The remote will connect to all other B&O gear in your house via WiFi, which is cool. You can create one-button macro commands to control various entertainment devices around your home. While this is a neat idea, it’s not something new, and can even be found on some cheap universal remotes these days. I guess the rich need to spend their money on something, though.

I usually like the minimal design of B&O, but this thing is a bit distracting. In an age where everyone will soon be using their iPhones to control their HDTVs and homes, these types of super-remotes make less and less sense anyway.

[via Hypebeast via Oh Gizmo!]

Developed at the University of Tsukuba, this robot arm is connected to a computer with a pair of video cameras which can detect the hand, arm and finger movements of its master. Whatever he does, the robot follows. As you can see from the video below, it’s actually quite impressive how well it mimics the individual finger movements and grip of its operator.

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It’s even been tied to a database that’s capable of adapting itself to numerous different hands. At this point, the robot arm system still has a tiny bit of lag, and isn’t precise enough to perform medical procedures. Still, it’s a very promising step in the development of remotely controlled robot avatars – and that’s something we all want, right?

[via Diginfo TV]

This black Ralph Lauren RLX Aero Type Jacket features super-resistant double layered fabric and has arm-mounted controls for your iPod, so that you can control your portable media player without taking it out of your pocket. The shell is made out microfiber and the jacket has adjustable cuffs as well as drawcords. The jacket also includes the RECCO avalanche rescue system if you ever get lost while out on the slopes.

It looks like this jacket has other gadget-oriented features as well. PANiQ technology will allow you to remotely use Bluetooth and other MP3 players, not just iPods. Sounds cool.

It’s currently on sale at the Ralph Lauren online store, discounted from $1,290 (USD) to about $780. I guess that’s about the price for some regular ski jackets.

[via Uncrate]

That’s the British for you. Let’s hope the Australians respond by beating England at the tournament.

[via Forever Geek]

Japan’s Taiyo Toy makes these unusual toy helicopters that come with a voice control mode. Just speak into the included microphone, and you can direct the helicopter up and down, and turn the engines off and on.

Of course, it doesn’t quite understand English, so the commands are a little odd. To start up the engines, say “engine staato”, to shut the engines off, it’s “toe-mah-reh”. To go up, you say “appu”, but to fly down, you still say “down”. Go figure. You can always just hover by saying “holdo”.

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There’s also a good old RF radio controller in case you want to use conventional controls. But what fun would that be.

If you’re in the market for one of these oddities, you don’t have to go to Japan. You can now get your hands on the Voice-Heli worldwide, courtesy of the Japan Trend Shop. It’ll set you back $78 (USD), plus another $24 for international shipping. I’m not sure I’d spend over $100 bucks on something like this, but if you’ve always longed for a voice-controlled toy helicopter that understands half-English/half-Japanese, go for it.

Using a wireless RF transmitter, you can make the yellow aquatic bird tool around as you splish-splash in your bath. A pair of motorized propellers moves the little guy through the water, and let you steer duckie to the left, right, forwards or backwards. A quick 5-minute charge will give you about 15-minutes of bathtime fun. And yes, both the duck and controller are waterproof, so there’s no worries about electrocuting yourself.

The R/C Rubber Duck is available from I Want One of Those for £14.99 (appx. $26.98 USD). Quack.

Developed by engineer Tsuyoshi Horo at Tokyo University, the system uses a circular array of cameras to detect human movements in the room, then convey them to a robot as directional commands.

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Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The system produces a real time 3-dimension volumetric model of people or objects inside the circle of cameras, allowing for precise tracking of movements. Be sure to check out this cool video clip showing what the cameras “see” once run through Horo’s software:

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Controlling robots is just one possible application for the gesture recognition software. Horo has also implemented several computer user interface prototypes using the same basic system. You can find more information on Horo’s research website (translated from Japanese) and more videos over on his YouTube page.

Nyko’s new Wireless Nunchuk (or Nunchuck if you’re not using the proper Nintendo nomenclature) controller lets you play games that require both the Wii-mote and Nunchuk to operate completely without the annoying cable between the controllers. The $30 wireless controller works just like the one Nintendo includes, but transmits its signal to an adapter that snaps on to the bottom of your Wii-mote.

Expect the Nyko Wireless Nunchuk to hit stores sometime later in Q1 2008.

[via CrunchGear]

Lazy Man’s Holiday Lights include a special controller box which let you decide the colors you want illuminated on your string of lights. Since the colored lights are all LEDs, you never have to worry about bulbs burning out either.

They’re not cheap, though. A 50-foot strand (with 25-feet of lead-in cord) will set you back $79.99, including the controller box. On the other hand, a single set will have you all ready for Valentines Day, St. Patty’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and even can show off your team colors when the Bears win the Superbowl (next year).

[via Gizmos for Geeks via OhGizmo!]

Pressing a button on the remote can fire an invisible IR beam at your opponent’s helicopter, making it start to spin out of control. A second shot makes your enemy lose some power, and one more deadly shot kills power altogether, sending their copter plummeting to the ground.

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You can grab a pair of the dueling mini helicopters from ThinkGeek for $49.99.

The company’s recently revealed ZCam is capable of not only capturing gamers’ most intricate gestures, but detecting full-body movements in three dimensions, without the need for the player to hold a controller. The camera’s unique ability to detect depth allows it to track motion as well as sample 3D images (the surfaces it can see, that is) in real time.

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The technology used in the camera was originally designed for use in defense systems, and has now been packaged into a low-cost consumer product. The ZCam can capture 1.3 Megapixel images at up to 60 frames-per-second, passing coordinate data back to a PC (and hopefully game consoles some day).  A proprietary chipset called DeepC takes care of the depth detection algorithms.

The company hasn’t announced any big distribution partnerships at this point, but hopefully some console or computer accessory makers will stand up and take notice.

[via TechShout]

By connecting a biofeedback helmet to a 1970s E-mu matrix synth, the device should able to generate sounds just by thinking about them. Given the age of the synthesizer, I’m pretty sure that it ignores thoughts of anything besides Tangerine Dream or Wendy (Walter) Carlos.

Now comes the bad news. While it sure looks cool, it seems that Krischall’s image is actually just a good bit of Photoshoppery, based on this original image.

To me, it looks like the Prestigo SR-M8015 is about the size of three small remote controls smashed together into one larger device. The remote will control up to 15 discrete components, and offers a color LCD screen in the middle that offers access to a handful of user-configurable buttons.

The humongous tablet-sized remote offers a bunch of physical buttons instead of the “soft” buttons that plague so many universal remotes these days. While I’m not crazy about the fact that you’ll need two hands to use this behemoth, I do like lots of real buttons on my remotes, so I can control things by touch instead of sight.

No release date has been announced, but the remote is expected to retail for under $150 whenever it does come out.

[RemoteShoppe via Engadget]

PSP hacker joesnose MacGyvered together a combination of the GlovePIE, iRShell and Nethostfs libraries to make it all play nicely. The idea that it took a PC, a PSP and the Wii-mote seems like too much work for too little payoff.

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If he could figure out a way to cram the motion sensor circuits and applications inside the PSP, then it would be far more useful. I guess some people just do things to prove they can be done.

[Be sure to check out Joe's excellent NES DVD case mod too. I need one of those.]

The little guy is a pretty accurate replica of the famous droid, complete with authentic movie sound effects. But what’s really cool about it is that it’s actually motorized and has Wi-fi connectivity, so you can drive the little guy from anywhere in the world and spy on unsuspecting passersby remotely. It’s even got a special sensor to prevent your R2 unit from falling off tables or ledges.

Speaking of remotes, the one that comes with it looks like a lightsaber, letting you drive the droid around and snap pictures, videos and audio on-demand. As an added bonus, the remote also functions as a Skype phone handset, so it’s actually useful in addition to being fun.

Available from Hammacher Schlemmer, it’s a bit pricey at $349.95, but if you’re looking for a holiday gift for that Star Wars geek in your life, this could be it.

This remote control wristwatch can operate most popular brands of televisions and DVD players using a tiny touchscreen interface. While you could probably use your fingertips to change channels on the screen, it’s best operated using a stylus since the buttons are so small. The watch has an LCD panel with electroluminescent backlighting for use in dark rooms. Of course, it’s also got clock, calendar and alarm features as well.

It’s also a Available from the online tech bargain shop DealExtreme for just $6.24. O.K., so it is just a cheap watch from China.

The new controller has an interesting design the provides a cradle for both the Wii-mote and the Nunchuk controller. Presumably, you’ll aim with the front of the gun, and use the Nunchuk to move the camera. Nintendo says the $20 accessory will ship later this year with a new, as yet unannounced gaming title.

I’ll update this post with a better picture once Nintendo releases one.

[via Engadget]

The water cannon floats around your swimming pool, and can remotely fire 20-foot blasts of water at unsuspecting victims from up to 40-feet away. The cannon is propelled using a system similar to the nozzles that drive tugboats around, so you can maneuver it quickly and easily. It can even do 360-degree spins.

Two versions are available (orange and green), which run on independent radio frequencies, allowing battles between you and a friend.

The remote water cannon is $129.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer.

The video shows off a nifty typographic animation designed by Erik Loyer which lets the user move the Wii-mote to influence the rendering of the text. As the controller moves, the text moves to match the angle and velocity of the control.

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For his demonstration, entitled “Swing,” Loyer shakes his controller to the tune of a hip Kurt Elling tune. As the lyrics appear on screen, they swing and bounce rhythmically to the music. The video is a bit long, but you’ll get the idea pretty quickly.

So it is with much glee that I bring you the Wii-mote powered theramin, playing the inimitable Theme from Star Trek.

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By connecting his Wii remote with a laptop and special synthesizer control software, hacker Gianni Proietti managed to control his Moog synthesizer to crank out some serious sci-fi sound effects. While it’s not truly a theramin in technical terms, it’s close enough for rock-and-roll.

[via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]