"Fetch" - A Very Short Film

Created by François Gilliot and produced by François Beaune, Fetch is an awesome little animated short created to test the abilities of an awesome piece of tech called 'Appleseed.' The software is an open source rendering platform for artists, and it's pretty damn impressive to see that it was able to generate cinematic quality visuals. In this case it's a stylized retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood fable with a fun little twist thrown in at the end. For anyone working on some CG animated shorts, you can check out Appleseed over here.

The Voxel Based NES Emulator

Pretty cool experimental emulator by Youtube user Potor, who managed to create an NES emulator that renders out typically flat NES games into a 3D based voxel engine while maintaining the gameplay intact. While it might seem like a gimmick at first glance, the entire idea of perhaps layering multiple levels of flat gameplay using a voxel engine could be a cool premise for a new indie puzzle game (Credit where credit is due folks).

Drone It Yourself Kit

The DIY (Drone It Yourself) is a design project by Jasper Van Loenen to turn any object into a drone by attaching a set of motors and a control unit with little technical know how required. The majority of the kit was 3D printed, and the control unit itself consists of a receiver, four electronic stability control units, a Bluetooth module and an open source flight controller.

Loenen demonstrates the versatility of the kit in this video by turning a bike tire, keyboard and even an analog telephone into paranoia-inducing reconnaissance tools. For anyone with a 3D printer nearby and an interest in their own DIY kit, Loenen has made all the files available online on his project page.

The Illumiroom

This supposedly official video was just released last night, showing off a proof of concept system by Microsoft Research showcasing an alleged technology that would use projection mapping to augment the gameplay experience in correlation with the Kinect sensor using a variety of different methods. While the idea sounds novel, it's a duplicate of the same concept that Sony showed off back in late 2011 for Playstation Move.

Perhaps we'll be seeing a new breed of peripheral war once the next gen systems roll out this year, although I'm personally hoping that the Oculus Rift will take off and offer players the option of true augmented reality rather than visual gimmicks.

Testing The Oculus Rift

One of the most exciting innovations to come out in recent memory and herald a new era of immersion was the introduction of the Oculus Rift (Which sounds like a Lovecraftian reference), a project funded by Kickstarter that would give people an all new way to experience videogame worlds. The product just recently went on sale in devkit form and the folks at Tested took it for a spin for games like Team Fortress 2. If you're curious about the tech, check out this 44 minute presentation of everything that the Oculus has to offer.

If you've got $300 to spare, you can preorder the dev kit (Not the final product) over on their official website. Virtual reality is back!

Creepy Couture - Robotic Spider Dress

Created by fashion designer Anouk Wipprechy and hacker/engineer Daniel Schatmayr, this sensor equipped piece of robotic fashion was crafted to react and attack based off of proximity of people approaching the wearer. The 'fashiontech' piece was presented at the Vive Le Robots event in Prague just recently. Couldn't think of a better way to make your stance on arachnophobia known to others.

Nvidia Announces The N-Gage 2 (Now with more Android!)

I admit, the concept for Nvidia's new device titled as Project Shield is a neat concept; a portable handheld capable of handling current-gen visuals while still providing decent battery life. Unfortunately, it seems no one at Nvidia took the time to actually design the device and instead showcased a gaming device that looks more similar to a cellphone taped to a half-assed Madcatz controller than an actual gaming device. I'm actually pretty surprised people keep telling themselves that attaching phones to gaming controllers is a good idea. It's not.

As much as I want to knock Nvidia for the design, the portable console does sport some pretty neat features including wireless streaming of PC games, access to Google Play Store, and the ability to display the console on a wireless TV. While I highly doubt Nvidia can ever penetrate the handheld market dominated by Nintendo and uh... Nintendo, I do commend them for trying something somewhat new.

Hit the jump for the device in action, and wow yourself with "the graphics."

Mech Bass - Hysteria

Created by a 4th year student at the Victoria University Of Wellington, this bass bot is an amazing feat of engineering, as demonstrated in it's accompaniment of Muse's 'Hysteria' track. With a full array of servos, sensors and laser cut components all working in harmony, it's a pretty damn impressive display.

If you want to see more of Bassbot, you can check out an earlier video featuring bass bot taking a shot at some Coldplay.

