The Syfy Online NetworkSCI FI WireDVICEFidgit

We love technology. We want to know about it, write about it, and shake it till it breaks. Part of the Syfy Network, DVICE has a worldwide team of writers who constantly immerse themselves in the tech world, distilling the sometimes-excessive information out there to bring you only what you need to know.

Video
 

Related Sections: Art & Design  Household

4Fitness gym might actually fit inside a New York apartment

Keeping fit can be a challenge for city dwellers. Unlike suburbanites with their fancy schmantzy fitness rooms, we apartment residents need fitness gear that takes up the tiniest possible corner of our already tight living spaces.

One solution might be the 4Fitness gym system, a recent entry for the 2009 James Dyson Design Awards. Folding up to form a slim wall-hugging unit, the modular 4Fitness includes sections designed for strength training, balance, endurance, and agility. You can add new modules as needed, and tailor the configuration for your own personal needs.

This design concept looks cool, but I wonder if it's really better than just using a Nintendo Wii FIt?

James Dyson Award, via Born Rich

Gallery: 4Fitness gym might actually fit inside a New York apartment (5 images)   view full gallery

(2) COMMENTS

BoredGuyNotAtWorkAtTheMoment:
I think we all fail to notice the fact that only incredibly fat people own exercise equipment, as most of us health...More »
 

Related Sections: Future Tech  PCs

Humble webcam turned into impressive 3D scanner

If you're like me, when you think of 3D scanning you probably think of a setup much like they had on the set of the Matrix, with a billion cameras surrounding one object. Well, luckily it's not that complex and, perhaps even luckier, Qi Pan, a PhD student at Cambridge University Engineering Department, is making it as simple as can be.

His setup uses a webcam hooked up to your average PC, and his own hand to rotate an object. Take a look in the video above.

Via Boing Boing

(4) COMMENTS

BoredGuyNotAtWorkAtTheMoment:
Didn't check out the guys website but this could be pretty helpful for people like me. Whenever i try to create new...More »
 

Related Sections: Computer Peripherals

 First wireless USB hard drive intro'd by Imation

First wireless USB hard drive intro'd by Imation

A boon to every cluttered desktop, Imation has started selling a 1.5 TB hard drive, the Wireless HD ProWX that connects to your PC/Mac via wireless USB, as long as you…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: Buildings  Future Tech  Space

Large Hadron Collider fully armed and operational

Large Hadron Collider fully armed and operational

After being stalled by a catastrophic leak, a speck of bread and alleged time travelers, CERN has brought the Large Hadron Collider successfully back online with the full orbit of a proton…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: Portable Gadgets

Sony's Digital Copy: Transfer Blu-ray movies to PSP

Sony's Digital Copy: Transfer Blu-ray movies to PSP

Even as Disney plans to put its movies on any device anywhere, Sony is bringing us its own new-and-improved method of multiformat content delivery. The first-ever Digital Copy of a feature film…Continue reading »
 
DVICE continues below

Related Sections: Computer Peripherals  Internet

PogoPlug lets you access media files worldwide

PogoPlug lets you access media files worldwide

Gather round, those of you with networked computers, and gaze upon one of the best ways to attach storage to that network and share files at home or anywhere on the Internet.…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: Internet  Toys  Video

Augmented reality, coming soon to a Coke can near you

Now that the super-animated almost-real movie Avatar is about to roll out (in theaters 12/18/09), here come the advertisers with spectacular new types of techno-toys to accompany the flick. For instance, if you hold a tricky Coke Zero can up to your webcam, it sprouts a controllable helicopter. Click the frame above to see a video of that. Hey, this looks like fun. This augmented reality (AR) juju will, be plastered on 140 million bottle-shaped cans, some 30 million fridge packs, as well as bags, bottles, popcorn bags and fountain drink cups.

You'll also be able to pick up a card at McDonald's that you hold in front of your webcam, and when you go to an Avatar-branded website, out pops an animation that looks like a real mechanical toy. There will be playable games associated with these controllable 3D animations, offered as bonuses with Big Macs and Happy Meals at the Micky-D fast feeder.

