3d illusion arts: Walyou

Walyou

QlockTwo: clock meet grammar, and it looks fantastic
New Wearable Device Shocks You Into Submission
Mcor Isis Employs Layered Paper to Bring Color to 3D Printing
Modern Kisai Sequence Makes a Riddle Out of Time-Telling

QlockTwo: clock meet grammar, and it looks fantastic

Posted: 11 Jul 2014 07:00 AM PDT

It’s hard to get wall clocks right: they’re either impossible to read or just plain boring, but here comes QlockTwo with a creative take on how to do these right.

You won’t have any trouble reading the QlockTwo, because it’s going to tell you the time right in your face so you can read it, The creators are Biegert & Funk, who came up with the idea of a clock that simply lights up beautiful typography to tell you the time and decorate your walls.

The words aren’t always aligned in the right order, but that doesn’t make it illegible or anything, just adds a somewhat unique charm to the concept. The front panel of the QlockTwo measures 17.72″ on each side and goes attached to the front with magnets, while it uses LEDs to light up the letters, maximizing brightness and energy consumption in the same process.

Source: Homes and hues

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Kisai Rorschach ePaper watch and the Kisai Xtal that hides the time under a hexagonal prism.

New Wearable Device Shocks You Into Submission

Posted: 11 Jul 2014 05:00 AM PDT

If you like wearables, but wish they did more to influence your behavior instead of merely tracking it, this new wearable might be exactly what you need.

2014 has seen all sorts of wearables, from smartwatches to fitness trackers. Some wearables even plan to measure blood sugar and hydration. It’s all been a fairly one way street, though, as demonstrated by the quantified self movement. Most wearables gather data from the wearer, but other than providing analytics or occasional vibrations, there’s very little direct feedback.

So, wearables help to track lifestyle choices so you can know what your diet and exercise habits look like, but the current technology merely provides alerts about any needed changes. The problem is, most people already know they need to change habits. That’s why people get a wearable in the first place. Now they just have numbers that represent how badly they need to change.

This is why many people ditch their wearables after only a few months of use and the reason Maneesh Sethi developed the Pavlok. The Pavlok is a wearable that tracks your progress towards goals, just like any other wearable, but builds in the consequence of an electric shock if the goal is not met. For example, it will vibrate in the morning to accompany your alarm clock, but if it is snoozed too many times, it will deliver a shock to the wearer.

It may sound rather harsh, but this may be a very desired feature for the more stubborn of us who need a little more persuasion than a polite vibration alert. Pavlok doesn’t just hold you accountable for your own preset tracking goals, but also has a social component. Did you commit to a friend that you would visit the gym? If you don’t check in to the gym on Foursquare, your friend may deliver an electric shock to your wrist from across the internet.

This method may not be for everyone, but could be very effective for those that do stick with it. Sethi himself says he has lost 30 pounds over just a few months of testing. Obviously, Pavlok must be paired with a true desire to change or establish good habits to be successful, but for those that fit that description, Pavlok could be a powerful tool.

The lifestyle enforcement of Pavlok can extend far beyond just fitness purposes as well. Imagine pairing it with an app like mint, where it will provide a shock any time a particular budget allowance is exceeded, or have it shock if you don’t clear your Gmail inbox by the end of the day.

If this type of behavioral enforcement sounds attractive to you, keep an eye out for Pavlok to launch a crowd-funding initiative in September. The prototype device currently costs $250, but once the device is available for retail purchase, Manish says it will have a cheaper price tag attached.

Source: Engadget

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Mcor Isis Employs Layered Paper to Bring Color to 3D Printing

Posted: 10 Jul 2014 01:54 PM PDT

Printing in 3D started with polymers, continued with liquid metals and organic matter, just to make a surprising turn to paper, a material that’s typically used in conventional printers.

Instead of using expensive materials in order to produce colored 3D objects, why not just use paper and colorize the uppermost layer? Irish company Mcor answers this question with its Isis 3D printer, a machine that replaces polymers and other such materials used in 3D printing with one of the most affordable things on the planet: paper.

Geoff Hancock, CEO of DGS 3D, the Australian supplier of Mcor machinery, explained that “We can take the topographical map of an area, and then overlay a satellite photo to produce a 3-D model. No other process can produce something that’s both topographically accurate and printed to such fine resolution. Councils are going mad for it, and there’s a guy in the US running around making full models of golf courses to put in the lobby. They look fantastic.”

3D printers are accurate in general, being able to protrude fine lines of plastic over one another, in order to make complex objects. Luckily, paper is thin enough to make the differences between the layer unnoticeable.

With the Mcor Isis paper 3D printer, it’s quite easy to create large objects. Basically, you need to create the smaller parts of the bigger thing and implement a locking system that keeps the pieces together.

There are people out there who are concerned about the amount of waste this paper 3D printer produces. They don’t seem to realize that the waste itself is also represented by paper, which can be recycled quite easily.

Not only maps can be created using this paradoxically simple method, but also 3D portraits or busts. Given the low-cost of paper, making a fist-sized 3D printed object using this technology costs between $10 and $12, which really isn’t much, compared to other methods. Considering how durable the objects printed with Mcor’s ISIS 3D printer really are, I don’t see why anyone would use other materials ever again. If it comes to potentially dangerous situations, both paper and polymers are extremely flammable, so they would disappear equally quickly. Other than that, the cost-effectiveness and the incredible colors obtained this way make the Isis printer an ideal option.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the 3D printed earphones that are tailor made for your ears, and the Braigo budget Braille printer that’s made out of LEGO.

Modern Kisai Sequence Makes a Riddle Out of Time-Telling

Posted: 10 Jul 2014 01:10 PM PDT

The latest Kisai Sequence is yet another original approach at telling-time in a cryptic way. Tokyoflash’s timepiece doesn’t fail to impress people who are into geeky watches.

Unlike previous Kisai watches, which required a bit of time in order to figure out what time it is, Kisai Sequence is cryptic, but also easy to decipher. The alternating pattern of raised cubes is complemented by a custom made curved acrylic lens and some sub-surface digital tube LEDs that create an interesting effect.

Kisai Sequence displays the time in two different ways, but besides that, it has functions that are typical for LED watches. More precisely, it features a date mode, alarm clock, and six user-customizable animations. After all, an LED timepiece tends to be rather bland without such details.

There are four different versions to choose from, depending on the color of the LEDs and of the leather strap. The LEDs can be either red or blue, while the leather strap is available in white or black.

Depending on the way users choose to have time displayed, Kisai Sequence is easy or difficult to read. In one case, time is displayed on two rows and is very easy to ready, while in the other mode, the middle line of the digit is gone. All in all, the second mode isn’t impossible, either, but it may require some getting used to. In other words, the ones who are not aware of how this watch functions may remain perplexed.

Activating the LED display requires you to touch a button. In stand-by, the alternating cubes of the display and of the leather strap leave the impression that you’re wearing a bracelet, and the only detail that might give you away is the differences in color.

For the next 5 hours, Kisai Sequence is available at the promotional price of $109. This can be furthermore discounted by $4 after liking the page on Facebook. Below is a video of the watch in real world scenarios, so you can figure out if you like it or not.

Kisai Sequence charges over USB, fact that makes it really convenient. Fully-charging the included battery takes 3.5 hours, and under normal conditions, this should be more than enough for two months of use.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Kisai Rorschach ePaper watch and the Kisai Xtal that hides the time under a hexagonal prism.