You read all the reviews, you ask all the right questions of all the right people, and you still sometimes come unstuck when it comes to tech shopping. Even the biggest geeks can make stupid mistakes, so I’ve picked five of my gadget goofs to show how simple it is to get things wrong. And, just so that this isn’t one long self-flagellatory pity party, I’ve slotted in the five tech shopper lessons that I’ve learned along the way.
We've seen brainwave-sensing used for mind training games, the judicious application of comedy torture, and attempting to control the nearest robot: now the technology has reached its summit, with cosplay-style wiggling cat ears. The handiwork of Neurowear, the Necomimi straps a couple of motorized furry cat ears to a brainwave-monitoring headband, so that you can wiggle them appropriately.
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Samsung has bred a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner with a WowWee Rovio and come up with the Tango View VC-FL87W, an autonomous cleaner which can beam live video back from its onboard webcam. If you're the paranoid type and you're not going to give up your mistrust of the home help even if you've replaced them with robots, then you can log in remotely via your smartphone or tablet and see what the Samsung Tango View is up to.
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There's been gadgets in the past, that have allowed for an object to be controlled with our "thoughts," thanks to a certain type of headband that we put on. And this new idea from InteraXon isn't the first we've seen in the "mind-control" department for iOS-based devices. But, this isn't the Canadian-based company's first foray into the idea of thought-based actions making our every day usage of devices all that better, either. They first showed off their in-flight entertainment system, controlled merely by thought, last year. And now they're setting their sites on the iPad.
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What can we say, we're big childish geeks and we love remote-controlled gadgets that beam back video footage. That's why Wild Planet's Spy Video TRAKR camera-enabled tank proved so appealing (in a Rovio sort of way), and why Hack A Day's review of the $130 toy is so interesting: turns out, Wild Planet left plenty of fun for mod-friendly geeks to enjoy.
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The brain-reading Emotiv Epoq headset might not be wowing gamers, but that doesn't mean there aren't more unusual uses it can be put to. Robert Oschler - who we've already seen remotely-controlling his Rovio using brainwaves - has now turned to video navigation using emotions. He's used various apps to train the Emotiv headset to index video according to emotion, which he can subsequently browse through according to how he felt at the time he saw the footage.
Video demo after the cut
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Sunday is here again and it's time for another Week in Review. You might remember that cool robot that GM and NASA developed dubbed Robonaut 2. R2 is set to head to the ISS aboard one of the final Shuttle mission and good ol' R2 will be Tweeting his trip.
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So far, small robots seem to be the best kind. They tend to be ridiculously cute, and if they're small enough, then we know that we don't have to worry about them taking over the world. Unless you include sheer numbers. In any event, here's the WowWee Roboscooper. He does pretty much what you might imagine from his title: he scoops up things. But, before you think he may take the place of your robotic vacuum, there's a catch.
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Robotics company WowWee has outed its latest domestic 'bot offering, and they've looked to Wall-E for their inspiration. The WowWee Roboscooper is a six-wheeled remote-controlled robot with a big set of grabbing hands that can pick up objects and deposit them in the cargo bay at the back.
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YouTube's new Leanback lounge-friendly UI went live last week, but if you're more comfortable with a remote control than a keyboard then WiiLeanback may be of interest. The handiwork of Robert Oschler, who has been merrily controlling WowWee robots with the Nintendo Wii controller for some time, WiiLeanback is basically a simple way to use the wiimote as a remote for the new YouTube interface.
Video demo after the cut
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WowWee's Rovio has already seen several DIY remote control hacks - whether it's from your Android phone or via an E Ink board - but this is perhaps the best yet. Robert Oschler has hooked up an Emotiv Epoq EEG headset allowing him (with some nifty software in-between) to control Rovio using thoughts, facial gestures and head movements.
Video demo after the cut
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There's been some talk recently of the Big Trak re-release, but if you're looking for a truly modern reinterpretation of the programable robot then Wild Planet's new Spy Video TRAKR may better fit the bill. The remote-control 'bot comes with a child-friendly PC-based programming system, which allows users to create custom routines and load them onto the TRAKR. As for the robot itself, it uses 2.4GHz wireless and has an integrated camera, speaker and microphone, and comes preloaded with motion-sensing and night-vision apps.
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