Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Here’s a 21st century take on those pop-up books that fascinated us as kids. Instead of using intricately designed and engineered origami contraptions to make a 3D world pop out of a book as you turn the pages, a company called Metaio uses a run-of-the-mill webcam (I’m sure it has a minimum resolution requirement) and a custom piece of camera recognition software to make a 3D world appear on your computer’s screen. The company’s Augmented Reality technology was recently shown off at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany with an upcoming interactive 3D book called Aliens & UFOs which superimposes planets and alien spacecraft on the page when the book is held up to the webcam.

What’s particularly neat about Metaio’s Augmented Reality technology is that it doesn’t require any special tracking markers to appear on the page. Instead, the exact dimensions and layout of the page is what the software uses to track its position in 3D space and perfectly superimpose the objects in real-time. So in other words, the book’s layout has to be 100% complete before the software portion can be written. But imagine how cool it would be to get an Augmented Reality IKEA catalog in the mail that allows you to see a 3D layout of the room and furniture on your PC?

[ Metaio ] VIA [ Wired Gadget Lab ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Cripes! We’ve all seen these ‘electronic dictionary pen’ devices before, and while I’m sure they’re useful to some people, I think this Quicktionary TS model goes a bit overboard. When it comes to features I have no complaints, since the 400 dpi scanner built into the tip of the pen allows you to scan single words or full lines of text which are then displayed on the high-resolution LCD screen complete with detailed definitions.

It also allows you to hear the words spoken back so you can familiarize yourself with the correct pronunciations, and the LCD display is even a touch-screen allowing you to access the dictionary functions by manually typing in words or phrases via an on-screen keyboard. But assuming that hand model has a relatively normal-sized human adult hand, I think the Quicktionary TS is way bigger than it needs to be. Shrink that scanner down, make it connect to my laptop via USB or my cellphone via bluetooth and we’ll talk.

But if you’re happy with lugging around a mini-cricket bat, the Quicktionary TS is available from the Wizcom Technologies online store for $189.95.

[ Quicktionary TS ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with trying to teach kids the value of a buck or encouraging them to save a few dollars, but I don’t think the age group this bank is targeting are that concerned with having a healthy retirement fund one day. Every time they insert a coin into the bank an interactive fish named Gill (I don’t get it) will reward your kid with a “cool animation.” The money they deposit is automatically counted and their total savings is displayed on the LCD screen. Your kids will also be responsible for feeding Gill on a daily basis and keeping his tank clean, though I don’t know what the consequences are if they forget. (Terrible interest rates?) Of course if your kid is actually trying to save money for something, they’ll want to make sure they factor in an additional $52 (£29.99) to cover the cost of the bank itself.

[ I Save Money Bank ] VIA [ Toyology ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Some people might avoid having kids because they don’t want to deal with the crying, the diapers, the spitting up and all of the other stereotypical downsides of raising a child. I, on the other hand, am fine with all of that stuff, it’s the having to listen to 5 or 6 years of kid-centric music that truly scares me. Thankfully Baby Einstein sells this Takealong Tunes toy that plays baby-friendly versions of classical masterpieces by Mozart, Vivaldi, Chopin and Rossini. It’s got a single large button for cycling through 7 classic melodies, and also features a light-up display to help keep junior distracted. Now don’t get me wrong, Raffi seems like a nice guy and all, and his heart seems to be in the right place, but I’d much rather spend a car trip listening to baby-friendly versions of Mozart than that song about the Baby Beluga. The Baby Einstein Takealong Tunes is available from Amazon.com for just $7.99.

[ Baby Einstein Takealong Tunes ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Well technically, I guess stargazing isn’t all that difficult, all you have to do is look up at night. But knowing what all those dots of light are called? Now that’s the tricky part. You could visit your local observatory and have an astronomer explain what you’re looking at, or you could pick up this nifty software/hardware combo called StellarWindow and stargaze from the comfort of your own backyard. It was developed by a group of Waseda University students in Japan, and it relies on a special USB dongle that features tilt sensors and an electronic compass. You just install the software on your laptop or tablet PC and attach the dongle, and once your position is calibrated, the StellarWindow program will provide a detailed explanation of the night sky you see before you. It even features voice recognition so all you have to do is ask it to find a particular heavenly body and the software will tell you what direction to look. The student’s startup company, Fairy Devices Inc., is expected to release StellarWindow before 2009 for about $244.

