3d illusion arts: Walyou

Walyou

Nixie, the flying drone camera is a secret agent’s dream
Technology and the Student
iOS 8 Hit With Phone Breaking Bug; Apple Patch Makes It Worse
Ardubracelet Puts a Game of Tetris on Your Wrist
Back to the Future 2 style shoes with LEDs

Nixie, the flying drone camera is a secret agent’s dream

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 07:00 AM PDT

If Mr. Bond is reading this, he now knows what’s the next gadget he will need to ask for: Nixie is the ultimate flying drone camera made wearable.

As a part of Intel’s Make it Wearable (MIW) Challenge, Christopher Kohstall and his team created the Nixie, a flying robot/drone with a camera that goes mounted on the user’s wrist. Intel’s idea is to push the wearables market forward by creating some of the most unique gadgets around, in portable form, and Nixie is a fantastic example of the concept.

The idea is that the Nixie will act as a camera with propellers, detach itself from the users’ wrists and fly away while taking images for the owner. Of course, the first thing we imagined it was the use secret agents and spies could give it, but it’s probably great for taking selfies too.

If (hopefully when) the Nixie team end up winning the contest, they’ll get funded by Intel and the gadget will become a reality that tech enthusiasts could be able to buy at any store. Well, color us interested!

Via Petapixel

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories at Google's Project Wing Drone-Based Delivery System Gets Tested in Australia and Electrolux Bartender Drone Mixes Drinks, Delivers Them in Flight.

Technology and the Student

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Before the internet, students had little choice in how to receive an education. If they wanted to ask a question, they had to wait for their professor’s office hours. If they wanted to ask a question of a fellow student, they either had to reach the person by phone or speak to them in person. It’s amazing how much has changed in a single generation of technology. Today’s students are blessed with technologies that make learning easier than ever before.

Technology in the Classroom

We live in the smart device era now. The ubiquity of phones and tablets has led to an unprecedented explosion in the development of educational enhancements. If any educational need has ever been expressed, some savvy programmer has attempted to invent a solution via an app. The result is that as long as a student has access to a smart device, they have a proverbial world of information at their fingertips. And since the University of Florida recently concluded that 98% of their students use smart devices, they do have that access.

Smart devices apps of note can be as broad in nature as Instagram or as specific as Snoozerr Recordings. Instagram is the embodiment of the proverb that a picture is worth a thousand words, and a meaningful image of a whiteboard can go a long way toward studying for the big test. Snoozerr Recordings is an audio recorder that protects narcoleptic students who make an effort to go to class but fail to stay awake the entire lecture.

The most important aspect of education is the classroom itself. In order to get the most out of each class, you need to take the best notes. Enter the Livescribe Sky Smartpen. While it costs about 100 times as much as a 10-pack of pens, you get what you pay for. The Livescribe is an audio recorder combined with a digital pen. It gives the student the ability to record the entire lesson while simultaneously taking applicable class notes, which are instantly relayed to an Evernote account for later access.

Technology outside the Classroom

Almost as important as taking notes is interacting with your professor outside of class. Older students may be surprised to learn that email is no longer the most popular form of interaction. A professor at Purdue discovered during his interactions with undergraduates that while students spend over two hours a day on the internet, only six minutes a day of that time is used for email. Instead, social media and texting are the preferred communication methods of choice.

The other part of education is the collaborative process. A key part of the college experience is sharing and debating topics with other students. Since this is the internet generation, most college attendants have been trained in this manner since childhood. Texting has become the de facto option for communication due to its convenience and ease of use. It is far from the only option, though. Podio is perhaps the best-known app for cloud collaboration between students. It allows for instant work-sharing from multiple users. Entire class projects can be completed using Podio.

Other Important Technologies for Students

Not every technology is geared toward the actual learning experience, but that doesn’t reduce their importance. The USB thumb drive is a great example of an item that is taken for granted right up until the user needs to transfer large files from a university computer to their own laptop. A MiFi is a portable cellular device that provides students with internet access. It is a terrific fail-safe for those times when a student has no access to the university wireless network.

Perhaps the best technological device is the e-reader. The ultimate in portability, the e-reader enables students to store all of their textbooks on a single device. It is functionally perfect and more economical than buying physical books to boot.

Technology is growing at an exponential rate. Each iteration enables students with even better apps and tech toys to enrich their educational experience. Any student seeking to improve his grades should investigate all of the suggestions above. For further details about technology and students, read this post on college students and tech from Campusbooks.com

iOS 8 Hit With Phone Breaking Bug; Apple Patch Makes It Worse

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 05:00 AM PDT

Although it’s been hyped up and talked about for months, Apple’s iOS 8 operating system has launched with a fleet of phone breaking bugs.

