Yesterday, Alex and I went to the Convention Center and had a look. We had never been to any NextFest or anything with the word wired in its name -not even the Denmark wired nipples Fest- so you bet that we were pretty curious.
Cool
One of the first things we saw. Pretty cool projection on a smoke screen!
Modern ‘Tubular Bells’; use whatever limbs you feel like using, and interrupting the laser beams will play music.
It would seem that multitouch technology is about to become very popular.
Gaming
The X and Y dimensions of the holodeck: walk in any direction for as long as you wish, the ball takes care of the virtual miles for you.
Ingenious idea: it’s a platform game, and the background and player’s avatar
are projected; however, the player created the various platforms him/herself
using pieces of paper.
Robots
Zeno. Like Aibo, only it can throw tantrums. And his brains reside in your PC.
Oh, and he’s ready to save the world.
So? Which is which?
The crowds interact with an android. This one doesn’t seem ready to take on
the world.
20 seconds later, the android got very angry and laser beams came out of its
eyes, thus disintegrating the fool who had been flashing gang signs at it.
An interesting concept. Industrial robots playings ‘DJ’. Of course, their
scratching was purely mechanical and random, causing a high level of yawning
among the audience.
This guy actually exclaimed: “The robot is pwning me!”. Turning her back to us: his sister is my guess.
Actually Useful
d30 actually hardens upon impact. As a biker, I totally want one of these jackets.
I do not know if these molecules have a phD, but they sure are tough - but, as we can see from the picture before this one, they also have a sensitive side that enjoys long walks on the beach and romanian poetry. And petting.
I do not see myself spending the money on this system, but I can imagine professional sommeliers welcoming the innovation.
The user interface lives in the physical world, but the display is entirely simulated.
Green Future
A wind tower. I wonder how much energy a tower this side can deliver.
Yes, the whole front of the car, including lights, turn signals and bumper are stickers.
And the car is a two-sitter. Well, a one-sitter really. Actually I wonder if there’s any room left to seat down.
This one is hardcore green. These are solar panels. It’s a bit like the secret
child of the Batmobile and a bathtub.
I guess this is what they would call the ‘sedan’ model.
650 miles in one day. Triumph of human ingenuity and muscle. At least this vehicle will motivate the masses to get off their asses and exercise.
Aw, crud. Forget I said anything.
WTF?
And now, the exhibits that left me wondering who let these guys in.
Quick! Reach for your cell phone and send a witty message to these guys and you will see it displayed in a speech bubble. Oh, my, I think I just wet myself. I cannot wait to see their business plan.
This one was kind of entertaining but, again, what’s the point? If you make a call with your cell phone, the red LEDs will blink madly.
This door was especially designed for people who have no hands AND all the
time in the world. It almost works, too.
Two things -at least- very wrong with this product: I do not see the point of
having a plastic ball scaling my body at all times, and its name:
BodyBug? Really? Have you thought this through?
Better than the creep who lives down your street: the surprise portable creep. He lives in your clothes! When you expect it the least, anyone can text you a ‘virtual hug’ and the garment will do its best to choke the life out of you.
I think these pictures speak for themselves: it’s your own motorized guillotine! The first picture shows the no doubt immensely accurate handlebar, the second one shows the massive engine belt and the last one is here to help you imagine how kick-ass it’s going to be when you stand up - or are ejected due to jerky controls.
Actually, from what I’ve seen this car-boat hybrid works pretty well and hauls ass. Respect. It’s only made it in this section to celebrate the accompanying blurb: did you know that it can be used on any body of water without sustaining too much damage?
Well, that’s it for this year.
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