LARPing, or live action role-playing, can look a little silly because it requires a lot of imagination to suspend reality. But mixed reality technology like the Microsoft HoloLens can change all of that with voice commands and special effects.
Another day, another company hopping on the virtual reality bandwagon. Today, it's fast food behemoth McDonald's, which is testing limited edition Happy Meal boxes that you can turn into a VR headset by punching out a couple holes and tearing along a few perforated seams. The resulting headset is a lot like Google Cardboard, with the lingering scent of fry grease.
Whether it's college football, the NFL, basketball, soccer, or baseball, sporting events are prime opportunities to entertain. No matter what the sport, food that's easy to eat is a must. Your guests should be able to mingle, eat, and talk trash... all at the same time! So a meat and cheese plate—also known as a characuterie board— is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
When eyesight deteriorates, either due to illness or advanced age, many people turn to audiobooks as an alternative to reading. With today's technology there is an abundance of services and devices one can use.
Greeting cards. Everyone hates buying them, they're way overpriced, and the majority of them go right in the trash after they're opened. So why do we still buy them?
You can't hand over your iPhone to a kid and expect everything to be OK. Not only will they drop your iPhone (and they will), they could also do something much worse than a cracked screen — in-app purchases.
Most augmented reality experiences are purely visual, with spatial audio gaining in popularity to make visual experiences more realistic. However, leveraging the sense of touch may be the next frontier for AR experiences.
The first mobile augmented reality app out of the gate with support for Magic Leap One Creator Edition is Thyng, who is planning to release the headset version of the app later this year.
If you've ever wanted to be a graffiti artist, but you also frown upon vandalism, then augmented reality is for you.
For those who enjoy the finer things in life, premium Scottish distillery The Macallan is bringing an augmented reality art gallery, viewable through the high-priced Microsoft HoloLens, to select cities in celebration of whisky season.
The world is a massive place, especially when you consider the field of view of your smartglasses or mobile device. To fulfill the potential promise of augmented reality, we must find a way to fill that view with useful and contextual information. Of course, the job of creating contextual, valuable information, to fill the massive space that is the planet earth, is a daunting task to take on. Machine learning seems to be one solution many are moving toward.
After Uber noticed that if you walked to a more convenient pickup spot — instead of your exact location — that it would save you time and money, they decided to make a change to their system.
Augmented reality seems to be the talk of the town lately, with everything from glasses to furniture stores prepping to implement exciting, new AR technology. Well now, it looks like even our food is getting a makeover for the augmented reality future.
Microsoft has the HoloLens and Google has their money on Magic Leap (as well as their own Tango and Cardboard, among others), but we've heard next to nothing about how Apple plans to enter the virtual/augmented/mixed reality space. A new patent offers some clues.
Baking a cake is relatively easy... if you happen to have a cookbook or some boxed cake mix nearby. And though you can use the internet or your favorite cooking app, it can be nice to just cook without a recipe. That seems impossible with baking, which is such an exact science, but it's actually relatively easy.
As crazy as it sounds, there are times when bottles of wine go unfinished. I love a glass or three of vino, but am often guilty of not finishing the bottle. Sometimes I don't have the time to finish it, and other times I like it so much that I open bottle number two and can't finish that.
I'm as adventurous an eater as just about anyone, but some foodie trends leave me scratching my head and wanting nothing more than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But sometimes the trends become trends because they're, well, brilliant.
Instagram recently rolled out their new Layout app that helps users build photo collages more easily, and it's quick and easy to use with great results. Unfortunately, only those with an iOS device can enjoy Layout at the moment, with the Android version slated for release "in the coming months." Luckily, there are a trove of alternatives that you can use right now, and here are the three we like best.
The Nexus 6 came with a hidden kernel module that allowed for double-tap-to-wake functionality, essentially letting you turn your screen on just by tapping it. A simple root app allowed us to activate this feature, which meant we were always two quick taps away from waking our device.
Each morning, we spend a significant portion of our time staring into the mirror. From choosing clothes and accessories to perfecting our hair, we try to make ourselves attractive. Yet catching others' attention doesn't have to rely on preening and primping. There's some truth to the maxim of beauty in confidence—all you need to make yourself more attractive is spray on your favorite scent.
Overweight kids often become overweight adults. New research suggests a couple reasons why and suggested that there may be ways to intercept that fate.
We usually associate Salmonella bacteria with a dangerous type of food poisoning, but they actually are pretty good at seeking out tumors. That trait made the bacteria a great candidate to deliver a protein that would help knock tumors out.
You can easily take audio for granted in virtual reality, but realistic sound in VR isn't an afterthought. It not only involves creating surround sound within a pair of headphones, but figuring out where the sound ought to exist based on your position and line of sight.
