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Designer Bret Victor has posted an absolutely brilliant rant about the future of interaction design, which everybody must read. You've heard a lot of hype about ubiquitous touchscreens and gestural controls — but Victor has a very eloquent yet simple explanation of why these things are not the future. More »
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If you thought the Blackberry crash was just a major problem for a small segment of humanity, then apparently you've massively underestimated the issue. Yesterday evening, CNN was reporting that "users on almost every planet" were affected. This is a major interplanetary incident! More »
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Did Apple invent the iPad? Or did Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke? Samsung is using the above clip as a piece of evidence in its defense against Apple's patent lawsuit over the Galaxy S and similar tablet computers. More »
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A new app lets you turn your iPhone (or other i-device) into an old-school Super 8 camera. And it's chock full of hints for J.J. Abrams new movie Super 8. It's part tie-in app, part viral marketing, part movie-making tool. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5803383&view=rss&microfeed=true The Johns Hopkins Hospital recently changed a number of their old-fashioned, manually-controlled faucets for fancy new motion-sensitive ones that you didn't have to touch at all. They immediately saw a spike in Legionella - a potentially deadly kind of bacteria that can cause pneumonia. The hospital took samples of the water from 20 of the new taps and 20 of the old ones, and found that 50% of the touchless type had Legionella, where only 15% of the manual ones did. More »
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So you've got yourself a fancy new blaster. But will you know how to use it safely, and avoid melting your face? Miles Donovan with The Daily Robot has created amazing safety instructions for some of your most important science fiction gadgetry. Check out the posters for teleportation devices and bionic limbs below. More »
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Residents of Polk County, Florida are getting their own book "red box." With the mere swipe of a library card, the vending machine will expel the book of their choice. The future of libraries? [Bay News] More »
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Appliance manufacturer Electrolux recently unveiled designs for the Heart of the Home, a giant touchscreen stove that will grace the next generation's kitchens. Sadly, there's no robotic maid included. More »
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The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction awarded its $2,010 prize for the reader whose prediction (in 1980) of the world of 2010 came closest to reality. The winner? Allen MacNeill, who predicted handheld computers... sort of. More »
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Novmichi Tosa, of the kooky art collective Maywa Denki, demos his theremin-like instrument, the Otamatone. The instrument is meant to resemble a tadpole, but it looks more like a smiling sperm with a Muppet-like mouth when it sings. More »
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Last night's Warehouse 13 featured better gadgets, delved into the dirty details of one character's past, and introduced us to the series antagonist. Could we finally be seeing the show breaking out of its weekly artifact hunt? More »
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Any smart phone can become a medical imaging scanner, performing biopsies and imaging scans on the fly, with the help of a small USB plug-in, say researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. More »
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Science can't explain magic - but that doesn't mean science can't detect it. Modern fantasy is full of cool gizmos that can identify sources of mystical power... and even track them down. Here's our list. More »
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Talk about getting a bad case of stage fright: this robo-urinal allegedly holds your man bits while you relieve yourself. Aren't we just giving them excuses to go forward with the robot revolution? [Geekologie] More »
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A network of lightweight interfaces has been stuck to my back for the past few weeks, receiving information about the slightest movement of my spine. My new Herman Miller Embody chair is like an exoskeleton, supplementing my body's own structural integrity. While I sit and blog about our future space exploration, it's awesome to have a high-tech command chair. Click through for chair spoilers. More »
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Ever since Barack Obama announced that he would be getting his daughters Malia and Sasha a puppy, dog-lovers have speculated on the breed of the future First Pooch. But we suspect the perfect dog for the Obamas is, in fact, a robot. A robotic pet won’t aggravate Malia’s allergies, and it would help solidify Obama’s position as the technology president. Here are ten real robotic pets that the Obamas should consider making a part of the First Family. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5090047&view=rss&microfeed=true Miracle Berry Fruit Tablets will trick your taste buds into tasting sweet when you should be making a sour puss. ThinkGeek tested the tablets and found that they can help you happily much on lemons and limes, while eating an orange tasted like an "alien world or plucked straight from the Garden of Eden (truly, words can’t describe the life-altering sensations caused by these little tablets)." Ooh futuristic alien fruit for me please. [ThinkGeek] More »
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A new machine can sort 100,000 fish per hour, using imaging technology, and then tag them. NMT's AutoFish system is designed to distinguish between natural salmon (which are protected) and hatchery salmon, which can be harvested, in the fisheries of the Pacific Northwest. More than 200 million fish need to be marked, via a tag on their adipose fin, every year. With the AutoFish, the fish enter the sorting device single file (how do they know to do that?) and get sorted with accuracy of up to 1 mm., with only 0.1 percent mortality and no anesthetic required. This sort of technology could revolutionize other repetitive tasks that involve rapid sorting — but it could also be a prototype for a machine that sorts and tags humans. Instructional video after the jump. More »
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We have a serious love affair with the cool gadgets of science fiction, but every now and then one will come along that will make you scratch your head and say "What!?" Yes, even in the world of scifi, you can sometimes go a bit too far. Check out our list of beyond-the-pale gadgets. More »
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So you get a job in customer service, and your boss says your dealings with customers are going to be monitored for "quality." No, you won't be on CCTV — you'll be wearing a watch-sized device on your wrist that tracks your emotions by measuring heart rate, your location, body temperature, and skin moisture levels. This device will be sending your data via bluetooth to a central database. If you get too angry or too sleepy while dealing with a customer, your boss will be alerted with a message. Too much anger, and you might be fired. It sounds like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel, but it's actually a realistic application for a piece of technology called the BT2, released today by Exmocare. More »
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This is the fastest road vehicle in the world, the Acabion from designer Peter Maskus. It can go up to 342 mph and gets about 70 miles per gallon at 60 mph. I found it on Kanye West's blog, where he posts futuristic (and super-expensive) toys almost every day. One day, it'll be a self-cleaning kitchen that uses plants developed by the aerospace industry that produce water and vegetable soap. Another day, it'll be an e-paper bracelet that can serve as a watch, or a multimedia player. Or a mobile bubble workstation. Or a jetpack. It makes sense, since Kanye's summer tour will be "set in the future." Click through for a gallery of Kanye's futuristic toys. More »
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A spaceship or a gigantic death ray is cool, but wouldn't you rather have an awesome scifi gadget you could slip into your pocket or clip to your belt for easy access? When you're on the interstellar warpath, you want the very best, so we've put together a list of some science fiction mobile devices that will make your life a little bit easier in about a century. Start filling up your pockets! More »
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