Gadgets

I’m very much looking forward to the next installment in the BioShock series. The third game in the series is being developed by Irrational Games and will be published by 2K Games. The game is called BioShock Infinite and game creator Ken Levine recently offered up some words to the guys at Kotaku to stoke your geek lust until the game launches in October of 2012.

According to Levine, Infinite will give gamers choices when they play which affect the storyline in the game.

I don’t want to present it as sort of a BioWare-level, radical reimagining of the universe that you can do by making story choices,” “But there are gonna be some changes.” “Everything you do has deadly consequences.

As previously revealed, the game will put the player in the shoes of an ex-Pinkerton agent named Booker DeWitt. His primary objective is to rescue a girl named Elizabeth, but it’s not a giant escort mission – Elizabeth has serious powers of her own. The game also takes place in the aerial city of Columbia, a dramatic change of scenery from the underwater world of Rapture for sure.

It’s not clear how much you’ll be able to influence the Bioshock:Infinite storyline through your actions, but its presumably more than just whether or not you harvest EVE from Little Sisters this time.

[Kotaku via PC Mag]

I bet a lot of you are like me and get a kick out of seeing the mashups geeks can whip up with a couple gadgets and some spare time. Thomas Sohmers has what might be one of the coolest combos I’ve seen in a long time. He took set of Epson Moverio BT-100 see-through video glasses and a Parrot AR.Drone flying toy and created the coolest first-person view control system yet.

Those video glasses have a see-through display that allows you to see whatever video you’re watching and the real world at the same time. Those glasses happen have a handheld controller that is based on Android, which is the key to this particular hack. Sohmers whipped up some sort of app that runs on the Android controller which allows him to see the video from either of the AR.Drone’s cameras and provide basics control over its flight.

I say “basic” because for now the Android controller will only operate the drone for altitude and for rotating the aim of the camera by spinning the flying toy. Sohmers is working on improving the app so it gives him full control over the flying toy. Check out the video above to see the control system in action.

[via Engadget]

Developers Fatshark and Paradox just released a trailer for the upcoming game War of the Roses. I was sold on this game as soon as I saw the guy getting stabbed in the eye. The game is currently being developed and it is like a first person shooter that is also historical.

While the title might make you think of a 1980s movie, this game takes place in the civil war era of 15th century England, which is known as the War of the Roses. It’s a war between the two rival branches of the Royal House of Plantagenet: House of Lancaster and the House of York.

War of the Roses should be available for the PC later this year. I think it looks promising if you like the medieval era and first-person shooters and I do. So far the graphics look pretty gorgeous too. Hopefully the gameplay is great as well.

[via Kotaku]

If you like to chop fruits and vegetables on a cutting board while dressed as Link, I’ve found your perfect kitchen accessory. This quality cutting board is made from walnut and hard-maple and is tough enough that you won’t mess up the design while you are chopping away.

These boards measure about 12 x 17 x 1.5 inches and sell for $125(USD). Given the price I would say that it’s for hardcore Zelda fans only. They are handmade, so if you order one you will get it within 2 weeks as they take some time to create.

You can find it on Etsy from seller 1337motif, who obviously loves both food prep and a good game of Zelda. Sure it’s expensive, but it’s made to last and it has a Triforce on it. Surely those factors justify a purchase. But if it’s still too expensive for you, consider grabbing a set of Triforce coasters for just $50.

[via Walyou via Albotas]

Some video footage has surfaced of a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet being used as a remote control for a robotic car – complete with some soothing soul music. We don’t know much about this project, but we do know that the PlayBook controls the car over the Wi-fi network provided by a BlackBerry Bold 9900 – and the app was written by a guy named Kamila Sternal. That’s something at least.

Touch-based controls steer and drive the vehicle, and the app shows you in real time what the car’s onboard camera sees. That means that you could send this car into a scary cave, the sewer system, anywhere you want to explore, but don’t actually want to enter physically.

Looks like a fun project that lets you create a spy car while using your tablet. Does this make you want to get a PlayBook? Looks like you can do more with it than we thought, plus remote-controlled cars are always fun.

[via BerryReview via Ubergizmo]

When you have a pizza party, you might like to whip out your Starship Enterprise pizza wheel, but when you want to serve some cold brew along with, you need a cool bottle opener too. Han and Chewie recommend the Millenium Falcon for opening bottles at light speed.