[ Fairy Devices StellarWindow ] VIA [ HobbyMedia.it ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you work in a laboratory setting and are tired of all the constant fighting about who gets to look in the microscope next, this video screen version will allow a handful of people to see the magnified images at the same time. Instead of a standard eyepiece, the microscope uses a built-in 2MP digital camera to capture stills or videos which are displayed on a 3 1/2 inch LCD with a resolution of just 320×240. Fortunately though the images and videos can also be downloaded to a PC using the microscope’s USB port or a removable SD card allowing you to see them at their full resolution.

The microscope features 3 switchable objective lenses (4X, 10X or 40X) that provide magnification from 40X to 400X, but you also have the option of switching on a digital zoom feature which boosts magnification up to 1600X. (But we all know that digital zoom is never that great.) The objects you’re viewing can also be illuminated from the top or bottom thanks to 2 separate 6-watt LED lights that can be adjusted with an exposure knob. There’s even a filter wheel with 6 selectable colors allowing you to block out certain wavelengths to make objects clearer.

With a price tag of $299.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer I’m pretty sure this model isn’t exactly the choice of professionals, but if you’ve got a budding scientist at home it would probably make for a great first microscope.

[ Video Screen Microscope ] VIA [ The Green Head ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There are a lot of parents who push their kids too hard when it comes to sports, but there are just as many who are guilty of the same thing when it comes to academics. For example, any parent who buys a set of these Nerdy Baby ABC Flash Cards. Designed by Tiffany Ard, who’s also a mother, the set of 26 alphabetic cards provide nerdy alternatives to the standard A is for Apple, B is for Ball flash cards. I’m sure your child will find such examples as K is for Kepler’s 3rd Law or Q is for Quod Erat Demonstrandum considerably helpful as they struggle to learn the basic ABC’s. For some reason a lot of parents seem to think it’s OK for a child to go through school as a nerd or a geek because all that studying will eventually result in a successful job when they grow up. But there’s no guarantee that success in school will translate to success in the real world. Obviously (or hopefully) these flash cards were created with the designer’s tongue firmly in cheek.

You can get them directly from Tiffany Ard’s online store for $20.

[ Nerdy Baby ABC Flash Cards ] VIA [ YoKiddo! ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Speaking of driving, it seems the days of drivers ed courses involving gory safety videos and folding chair simulators are long gone. Today’s teenagers will soon be able to prepare for the written portion of their driver’s license exam with the recently announced Drivers Ed Portable for the Nintendo DS. The game was developed by DreamCatcher Games and JoWooD Productions with the intention of providing a fun way for new drivers to study the material. And while I don’t have anything against edutainment, I just hope this title also manages to get across how serious the rules of the road really are. (Note to new drivers, you won’t ever have to deal with red shells in real life.)

Drivers Ed Portable will feature two modes: Test and Train. Test mode will include sample tests for the written part of the driver’s license examination for all 50 US states, 13 Canadian provinces and territories, as well as Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. User progress will be tracked, so the player will know where they need to improve their study in order to be successful in their actual test. Train mode will include three fun and educational mini-games targeted to new drivers.

Drivers Ed Portable should be available in the Fall of this year, presumably in all of the supported countries.

[ MAXCONSOLE - Drivers Ed Portable announced for DS ]

By Andrew Liszewski

For some reason I find all books and toys designed to teach kids about potty training hilarious. And that definitely includes the Potty Monkey. It’s a 15-inch tall stuffed monkey that comes complete with a pair of diapers, a pair of underwear and of course, a toilet. An electronic timer buried somewhere in his body can be set at intervals of 30 or 90 minutes, and when the clock runs out, the monkey will tell you he needs to go potty. When you place him on his toilet he’ll say various things about how much better he feels, and will even go as far as to sing a Weird Al-like version of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, except his version is about bowel movements. But what happens if you ignore his pleas?

But let’s back up and suppose you DON’T put him on the potty when he asks. The longer you ignore him, the more he pleads. “I really need to go potty! Let’s go potty!!” And if you are callous enough to ignore him again, he says, “Hey, take me to the potty now or I’ll have an accident!” And if you wait much longer, “Oh no! I had an accident! Please take me to the potty next time.”

So there you go. Normally I would find a stuffed monkey that needs to go to the bathroom every half-hour unappealing. But he kind of reminds me of the short-lived Domino’s Pizza mascot Bad Andy who disappeared well before his time. We all miss you Andy…

You can find the Potty Monkey at Stupid.com for $29.99.

[ Potty Monkey ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]