3d illusion arts: Walyou

Walyou

Helping Amputees Cope With Augmented Reality
Working LEGO Keyboard Is a Geeky Twist on Writing Devices
6 Biggest Plot Holes in Fantasy & Sci-Fi Films
Oxford University’s Humanoid Robot Includes Privacy Features
The Soap Smart Router Fixes Home Networking

Helping Amputees Cope With Augmented Reality

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PDT

Augmented reality does great things for us, and that goes way beyond video games and curious, little things, but actually help people cope with their pain. See an example right below these lines.

A group of researchers in Gothenburg, Sweden have been working on an augmented reality project to help amputees deal with the phantom limb syndrome, that is, the pain felt after a limb has been lost or amputated. The project involves simulating the missing body part in virtual reality to help patients alleviate the pain.

The man in front of this project is a PhD candidate, Max Ortiz-Catalan, and a group researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The results concluded that after some ten weeks of work with the game/system, patients reported feeling no pain whatsoever for many hours.

Source: Geekosystem

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories at Flipboard Acquires Smaller Competitor Zite from CNN and Google I/O is Just Around The Corner.

Working LEGO Keyboard Is a Geeky Twist on Writing Devices

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 06:30 AM PDT

Builder Jason Allemann showcased on YouTube a project that he started back in 2005: a fully functional keyboard made in great part using just LEGO bricks.

Mind you, building the LEGO keyboard didn’t take Jason 9 years. On the contrary, he explained on his JCBrickworks blog that he “shelved the project for a number of reasons. Mostly because I was trying to build it onto the membrane of a Microsoft Natural keyboard, and working around the various angles of the keyboard was giving me a lot of trouble.”

The builder decided to leave the Microsoft Natural Keyboard aside and used instead a keyboard someone had thrown away on the side of the road. Jason then proceeded to make a frame using a grid of Technic connectors and axles. This grid enabled him to leave enough room between the keys above the membrane.

One the first problem was solved, another one arose: he needed to find appropriately printed tiles for each of the keys. Luckily for him, the LEGO Group made in time many tiles that could be successfully used as keys on a keyboard. Jason did not disclose the provenience of these tiles, but I assume that he must have relied on eBay, even if only for just a bit.

The more difficult part was creating the tiles for special functions (Scroll Lock, Print Screen, NumLock, etc), but Jason claims that he had a lot of fun doing this. Supposing that The LEGO Group will ever release new printed tiles, Jason is willing to replace the existing ones, as the upgrade process is incredibly easy.

I love it that LEGO builders get more and more creative. In the recent past, we’ve seen Braille printers, cars, a 3D chocolate printer and other ingenious devices made either entirely or in great part of LEGO bricks. This stands to show that the little plastic pieces have many uses, as long as it is someone with imagination who plays with them.

As shown in the following video, the LEGO keyboard is extremely easy to use. It does look bulky and somehow resembles mechanical keyboards, but it actually is as easy to use as any other one. There’s a bit of tension in the frame, but overall, it’s nothing that could prevent people from typing.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Macintosh replica made from LEGO and the Braigo Braille printer made mostly out of LEGO bricks.

6 Biggest Plot Holes in Fantasy & Sci-Fi Films

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Even the most epic of movies have faults in them, and the plot holes in films like Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future and the Star Wars double trilogy are a bit hard to fathom when you think about it really hard.

Obi Wan Needs to Use New Names

So Yoda, Obi Wan and that Miguel Prado decide to split up Luke and Leia so the Empire doesn’t find them until they’re old enough to challenge the Emperor and Darth Vader. So actually taking Luke to Tatooine, Anakin’s home planet, and giving him to the same family (Uncle Owen) while keeping his name, seems like a good idea to them? (Image via jedi rend)

Gandalf & The Eagles

Many people who didn’t read the books, especially The Hobbit, don’t understand why couldn’t they have simply used the giant eagles, who saved Gandalf from Isengard and came to Frodo’s rescue at Mordor, not to mention the tree scene in The Hobbit, to make everything simpler. If you read the books, you understand they don’t just listen to Gandalf at whim, and frankly, there has to be something complicated to make it interesting. (Image via Dorkly)

McFly Parents Can’t Remember

Back to the Future might be my favorite movie of all time, but people don’t usually forget faces of influential people from their high school years, even if 30 years have gone by. And still, the McFly folks don’t recognize Marty as the kid they knew in the 50′s. (Image via What Culture)

Batman Begins Microwave Problems

The big plan for Ra's Al Ghul was to steal (which he managed to do) and operate a Microwave Emitter to vaporize all the water in Gotham, and by that releasing a toxin into the city’s air. But as humans, including those in the DC universe, are made up of 57% water, wouldn’t they have been boiled to death as well? (Image via Batman Wikia)

Star Trek (2009): What was Nero Doing?

