4 posts tagged “technology”

Like a lot of the current crop of adult geeks, I grew up on Star Wars.  I remember standing in line for Jedi when I was eight years old and I remember watching the cartoons on Saturday mornings.  And, of course, I had a metric ton of toys.  Including R2-D2 and C-3PO.

I remember being disappointed by the fact that I could not get a real R2 unit; I was crushed when I found out there was an actor inside the little metal 'bot.

Fast forward 25 years and I still want a working, independent R2 unit.  (Preferably one without a bad motivator.)  And, now, it seems like things are finally heading that direction.

My wanderings across the great and dusty interwebtubes have brought two droids to my attention recently:  Chumby and the Tux Droid.  Chumby is a small screen-in-pillow device that gathers fodder from the 'tubes and displays it back to you whenever and however you want.  The Tux Droid is a small, stuffed Penguin that works via IR and will do mundane online chores for you.

Chumby

Chumby may look like little more than a glorified alarm clock but it lists an impressive range of features, including:  acting as a digital photo frame, internet radio, YouTube video player, feed reader, and calendar.  And alarm clock.  Chumby is open source and designed to be hacked by just about anyone.  Users create "widgets" that are then placed on the Chumby network and then downloaded by anyone who wants one.  According to the website, the physical unit will work on any open, wireless network.

Tux Droid

Tux, on the other hand, is designed to be a little more active than Chumby.  The Tux Droid has several inputs, like a microphone and touch sensors,  built into it.  They allow Tux to respond to commands and the 'bot will check to see if you have new email or if something has finished downloading.  Once it has done your bidding, it will report back by dancing or blinking its eyes.

The kid in me sees both of these products and gets an immediate -5 against my saving throw for Shiny.  And, truth to tell, I would like to have either or both, just to play with because I think this is one of the futures of consumers goods.  Why wouldn't kids like to have a doll that can talk back?  Why wouldn't adults want web-enabled devices that do what we want without the bother of a direct interface?

These ideas are not new.  I remember my sister's Teddy Ruxpin doll when we were kids.  It was basically a stuffed bear with a cassette deck built into its back that would simulate a conversation and tell stories to its owner.  And more recently, Ambient Technologies has been taking the idea of ubiquitous computing and running with it.  Products like the Ambient Orb, which lets you know, for example, how your stocks are doing by glowing a different color, are in this same idea of hardware that anyone can program doing the work we do not want to do ourselves.  And it's brilliant.

So.  If anyone's got a spare couple of hundred bucks laying around, well, you know what I want.

Show us a gadget that's on your wish list.

Xbox

What's the greatest video game console on the market? Do you own it or is it on your wish list?

DS

It seems like every week I have a new reason to love my Nintendo DS.  No matter what you're into, be it strategy games, action, brain training, RPGs, or even yoga, there's some kind of game available for the DS.  The best games make solid use of the touchpad as a natural interface; it is much more responsive and natural than trying to remember long strings of button mashing sequences.  The battery life is good and it's highly portable.  Put a few DS units in a room together with the right software and you can compete directly with your friends or even connect to the internet.  In short, there is very little that this versatile, well designed machine can not be used for.

So, I came across this the other day:  Fabjectory - Virtual Objects in Real Life.

The idea is that these guys have gotten hold of a rapid proto-typing machine and will print (manufacture?) whatever the customer orders, including Second Life avatars, Mii characters, and Google Sketch-up files.  They also take custom orders via their website, which are then printed and shipped, the same as everything else.

At the moment, their prices are a bit high:  $50 USD for a three inch Mii figure, and $100 USD for a five inch, and I'm not sure of the quality.  The photos on the website make the finished products seem a little rough as they are printed out of colored plastics as opposed to painted plastics.  The same photos seem to indicate that the surfaces are somewhat textured, not smooth like modern toys usually are.

Still, I love the idea and I can't help wondering where this technology is going.

Let's start with the idea.  Personally, I like to draw and the idea that I could have any character I drew printed out and sent not just to me but to anyone, anywhere is very appealing.  Add to that the idea of one of a kind pieces by artists or limited editions of special figures and the collectible crowd will come running.  And how about producing blanks for the DIY crowd?  Easily done.

The immediate counter-point is that there are lots of vinyl or plastic art toys out there, blanks included, so how is this any different?  The answer is in the scale.  Most individual artists cannot afford to have their ideas turned into physical form without serious financial backing due to the numbers involved.  Typical production runs, even for limited editions often number in the thousands.  Even at the lowest cost available in East Asian factories, a large amount of money is required up front for a product that may or may not sell.

So this idea that an artist can post a design on a website and fans can choose which figures they'd like to purchase on a single unit scale is very appealing.  Especially if the software is in place to let designers limit the numbers on some designs, creating a quick-as-you-can market that may drive prices upwards and gain the individual some needed cash.

From there, let's look at the technology.  I have no idea how much these printers run but I know that computers used to fill entire rooms and the idea of a desktop computer was laughable.

If the manufacturing becomes as installed as a microwave, the design is the only part that would have value; if the design is on a computer, anybody will be able to get hold of it, one way or another, thus making it impossible to limit the number of copies printed, thus driving the cost back down.

Either way, the consumer gets what he or she wants without trouble and the artist is saved the cost of producing thousands of potentially unwanted pieces.

And, in any case, this is a technology and a company I'll be watching, just to see what they come up with.