For the second summer in a row, Devin and I helped with the UNH Keepers Camp. Students ranging from second to fifth grade spend half a day with us exploring electrical engineering. To start off the day, we helped them experiment with different metals and liquids to see which made better batteries. They were really …
Category Archive: Just for fun
Jul
15
AR.Drone Quadrotor Flight via Microsoft Surface
While working under Andrew Kun in Project54, I have been researching and developing applications for the Microsoft Surface for my Senior Project. This project has eventual collaboration with other schools and professional groups working toward a multi-touch application which controls a fleet of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Other groups have developed similar UAV …
Jul
11
Games for the Microsoft Surface Presentation
My partner Shawn and I gave a presentation a couple weeks ago focused on the games available for the Surface. For our Senior Project we are working on designing a virtual air hockey game for the Microsoft Surface, I will be focusing my work on creating a controller that tracks a users movements and how …
Mar
10
Incredibly Realistic Android
Unlike the creepy animatronic people in Disney Land, the Geminoid DK, while still kind of creepy, is a stepping stone in android research. The android is controlled by motion capture technology. A user sits at a computer which replicates their facial movements. So as of right now it still could be just animatronics, BUT, it …
Feb
20
The New Life of Commodore 64
Does this image look familiar? If it does, then you may be interested to know that Commodore 64 is back! Believe it or not, but a company named Commodore USA, LLC just recently decided to bring the timeless classic from the dead. Even though the computer will have the well known look and feel, it …
Jun
29
Inflatable mouse – thin or not
A pointing device, such as a mouse, touchpad or the pointing stick, has become an essential component of the modern computer system. As the number of portable computer users steadily increases so does the need for a compact and highly portable pointing device. The problem evident with existing pointing devices is that an increase in the portability of the device often …
Jun
03
Gesture-Based Computing
These Lycra gloves are part of a new MIT prototype for a new gesture-based computing system. Graduate student Robert Wang and Associate Professor Jovan Popović developed this system that improves upon other techniques that use interfaces that adapt to human movement, such as the Nintendo Wii. Lycra gloves made of irregularly shaped patches are part …
Mar
11
Project Natal for Xbox
This really looks like Wii on steroids! I have recently stumbled upon Microsoft’s Project Natal for Xbox. Their slogan is “You are the controller” which is really appropriate. The system uses full body motion, facial and speech recognition in order to improve the sensation while playing a video game. This means that no electro-mechanical controllers …
Oct
28
Apple Creates Multi-Touch Mouse
Apple recently unveiled one of its newest creations: a mouse that responds to gestures and finger movements instead of the usual clicks and scroll wheel that come standard on a regular mouse. Dubbed “Magic Mouse“, this mouse uses a special optical laser that can read movement on any surface. This means the user does not …