Eclectic junk from the four corners of the ‘Net. And pictures too!
This is a little collection of 25 very cool pop classic paper robots that you can make all the way from Japan!. Paper Forest has some navagation instructions in case you get lost:
Though in Japanese, the site is fairly intuitive to navigate. Just click on the robot you are interested in and then click on the link to the left of the enlarged model picture. Next you’ll click on the PDF icon and you’ll be ready to print
I love Paper Forest!
[via Paper Forest]
Researchers in Japan have been implanting microcomputers and electrode backpacks into the bodies of roaches in order to control them remotely. Their aim is to be able to give directional commands to them so he insects can search through small spaces like earthquake rubble or pipes. Using the electronics laden bugs as literal bugs for espionage work is also a possibility.
Humm, the Japanese are at it again. This time they are using a virtual reality head mounted unit to map the image of a real person over a 3D representation that is colored chroma key green. The idea is to enhance communications, for instance if you shake hands you will get tactile feedback from the dummy. They are working on a version that uses a robot and not a dummy to enable the user to interact better with the person that they are talking to.
[via engadget]
Virtual Humanoid Project (translated)
I was looking around for pinhole cameras and came up with this. It’s got to be the most complex pinhole camera I have ever seen… I stand in awe of this creation… The translation might not be perfect, but you should still be able to understand all of it.
Looks as if there has been another setback in the mission of the little space probe that could, the craft has started to tumble and is not longer in a good position to receive communications from Earth. A small fuel leak caused it to spin in an unexpected way but the ground controllers have been able to calculate when it points in the right direction so communications could still continue. The new orientation still fulfils the com and power requirements but not by much. The overall mission has been extended by a few more years in a hope that they will be able to recover and head back to home with the sample of asteroid Itokawa
How clever, use the hexagonal cross-section of a pencils as dice. Mix it in with the kind of rules you would find in a card game like Pokemon and you have the latest Japanese craze that is heading to our shores. Expect a TV show based on this soon…
I would swear that when I was a kid there was a game a little bit like this so the entire thing may not be all that new.
[ via Boing Boing ]