drag2share: SandyStation interactive sandbox uses Kinect to make topography much more interesting (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/sandystation-interactive-sandbox-uses-kinect-to-make-topography/

If you're not really into using your Kinect experiment to launch your new startup or give your next presentation, let us offer another entertaining option. Two students at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen have created an interactive sandbox using Kinect, a projector, a computer and, of course, a box chock full of sand. The Xbox motion / depth detector is installed about two feet above the sand pit to measure each area that is carved out. Using a unique detection program, the topographical information is then transmitted to a data projector that renders an image in the sandpit -- the image being a color based on the height or depth of what has been created. The devs have built out a few different projections. Hills that are constructed by the user are assigned a shade of green based on height, while troughs are given blue hues according to depth. What's that? You built a hill and dug out the center? The projector sees that as a volcano, complete with spewing lava. If you're tired of SimCity and want to actually get your hands dirty, take a peak at the video just past the break.

[Thanks, Mark]

Continue reading SandyStation interactive sandbox uses Kinect to make topography much more interesting (video)

SandyStation interactive sandbox uses Kinect to make topography much more interesting (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Nissan sells more than 20,000 Leafs in first year, high-fives commence on Tokyo Motor Show floor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/nissan-sells-more-than-20-000-leafs-in-first-year-high-fives-co/

You win this round, hippies! Only a few months after announcing that it sold 10,000 all-electric Leaf cars in international markets, Nissan stated at the Tokyo Motor Show today that the company has sold over 20,000 Leafs since the car went on sale in December of 2010. Of the 9,000 Leafs that have been sold to U.S. owners, over 60 percent went to homes in California, where owners no doubt admire their electric cars while enjoying their tasty organic kale and starfruit smoothies. The company also added that it expects to sell more than 10,000 Leafs in the U.S. by the end of 2011, which dovetails perfectly into their predictions. Given that the Japanese EV's prime competition has been plagued by concerns about its flammability, Nissan might just exceed those expectations.

Nissan sells more than 20,000 Leafs in first year, high-fives commence on Tokyo Motor Show floor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Lenovo LePhone K2 to arrive with 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.5GHz dual-core chip

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/lenovo-lephone-k2-to-arrive-with-4-3-inch-ips-display-1-5ghz-du/

Frankly speaking, the phones that Lenovo have announced so far this week haven't been all that exciting (unless, of course, you're somehow aroused by its 5-inch tabletphone), but it turned out the folks had a little surprise for us: the LePhone K2. What we got here is a 4.3-inch IPS display (resolution of which not yet announced), a powerful dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 chip, 1GB RAM, 1GB ROM and an eight megapixel 1080p camera. Sadly, like the S2 and the S760, this crouching tiger also packs Android 2.3.5 instead of Ice Cream Sandwich, but without a price or a release date, perhaps there's still a small chance that we'll see it eventually launching with the newer OS. Anyhow, that's just our wishful thinking. Chinese hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: Lenovo LePhone K2 to arrive with 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.5GHz dual-core chip

Continue reading Lenovo LePhone K2 to arrive with 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.5GHz dual-core chip

Lenovo LePhone K2 to arrive with 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.5GHz dual-core chip originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds! .

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drag2share: Stradivarius violin recreated from CAT scan, 'sounds amazingly similar'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/stradivarius-violin-recreated-from-cat-scan-sounds-amazingly-s/

We've seen all kinds of crazy things being printed -- from bones to blood vessels -- and now you can add antique violins to that list. Music loving Radiologist Steven Sirr popped his into a CAT scanner to see what it was made of, then showed the results to a violin-making friend. Curiosity soon led them to scan everything from guitars to mandolins, so when the chance to take a peek inside a 307-year-old Stradivarius came up, how could they resist? 1000 scans later, the files were converted to 3D CAD format and another violin maker enlisted. Crucially, the images show the density of the wood all the way through, allowing a CNC machine to carve out copies of each section, with different woods used to match the differing densities. With all the parts in place and a lick of varnish, the replicas were complete. Sirr claims the copies sound "amazingly similar" to the original, but we are unsure if he plans to make it open-source.

Stradivarius violin recreated from CAT scan, 'sounds amazingly similar' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: New Samsung chip has two of everything: two cores, 2GHz, 2560 x 1600 graphics

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/new-samsung-chip-has-two-of-everything-two-cores-2ghz-2560-x/

Sammy's current Cortex A9-based chips are hardly slackers -- the Galaxy Note already proved that to any lingering doubters. Nevertheless, the next-gen Exynos 5250 SoC promises to double that sort of performance, by harnessing two Cortex-A15 chips clocked at 2GHz each, along with a GPU that can output resolutions of up to 2560 x 1600 (WQXGA). It's like big.LITTLE computing, except without the LITTLE. Samsung reckons it'll start mass producing the 5250 for use in high-end tablets by the second quarter of next year, which should be just in time to stop NVIDIA from getting too cocky.

New Samsung chip has two of everything: two cores, 2GHz, 2560 x 1600 graphics originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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