This seems to have been around since 2008, but it’s only now making the rounds on the blogs, so we thought to let y’all know about it too. The video we’ve embedded after the jump shows a creation by Japanese artist Mio I-zawa. It’s a rubber (or latex, we’re not sure) bladder shaped and painted to look like a tumor. It’s connected to a series of motors and pneumatic actuators, and the whole apparatus is controlled by a piece of software on the PC to which its attached. When the load on the CPU is low, the tumor gently pulsates. But start doing something CPU-intensive, and it’ll grow, giving you a direct, organic connection to the current load on the PC.
We’re not entirely sure why the use of a tumor, as opposed to say a fake lung. We get the whole bridging the gap between inorganic digital stress and biological stress; kind of anthropomorphizing the most inanimate of objects. But heck, even a heart would have made more sense… Why a tumor?
Kenny Irwin is an interesting artist who likes to use a microwave to create. In this case, he took an OLPC and straight out melted it. He then added some “mixed media” (looks like parrafin if you ask me) and turned it into a slug. It’s called the OLPCSlug. We’re not sure what it means, as art, or whether he’s trying to make some kind of statement, but there you have it. Kenny then decided to put it up on eBay to raise money for the OLPC Foundation. Thing is, he’s asking $26,001 for this, 80% of which will be given away. I’d like to point out that this is still a 5 figure number for a melted laptop. Is it worth it? Keep reading for a gallery and pictures, and a VERY trippy video of the making of the OLPCSlug.
Usually here at OhGizmo we try to cover the latest in cool gadgets. However, once in a while I’ll run across something extremely low-tech that seems brilliant. You’ll have to bear with me, as today is one of those days. It seems that someone came up with the idea to make an eraser, which has an attached brush on one end. What for? For brushing away all of those little eraser crumbs, that’s what!
Most of you will scoff at this, which is understandable. After all, you’ve got a pinkie that’s perfectly capable of performing the exact same task. However, the artists out there will ooh and aah as I have. You see, when you slide your pinkie across a paper you’ve drawn on, you smear the graphite just a little. After just a few times, your illustration starts to develop some unintended shading. This brush looks like it wouldn’t yield the same smudgy results. If you’re an artist, or just fascinated by things with brushes attached to them, you can pick one of these up for around $10.
Don’t shortchange your kid and give him regular old Crayons when you could be giving him these Rich Color Crayons. They’re pretty much made of the same material as regular Crayons, but instead of being one solid color, they’re marbled with a variety of color speckles that produce a richer color pattern. As you can see from the image above, the results can be impressive. Then again, these are obviously marketing renderings made by some kind of professional. But still, the idea is interesting.
Seeing as you can’t quite give each crayon an actual color name, they’ve been affectionately dubbed “Passion & Orange”, “StrawberrySpecial”, “CandyPop”, “CitrusHerb”, “BerryMix” and “ChocolateAlmond”. A box of these six “flavors” will set you back 1,200 Yen, or about $13.
I enjoy drawing, and like to think that I’m not half-bad at it. Not everyone has spent countless hours doodling to perfect their skills, so instead they can rely on a machine to help them. No, it’s not going to make you a great artist per se, but it will force you to draw at least one really good picture.
This Self-Portrait Machine takes a picture of the person using it, and once they’ve strapped themselves in, it moves their arms back-and-forth to create a picture. It’s a little gimmicky, sure, but who wouldn’t want to be able to show off an awesome self-portrait that they drew?
Last time I checked, vinyl stickers weren’t gadgets, but every now and then I come across something too cool not to post. These spiffy stickers go near your electrical outlets and really make them stand out. Some might say that they make you stop and think about everything that goes into getting power from one place to another. Me? I think they’d just look really cool in my office. They’re a bit pricey, at around $71 for the set (don’t quote me on that, I had a heck of a time figuring out the currency), and unfortunately you’ll have to get them shipping from out of the country.
I’ve spent a good deal of time drawing since I was about 10 years old. When I was 12 my dad bought our first computer, on which he promptly installed Photoshop. Needless to say, I was hooked on digital art from then on. I still do a good deal of my work with graphite and paper, but when I want to transform it on my computer, I’ve always turned to a Wacom tablet. Since the Intuos4 line was just recently launched, Wacom was kind enough to send over a review unit, which I was more than happy to take for a proverbial spin.
Wacom sent over the Intuos4 Medium, which is the equivalent of my now outdated Intuos3 6×8. The newer tablet has a slightly larger active area than its predecessor (5.5 x 8.8 inches, compared to 6×8) and the exact same resolution (5080 lpi). However, when it comes to pressure sensitivity, they’ve doubled it to 2048. I can’t stress enough how much of a difference this makes, but we’ll get to that later. Hit the jump for my full review.
These fish sculptures made from carbon fiber Formula One racing parts might seem a little odd at first, but when you consider that Alastair Gibson, the artist who created them, was the lead mechanic for the Benetton F1 team for 4 years, and later served as the race team chief mechanic for BAR Honda for another another 10, you can kind of understand where he drew his inspiration.
The parts used in his creations are from actual F1 cars (like the snazzy exhaust pipes on the back of the ‘Racing Mako’) and each one is documented so you can trace back where each fin, tooth or gill actually came from. Unfortunately these pieces aren’t available for sale, but Alastair is “undertaking a number of private commissions” according to his website, so all is not lost if you really wanted one of these hanging over your fireplace.
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