Windows 8 - Operating Under The Influence

I've been wary about Windows 8 ever since I heard about the radical change in direction, the Metro UI which mimicked a console or touch tablet style experience, and the closed market system based off of the entire app model. At first I didn't quite understand why companies like Valve were so vocal about their hatred of this direction, until I realized that they would charge developers a percentage of all revenue (30%) for all income generated from said apps. Via this route, Windows seems to be headed into a more 'closed' platform approach, where they need to certify 'apps' (Really?) from developers..Something which PC gaming companies haven't really had to deal with unless they were working on a console style platform (Xbox Live) or mobile (iTunes, etc).

That aside, a whole other issue came from the UX (User experience) standpoint, and the transition that most traditional PC users would have to make to work on such a vastly different interface, with some exceptions. This video, created by a focus testing group set out to perform a very interesting test: Having a heavy PC user take the OS for a spin after a few drinks. Needless to say, witnessing this pretty much sealed the deal for me. On a side note, I'm just going to bet that via the Metro UI, those pretty colored tiles will be a perfect avenue for the company to introduce/shove ads onto your OS down the line..An approach that has pissed off Xbox Live users to no end as of the last few months (Myself included).

Scrapheap Symphony

A group of like minded tinkerers (Is This Good) decided to get together and attempt a massive scale rendition of a junkyard MIDI orchestra, using nothing but old computer parts like printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines and other junk. I've typically only seen Youtube videos of individuals reverse engineering individual devices, but nothing quite to this scale! The group used a MIDI arrangement of Bob Dylan's classic track, 'The Times They Are A Changing,' as a tongue in cheek reference to the now obsolete technology playing the tune.

The DARPA Pet-Proto Robot

It looks the folks over at DARPA have had their hands full with advancing their robotics programs, as this latest video showcases some true leaps and bounds in robotic mobility. The robot, dubbed 'Pet-Proto' is shown traversing an obstacle course that features dismounts, gaps and limited climbing (With human assistance). It's still pretty amazingly clumsy and somewhat reminiscent of a man drunkenly stumbling through a hallway, but when it comes to robotics I definitely acknowledge that it's one baby step at a time.

On a related note, they also have made some amazing strides in regards to their mule walker (Legged Squad Support System) program, which no longer emits the sounds of an unholy mechanical abomination. Check that out after the break!

A Look At Disney's Paperman

In the same style as Pixar movies, the upcoming Wreck It Ralph will feature an animated short before the movie starts known as 'Paperman.' The interesting aspect about the short is the tech behind it, which simulates hand drawn animation in a very convincing manner despite having a 3D foundation.

The entire push to create this tech came from director John Kars, who has had the chance to be involved with projects including Tangled, Ratatouille, Bolt and other Pixar/Disney features. Really looking forward to seeing the final product. Check out a featurette starring Mr. Kars discussing his approach to this short after the break!

Sleep Art Is Coming To A Bed Near You

No, not Freddy Kreguer style tricks, just one really cool art project made possible via advances in sensor technology. The hotel chain Ibis is choosing 40 participants to take part in a pretty neat project, later to become part of a online gallery with winning guests taking home a true piece of there own dreams.

Using 80 sensors which detect movement, temperature and noise, a robotic arm will create the signals presented into a piece of art that could potentially be a bit of an abstract mess. You can enter through the site, and you know we will post the art once it's released but I thought I would give the project some publicity as it's an interesting idea. Who would love to be a winner and see how their dreams are represented through art? It's a really sweet idea and would certainly look nicer than the dusty Day of the Dead poster I have hanging over my bed.

The Lego Great Ball Contraption - 2012 Edition

With 600 hours to spare, one man set out to create a mindblowing feat of Lego engineering: The Great Ball contraption. I've seen a variety of these on Youtube in the past, but nothing as elaborate as the device that user Akiyuki assembled. The point of these GBC's is to create a device which moves balls on a self sustaining cyclical course, via a menagerie of engineered sorting devices, using Lego Technics/Mindstorms components. I can't even imagine how much this cost to put together, but it sure is a mesmerizing watch for anyone with an appreciation for everyone's favorite colored bricks.