Nero jumps through time and kills Kirk’s dad and destroys the USS Kevlin. Then? He waits for 25 years until Spock arrives and also get a chance to see Kirk Junior in action. What did they do for all that time? (Image via Memory Alpha)

Teach Astronauts Drilling, Not the Other Way Around

So to save the planet, instead of training Astronauts how to drill into asteroids, they decide to take the long way and teach roughnecks to be astronauts. Makes a lot of sense. (Image via Yahoo)

We’re big lovers of alternative theories about movies and TV shows, so there’s quite a lot for you to dive into: Kid’s Cartoons / Conspiracy Theories / Alternative Theories 1 / Alternative Theories 2

Oxford University’s Humanoid Robot Includes Privacy Features

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 05:30 AM PDT

Oxford University Humanoid Robots with Privacy Features

As humanoid robots will become companions in the not so distant future, researchers from the Oxford University are looking into ways of preventing information leaks referring to the owners.

Researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Bath, Exeter, Queen Mary University of London and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, are studying people’s response to robotic surrogates in public areas. Moreover, the team of researchers is concerned about humanoid robots giving away information about the people they come in contact with, fact that should be avoided at all costs. Nao, the advanced-programmed humanoid robot developed by these researchers (pictured below) that will be launched in Bristol in 2015, is meant to embed privacy features that should give people some peace of mind.

Dr. Ian Brown, Associate Director of Oxford University’s Cyber Security Centre and Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, explained that “When we begin to interact with friendly-looking humanoid robots, our expectations and assumptions shift. New questions arise about how much we trust these devices. Some people might develop an emotional attachment to them, particularly in situations where robots play the role of companions.”

Brown pointed out that including privacy features in humanoid robots is imperative: “It is important, therefore, that we design robots that have privacy embedded into their design, so their information gathering is restricted to what is needed to interact and carry out their tasks, and information about the identity of their human users is kept to a minimum. Otherwise, these robot ‘friends’ could betray the trust of the people they come into contact with, passing on information to third parties.”

Dr. Joss Wright, Brown’s colleague at the Oxford University, emphasized the role humanoid robots could play in our daily lives and the danger of information leaks: “Humanoid robots have the potential to gather, store and analyze data about our movements and activities. While they provide opportunities to make our lives easier, the potential loss of control over this information should concern us. At Oxford we have been exploring how individuals can maintain control over information about themselves, while still enjoying the potential benefits of robotic technology.”

It’s really surprising that no one ever thought of the privacy issues that could rise after buying a humanoid robot. Apparently, not only smartphones could pose a threat to our personal lives.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the humanoid baseball-playing robot built in Japan and the humanoid robots that can use Kinect.

The Soap Smart Router Fixes Home Networking

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 05:00 AM PDT

Just when you thought Android was on everything, something new pops up. Home networking hasn't advanced much since WiFi, but Soap could change that.

Network configuration is a real pain in most households, because not every product is designed with home use as the primary focus. Knowing things like your default IP and navigating the usually half-baked web interface for your router can be a real pain.

A new Kickstarter program for The Soap smart Android router will change that, though. The soap is a wireless router with a 7 inch touchscreen display that has an Android interface. No more google queries like "default IP for Linksys wrt54g" or logging into frustrating web portals.

The Soap smart router is about far more than just convenient home network configuration, though. On top of convenient access to the same features most other routers have (network visibility, parental controls, diagnostic tools, and etc), The Soap offers tremendous support for just about any home automation service you want.

In addition to typical router features, The Soap also comes with 32GB of onboard storage if you want to store any files locally. 32GB isn't great if you want to store a lot of media, so there's a SATA2 connector available as well as an SD card slot for convenient file transfers.

The soap also supports 802.11/ac, but also supports a/b/g/n. Dual band 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz WiFi ensures compatibility with just about any WiFi connection you want to make, but still has 4 gigabit LAN ports. It also has Bluetooth and NFC compatibility. It might be difficult to find a device not supported by Soap.

To top it all off, The Soap, being Android, obviously has app support, meaning you can control it from your couch using a smartphone or tablet. The creators are also encouraging an open ecosystem, meaning Soap is only scratching the surface of potential features out of the box.

An open ecosystem does mean there is potential for people to start installing malicious apps right onto their router, which could be problematic, but being sure to only download apps directly from trusted sources would likely eliminate this issue for most people.

Soap is already well past its $80,000 funding goal, but has additional stretch goals at $200k and $500k, so head on over the Kickstarter page to check it out.

Source: Phandroid

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter