Posts Tagged ‘interactive’

Pleo – The Realistic Robot Dinosaur

28, May 2008

Pleo is an autonomous robotic life form modeled on a one-week-old Camarasaurus dinosaur. The cute-looking robot is designed to mimic life which means Pleo thinks and acts independently, just like a real animal would do. In general, it looks, moves, and behaves in ways that would almost make you think it is actually alive. Specifically, Pleo has organic body language, exhibits evolving emotions, is aware of his surroundings and has recognizable behaviors that change over time. At the heart of Pleo is Life OS, the operating system software that enables Pleo to act independently and will evolve Pleo’s personality according to his interactions with you and the environment.


The robot-toy progresses through three different Life Stages. When first awakened, Pleo is a hatchling. As you interact together, Pleo transitions through an infant stage to become a juvenile dinosaur. Then the fun really starts! As Pleo is a highly sophisticated product which evolves into an inquisitive animal that requires attention and care, Pleo is not suitable or intended for children under 8 years old. Smaller children may damage the robot, so it is a good idea to be careful when deciding to get it or not…


Camarasaurus (KAM-ah-rah-sawr-us) means “Chambered Lizard” (Greek kamara = chamber and sauros = lizard), referring to the holes in its vertebrae. Camarasaurus is the best-known sauropod found in North America and the most abundant of fossils from the Late Jurassic period. Camarasaurus also lived in Europe, where it survived into Early Cretaceous times. A complete, nearly perfect skeleton of a juvenile, 17 foot (5.2 meters) long, was found in Utah. Its head was short and box-like with nostrils set above the snout and in front of the eyes. The weight of its backbone was lightened by holes in its vertebrae. Its neck was shorter and thicker than most sauropods, and it possessed a short and somewhat flattened tail. The forelimbs and hind legs of Camarasaurus were about the same length.


Of course the best thing you can expect from an electronic toy is to have a power on/off button, unlike a real pet. Pleo uses a Ni-Mh rechargeable battery that can last for about an hour or 1:20 hours of play time with a single charge. There is also an SD flash card reader and mini USB connection so that you can program the dinosaur (with additional software) or update the built-in OS, when updates are available. Currently Pleo is the most realistic looking and acting robot toy, something you can also see in the video below showing the robot-dinosaur in action and also even interacting with a second Pleo…


In USA you can get Pelo for as low as $309.99, and in Europe it will cost you about $457.

– To get your Pleo Robot-Dinosaur in USA for $309.99…

– To order a Pleo Robot-Dinosaur in Europe (about $457)…

IO2 Technology’s Heliodisplay M2/M2i

22, Jun 2006

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The M2-series Heliodiplay is the second-generation mid-air projector with 30-inch diagonal (76cm) display area (4:3 aspect). Heliodisplay images are unique and offer many advantages over existing displays, but the M2 is not designed as a replacement for conventional displays. Are you starting to feel like you are in a SciFi movie already?

The Heliodisplay’s projected image hovers a few inches above the unit. The top of the image is 28″ above the top of the unit. The M2 is about the size of a tower desktop computer case turned on its side. Heliodisplays will work in well-lit environments such as trade show floors, and also low-light environments such as museums and nightclubs. As with any display technology, lower ambient light makes the image easier to see.

Heliodisplay images are not holographic although they are free-space, employing a rear projection system in which images are captured onto a nearly invisible plane of transformed air. What the viewer sees is floating mid-air image or video. These projected images and video are two-dimensional, (i.e. planar) but appear 3D since there is no physical depth reference. While conventional displays have the benefit of being attached to a physical substrate, Heliodisplay projections are suspended in air, so you will notice some waviness to the quality of the projections.

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The Heliodisplay is designed to be hidden (into a pedestal, table etc), so that only its projected image is visible. The display connects to a standard video source (such as DVD player or PC) and projects any images that would be viewable on a computer screen or television. No specialized hardware or software is needed to view images.

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The interactive version of the Heliodisplay (M2i) allows a finger placed on the floating image to act as a computer pointing device. The user can interact with floating images or video, and manipulate them as you could with a mouse, including clicking and dragging. The M2i comes with Heliocast software and PC drivers to enable this.

