Categories
Imaging Robots/Drones

The Moorebot robotic assistant leaves you wanting more

The applications for robots at home, work, and business make the idea of having robotic assistants compelling, but none thus far have been truly capable of combining a truly responsive interface with personality. The closest thus far may be Amazon’s Echo, but it doesn’t get across the illusion of emotion quite like most would like it to.

The team behind the Moorebot made sure that was its main priority, designing a small, charming robot with a single, blinking eye that learns quickly and can engage in light conversation with users. It was created to work in a variety of settings with customizable, upgradeable behavior. In a shop, it can serve as a greeter and customer service agent that can answer questions about inventory, a store layout, specials, and promotions. At work, it can send messages and remind users of important events, read notes and reports, keep track of the home from afar, record video emails, and even entertain in times of boredom. At home, it’s the consummate entertainer, singing, dancing and playing with kids.

Categories
Connected Objects Music

DJs and recording artists can finally let loose thanks to the ETHER Transmitter

Ask any DJ, and the biggest hassle they’ll complain about is having to be tethered to their equipment when mixing, something that can’t necessarily be addressed since most Bluetooth adapters on the market aren’t capable f processing audio as quickly as needed. Being wired can lead to embarrassing situations where headphones can become disconnected, and trying to disconnect means wearing cumbersome packs to cut down latency.

ETHER Electronics thought it was time for something new. Its ETHER Transmitter can connect to any pro audio device and be paired with Bluetooth earbuds, headphones, or speakers for the lowest latency audio on the market. It brings down latency to acceptable levels ranging between 10.5ms to 40ms max, making the wireless DJing dream a reality with 15 meters of roaming territory.

Categories
Input Virtual Reality

The PowerClaw brings back Nintendo cool, snaps at more immersive VR

While the leaps made with the virtual reality experiences provided by the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are impressive, true virtual reality won’t be accomplished without the ability to feel what’s in these worlds. For this, a lot of work will need to be done, but luckily the first tentative steps are being taken now with the help of crowdfunding campaigns.

One of these campaigns is currently going on now and is called the PowerClaw, a device that promises to add a tactile experience to the currently flat VR out now. Strapping it on lets users feel everything from the heat to cold to textures such as roughness, topping it all off with vibrations fro that extra sense of touch. The PowerClaw does all this through actuators located on the fingertips that simulate exactly what the skin is feeling.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories

Do the Hustle again with the Phone Disco ball

The death of disco back in the late 70’s was a tragedy that many still have yet to get over. The days of bell-bottomed jeans and ABBA still ring clearly in many minds, which is probably why inventor Colby Homec decided to create the Phone Disco.

The Phone Disco is a very simple accessory: attach it to a smartphone, and it filters the powerful smartphone camera light through a small disco ball to create the iconic light show central to all the best Saturday Night Fever dance-offs of the day. 

Categories
Automotive Connected Objects

YAB Bluetooth dongle helps find your car in a crowded parking lot

Two of the most frustrating parts of parking a car are not getting back to it before a parking meter has expired and not being able to remember where the vehicle was parked. The latter is especially the case when it’s a huge, crowded parking lot.

YAB is a small USB dongle that reminds users when their parking meters are going to expire and keeps track of where they’ve parked their cars. It automatically saves the car’s location on the user’s Android smartphone or iPhone when the engine shuts off. YAB communicates using Bluetooth Low Energy. YAB ships in December. Future pricing isn’t provided. But Indiegogo backers can order one for a $29 pledge. Its makers reached their targeted funding of $11,916 July 30.

This is a device that may appeal to any consumer who has ever received a parking ticket because they didn’t get back to their car before the meter expired, or who has been unable to find their car in a crowded lot late at night after seeing a movie or concert.

Categories
Connected Objects Furniture

The Gaze desk sets its sights beyond other standing desks

The unnatural requirement for most office-bound workers to sit for eight hours a day is not only an exercise in boredom but unhealthy to boot. Not being active enough throughout the day because reports need to be typed up and emails need to be replied to is harmful to one’s health in a myriad of ways, something that has prompted many inventors and small companies to remedy the situation.

From wearables to standing desk, every team has a solution. The GAZELAB team’s? Its Gaze Desk, a connected standing desk with a few tricks up its sleeve. For one, both of its sections — front and back — can be independently controlled so that the monitor and keyboard are at different heights, something that helps avoid awkward and sometimes painful positioning of the elbow and neck. This all happens automatically after inputting height and weight into the Gaze Desk’s companion app so that it calculates the optimal height for itself.

Categories
Connected Objects Imaging Television

Hello camera makes it easy to say chat with people on your TV

Videoconferencing is a pretty good way to communicate with fellow workers and business clients without having to be in the same room together. But existing solutions can be more complicated to use than the average person would like.

Hello is a voice-controlled videoconferencing camera that easily connects to a TV via HDMI. It offers wireless screen sharing and live broadcasting capabilities, as well as security surveillance with motion detection.