3d illusion arts: Walyou

Walyou

Real-Life Mjolnir Can Only Be Picked Up by the Geek Who Built It

Posted: 14 Oct 2015 01:28 PM PDT

Remember that hilarious after-party scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron where all the superheroes tried unsuccessfully to lift Thor’s hammer from the table? A geek picked up that idea and created a real-life replica of the hammer than only

“Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor,” is written on the side of Mjolnir, as mentioned both in the Marvel comics and movies. Joss Whedon thought it would be cool to include in the latest Avengers movie a scene with Tony Stark and Steven Rogers attempting to take control over Asgard by trying to lift Thor’s hammer. Seeing as how they are not capable of doing that, despite their superhuman strength, Stark jokily states that whosoever has Thor’s fingerprints can lift Mjolnir. That’s the precise phrase that determined an engineer called Allen Pan to build a real-life replica of the hammer that can only be handled by him. Crazy, right?

So the hammer identifies the owner by his fingerprints, but what happens next? Before revealing that, let’s focus a bit on that biometric authentication part. The handle includes a touch sensor that’s connected to an Arduino Pro Mini and a solid state relay. On top of that, there is a fingerprint scanner embedded into the handle. After the people authorized to handle the hammer get authenticated, magic starts happening.

As you can see in the above video, the hammer is placed at all times on metallic surfaces, so if your bulb lit up and you exclaimed “Yeah, b***h! Magnets!” (you get bonus points if you did that in Jesse Pinkman’s voice), you are spot on. More precisely, the hammer’s head features microwave oven transformer electromagnets, which despite being not as powerful as the ones from Breaking Bad, they can still keep Mjolnir attached to the metallic surface it was placed on. Besides keeping it in place, the electromagnet also makes the hammer seem heavier, and thus, closer to what Mjolnir is in the comics.

After the fingerprint sensor deems Pan as “the worthy,” the electromagnets are turned off and Mjolnir can finally be picked up. That’s the part that makes the video Pan shot on Venice beach even more hilarious.

All in all, since Avengers cosplay has been done to death, it’s great to see someone do things differently. In fact, Pan’s hammer could go hand in hand with the Iron Man glove that lets you shoot lasers. Given Pan’s attraction for comic books, I guess he could showcase his creation at some ComicCon, and since he is so creative, I’m sure he could come up with more real-life replicas of gadgets from the Marvel movies. Heck, in his case, I don’t mind if he turns his attention to DC Comics material!

This also makes one wonder how many times has technology been used in the past two millennia to simulate magic…

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the cute Avengers: Age of Ultron phone charms that are both detailed and awesome, or these 5 awesome Avengers propaganda posters.

[via Tech Times]

HUDWAY Glass Equips Any Car with a Heads-Up Display

Posted: 14 Oct 2015 11:58 AM PDT

You no longer have to buy a luxury car in order to have a dash mounted head-up display. HUDWAY Glass is an affordable smartphone accessory that fills up that gap.

The dashboard of modern cars has already been redesigned and digitized in order to provide more useful information while driving, but taking your eyes off the road just for a split second could have serious consequences. A heads-up display, on the other hand, enables drivers to see important details regarding their ride, all without having to lower the eyes.

Instead of projecting info straight to the windshield, like some other head-up displays do, HUDWAY Glass has its own transparent surface on which the ride-related details are shown.

The companion app, which is available for both iOS and Android, displays such details as current, average, and maximum speed, acceleration, navigation details (direction and distance until the next turn), and 3D road view. Considering the things people do nowadays while driving, it would hurt if the app also displayed text messages, or even song lyrics for lip-syncing while driving. On a second thought, given the fake PSA the girls at Skit Box posted the other day on Facebook, it’s probably better (not to mention safer) to refrain from lip-syncing while behind the wheel.

Here is the description of this HUD from the ones who made it:

“Hi, we’re HUDWAY. We made a universal vehicle accessory that turns your smartphone into a Head-Up Display (HUD) bringing comfort and safety to drivers all over the world. We did it because we’re tired of waiting for others. Because we believe that automotive HUDs are safer than an instrument-panel display or a smartphone. And because other solutions are either very expensive, or stuck in the midst of a long and complicated development process. This is the accessory we want, and we think you’ll like it.

It’s simple and affordable. Discover a new way of using your phone while driving and not being distracted. Now we need your support to make HUDWAY Glass a reality.”

HUDWAY Glass is currently featured on Kickstarter, where pledges have already surpassed the $100,000 funding goal. Early birds could get the HUD by pledging $34 or $39, but unfortunately, all those spots have already been taken. Regular backers can still secure a HUDWAY Glass for themselves by pledging $49 or more. Deliveries should start in March 2016, assuming that nothing goes wrong with the crowdfunding campaign. Also, since the funding goal was achieved in just 5 days and there still are 24 days to go until the campaign ends, it would hurt for the developers to add some stretch goals. Remember that thing I said earlier about lip-syncing and driving?

This particular HUD could make driving faster, especially for the ones who have not spent much time behind the wheel. Until driverless vehicles become the norm, it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re not distracted during the ride.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about Scubus S HUD scuba diving mask with HD recording, or the GhostDash HUD that puts virtual rivals on the dashboard for rookie racers.

[via Geeky Gadgets]