Robotics can be an expensive hobby but cheap robot projects do exist. Instructables member Imadami has made a DIY robot with an Arduino brain that you can build yourself for under a hundred dollars. This remote controlled robot is stocked with a pan and tilt system that could be used to aim a camera or even a USB missile launcher for surveillance and/or scare tactics.

The creator even suggests the option of purchasing additional sensors to make the robot fully autonomous. It’ll sense obstacles in its path, follow a trail of light, smell odors, hear sounds and even know precisely how far it has traveled. You can even turn it into a weapon of mass destruction that slaughters millions.

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Taeyoon Choi is a tourist from South Korea who is tired of the monotony of photography. He asks the question, “Why is there no camera that takes photographs on its own?” So he devised a way to separate the camera from a human operator.  Using French inventor Jacques de Vauncanson’s Mechanical Digesting duck, Choi has turned it into his own “Magical Image Digesting Duck.”

Through a hacked digital camera, the duck is able to snap photographs in response to other camera flashes during its travels to many tourists spots in New York City. It is then able to immediately print it out or post them on the ‘net via WiFi. The duck is currently on display at Eyebeam Studios in the “Tourists and Travelers” exhibit.

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Olympus Japan today announced the development of the worlds first 360 degree lens and camera prototype. With a vertical coverage of 180 degrees this camera is a boon to surveillance systems everywhere.  This camera won’t miss a thing as it can cover every possible angle so long as the room isn’t too asymmetrical.

No word from Olympus if the prototype camera will be commercialized or how much it’ll cost, but you can bet it’ll be out of the price range of most consumers.

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How this device isn’t an April Fool’s joke is beyond me. Yeah, it’s that awesome. Created by Julius von Bismarck, the Image Fulgurator can remotely insert images into other people’s photographs. Through a complex setup involving a 35mm camera and light, you can aim the device at the scenery someone is photographing and a light sensor will insert your image when their flash goes off.

When the victim goes to develop the film or check the image on a display, they’ll be disappointed to find another photo overlaying their magnificent shot of the Times Square. You can make your own but it won’t be easy. You should watch the informative video above if you haven’t already. The soundtrack and style of it is amusing to say the least.

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New spy cam software has been compared to scramble suits worn by narcotics officers in Philip K Dick’s novel/movie A Scanner Darkly. No one wants their own mug shown in some criminal surveillance video simply because you became an anecdote for “the wrong place at the wrong time.” With this new software, faces will be blurred and encrypted; protecting the identity of anyone innocent that is caught on camera. So, just because some other guy seems to be proceeding through life like “a cat without whiskers perpetually caught behind the refrigerator” doesn’t mean you have to suffer for it.

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This glass surface with the form of keys etched in it is the latest project from designer Kong Fanwen. Using a motion capture camera mounted at the top, it tracks your finger motion and translates it to the computer as if you were typing on any normal keyboard. The “No-key Keyboard” is the sleekest looking keyboard we’ve seen in awhile and is reminiscent of many other touch-sensitive glass gadgets we’ve seen.

No word on any retail information, but I’m sure that this’ll be a hit with all your co-workers at the office. I can’t wait to see the matching mouse.
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If there’s a company out there that can take on Apple, it’s either Nokia or Sony-Ericsson. The latter company will be coming out with a sleek little cellphone called the C905 in Q4 of this year. It’ll have a really nice QVGA screen, support MS Exchange just like the iPhone 3G, Bluetooth, Xenon flash and some other crap. It sounds like a decent phone already, right? I mean, it’s even quad-band and supports 3G too. So why the boner?

It comes with an 8.1-megapixel camera built into the phone. No longer will you need a camera when you’re out. The iPhone has a 2-megapixel camera for comparison and Sony makes some fantastic technology, so expect this thing to be a BEAST. Rumor is that it’ll retail for about $700 unlocked.

Would you take an unlocked, 8.1-megapixel cameraphone over the iPhone?

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Since purchasing a DSLR last year, my major problem hasn’t been related to having a good time, but rather endlessly worrying if my camera will be lost, stolen or broken. I haven’t had a chance to use the Eye-Fi wireless SD card yet, but I’ve heard plenty of good things. Now I have another reason to pick one up: security.

Seems the Eye-Fi software will let you know what happened to your camera if it gets within range of an open WiFi network. Talk about an added bonus! However, Eye-Fi just so happened to lock on to an open WiFi network that matched the owner’s details and thus an upload was performed. What if that didn’t happen? Would Eye-Fi still save your digicam? Only one way to find out…

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Japanese researchers have devised a prototype that renders 3D images by using pictures taken by 64 cameras placed on an 8 x 8 grid. The 3D display is comprised of a small assortment of shapes and colors.  The images taken by the cameras look three-dimensional to the naked eye and researchers say it’s, “almost real time.”

By taking 60 angled shots from 60 different directions using the camera grid, the rendering system is able to display images of objects and adjust the 3D effect accordingly.  Devices like these serve a lot of potential, but at a price tag of $5000, this 3D rendering system is far from commercialized.
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Filming people doing silly sings is much easier when your camera is hidden secretly in the arms of your sunglasses. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to spend $402 on these suave spy sunglasses so you can be the next Ethan Hunt.

A simple button push is all it takes to switch the view that you wish to record on the fully featured wireless receiver. The color video is recorded with audio so that you can view your exploits later.

And exploits there will be. With these glasses you could find great blackmail material on just about anyone! Chinavasion is not responsible if you’re executed in a foreign country for espionage.

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