augmented reality video games

This video done by Parrot shows a powerful example of blending virtual and physical gaming. You control a physical quadricopter with your iPhone, and look at the screen to see it fighting, say, a robot.

amazing rollable OLED display by Sony

Rollable displays are on the rise. Welcome a future where technology is organic, dynamic, and ever-adaptive.

fabbing the brain

Fabbing meets neuroscience with Flickr user yksong's laser cut model of the human brain!

Littledog gets an upgrade

The best robotic locomotion I have seen up to yet comes from Boston Dynamics' recently upgraded 'Littledog'. It learns proper footholds and can learn special manoeuvers for situations that stress the motor capacities of the robot. In short, this is a robot that is starting to incorporate intelligence into its body, not just its brain. I also like how the robot is an unobtrusive, abstract device, without any explicit human interaction points. Maybe it should get a movable spine soon though, because the slips look especially painful, which also makes the movement look less 'natural' to me.

Robot weds Japanese couple

Who needs a human priest when you can have a robot instead?

Breed: artificially evolved sculptures

Dutch artist couple Driessens and Verstappen present another step towards computer generated product design.

From their website:

"Breed is a computer program that uses artificial evolution to grow very detailed sculptures. The purpose of each growth is to generate by cell division from a single cell a detailed form that can be materialised. On the basis of selection and mutation a code is gradually developed that best fulfils this "fitness" criterion and thus yields a workable form. [...] Currently the objects can be made in nylon and in stainless steel by using 3D printing techniques. This automates the whole process from design to execution: the industrial production of unique artefacts."

a transformable apartment

A nice example of how more restrictions enrich design is the transformable apartment by architect Gary Chang. Elements such as walls and bookshelves can slide along rails, so a storage room can transform into a bedroom or bathroom with not much more than the flick of a wrist. In this, Chang has essentially collapsed spaces the way Picasso collapsed perspectives, and made the function of the tiny spaces in his apartment adaptable to the situation.