Those eggheads at MIT are at it again, this time creating a “sixth sense” gadget. It’s basically a combined scanner and 3D projector (with a touchscreen-like surface). Say, for example, you’re at the store looking at different boxes of cereal. You scan the box of Lucky Charms with the gadget, which then scans the internet for, I don’t know, nutritional information and a history of the product. Handy. → Read More
MIT professor Hal Abelson started today’s final presentation for the school’s “Building Mobile Applications” class by saying, “A course like this couldn’t have existed ten years ago… maybe not even a year ago. Courses like this right now are unique, but in two years they’ll be completely ordinary.” What’s extraordinary is that on top of a full college course-load at one of the most challenging schools in the country, these groups of students built fully working mobile applications for Windows Mobile, Android, and Symbian devices while mentors from the likes of Google, Nokia, Bank of America, and Microsoft oversaw their progress. → Read More
This just in; kids that go to MIT are really F-ing smart. I just saw seven Android applications that have been developed over the short span of four months — with very little (if any) money — as part of a class called “Building Mobile Applications with Android”. It was a lot like most college presentations, except that HTC, Google, Verizon, Sprint, and the press don’t usually show up. Hit the jump for a peek at the applications. → Read More
It’s a big day for hot chips. No, not them. Researchers at MIT have created a tiny chip that is so efficient (it uses 0.3 volts, half as much as Intel’s “Atom”) that it could conceivably be run on body heat or movement alone, eliminating the need for a battery in the case of, say, an encrypting unit for in-body electronics sharing information. Sounds overly specific at first, but think of how many people have pacemakers or monitoring devices in them running down a battery. At this point it’s still just a proof-of-concept, but the creators see it on the market five years down the line. Team Develops Energy-Efficient Microchip [MIT, via DailyTech] → Read More
Those nerdish pranksters at MIT, in their grand tradition of video game-related hooliganism, took some time out of their busy class schedule to hang a few select power-ups around the main building there. I’m partial to the banana because of years of Mario Kart experience so I’m glad to see it getting some fanfare of its own. How come I don’t see Pokeballs hanging from the streetlamps here in Seattle? Come on. MIT Celebrates SSBB Release [Kotaku] → Read More
This all looks very nice on paper and I’d be one of the first wide-eyed optimists to use one of these things but I just can’t help but think that we’re probably not going to see these on the road in the next three to four years (as MIT hopes). The full-size version of this “City Car” being developed by the brave men and women at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would not only park itself behind other City Cars, it would also “fold roughly in half so you could stack it there as you would a shopping cart,” according to a Reuters report. → Read More
Some MIT engineering students were given an assignment to prototype something based on the concept of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Seven 18-student teams teams were formed and came up with some pretty cool stuff. One team made a solar powered bin that detects and separates recyclables dropped into it. Another found a way to separate the oil from used oil filters before dumping them, using it for lubricant — maybe for another team’s pedal-powered shea nut crusher. My personal favorite is the battery-less remote control – pulling a trigger on it powers it for a couple hours, so you’ll never have to lick the contacts and spin the batteries to get another 15 minutes of use out of those three-year-old AAs. The course website is here, for the full sordid story. Students unveil eco-product prototypes [MIT news, via Science Daily, via Core77 Design Blog] → Read More
As someone who sits at home in front of a computer all day every day, I can — like Richard to Tommy in Tommy Boy — actually hear myself getting fatter. So the thought of sitting all day every day in an apparatus that forces me to expend energy in order to provide power to my lifeline to the outside world and device by which I earn money for food, shelter, and clothing is intriguing to me. Such is the "pedal-powered laptop" being developed by a group of MIT students. I live near MIT and every time I’m over near the campus, I like to look at all the people and try to figure out who’s legitimately an insane homeless person and who’s a genius that’s been working on a project like this and hasn’t slept or showered in a week. If you’re one of the latter, nice work! The students "predicted that a bicyclist should be able to produce up to 75 watts continuously–far more than the 30 watts needed to power the laptop." Students get charge out of pedal power [MIT News] → Read More
I came across this particular post on BoingBoing today and got kind of pissed off. A lot of DIYers are defending the 19-year-old MIT student, Star Simpson, who last week, walked into Boston’s Logan International Airport with this odd homemade electronic device on her sweatshirt. Understandable, but there’s something called social responsibility that applies to us humans. → Read More
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