So that's what they mean by augmented reality. We've seen some crude AR before, first with a lame Best Buy ad, where if you held the company's brochure up to your webcam you could move around a 3D laptop. But this goes way beyond that. Whether it sells more big Macs or Coca-Cola, or makes more people go to James Cameron's film remains to be seen. But just think of the possibilities for this augmented reality. Wow. Here's a video of the Avatar card:

 

Related Sections: Future Tech

Intel researching channel surfing with your brain

Intel researching channel surfing with your brain

Using a remote control to change channels is just such a pain. I mean, what with you needing to push buttons with your fingers and all. If only there was a better…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: HDTV  Internet  Miscellaneous

Spectacular animation shows off YouTube HD

While you watch this gadget-laden gem entitled Pidgeon: Impossible, notice the exquisite quality of YouTube's HD. As we mentioned to you earlier this week, YouTube video has been been improved once again, and the company is now calling it "1080p." We're not so sure if it's that same 1080p you've grown to love with Blu-ray discs, but one thing's certain: Streaming video has certainly come a long way since the early 320 x 240 days just a couple of years ago.

This 6-minute animation itself is remarkable, taking writer/director Lucas Martell five years to complete. Released on May 7th of this year, it's already a recipient of multiple prestigious awards. According to Lucas:

"When the project started, it was mostly an excuse to learn 3D animation, but by the end of the project I had spent so much time reworking and polishing the story that I just wanted people to laugh."

We'd say Martell has gone well beyond mastering his craft in just five years, and yes, Lucas, we're laughing out loud..

Via Pidgeon Impossible

(2) COMMENTS

BoredGuyNotAtWorkAtTheMoment:
Not quite what i would call 1080p but that is still very good quality, and a very good example to go with it. I can...More »
 
Green Week

Related Sections: Buildings  Green Tech

HOMErgent shelters the needy, with room for Mother Nature

HOMErgent shelters the needy, with room for Mother Nature

Home is where the heart is. That makes HOMErgent's heart an easily transportable, flat-packed, high-quality shelter designed to house the needy and help the planet.

Following a "hexayurt" design and using readily available building materials, HOMErgent uses existing eco-friendly infrastructure technologies to provide users with water, power, cooking, lighting, sanitation needs for living off-grid — whether the grid has just been destroyed or was never really there anyway.

They target the 4 billion people on earth that even subprime lenders couldn't touch: those just made homeless by disaster or who earn less than $1,500/year, the cutoff point for sustaining a "decent life."

When life is about survival, environmental concerns take a back seat. So, areas with a lot of people in this situation — like refugee camps — become squalid, health-threatening eco-disasters quickly, as residents hunt for food, water and shelter and don't worry about waste management. HOMErgent's all-in-one package solves a lot of problems quickly.

Aimed at government aid agencies and NGOs working in the field, HOMErgent's structures can be easily transported and adapted to other uses. Pricing is higher than a typical tent, but users get a lot more comfort.

Via HOMErgent

(5) COMMENTS

BoredGuyNotAtWorkAtTheMoment:
It really depends on the location. I mean the monthly rent in Tailand for a good aparment is about $100 USD. I mean...More »
 

Related Sections: Car Electronics

This steering wheel desk is a flat-out terrible idea

This steering wheel desk is a flat-out terrible idea

Here's a bad idea: a desk that attaches to the bottom of your steering wheel. Not only does it promote doing work behind the wheel, which is an obvious distraction, but it…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: HDTV

Sony builds a 280-inch 3D display

Sony builds a 280-inch 3D display

Sony is diving head-first into this whole 3D enterprise, betting the farm on everybody being really excited to wear 3D glasses whenever they watch TV or play video games. Their latest foray into the 3D realm? This 280-inch 3D LED display for public areas.

It sure looks impressive, but you've gotta wonder how much sense a public 3D display makes. I mean, wouldn't people just need to be carrying 3D glasses around just in case they came across it? For everyone else, it'll be the biggest blurry display they've ever seen.

Tech-On via Engadget

(6) COMMENTS

BoredGuyNotAtWorkAtTheMoment:
Why is someone using my handle with 2.0 attached -.-. Also the reason we are (or atleast I am) assuming you need gl...More »
 
Green Week In-Depth

Related Sections: Green Tech  Shift

How Freakonomics author Steven Levitt is wrong about climate change

How \<i\>Freakonomics\<\/i\> author Steven Levitt is wrong about climate change

Climate-change activists are blasting gonzo economist Steven Levitt — co-author of Freakonomics and, now, SuperFreakonomics — for the heresy of writing that bigger, crazier technologies may be the cheapest way to save us from global warming, with the added benefit of letting us go about our consumerist lives without a concern.

