Tag Archives: Strange + Wonderful

Robotic Swarm Cubicle Walls: Privacy on the Go

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Because scientists are working hard to make sure the future is going to be nothing like Back to the Future II led me to believe, WaddleWalls are an interactive partitioning system that can set up semi-private walling around a person on the fly. The future of office workspaces! It’s… bleak.

Developed by researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University, the swarm of wall-bots can either autonomously set up partitioning around an identified person or assemble preset partitions, navigating around an office space on their own. The heights of the partitions can also be adjusted for the necessary level of privacy. Me? I want them to go all the way to the ceiling. And be covered with fiberboard and filled with insulating foam. You know, actual walls.

Will these prove to be the future of cubicles? I doubt it. You never know, though. Of course, as flimsy as these walls are, it would take almost no time or effort for a human to set up the same thing. Just buy three portable projector screens, and boom, you’ve got yourself an equally depressing cubicle in less than a minute and at a fraction of the cost.

[via Gizmodo]

Volkswagen Created a Motorized Office Chair with Car Features

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Inspired by the features found in its line of vans, Volkswagen Norway created a motorized office chair with all sorts of bells and whistles. The chair’s features include LED headlights, a seatbelt, a seat warmer, a horn, a tow hitch – even an entertainment system. So basically, an office chair that’s even nicer than my car.

The foot-pedal-operated chair has a range of about 7.5-miles and a top speed of just over 12 MPH. It also has a backup camera and proximity sensors and a touchscreen entertainment center with integrated speakers. For reference, my car has a boombox sitting in the passenger seat operated by eight D batteries.

Unfortunately for business executives with corner offices and private bathrooms, the chair isn’t actually going to be sold but was made as a marketing piece to highlight VW’s van features. Which, from what I could gather, aren’t that different than other manufacturers’ van features. Those companies didn’t put them all in an office chair, though, which is why I’m only buying VW from now on. When’s the new microbus coming out anyways?

[via New Atlas]

TinyTV Miniature Video Displays

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TinyTV 2 and TinyTV Mini are miniature video displays in the form of old CRT televisions. Currently, an already heavily funded Kickstarter project, prices start at $49 and go up from there depending on the style and color of the television case and the inclusion of an equally tiny remote control. Obviously, I might just be receiving that World’s Best Uncle award sooner than I thought if I get one of these for my niece’s dollhouse.

The TinyTV 2 (the larger of the two tiny models) features a 216×135 pixel display, functional rotary knobs on the front for adjusting volume and changing the channel (next video file), a forward-facing speaker, 8GB storage (~10 hours of video) and a Li-polymer battery with about 2 hours of power. The TinyTV Mini features a 64×64 pixel OLED display, volume and channel buttons on top, an internal speaker, 8GB storage (~40 hours of video at this resolution), and a Li-polymer battery with about 1 hour of power. Both can easily have video footage uploaded, and their batteries recharged via USB-C cable, as well as be operated using an IR remote.

Most people want as large a TV as they can fit in front of the sofa, so it’s refreshing to see ultra-miniature televisions for a change. Plus, they’re much more budget-friendly. Sure I’ll likely miss a lot of the finer details watching House of the Dragon, but those dragons would probably scare me on the big screen anyways.

Pendant Lamp Made from Mushroom Mycelium Is One Fungi Light

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Created by “grower of carbon-negative materials” Myceen with the help of good ol’ Mother Nature, the $750 B-Wise Pendant Lamp is made entirely from mushroom mycelium and its organic byproducts. The mushroom material it’s made from contains no chemicals or synthetic additives, “making it perfectly compostable.” That’s cool, but I did think it was a bread bowl at first. Now I want some clam chowder.

The growth of the mushroom mycelium has been stopped, and the lamp is perfectly safe for humans and buildings. That’s a relief because you can’t very well tell me a lamp is made from mushrooms and not expect me to take a bite. I love mushrooms, especially with spaghetti and meatballs.

Myceen also grows mycelium acoustic wall panels, which apparently have unique acoustic properties. My apartment’s walls? They also have unique acoustic properties. Mostly that they’re paper thin and let every little noise pass through with ease. I can hear my neighbor sleeping, and he doesn’t even snore!

[via DudeIWantThat]

NASA Astronaut Space Suit Can Koozie

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Because there are few things more enjoyable in life than sipping a cold one and playing space rangers, maker of outerwear-inspired koozies Puffin Drinkwear is selling this insulated Space Suit koozie. The can cover fits standard 12- and 16-ounce cans and includes a tiny closable backpack for storing other goodies like… actually, I’m not sure what. Glitterstim? Freeze-dried ice cream?

This is easily one of the top five koozies I’ve ever seen, and I will be buying one. Or rather, I’ll be putting it on my Christmas list and purchasing one myself after everybody lets me down like they have every other year. My family always asks what I want, I show them my list, and I still get a yearly membership to the Jelly of the Month Club instead.

