per battery pack, so if you plan on shooting longer than that, definitely keep a spare charged up. Fortunately, the system is smart enough to warn you and land if the battery gets too low. Maximum operating range is about 1,500 feet, but video and images can’t be reliably captured more than about 1,200 to 1,400 feet from the operator. In addition, there’s geofence capability which can ensure that the drone never goes more than 300 feet away from the operator. Top speed for the drone is 15 mph when GPS lock is engaged (which you want on.)
You can also use the drone’s camera to shoot 12 megapixel still images (JPG or RAW) with the camera, but in automatic exposure mode, I found them to be a little on the dim side, so they need some post-production tuning. The images below were shot on a bright, sunny day using the default settings. Click the sample images below for full-resolution:
But between its flying capabilities, very good 4K video, and rich accessory package, the still image quality shortfall is a minor one, and certainly not a deal killer.
If the Yuneec were to simply package the drone and camera in its box for under $1500, that would be worth the money, but they throw in another awesome accessory, the CGO Steadygrip. By sliding the 4K camera and its gimbal off its drone mount and onto the Steadygrip, you get a stabilized 4K video rig for handheld shooting too. A comparable handheld setup with a GoPro 4K camera and a gyroscopic gimbal would run you around $700 to $800.
The Steadygrip is a serious bonus. It runs on eight AA rechargeable batteries (not included), and connects via Wi-Fi to an app on your smartphone, providing a viewfinder and camera controls using your phone as the display. Its simple, but clever clip can hold a wide variety of phones. Here’s some sample footage I shot using the Steadygrip:
The system comes with some great quick-start reference materials to help get you up and running quickly, and Yuneec offers excellent supplemental documentation in the form of tutorial videos, like the one below:
For anyone seriously considering aerial video work, I highly recommend the Typhoon Q500 4K drone. It’s jampacked with features, and lets videographers focus on their shots rather than the complexity of flying. It’s easy to fly, relatively idiot-proof, and captures great 4K video. With the added bonus of the Steadygrip and the aluminum carrying case, it’s a very well priced package, offering excellent value as well.
It is perhaps the most famous monster photo of all time. Appearing in England’s Daily Mail on April 21, 1934, it was snapped by London physician Robert Kenneth Wilson and became known as the “Surgeon’s Photograph.” We’ve all seen it countless times – a creepy snake-like head jutting out of the dark waters of Scotland’s Loch Ness. The image was later discovered to be an elaborate ruse created using a toy sub.
Even though that photo was proven not to be a real portrait of Nessie, many still believe a giant beast actually haunts the Loch. To mark the date the image was taken, Google posted a host of its Street View images of both the surface of the Loch and what it looks like under the surface so that explorers around the world can scan the terrain themselves in search of the infamous creature.
What’s crazy though, is that one of the 360-degree images you can view is titled “Bird, log or monster?” And when you click into it you can clearly make out four small black bumps breaking the surface that look a heck of a lot like Godzilla’s tail slipping back beneath the water. I certainly don’t believe in the monstrous myth, but after seeing that Google pic I won’t be taking a dip in Loch Ness anytime soon.
Lumoid is an online store that rents and sells consumer electronics, from prosumer cameras to the Google Glass. Recently the store opened up a new kind of service that’s solely for wearable devices. Lumoid can ship you up to five fitness or sleep trackers so you can try them out for a week. If you like any of them, buy them from Lumoid and your trial is free. Otherwise you’ll pay a $20 (USD) fee for the rental.
Lumoid has a good sampling of fitness and sleep tracking devices, including ones from Nike, Jawbone and Fitbit. Head to the store’s website if you’d like to avail of the trial. You should also check out Fast Company’s hands-on impression of the service.
What’s your dog’s name? “Viktor Erstmann von Drakenhoff IV?” That’s a bit much… oh, you call him “Vicky” for short. Still weird, but whatever. Has Vicky ever escaped from your yard? Have you ever wanted to spy on him from the comfort of your computer? Have you ever wanted to know how many steps he’s taking per day? Or perhaps you just want text message alerts when he tries to flee from your overbearing presence?
