Gearfuse

The name is a bit odd, I have to admit, but this looks like one fun toy for the DIY enthusiast out there. It’s called the Meggy Jr RGB and it’s a programmable handheld console that features an 8×8 LED matrix made up of wonderful colored lights. It uses an ATMega168 microcontroller, similar to that of the Arduino. In fact, you can use Arduino code to program the Meggy Jr. With six buttons available, you could end up making a game or an audio interface with this thing.

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has a whole write up on it and how it can be used. It’ll be available next week.

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If you’ve ever wanted to build your own Snake game, you could display from a building, you’ve got to start small first. Good thing Hack A Day’s Ian Lesnet lets you know how to construct a networked LED graffiti wall from scratch.  Showing off a one meter square, five by five matrix of LEDs inspired by Daft Punk, Ian thoroughly explains the step-by-step process to making your own.

Soon enough, you’ll be controlling all the lights displayed on this thing via the Internet. It’s very simple to manipulate with Javascript and it won’t take you very long to do. Happy hacking!

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In The Matrix, robots are self-aware of their existence. This is a bad thing as it eventually leads to the enslavement of mankind. The idea of a human brain inside a robot is intriguing for anyone whose ever wanted to put their brain in a robot body to become an Adrian Barbobot. Scientists are getting closer to that vision, having equipped a small robot with rat neurons to control itself.

An interesting trait of the artificial brain is that it can get bored. If it doesn’t receive any information from the electrodes it’s connected to, the neurons will break the connections, likewise, when the neurons are stimulated, more connections are formed. The robot that was built runs on wheels with an ultrasound sensor enabling it to spot when it is approaching a wall and redirect itself accordingly. That’s great and all but could’t you just do that with an Arduino?

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Air guitar is a big thing but an even bigger musical hit is on the horizon. Omer Yosha has created an interesting, elegant interface that uses infrared sensors to control music applications he’s calling AirPiano. Similar in concept to the theremin but with many more advancements, the AirPiano allows any untalented schmuck to wiggle his fingers above the board to make sound.

This is done by a virtual matrix of keys and faders above the board, each assigned with MIDI messages and ready to be triggered at the whim of the user.  Once those MIDI messages have been triggered it then relays the positioning of your fingers to a computer via USB, where the preprogrammed AirPiano software converts it into sound, or if you’re talented, music.

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Perhaps one day, our world will be ravaged by gigantic robots, nuclear war and stray cats. If this occured, would you really want to spend your days looking at dilapidated buildings and the sort? Of course not. Then, in comes the Augmented Reality Mask to save the day. Trust me when I say it’d go perfectly with the Urban Security Suit.

Supposedly, the mask is intended to provide a “jacked in” feel just like Neo experienced in the movie The Matrix. You’ll see an entirely new landscape, breathe in fresh air and will even be able to smell the virtual environment around you. The mask was designed by Frog Design and is only a prototype at the moment. Perhaps one day we’ll all be wearing these around a post-apocalyptic New York. Hit the jump to see what it looks like with the mask on.

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