Here's another cool hack using the Kinect, albeit one beyond the reach of most of us. Some students, staff, and professors at MIT have developed "hand detection" software using the Kinect's motion sensor. Below is a demonstration of this software. It recalls Tom Cruise's iconic scenes from the movie Minority Report.
Screw gaming, let's get to the serious stuff! Here's an amazing video of a Kinect hack that lets one see what its camera sees - in 3D.
Australian racing organization V8 Supercars have built an oversized skateboard equipped with a V8 engine for Tony Hawk. Hawk was scheduled to ride the beast last week, but it appears no video footage has been posted yet.
Below, designer Chris Woebken's Flicflex isn't a new concept (Woebken displayed it at MOMA in '08), but still amazingly cool. And still not on the consumer market. Watch his paper thin, magazine-like "page turning": "Opening a letter, unfolding it and feeling the texture of the paper is a very tactile experience compared to receiving an e-mail. On top of the content itself, the behavior and micro-interactions adds a level of engagement to the medium. Flicflex explores the possibilities of fut...
The release of Tron: Legacy is just two weeks away, and if our in depth guide to Tron-a-Sutra didn't get you revved up, perhaps the street legal Tron Light Cycle will. Via Wired:
Those of you that had a chance to visit Megamind's farm noticed the cool blue cow, blue tree and satellite barn. Now these three items are available in the market for the next 7 days! See the on the farm shots below!
In my country, we consider the designs of the Arabic and Islamic culture as a part of our Moroccan culture, that's why we mix different style to produce some awesome designs for: walls, furnitures, surroundings, accessories,...
Anna the Red, the internet's resident Queen of Bento, has created an elaborate Halloween Bento Box based on video game Costume Quest: "an adorable role-playing adventure game created by Double Fine. It takes place on Halloween night, kids in costume trick-or-treating and fighting monsters to save a kidnapped sibling while collecting costumes."
If you fancy yourself a nomad, check out Walking House, a mobile and modular dwelling system that is pneumatically powered, all-terrain ready. The vehicle-home crawls along at a snail's pace of 60 meters per hour, which equates to less than 1/2 a mile per hour. Akin in concept to the rolling house-on-the-go (except in the way cooler insect-like robot form), Walking House also boasts some cool eco-friendly features:
Kudos to Fred Keller and Judy Foster, of Anchorage, Alaska, for undertaking quite possibly the DIY project of the year. The retired couple spent 11 months converting a 1976 Mazda pickup truck into a gigantic radio flyer wagon car. "'I think the words I hear the most often is 'awesome' or 'cool' or people go by and give us a 'hi' sign,' says Foster. 'The wheels are made from hub caps and detergent bottles, and the steering wheel is the actual wheel from a wagon. The handle rises eight feet hig...
WonderHowTo member Katie S. runs great and vibrant communities at FarmVille World and FrontierVille World. She got quoted in a recent CNET article on how the virtual farm games are taking off like wildfire on the Internet.
I've raved about my awesome experience volunteering for KCRW at our sister world Luv and Music and the time has come around again. Here's your chance to help support one of the best public radio stations ever, right here in Santa Monica. I'll be there Tuesday 8/10 (08:00am - Noon) and even convinced a few friends to join in. See you there volunteers!
There are dozens of arguments on the table for reducing our dependance on oil to help the environment, but one cause of pollution that isn't as popular to hate is our domesticated bovine.
If only all bicycles were as twisty and malleable as Gumby- they'd be easier to lock up, and much easier to transport. Wait a sec. Perhaps there is a such a bike, after all.
Here at WonderHowTo, we certainly have an affinity for outer space-related topics, so I couldn't pass up this horrifying video of a man who just barely survived a simulated space vacuum.
I follow new brands as soon as they're available to maximize my chances of unlocking a new badge, so the majority of my friends are brands. Recently, brands like the IFC (Independent Film Channel) and The Huffington Post have been adding content in the form of a dialogue box based on the location of your latest check in "to see the world through the lenses of my favorite organizations." It was cool to read the info at first, but after getting the same info over and over I'd opt for a mute but...
We've had our fair share of pinhole cameras showcased in Wonderment. And while the pinhole is certainly cool, it typically creates the same, familiar effect across the board. This time we have something slightly more unusual for you.
Notice how it seems like every player is wearing the same cleats this year? Well, according to Nike almost 40% of the World Cup roster is sporting their new Mercurial Vapor VI boots. Originally endorsed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, the colorful kicks are catching on for more than their fashion-savvy model.