Specifications
Image Size: 30″ measured diagonally (4:3 aspect)
Interactivity: Virtual Cursor Control – Heliocast ver. 2.0
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 or 16:9
Resolution: Native – SVGA 800×600 pixels; Resize Support: 640×350 to 1280×1024 pixels
Contrast Ratio: 2000:1 (at projection source)
Color Reproduction: 16.7 Million colors/ full frame video
Video Input connectors: RGB analog, USB, RCA video, S-VIDEO, VGA
Input signal frequency: Fh: 31-80kHz; Fv: 56-120Hz
Video & PC Compatibility: PC, Mac, NTSC, PAL, SECAM HDTV: 480i/480p, 720p, 1080i
Image Translucency: Controllable visibility
Operational Sound Level: 38 dB
Electric Power Voltage: 95-115 or 220-240V VAC
Electric Power Frequency: 47-63 Hz
Electric Power Consumption: 350W
Working Temperature Range: 55F (12C) to 95F (35C)
Working Humidity Range: 25% – 95%
Weight: 34.5lbs/ 15.7kg
Dimensions: (W): 28.3″, (D): 15.9″[29.8″ expanded], (H): 9.3″(71.8cm x 39.6cm [76cm expanded ] x 36cm)
Warranty: six months limited parts and labor

Heliodisplay in action

General demonstration of Heliodisplay…


Sin Episodes Emergence running on Heliodisplay…

Pricing
The Heliodisplay is still quite an expensive toy so it is definetly not for everyone and not everyone can afford it… for instance I can only dream of having a Heliodisplay, because I have to save all the money I get, and not even spend a cent, in the next five or so years to be able to afford one 🙁

If you want to buy it
+ Heliodisplay M2: $18,100
+ Heliodisplay M2i: $19,400

If you rent it for – 1 week – 2 weeks
+ Heliodisplay M2 – $9,600 – $13,800
+ Heliodisplay M2i – $12,800 – $14,800

– Get more information about IO2 Technology’s Heliodisplay

Nabaztag

13, Jun 2006

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Lets be honest, you wouldn’t normally associate bunny rabbits with cutting-edge technology and superior intelligence. But that was before Nabaztag was born. Derived from the Armenian word for rabbit (so we’re told), this ingenious WiFi-enabled bunny is set to revolutionise the way WiFi fans receive information about… well, about anything!

Basically Nabaztag is a desktop companion that utilises WiFi technology to fetch information from the Internet and convey it in various charming ways. Confused? You won’t be, because you’ll soon be relying on this cute little critter to tell you the time, wake you up, read the news, read you messages from friends, check the stock market and give you tomorrow’s weather forecast today. Nabaztag can even communicate with fellow bunnies and get married.

And that’s just the beginning, because the world of Nabaztag is expanding all the time. Before long this brainy bunny will be able to receive traffic updates, alert you when you have SMS messages, tell you if your train is running late and broadcast ‘Nabcasts’ from fellow subscribers. The possibilities are truly endless.

For now Nabaztag remains an ingenious, always connected communications device that uses lights, sounds and cutesy ear movements to discreetly convey messages to anyone nearby. Sounds can include your favourite MP3 files of music, voices or noises. Simply specify the sound via your computer and Nabaztag will play it through his built-in speaker. Nabaztag can also signal specific information via coloured lights in his belly; so you can set him to glow yellow if the weather’s going to be sunny or red if an email from a loved one arrives. A wiggling ear could signify a falling stock price and a pattern of lights accompanied by a Westlife track could indicate that it’s time to get up… and get a life.

Nabaztag is also great for reminding housemates that supper’s getting cold or you’re going to be late home – simply send a message via the Nabaztag website and let the wireless technology do the rest. There really is no end to the info this charming chap can convey.

The Nabaztag buzz is rapidly becoming thunderous and we reckon he’s going to be a huge phenomenon throughout the wonderful world of WiFi. And of course I would love to have one of those cute WiFi bunnies at home… 😉


The Wifi bunny in action…


Nabaztag and Aibo dog interacting together…

Price of Nabaztag: $150

– More information about Nabaztag
– Shops and websites where you can buy Nabaztag


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