Do you think this is what the real astronauts aboard the International Space Station drink out of? Of course not. They drink out of pouches, just like kangaroos would if they were smarter. There’s a good reason kangaroos haven’t been to the moon, you know. Granted, I don’t know what it is, but there definitely is one.

[via The Awesomer]

Human Spine Lamp: A Gothic De-Light

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Because why limit skeletons to just your closet, macabre Etsy shop the blackened teeth (mine are just yellowed) is selling the Spine Lamp, a 60cm (~24″) table lamp made with a realistic human spine. Perhaps a little TOO realistic. Are we sure that’s resin and not bone? Where are those CSI agents when you need them?

The spines are available in black and white and with three different lampshade options, my favorite of which has to be the black with copper inner lining. That’s a good-looking lampshade. I can already imagine myself dancing on the couch with that on my head. Wait – where’s everybody going? This party’s just getting started!

Now I know what you’re thinking, and I have the exact same problem – my significant other doesn’t have the same fine taste in interior design that I do. So how do you buy a $160 spine lamp without upsetting them? No, I’m seriously asking because I really want one.

[via DudeIWantThat]

‘Pocket Miku’: A Synthesizer That Sings

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The Pocket Miku is a tiny synthesizer that turns its key presses (or audio input) into Hatsune Miku’s voice. For those of you unfamiliar, Miku is a Vocaloid software voicebank created by Crypton Future Media and its official anthropomorphic mascot, a Japanese idol with long, turquoise hair. And now I can make songs with her! I guess I can go ahead and add Music Producer to my résumé.

In the video below, YouTuber David Hilowitz Music actually does a fantastic job using the synthesizer to create a song with Miku on vocals. I probably don’t have the necessary musical talent to do the same and suspect my song would end up sounding like Miku yelling for me to take her batteries out.

If you’re seriously interested, some Pocket Mikus are available on eBay, but they’re going for around $400, so I guess you’ll have to be SERIOUSLY interested to buy one. Me? I’m not really that serious about anything besides what’s for dessert. I’m hoping for a berry crumble with ice cream!

Creepy Tentacle Robot Can Carefully Grasp Fragile Objects

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Because what good is a robotic gripper if it breaks everything it touches, researchers at Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a robotic gripper that can carefully grasp and pick up objects with its creepily long tentacles. Just imagine that thing slithering up your pant leg!

Drawing inspiration from nature (specifically octopuses and jellyfish), the SEAS researchers created a soft gripper that uses thin tentacles to “entangle and ensnare object, similar to how jellyfish collect stunned prey.” A rather unsettling image when applied to robotics. The tentacles are powered by air alone and don’t require any sensing, planning, or feedback control to operate. The individual pneumatic tentacles contract when air is removed, causing them to curl up and grab any objects they run into. Again, unsettling.

Fine, but if these things make their way to the doctor’s office, you can count me out. I can’t help but play with all the equipment after the nurse leaves, and I’m waiting for the doctor; there’s no telling what sort of trouble I’ll get into with one of these. I really don’t want to have to change doctors again.

[via adafruit]

3D Printed Meat Is Coming to a Supermarket Near You

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3D printed meat: just the thought alone probably has your mouth watering right now. I know mine is, but I’ve eaten nothing but saltines for the better part of a week because I’m too lazy to go to the grocery store and too poor to order delivery. But enough about my stomach eating itself; food company Redefine Meat is hard at work making 3D-printed meat a reality.

Redefine Meat’s New-Meat product is supposed to be delicious, good for the environment, and kinder to animals. The last two are almost certainly the case considering it’s lab-grown and 3D printed, leaving only its deliciousness in question. Send some my way for a taste test! Just let me know when it’s supposed to arrive, so it doesn’t sit on my front porch for a week and start to rot (I always enter the house through the garage).

The first video, compared to the second, shows a drastic improvement in the technology already. If companies can nail the taste and price, I’m really curious to see how all this lab-grown pans out. Hopefully medium-rare, with a nice sear and topped with herb butter!

[via Reddit]

Butt Be Dry Waterproof Seating Pad: So Long, Soggy Pants!

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Because nobody likes a wet butt (I only face forward in the shower), the Butt Be Dry (affiliate link) is a portable seating pad to prevent the back of your pants from getting soaked while sitting on a wet seat. Perfect for sports stadiums and the great outdoors, it probably won’t prevent you from getting wet if you decide to sit in a pool, just to be clear.

The 18″ wide pad rolls up to just 3″ when not in use and can be worn around the waist like a fanny pack for hands-free transportation. Available in blue, light blue, green, and camouflage, I can’t recommend buying the camo version unless you want to lose it on a camping trip. I could have sworn I set it on a tree stump around here somewhere!

Alternatively, do what my wife does whenever she doesn’t want to sit on a wet seat and sit on my lap. Why should two people have to suffer when only one can, and that person be you – that’s her motto. Such an angel.

[via DudeIWantThat]