BMW is already notorious for the innovations it brings to the automotive cars. A while ago, we’ve seen the GINA concept car, but now I want to show you something that doesn’t have a strict relation to cars. I’d say it’s a rather unique form of art that could also take the form of a car or any other form for that matter. Check out the clip first.
Spiffy stuff, won’t you agree? The unique “kinetic sculpture†system could be seen among 125 exhibits packed into the newly-renovated BMW Welt in Munich last week. The system is in fact a mechatronic installation designed by ART+COM, a Berlin-based interactive media company which was commissioned by BMW. The project uses 714 metal balls that are individually suspended by barely visible strings, creating a seemingly weightless, amorphous mass that resembles a 3D mash. Each ball lowers and retracts independently, which allows them to approximate almost any form.
Since it was commissioned by BMW, the installation was also programmed to cycle through the shapes of all classic and contemporary BMW cars. In between car shapes, the “kinetic sculpture†system demos some abstractions, showing some artistic potential.
There aren’t many headsets specifically designed for Xbox360 consoles out there. However, I was surprised to find out that Turtle Beach is among those companies that make Xbox360 headsets. Turtle Beach is known for its quality sound cards rather than anything else. Even more, the latest headset is actually the fourth version in three years.
The Ear Force X4 headset features an infrared interface and ups the standard with 5.1 Dolby Digital. Due to its advanced set of features, the headset now finds itself in the $200 range. The X4 will feature a digital signal processor that decodes Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic II signal sources, and the wireless headphones’ dock will connect to sources via digital optical input and analog stereo inputs. An important upgrade for the X4 comes in the form of a redesigned transmitter that features a boosted signal range and closely resembles a wireless router.
The design of the X4 still includes some features found in the previous versions. Thus, we still have the active microphone monitoring, automatic shut-off, and bass boost features. However, Turtle Beach assures that the audio quality has been improved dramatically, and the infrared transmitters are now able to perform similar to the Bluetooth technology. For more info, check out the official Turtle Beach page.
While the Clef Music Note Stand, designed by Sungho Lee, describes a portable computer concept with music note stand functionality, the MusicPad Pro is a real product consisting of a digital sheet music system, or digital music stand.
In the case of Clef, a talented industrial designer was inspired by his music passion, while with the MusicPad things are opposite – the digital device was created by musicians with passion for technology, who thought in developing a portable compact unit capable to store thousands of music pages.
When using the MusicPad digital music stand, you can turn the pages with music scores with a simple touch of a finger or using the optional foot pedal. Enabling the turn-ahead feature you can see what’s the next page while you’re still playing one. Also, you can make adjustments to scores with rehearsal marks or other tools, and you won’t loose any fragment of your work.
In addition, the Music manager software helps you in downloading and importing from composition software such as Sibelius, Finale, Encore or Cakewalk, and even from scanned scores.
The device measures 330 x 250 x 45 mm at almost 2 Kg and features a 12.1-inch 1024 x 768-pixel low- glare touch-sensitive display with TFT LCD technology and backlight, so you’ll be able to play your scores in low light conditions as well as bright environments.
Thousands of pages can be stored and managed in the 32MB Flash memory and 64MB RAM, and the device comes also with 512MB Flash memory module. Other cool characteristics include a rechargeable battery, video out, audio out, AC power, 2 USB ports, foot pedal jack, 100,000 digital music scores download option from SightReadMusic.co.uk, support for converted scanned music library, the possibility to make color notes with handwriting, key pasages zooming, notation symbols library, text annotation via virtual keyboard, half-page turn option for look-ahead viewing, 2-page display in landscape mode, remote page turning, MISI player, file browser, quick search function, and expandable playlist.
The digital music stand comes with several useful accessories such as the Deluxe MusicPad Pro Carrying Bag with rugged handle, carrying strap, large padded interior pocket, enough space for notebook computers, 3 zippered pockets on the exterior, and 1 Velcro pocket for business cards and markers. It is made of durable 1000 denier nylon with water- and abrasion resistance and has rugged plastic hardware.
The foot pedal with MPP adapter/extension connects to the MusicPad Pro and lets you forward pages, while the 15' MPP Adapter/Extension Cable connects to it to device providing up to 15 feet range.
They say Blu-ray and the future discs formats are here to stay, but I tend to disagree a bit. I have read some predictions coming from respectable analysts who pointed out the fact that memory cards could replace data discs. I don’t know if that will happen in the near future, as memory cards can hardly reach 64 GB of storage space for now. Anyway, Pioneer seems to think that the time for memory cards is still far away, and presents the first 16-layer read-only optical disc with a capacity of 400 gigabytes.
Pioneer has managed to raise the per-layer capacity to 25 gigabytes, which is the same as that of a Blu-ray Disc (BD). According to the press release this multilayer technology will also be applicable to multilayer recordable discs. This breakthrough will ensure that Pioneer will soon develop an important quantity of large-capacity optical discs, which are expected to become necessary in the near future.
For the read-out system, Pioneer achieved stability in the playback of recorded signals by employing a wide-range spherical aberration compensator and light-receiving element that can read out weak signals at a high signal-to-noise ratio in the optical pick-up mechanism. Since the optical specifications of the objective lens, such as NA (Numerical Aperture), are the same as those for the existing BD discs, it is possible to maintain compatibility between the new 16-layer optical disc and the BD discs.
The 16-layer optical disc technology, capable of storing much more data than the conventional discs on one disc, will greatly reduce the number of discs to be used and therefore contribute to the conservation of resources. Pioneer will also present elaborate details on the entire development at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage 2008 held in Hawaii beginning July 13.
Ever wondered how it’s like to swing like crazy between those downtown skyscrapers? Soon, you’ll be able to join Spider-man and Batman in their fight against supervillains… or you could only be saving your sorry behind when your entire office building crumbles to pieces. All you need is the Wizard.
DVice explains that the Wizard is primarily designed to be an emergency escape system that lowers you safely to earth if all hell breaks loose. All you have to do is strap on its all-encompassing belt and make sure the lifeline-containing drum on your back is secured in place. Then attach the cable and jump for your life!
You might want to know that the nicely-designed drum only holds 250m of its special Kevlar lanyard cable, so if you happen to be working in the Burj Dubai or any other taller building… bummer. But those buildings are supposed to be pretty secure, so you’ll probably want to use this only with apartment buildings or hotels. OK, you won’t be able to keep it up with Spidey and the Dark Knight, but you can at least make a smooth landing and maybe save some lucky girl on your way down. Or you could use the Wizard for Mission Impossible stunts and casino hits.