Soon all Android users will be able to use Samsung's cool Soundcamp app to write and record music. The announcement was made at the Samsung Developer Conference 2016, stating that the app, which was released last year for Samsung devices only, will become available to all phones and tablets running Android 5.0 or higher very soon.
For the past couple of years, random internet dwellers have embarked on an ambitious quest to see just how useless a box can be in hopes of earning sweet, sweet internet points. Welcome to the world of useless machines.
When roast chicken is concerned, perfection is hard to attain. The reason for this is surprisingly simple: the light meat and the dark meat should be cooked to different temperatures. Ideally, chicken legs should be cooked to at least 170°F, while breasts should be cooked to 150°F. Naturally, this poses a conundrum: how can you cook two parts of the chicken to two different temperatures, without taking the bird apart?
Even though you may love onions, cutting them is probably a completely different story. You've really got to be a pro at slicing and dicing them without getting frustrated, and even then they can still make your cry—literally. But if you don't want to wear a pair of goggles to keep those tears from falling, you have to cut your onions in a very special way.
This is the easiest cookie batch you'll ever bake, I promise. And no, take-and-bake cookie dough doesn't count. With this recipe, it'll take you less than 20 minutes to go from your sad, cookie-less life to cookies in your absolute favorite flavor... of cake.
Kale is the new baby spinach: it's taken over salads everywhere, and for good reason. This nutrient-dense vegetable is a member of the brassica family, which also includes cabbage, broccoli, and watercress. Recent studies show that people who eat more brassicas tend to have less cancer. Not only that, but kale and other brassicas can actually clear air pollutants from your body.
Maya is arcane, complex, but incredibly powerful software. It is the industry standard for 3D modeling in games and film. This video for Maya beginners will teach you how to create a model of an airplane as a means of teaching you a lot of the basics of Maya. It is meant to be watched after the previous two tutorial series by the creator: modeling a chair and modeling a toy. It builds on the lessons therein, and watching the whole series will ensure that you learn more than you would have wat...
Mastering the intricacies of 3D modeling in Maya can take a lifetime, or as close to a lifetime as anyone has had since Maya came out in. This video for Maya beginners will teach you the basics of modeling by walking you through modeling a toy rooster. The model doesn't look that great by the end, but you have to start somewhere, and we have more advanced tutorials available on the site if this seemed too easy for you, you Maya magnate you.
Do you want to learn how to make the perfect loops for your wire projects? Join Lisa Niven Kelly from Beaducation, and learn the basics on making basic loops! Lisa goes over what tools to use, and how to make even consistent loops. Learn how to make basic wire loops for your jewelry making.
Join Lisa Niven Kelly from beaducation and learn all the basics on getting started with stamping. Learn how to personalize your jewelry by stamping on metal. In this demo, Lisa discusses the necessary tools and teaches you how to make a pendant by stamping on a metal blank, punching a hole, and oxidizing. So get out your letter stamps, bench block, and hammer and stamp away! Learn how to make a stamped pendant for jewelry making.
If you've ever wanted to make your own video games and not known where to start, try Unity3D. It's a game development engine for the PC that has a free basic version and allows you to create pretty good 3D games easily. This video series will teach you the basics of Unity, including object creation and scripting.
If you ever had a cool high school chemistry teacher, they probably demonstrated for you how dry ice can freeze everyday objects. But oh, it can do so much more and freeze so many more interesting things. This video will show you some fun dry ice tricks you can do, from making water acidic to freezing pure alcohol to making tomatoes so hard you can smash them with a hammer.
Cosplay-friendly conventions are going through a sort of renaissance right now. AnimeExpo, ComiCon, A-Kon, PAX. All over the country people are dressing up as anime characters and furry animals and filling exhibition halls to mingle. If you want to have a really badass costume, you're going to need the right materials. In this video, a semi-professional costume-maker will walk you through the materials you need to make a great fursuit or other elaborate costume and where to get them.
Join Lisa Niven Kelly of beaducation as she gives you a quick overview on coiling wire by hand. Learn tips and tricks to get perfect coils that you can incorporate into all your projects. Watch as Lisa covers the basics of coiling using a few handy tools to help in the process. Learn how to coil wire by hand next time you make your own jewely.
Learn how to round to a given interval when making time-based calculations in MS Excel 2007. Whether you're new to Microsoft's popular digital spreadsheet application or a seasoned business professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the Excel 2007 workflow, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including step-by-step instructions, take a look.
In this tutorial, we learn how to apply green wash to vinyl when making reborn dolls. First, you will need to gather all of your tools to create your doll project. After this, mix up your paint and then apply it to a sponge with a brush. Then, start to dab the paint onto the stomach and chest of the doll, then brush over it with the paint brush. When you finish with this, dab on the sponge again, then set aside to let dry. Continue doing this same process for the limbs and the face of the bab...