If you answered yes to all of those questions, Motorola is making a device that you will love. The Scout 5000 affixes firmly around your dog’s neck (always a favorite strategy for evil overlords), and uses its integral GPS, Wi-Fi, and 3G cellular connections to let the master check where the dog is, send alerts when said dog leaves his “virtual fence,” stream live, wide-angle video from a camera, let you know when Vicky is barking, send and receive audio (so you can issue your directives), and act as a pedometer, because why the hell not.
The Scout 5000 will cost $200 when it goes on sale in June.
Pet locators are nothing new, but Eric Tsai’s homemade dog tracker not only tells him where his dog is, it can also tell him if and where it’s pooping. Or if it’s just sitting down somewhere. It’s not perfect, but damn if it isn’t clever.
Eric used an Arduino Uno, a Raspberry Pi, a GPS module and an open source home automation software called openHAB to make his dog tracker.
The unit that’s meant to be worn by the dog contains a tilt sensor. Since dogs usually squat to do their business, Eric’s tracker will go off if it senses that the dog has been in the squatting position for a few seconds.
It will then make an audible alert and a timestamp as well as mark the location of the dog at the time of pooping. Skip to 2:30 in the video below to watch Eric demonstrate his tracker’s poop detection at work:
Drop to Eric’s Instructables page to find out more about his dog tracker, which is actually just a small part of his open source home automation project.
There are so many people on planet Earth, but sometimes, all you need is one. But if you’re far away from home and are down in the dumps, your best bet to get a hug or two or a cuddle, if you’re lucky, is through Cuddlr.
It’s an app that lets you find other people to cuddle with, whenever and wherever you are. Fire it up and it’ll use your current location to search for other people looking for cuddles in the area.
Getting hugs from strangers and offering cuddles to people you’ve never even met? Sounds weird, but hey, it could work… just make sure you use it in broad daylight and have some pepper spray on you. Just in case.
The last time we featured augmented reality company DAQRI, it had borderline gimmicky applications for its specialty. But DAQRI is dreaming big with its smart helmet. Meant for field workers, the helmet leverages augmented reality to help professionals get around, learn, document and overall perform their job better.
The smart helmet has two retractable HD displays that DAQRI says is highly visible even in broad daylight. The helmet also has four cameras to maintain 360º tracking, a depth camera and an inertial measurement unit.
With the right software, the helmet can give you at-a-glance information about an object, facility or even an entire area. It could also let you see virtual readings from a far away instrument or device, give you detailed step-by-step instructions or navigation or point out where or what you’re supposed to work on. Since it’s packed with cameras, you can also use the helmet to shoot photos, take videos and even make 3D maps.
It might not be the most fashionable of helmets, but I bet the people wearing it will quickly forget that when the augmented reality interface pops before their eyes. Check out DAQRI’s website for more on the helmet.
Gene Bransfield will make you think about securing your wireless networks the next time you see a cat with a collar. The security engineer has become famous for his goofy invention, the WarKitteh. Hidden in a cat collar, WarKitteh records Wi-Fi access points along with GPS data. Put it on a cat and it could survey your neighborhood for you. Or it could just stay at home and lick its junk all day.
WarKitteh – again it’s all in the cat collar; the GoPro in the image above was placed by CNN – is powered by a Spark Core microcomputer running Gene’s custom firmware. It also has a Wi-Fi card, a GPS module and a battery. Earlier this year, Gene shared his WarKitteh prototype at Shmoocon. It was an Android phone running a Wi-Fi sniffing app.
He placed the phone on his cat using a dog coat, but the coat proved to be too bulky; the cat was able to wriggle its way out of the coat and left it behind twice. Hence the need for a smaller version. YouTuber Adrian Crenshaw posted Gene’s Shmoocon presentation. You can skip to around 5:33 for the meat of his talk, but really the whole thing is just fun and filled with images of “weaponized animals.”
Speaking with Wired, Gene said that he made the device only for fun, “[b]ut the result of this cat research was that there were a lot more open and WEP-encrypted hot spots out there than there should be in 2014.” The video below shows the data gathered by one of Gene’s cats with the help of WarKitteh.
Read Wired’s article on WarKitteh if you want to learn more about the device. Gene also presented his project at this year’s DefCon, so there could be even more news about it this week.