The First Google Glass Short Film

Interesting timing. On the same day that the Apple unveiled the next generation of their product, Google dropped this video of a film captured using the companies newest augmented reality eyewear product, known as Google Eye and Project Glass. The glasses supposedly weigh less than a pair of sunglasses, and are integrated with memory, a processor, a camera, speaker, microphone, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi antennas, an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and battery to boot.

I can't help but be excited by the possibilities of this product, especially due to the fact that it falls into an all new mass market tech product category and the quality looks amazing (If it's not mocked up). And with a launch date of 2014, they should definitely have some time to streamline and improve the design of the glasses. I'll definitely be getting one of these day one, I've been stuck on augmented reality ever since discovering Ghost In The Shell.

Days Out With The Phantom Miro M120

When a company tells you that a camera is affordable to the 'budget to mid range movie/tv commercial crowd,' we're not talking about any commercially available camera here. We've covered Phantom cameras before, and they are renown for costing as much as a damn house. Why do they cost so damn much? Their insane slowmo capture abilities. To put this into perspective, a Canon 7D or a GoPro can shoot high def video at 60 FPS, which can be slowed down with some post processing. A Phantom Miro M120? This lower end, more portable beast can shoot full HD at an insane 730 FPS.

The folks at Filmbot were given the chance to give one of these bad boys a test run, so check out what that type of magic that much power can get you. Music is Reaching Out by Nero.

X- ray Funnies: Gaming Devices Scanned

(Via)

X-ray Funnies is a Flickr group dedicated to the scanning of game consoles and peripherals. The initiative, like almost every awesome thing in this world, was conceived as an attempt as the mind behind the project, Reinji put it: 'To combine my work ( xray technician) with one of my hobbies, gaming.'

The collection of images is quite impressive, ranging from early Atari consoles up to state of the art gaming machines, but even more impressive is the possibility of looking through them, getting a glimpse of the complex circuitry and elaborate electronic relations behind even the most simple of gaming controllers. After the break, check out some of the innards of the gaming industries most iconic pieces of hardware! Enjoy.

Turntable Rider

This is absolutely badass. As a collaboration between the interactive artist known as Toshiyuki Sagai, DJ Baku, and a pro BMX'er known as 'Rider Kotaro,' the group set out to combine two performance arts into a seamless experience. By attaching a fader and several motion sensitive devices on the bike, the rider is able to interact with a beat by doing specific tricks that correlate to different turntable functions. Check out the awesome making of after the break!

Google's Self Driving Car Is Truly Incredible

I had heard of the Google self driving car prototypes that were supposedly in development, but I had no idea we'd see such an impressive field test so soon. We've come a long way. After about 200,000 miles worth of testing the vehicle, Google felt confident in conducting a test featuring the unlikeliest of candidates for 'driving,' a 95% blind man called Steve Mahan.

Using a preprogrammed route, the car safely, and smoothly drove Steve to Taco Bell and dry cleaners, using advanced sensors and a rapidly spinning camera (Situated on top) to rapidly map out the surrounding environment to ensure the passengers safety. It really cheered me up to see Mr. Mahan being given the opportunity that a blind man would probably never have otherwise, and the potential for such a program to improve people's lives. We're probably still years off from seeing a mass market version of such a scifi concept, but its inspiring to see the progress made since the program's debut in 2010.

Quantic Dream's Kara

This incredible tech demo was created by the makers of Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy, as a taste of things to come for the game studio. Following the completion of Heavy Rain,the studio decided to refine their process and adapt a system that would allow them to do full capture, which allows both the body and the face to be motion captured at the same time, unheard of in videogame production. This means that future games will hopefully never approach uncanny valley again with some of the odd, off kilter performances that never seemed to sync up with body language in certain games (I'm looking at you, LA Noire). The studio has upgraded to 65 cameras instead of the usual 28 to allow them to capture multiple performances at the same time and finally capture the natural flow of human interaction, and it shows.

Compare Kara to Quantic's earlier demo from 2005 for the engine which would be refined to power Heavy Rain, 'The Casting.' Its nothing short of mind blowing to see how much subtlety is captured using this new system. One thing to note is that The Casting dropped clues as to the title of the upcoming game, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Kara demo is dropping obvious hints about the next entry's futuristic themes. Kara has become aware.