As is the case with anything, rolling out entire new operating systems brings with it a whole host of issues. From the odd pop up where it shouldn’t be to glitches that make apps crash occasionally and general teething problems, we expect these sorts of things to happen when a piece of software has just been released. What we don’t expect, though, is for those bugs to level our devices and stop them from doing their primary function. Yet, when Apple’s highly anticipated new operating system, iOS 8, launched last week, its problems were huge and widespread. And, to make matters worse, Apple’s subsequent attempts at fixing the operating system have only added to the chaos.

The iOS 8 glitches were bad enough when last week they forced Apple to pull a number of HealthKit apps from the App Store as they were said to contain a critical flaw that for whatever reason, meant we couldn’t get our hands on them. This was disappointing for many given that iOS 8 was introduced and built around its health and fitness features. HealthKit is meant to let us track our diets and workouts, along with our medical records for instance and so this was likely a huge draw for many people looking to get an iOS 8 compatible device.

What Apple did do however, while potential HealthKit users licked their wounds, is manage to release another iOS 8 fix. But, instead of solving those aforementioned teething problems, it actually managed to cut off cellular connections for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. Yes, you read that correctly, Apple managed to release and update that stopped their phones from being able to make phone calls. It even prevented TouchID from working so in one fell swoop they managed to kill off their phones’ two most important features.

Finally, the latest update seems to have done the trick. Mostly. With cell connection errors, TouchID errors, no HealthKit support and keyboard issues too, Apple had a lot to fix and with iOS 8.0.2 they mostly seem to have done that. The majority of users agree that it’s fixed most things with iOS 8 but there are a few outliers who say some minor tweaks need to be made. This is all good news for customers but after a rough patch on high seas, things aren’t looking great for Apple.

The company does say that only 40,000 users were affected by the issues, which is a small percentage of the 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus’ that have been sold already. But, it’s still noticeable and Apple will want to avoid many more missteps like that save people jump ship for Android or even Windows Phones.

Source: The Next Web, engadget

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Ardubracelet Puts a Game of Tetris on Your Wrist

Posted: 28 Sep 2014 01:58 PM PDT

Wearables are great for fitness and sleep tracking apps, but not many developers regard them as a fine platform for gaming. Kevin from Arduboy, the creator of a bracelet that lets you play Tetris, is convinced of the contrary.

SWIP3 was the first game developed for Android Wear, and considering that it was launched almost a month after the first Android Wear smartwatches became available, some could say that it took the developers quite a lot of time. That game was simple and addictive, but some of us grew up playing Tetris on handhelds such as the Brick Game, and would very much like to see some of these classic games on today’s wearables. The fact that the Ardubracelet is made by an enthusiast and is not a mass-produced thing makes it even more appealing.

As mentioned before, the Ardubracelet was brought to life by Kevin from Arduboy. Both the name of the device and of the main project suggest that it’s everything about Arduino micro-controllers. This particular bracelet includes the same chip as the Arduboy, an Atmega328p. It packs 3 OLED screens that were attached to a flexible circuit board in a beautiful, minimalistic design. To be frank, this wearable is a bit flashy, but upon taking a closer look at it and understanding why it’s so bright, people will surely give you a wink and a nod.

As with most smartwatches and smart bracelets, the Ardubracelet comes with a touchscreen surface, which is a much better alternative to hardware buttons. With that also comes a downside, a slightly smaller battery life. The included battery keeps the bracelet up and running for a maximum of 10 hours. I would’ve said that it’s more than a work day’s worth, but you probably shouldn’t play Tetris at work.

Kevin admits that there’s still some room left for improvements, especially since this is only a prototype. He says that with a bit of work the Ardubracelet could get thinner and more fashionable. I find it quite stylish as it is, but some changes wouldn’t hurt. A new iteration with some 3D printed parts should be ready in the not-so-distant future. Kevin is also looking to replace the current Atmega chip with an alternative that combines the microprocessor and a Bluetooth sensor. That will definitely be something!

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the augmented reality Tetris Kinect hack, and the Hasbro brain that mixes Jenga with Tetris.

Back to the Future 2 style shoes with LEDs

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Back to the Future 2′s most iconic scenes took place in the future, which in theory should be next year! Is the technology we have now as good as in the movie? Well, sort of!

A couple years ago Nike had created their own version of the Back to the Future 2 shoes that Marty McFly wears in the classic movies. Well, this is not the exact same thing, but a pretty good replica at a fraction of the price!

This is a creation by Halloween Costumes, a pair of shoes with rechargeable LEDs that cost less than $100 USD. If there’s any justice in the world, they should be pretty popular this year come Halloween.

So now you have an idea for Halloween. How hard could it be to get the rest of the costume anyways? And, best of all, you’ve saved almost $10.000 USD.

Via Nerdgasmo

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