face on technabob...

Remember Tengu? You know, the little LED guy who moves his pixel block mouth to the sounds it hears?
Well Tengu is back, and this time, he’s got some new looks. Tengu Allstars are Crispin Jones’ latest creation. These new members of the Tengu family get some serious attitude thanks to the addition of hair and little accessories. There are…

Japan-based MotionPortrait Inc. has developed a way of making a three-dimensional image of a person’s face based only on a single headshot. What’s really impressive about MotionPortrait technology is that the CG face moves and can make all sorts of expressions in a fairly realistic manner. And remember, that’s just based on a single source image.

The source image is…

This diamond-encrusted LED watch is so madly, deeply, insanely blinged over with diamonds that you can barely see what time it is. In fact, the diamonds cover the face of the watch so you have to read the digital display through a diamond screen.

The watch is a collaboration between high-design and art house Gourmet and the jeweler Christian Tse.…

I was surfing around the recesses of the Interweb today, digging under rocks to bring you fun new stuff from around the globe, when I stumbled upon something that just jumped out and beat me over the head. Nope, they’re not particularly gadget-y or game-y, but when I saw these goofy little organizer tabs, I was so enamored that I…

The other day, I showed you guys what I thought was some really impressive computer generated facial animation. Then, the guys over at Image Metrics sent me a video clip of their latest CG creation, Emily, and I was bowled over.

Emily is a truly monumental achievement, recreating every nuance of human facial expression, even though what you’re actually looking…

Here’s a nifty clock that’s a bit more dynamic than what you’d typically see hanging on your wall. Depending on the angle you view it from, the face either shows simple hash marks or numerals around the dial.

Named for its similarity to clocks which appear in train stations around Europe, the Station Numbers Hologram clock was designed by Dutch…

Here’s some pretty cool news which could provide entirely new ways to interact with your computer or game console. This new technology will enable automated 3-dimensional tracking of heads and faces using a webcam along with some very special tracking software.

Seeing Machines faceAPI is a developers’ toolkit which provides easy head tracking on all three axes. When combined with…

Now I know many of you out there are holding your breath with anticipation of the next slick industrial design to come out of Apple at this week’s MacWorld show, but while you guys wait, I came across this unique computer design that I actually thought was worth a mention.

Product designer Ross McBride created this concept for a tower…

This humanoid robot holds a pen in its hand and can draw an image of any person who stands in front of it.

Created by robotic researcher Sylvain Calinon, the robot recognizes when there’s a face in its field of view, then snaps a digital photo and extracts the major characteristics of their visage. Once that’s done, the robot turns…

SolidAlliance, makers of wacky things like USB drives that look like sushi and other edibles, has just revealed their latest creation.

The Tengu is an interactive device that displays an animated face using an array of LEDs. Designed by UK artist Crispin Jones, the Tengu reacts to auditory stimuli like music or speech. Depending on the sounds it “hears,” it’s…

Here’s a pretty impressive demonstration of a complex new speech recognition technology. The robot in this video clip is able to listen to three people speaking at the same exact moment, understand exactly what they each said, then process the data dynamically.

Be sure to have your speakers turned on for this video clip or you’ll miss how it works.…

Actually, there are no pigs involved in this bank. Rather, just another case of a bizarre gadget from the streets of Japan.

With its oddly misshapen wedge of of a head, Banpresto’s Face Bank is a rather disturbing looking device. Using an object sensor in its eyes, it detects your approaching hand and starts to chow down on any coin…