One major issue that has plagued the virtual reality market is its inablilty to create a realistic navigational environment. Even when you don those VR goggles, there are always limits to how far you can move, which really puts a damper on the whole virtual experience. We’ve seen attempts at solving these problems before, but never in such an advanced stage of development.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics have been developing a new way for VR users to navigate virtual environments realistically, while still maintaining the limitations of electronics. The EU-funded CyberWalk campaign has yielded a cool method for this problem. The CyberCarpet is a system which emulates natural walking conditions with omni-directional capabilities. Allowing yourself to feel limitless in a controlled environment. — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

As a male, I’ve never had the pleasure of bleeding from my genitalia (except for this one time in Tijuana), and I can’t say that I’m too disappointed about it. But I know that keeping track of that sort of thing is important if you don’t feel like paying for another mouth to feed. Seasonique is a concept for women, which improves on the old birth control pill holders by creating a new contraceptive dispenser.

Seasonique not only holds three-months of birth control pills, rather than the traditional one-month, but adds in some new functionality and style, such as the daily one-click mechanism, which unveils to open up a special pill slot on top of its see-through panel. — Andrew Dobrow

Link

Urwerk took their opportunity at SIHH 2008 to unveil their new 202 Hammerhead Automatic wrist watch which has a innovative new winding rate which is geared with fluid dynamics. For over a century, watch makers were playing around with watches powered with air friction, aided by a traditional rotating vane, much more reliable then the old sand-powered hour glass.

The 202 Hammerhead replaces the traditional vane with two mini-turbines which act as mini air compressors. These turbines give the sexy Hammerhead a dynamic flair, as you can watch them move on the rear of the watches face. And oh yeah, it looks really sexy.

(more…)

If you’re a fan of the show Seinfeld, then you surely know about George Costanza and his life-long dream of becoming an architect (you know the new addition on the Guggenheim? That was him, didn’t take him very long either.) The Architect’s Birdhouse wold give George a little more proof behind his lies.

Shipped flat, and needing no tools and fasteners for assembly, The Architect’s Birdhouse is made with strong thermoplastic polymer called polycarbonate (the same stuff which bullet proof glass is made of, so no worry of those crows having any fly-by shootings.) The house is easily assembled and easy to clean. Get your own for $25. — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

For a moment we thought that Julia Roberts was finally allowing spectators to tour her gigantic pie hole, but now it sees as though we were misled. This gigantic mouth is actually a a new attraction at Corpus, a half-amusement park, half-museum in Amsterdam, which recently opened up a their interactive feature which allows visitors to explore large models of the human body.

Visitors will get the chance to “enter the museum through the knee, then travel through eight exhibit spaces, heading up toward the brain. On the way, they can watch a 3-D film on fertilization, bounce on a rubber tongue while they follow a sandwich being digested and throw beanbags against a video screen to destroy bacteria.” Not to mention, use the airbag sized uvula as a human punching bag. — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

I don’t know how many times I’ve been awaken out of a deep sleep when my washer or dryer goes off with that super-sonic blasting beep. It was even worse in the days where my mother and sister would do their laundry, with me, unsuspecting of the beeping, would be shocked out of my slumber.

Sure, it might be a real pain in the ass, but appliances never had a problem getting my ass out of bed, which is why I kinda see the point behind the Appliance Alarm Clocks. When the alarm goes off, the clocks will act like your everyday appliance, producing animated suds, shaking on its stubs, and making loud swishy noises. Possibly a nominee for the most extreme clocks you’ll never own? Get yours from between $17 and $20. (more…)

As many ways as technology has provided us to remember our anniversary, and as much as our lady friends might drop hints, we men always have a way to let the date slip our minds. Another stylish method could never hurt, especially one that goes to extreme measures such as the Hot Spot “Remember” Ring.

Described as “being hot enough to discomfort, but not enough to burn”, the Hot Spot ring uses a micro themopile to heat up to 120 degrees for exactly 10 seconds, 24 hours before your big day, literally searing the date into your memory. Let’s just hope you don’t forget to wear the ring as well. Available in sizes 10-13 for $760 (!) — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

If you’ve been known to be a bit of a wino (maybe even perusing your share of fine art), you probably know that allowing the air to hit your wine is an important part of the tasting experience. Sure, sticking a penis in the bottle will stop the air from reaching it too early, but what about when you actually want to drink it?

The Vinturi Wine Aerator not only allows the right amount of air to reach your wine, resulting in “a better bouquet, enhanced flavor, and a smoother finish”, but looks stylish at the same time. Get your for $36. — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

China’s “black market” is notorious for their awful rip-offs of other products. Amoni Exchange anyone? Pinches Chinos is a website which is focused on cataloging every piece of China knock-offs they can get their hands on.

From the stylish to the obscure, the results are hilarious. Whether they be specific attempts at ripping off another brand (such as the iFan or the Vii), or simply being lost in translation (such as our unleashing of the Sony scandal.) — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

If you own a Ferrari, there’s a good chance you already converse with it anyway. “Yeah, that’s a bad little car!” You make me sick, with your shameless flirtation. You might as well just skip the foreplay and just pick up one of these F1 Phones.

The F1 Phone, designed to resemble the Ferrari, even has some moderately impressive specs for a novelty cellphone. Offering dual-band support (900/1800 MHz), a 2.2-inch touch-sensitive LCD display with 260k colors, a music player with equalizer, a video player, a camera for maximum picture size of 1280 x 1024 pixels and even a video recorder, along with an assortment of other goodies. You can get yours for around $190. (more…)