Jim of Jim's Pancakes sure does. His site is full of cool pancake creations, all constructed for the enjoyment of his three-year-old daughter, Allison. Love the more elaborate structures (like the amazing ferris wheel pictured below).
Sony has developed an ultra-thin, flexible OLED screen, capable of wrapping tightly around an object as narrow as a pencil (a diameter as small as 4mm, to be exact). The full-color display is 80-microns-thick (or 80 millionths of a meter- that's the size of a human hair!).
Well, you might need to take a few lessons in animation first. Another cool 8-Bit animation (previously, Evil Pixels Demolish New York City). This one is short and sweet. And especially beautiful.
I just started listening to these guys and I'm really liking them. they have two drummers and they really make the most of it. I was just recently thinking about how cool it would be to have a band with two drummers. It opens up the doors to so many other awesome beats that one drummer just cant take care of. So here is a video of Pick A Piper live, you can skip the first half cause it takes a while for the drums to really come in. Its also really sweet when they share the crash symbol. I lov...
Mike from thesubstream's "Film Lab" have some tips regarding a few in-camera trick shots, specifically... the dolly zoom.
Augmented Reality, or just AR, is a combination of graphics overlaid onto the real world. Think of it as a cross between Virtual Reality (VR) and Real Reality (RR). Some good examples are Esquire's AR issue, eLearning video & GE's AR.
Recently I've become fascinated by vertical gardens. They're cropping up all over the place, whether it's in my neighborhood's newest hair salon or in San Diego as the beginnings of a new company. Vertical gardens have several cool advantages over horizontal ones:
Star Wars Hoth Walkers. Building the AT-ST timelapse. This first Mindstorm AT-ST is a bit sad the way it walks, but still cool. This next one is quite awesome, a fully functional AT-AT. Here is the official Lego Version Being Built. Here is it walking.StarS Another one here showing it being turned on. <>
Thanks to TV.com for pointing out how cool a video from an incredibily uncool band can be!
Here is a pretty wild video of a band called the Brad Mehldau Trio. They are an experimental jazzband, but they do alot of really cool covers of different rock songs by artists like Radiohead, The Beatles, Nick Drake, and Paul Simon. So in this video they are doing a cover of the song "Knives Out", by Radiohead. The drummer, (Jeff Balard) plays a ridiculous beat with really original ghost notes thrown carfully all over the place, its just a really impressive and unique beat, he does a great r...
I've seen lots of cool case mods, but this FIFA 10 PC case mod with an integrated working BBQ grill pretty much blows all the others right out of the water.
I can't tell if this is supposed to be stand-up comedy or serious instructions, but it's still a cool video.
This clip shows you how to buy items in FarmVille without spending your precious coins. In another word, no coins will be subtracted from your balance. It's a pretty cool hack, you will have unlimited coins.
English Russia's top ten most popular and favorite cakes of latter day Soviet Russia (Potato Cake?!?):
So why not join the party? (Oh, plus they also happen to quilt, as well). Via WSJ,
Via CAKES! CAKES CAKES!: In the seaside town of Brighton, England, lives a tiny little chocolate shop called Choccywoccydoodah.
In the seaside town of Brighton, England, lives a tiny little chocolate shop called Choccywoccydoodah.
I don't know about you, but my mom was planting food in her yard long before it was ever considered "cool" or "progressive". We had scallions, plums, apples, pomegranates, melons and zucchinis in our yard. It was part of our sustenance, and at no point was it ever considered a luxury. It was just something we did to supplement our groceries because it was practical.
The age of personal flight has finally arrived. You can now purchase your very own jet pack for the extremely high price of $75,000. The Martin Aircraft Company Jetpack gets 30 miles to the tank, sails along at 60 mph, and can reach heights of almost 8,000 feet. Oh, and bonus: since it weighs less than 254 pounds, you won't need a pilot's license to operate. Previously, NASA's Wicked Cool Take on the Classic Jetpack.
"Skimboarding in a Storm" displays some ultra cool camerawork, employing the relatively cheap and user friendly GoPro camera (also used in the clever Kitchen Timer Panning Time Lapse Hack).
Take a tour of the ISS (International Space Station), just posted on YouTube this week. The ISS is an international project, including the five participant space stations: American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Conceptual furniture project by designer Kai Linke proposes the idea of growing furniture from plant roots.
