It seems easy at the beginning, but the things they build are stunning.
But what really amazes me it’s not the things they do but the things they cook. Amazing!
Category Archives: Emulation
epow (Experiment project of the Week)
The next project aims to improve hearing-aid by creating filters that will adapt to the environment, so for instance, in a crowded room they will filter away most of the noise and enhance the speech of the most closest person. Improvement of Hearing-Aid Performance using Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs).
First person shooter controlled by people on Chatroulette.
To be honest, I didn’t even know about Chatroulette. But It seems that RealmPictures manage to made a real-life first person shooter game that was controlled by people on Chatroulette. Awesome!The people on the chat can see the same as the actor and can control him with verbal commands to survive a zombiapocalipse.
This how they made it possible.
Piano talks like a human.
A long time ago, I though that maybe an orchestra (using the right combination of notes), might be able to reproduce sounds similar to human speaking. I didn’t do anything about it, because I consider it just an idealization which might be impossible in real life. But, it turns out it is possible. However, you need electronics to turn speech into a combination of precisely timed notes.
Bret Victor and the visual comunication of science.
Not long ago, I came across a very nice simulation that described very well Why do buses bunch? That simulation belonged to the project Setosa, which main objective is to promote the visual communication of science.
Following that trend, I discovered another programmer that is also producing some very nice simulations. Its name? Bret Victor.
“purveyor of impossible dreams”
If you explore Bret’s webpage, you will find interesting exploration/simulation programs. Like the road bending simulation.
In this simulation there is a self-driving car that has to stay on the road despite a turn in the road. The parameters you can play with are the angle at which the road bends and how big is the angle the car uses for correction when it detects that is not over the road.
But most important, you will discover some good talks and videos about the importance of good communication and how the new technologies can give us the power to effectively communicate our ideas or our results.
Ok. If you have read this far, probably you want to try something yourself.
The JavaScript library that Bret refers to is called d3. You can download d3 and see examples here.
For instance… Conway’s game of life.
or a collision detector.
Or…. visualize the stock exchange market.
By the way, if you need to refresh JavaScript o need some SVG to combine with d3… the best place for learning is the w3schools.
Haptic interface: Haptoclone
The future of technology goes through new interfaces. It is simply no possibly to keep within the actual modes of interfacing, we have to go beyond, and this is maybe a glimpse of what it could be. A combination of 3D images and ultrasounds to transmit images and “touch”.
To read more: Makino Lab.
KICKSTARTER PROJECT OF THE WEEK (KPW)
This week we bring you another VR platform, not because it is new or because it has new capabilities, just because the more we fund the sooner it will become a reality.
Say welcome in your hoses to KAT WALK.
Screentendo
Screentendo lets you turn any image on your screen into a Super Mario Bros level.
Unfortunately it is only for MAC.
Why do buses bunch?
Have you ever been waiting too long for a bus and suddenly two buses appear?
Do you ask yourself why it happens?
Setosa makes possible to understand this and more other things by visual explanations.
Going back to the buses, here is a very simple simulation that lets you play with 2 buses doing the same route.
As you can see from playing around, it is quite easy to destabilize the system but difficult to bring it back to the situation with regular buses. One way of going back to normal is if the second bus stops and waits for the other buss to be quite ahead.
If you like it, then explore other visual explanations.
LEGO Mosaic Printer
I think this is one of the most simplistic approach to 3D printing with LEGO and I like it. I hope he adds a Z component in order to build in 3D.
the Brick In the Sky 