He mentions space mirrors to reflect sunlight and other concepts, but his cornerstone science project? A perforated garden hose stretching into the stratosphere that will disperse a mist of sulphur dioxide, creating a layer that will drive down surface temperatures, much as ash from volcanic eruptions blocks sunlight and cools the planet.

It would also create acid rain, but by Levitt's reasoning that may be the lesser of the environmental evils we face. Interesting reasoning, but I say it's just a Trojan horse for rampant apathy. Continue reading for my full analysis.

(19) COMMENTS

Brass Orchid:
Hurray for Infernoz! Instead of wringing our hands over the slim chance that we might pass gas and blow out the wor...More »
 

Related Sections: Galleries  Internet  PCs

Hercules eCafe, a $400 netbook with 300GB of storage*

Hercules eCafe, a $400 netbook with 300GB of storage*

There are a couple of things we really like about the Hercules eCafe EC1000W netbook, which runs Windows 7 and sports a 10.1-inch screen. It's got a nicely spaced keyboard for its size, and has Wireless N built right into it. There are also areas in which we wished the latest eCafe was a little beefier, such as with its 1GB of RAM and the same Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor the $320 ASUS Eee PC Seashell has in it. What's neither good or bad, however, is its odd storage situation.

That's where the asterisk comes in. Only 250 gigabytes of the aforementioned 300 is on the laptop. The missing 50GB is, curiously, offered up through the eCafe online portal, where you can store whatever you like. Of course, storage like that isn't free forever, and after the first year you're going to have to start paying for it. (Hercules didn't have a price for us yet, it's still being worked out.) You could always ignore that extra storage by never signing up for it, as we understand it.

With all that in mind, the eCafe appears o be a capable contender in the netbook space. It didn't seem to bottleneck running Windows 7, though we didn't get to try too many processor intensive applications. The eCafe has its own suite of proprietary applications for managing updates, email and messaging that puts it all up front — accessibility that casual users attracted to netbooks may appreciate.

The Hercules eCafe is available now for the aforementioned $400.

Via eCafe

Gallery: Hercules eCafe, a $400 netbook with 300GB of storage* (10 images)   view full gallery

 

Related Sections: Art & Design  Household

Bed-sized alarm clock — hold on, it's an alarm-clock bed

Bed-sized alarm clock — hold on, it's an alarm-clock bed

I'm wondering if, this week, DVICE's writers are trying to tell us something: devices for insomniacs equals I am le tired; vibrating alarm clocks must mean I can't get out of bed…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: Security  Vehicles  iPhone

Viper SmartStart iPhone app: start your car from the other side of the world

Viper SmartStart iPhone app: start your car from the other side of the world

Is your car in California? Are you in New York? With the Viper SmartStart iPhone app, you could start the ignition, even from such a distance. That's exactly what Viper showed us…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: Art & Design  Medical  Miscellaneous

LightSleeper: The drug-free solution for geek insomniacs

LightSleeper: The drug-free solution for geek insomniacs

One the common perils of gaming and cola-fueled geekdom is the ever-present specter of insomnia. Now a UK-based company has produced a solution called the LightSleeper that marries cool device design with a natural sleep aid.

The white orb, created by a student at the University of Central Lancashire, projects a soft light on your ceiling that moves in a manner designed to slowly lull you to sleep. The LightSleeper will go on sale sometime next year for 125 British pounds ($209) here.

Via Core77

(3) COMMENTS

saris:
$209?!?!?! little expensive for me....More »
 

Related Sections: Medical  Robots  Video

This creepy robot wants to be your personal trainer

This creepy robot wants to be your personal trainer

Bandit, a robotic personal trainer developed by students at USC's Viterbi School of Engineering, is designed to walk humans through beneficial workout routines using vocal "encouragement" and articulated arms. I write "encouragement"…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: Cameras

Rumor: Flip video cameras to get Wi-Fi?

Rumor: Flip video cameras to get Wi-Fi?

Flip cameras, the single-purpose, super-simple video cameras that have experienced a popularity explosion in the last year or two, have a new feature in the works: Wi-Fi. It's just a rumor for…Continue reading »
 

Related Sections: Future Tech  Green Tech

Battery-free remote, powered by your fingers

Battery-free remote, powered by your fingers

Here's a great way to avoid changing batteries in your remote control: use a remote that doesn't need any batteries at all. This design concept by NEC and Soundpower uses the vibrations…Continue reading »
 

Get the latest tech news
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
DVICE on your iPhone
Follow DVICE on Twitter
Editor: Peter Pachal
editor@dvice.com
©2009, Syfy. All rights reserved.