This Millenium Falcon bottle opener is just the right thing for popping open your bottles, and for evading stormtroopers and TIE fighters while you’re at it. If blue milk came in bottles, this would definitely be the right thing to open it with – but it’ll have to do for beer and soda bottles for now. It even has a magnet on the bottom of it so you can stick it to the side of your fridge the same way Han landed it on the side of that Star Destroyer.

If you prefer to carry a weapon instead of a spacecraft, you can always go with this Lightsaber bottle opener. If one was good enough for Anakin to open up some younglings with, it’s good enough for your Bud Light. Though this one is based on Luke’s saber, not Anakin’s though.

On the plus side, it actually makes that lightsaber “swooooosh!!” startup sound when you pop the top. See?..

Both the Millenium Falcon and the Lightsaber bottle openers are available for pre-order over at Forbidden Planet now for £11.99 (~$19 USD), and they ship this Summer.

[via GeekAlerts]

Growing up in the infamous Tornado Alley in Texas, we learned from an early age what to do and what not to do if a tornado is coming your way. You also learn what a tornado looks like and the sort of devastation they can leave behind as well. NASA has shown off a really cool picture that was snapped by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of a dust devil, which is similar to a tornado.

The photo looks a bit like a fire or white worm of some sort, but it’s actually a picture of a dust devil raging on the surface of the red planet. The raging winds pushed a column of dust more than half a mile in the atmosphere. Martian dust devils are very similar to those on Earth and are powered by spinning columns of air.

The difference between a tornado and a dust devil comes in when they form. A dust devil forms on a clear day and is caused by the sun hitting the ground. Tornadoes, on the other hand occur during storms when winds are high. This Martian dust devil measured more than half a mile high, and has a massive shadow as you can see from the image. I wonder how wide its path was.

[NASA via Clarksville Online]

For over 20 years, gamers have been using a mouse to control their video games. Over the last couple of years, motion controls such as the Kinect, Move and Wii-mote have become common on game console, and are starting to make their way to PC gaming and other computer uses as well.

I think the eye-tracking control technology that a company called Tobii showed off about this time last year could have even more potential than other motion control systems, since it could be used while simply sitting at your desk, instead of having to flail your arms and legs about.

Last week, Tobii was demonstrating the latest version of its optical tracking technology at CeBIT called the IS-2 Eye Tracker module. The new module promises to be more responsive and fit a wider range of hardware including gaming machines than the technology unveiled last year could handle. The promise of this technology is the ability to control a videogame or mouse cursor using nothing but your eyes.

The technology uses a pair of infrared projectors that shine on the user’s pupils and a pair of small cameras that record the position of the pupils as the user looks around. The position of the eyes is then sent to a processor on board that turns that into the movement on the screen. The system is said to be very easy use and accurate. In addition to being much smaller, the new version is said to be significantly cheaper than the first-gen model. At this point Tobii, hasn’t announced any consumer products based on the tech, but is offering the IS-2 on an OEM basis to computer and display manufacturers.

[via ZDNet]

I tried lying down on the concrete road once for a school project, and let me just say that my back was sore for close to a week afterwards. Obviously concrete isn’t made for comfort; it’s made to be strong and hard and long-lasting so we don’t end up with horribly cracked roads and structures.

With the exception of these Concrete Cushions by Torafu Architects, that is. These cushions are part of the design studio’s “Soft Block” series that offers a solution for modular, re-arrangable furniture.

Each of the faux concrete blocks feature varying and diverse designs that come together wonderfully when they’re stacked or placed side-by-side. Make a chair, put together a sofa, or lay everything down flat on the floor to come up with a mattress.

The cushions are extra cushy and comfortable since they use cushy, but supportive Fine Revo foam material by Asleep.

Now I’d lie down any day on this kind of concrete.

[via designboom]

/> Add the illusion of security to your fridge with the Kikkerland Safe Kitchen Timer. It looks just like the combination lock on a safe but it actually works as a kitchen timer. It sticks to any magnetic surface so you can use it on your locker, oven, metal plate in your head or even your real safe. Times up to 60 minutes. Now if only there was a way to keep other members of the household from eating all the ice cream in the freezer and putting the cartons back in there empty….

Safe Kitchen Timer