This special vending machine uses drips of coffee poured carefully through milk to form a face on the top of your hot beverage. In this particular case, it makes the face of a woman, floating in your foamy cuppa cappu. Apparently, that’s a pattern that Yojiya Cafe teaches its human baristas to make too. Here’s a video clip of the machine working it’s magic. Trust me when I say that since it does all of its tricks behind closed doors, it’s not very thrilling though.

Heck, there could be a little tiny barista in there doing that for all I know. From what I can tell, the face is the only pattern this machine makes, but it would be cool if you could pick from others. I’m sure they’ll eventually figure that out if they haven’t already.

This particular machine is located at the Yojiya Cafe in Haneda Airport if you happen to be in Tokyo and want to check it out for yourself.

[via YouTube]

The “talking mask animation engine” conveys emotion just like humans do. It will blink and even raise it’s virtual eyebrows. Obviously this could be big for video conferencing, but it has many other applications as well.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

How about putting a face you know on a cold sex bot? Maybe it could be used as a virtual spy, fooling people into giving up any info you are looking for. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

[via PopSci via Theweek]

This iPod Touch case is made from silicone and in addition to being cute and adorable, protects your device quite nicely. The Griffin Faces case comes with six different eyes and three mouths. So you can configure the face on your case however and whenever you like.

You can buy the Faces case right now from the Griffin website for $25(USD), and it comes in pink or blue for the iPod Touch. Hopefully they will release one for our iPhones down the road. Very cute!

[via Chip Chick]

And since there is no gadget that the Japanese want to leave uninvented to treat everyday problems such as humongous eye bags, we now have the option of treating these unsightly undereye circles and bulges with the Eye Slack Haruka.

The Eye Slack Haruka is actually a pair of pink-colored, crescent moon-shaped devices with two modes of operation: soft and hard. Going for “hard” will provide some mild, electric simulation to your eye bags, while “soft” gives them a gentle heating and vibrating treatment.

No clinical studies have been done to show the effectiveness of the Eye Slack Haruka, but the manufacturers claim that just three minutes a day with these under-eyepieces on will reduce the sagging skin under your peepers with continued use. It’s available from Japan Trend Shop for $131 if you’d like to give it a shot.

[via Ubergizmo via Oh Gizmo!]

These Push Plugs aren’t just plugs with a personality. They’re also pretty functional, too. Aside from bearing subtle decorations to give your plug heads, well, an actual face, they also come with this tiny black knob at the back that makes unplugging your plugs from wall sockets a breeze–especially those hard-to-remove plugs that seem to feel like they’re somehow stuck on the socket. (Whew, I think that’s the most times I’ve ever used the words “plug” and “socket” in a single paragraph.)

I don’t think it would be feasible (or even possible) to have all manufacturers incorporate the Push Plug’s nifty design onto their plugs. However, I think it would be a whole lot easier and simpler if the designers instead applied this design to plug adapters, which are designed to fit over plugs and convert them from three-pronged plugs to two-pronged ones (and vice versa.)

[via Yanko Design]

The ETRO robot is made by ETRI, the South Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. Compared to previous generations of the ETRO robot, this one has more complex arms and a few different sensors. It’s also able to recognize and process speech thanks to its speech recognition hardware.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The LED faceplate might seem a bit dated, but I wouldn’t wanting anything more on a robot like this. If a robot has a very humanoid face, it gets really creepy, really fast.

[via Plastic Pals]

Emotigraph is a laser-cut wooden plaything with a mechanism which lets you change its face between a variety of moods. Simply turn the disc underneath Emotigraph, and it’ll go from elated, to depressed, to non-plussed in seconds (just like you.)

The exact expressions on the included disc are “happy,” “angry,” ” sad,” and “surprised.” However, additional discs can be purchased for moods like “bashful,” “sorry,” “whisper,” and “maybe.” The interchangeable discs are why its called the Emotigraph (“emotion phonograph”, get it?)

Emotigraph was designed by Matthew Garten, who has shown the pieces at MakerFaire, and also has instructions for making your own over on Instructables. But the easiest way to get an Emotigraph is to head over to Etsy, where you can grab one for just $29.50(USD). You’ll still need to tackle what looks like a pretty involved assembly process, but that’s part of the fun anyhow.

My mom used to make me identify animals and objects that the clouds formed during some of our lazy afternoons together. I’m sure you’ve had your own cloud naming moments way back when, too.

Animal clouds, food clouds, and random geometrically shaped clouds are a pretty common sight, but have you ever seen a real, un-live Imhotep cloud?

Okay, so this isn’t exactly Imhotep, but doesn’t it sort of look like an Egyptian pharaoh to you? With the narrow nose, sharp cheekbones, and sculpted forehead?

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The whole pre and post Imhotep-forming was captured on film, luckily, and as of writing, has garnered over six hundred thousand views on YouTube.

[via TechEBlog]

Trimensional describes the app as a 3D scanner for the iPhone, but for now it only works with faces. A recent update allows you to create an animated GIF file of the 3D model to share with friends. With a $5 in-app purchase, you can output the scan as a 3D model and then send it to a 3D printer (printing cost not included). While not a lot of people have access to one, it sure makes it interesting.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

3D printing is one of the few forms of 3D technologies that I think is worthwhile. 3D screens aren’t really going to take off in my opinion, unless the 3D screens become like the Holodeck on the Starship Enterprise.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Created by the guys at The Astonishing Tribe (or tat for short) and leveraging Polar Rose’s facial recognition platform, Recognizr not only can connect faces with your mobile device’s address book, but it can match the person’s face to social networking profiles and automatically allow you to identify the user by face.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The main downside to the app at this point is that it requires that participants all be users of the mobile app in order to be recognized, which seriously diminishes its usefulness. Hopefully, that will change with time, and anyone sharing facial data on social networks could participate. At this point, the app is just in the prototype stages, but The Astonishing Tribe guys expect to offer a version of app in the Android Market in the coming months.

[via ReadWriteWeb via Phandroid]

The Nano-Care Ion Steamer can generate up to 12mL of steam per minute. Curiously, the device can also generate the exact opposite, a “cooling mist”. If neither of them are bad… plain old room temperature water must be harmful to our skin then! To think that I’ve been taking a bath using that stuff!

You can order a Nano-Care Ion Steamer at GeekStuff4U for $416 (USD). Or you can just boil water in a pot. Just kidding.

I’m not sure if the giant eye or the crooked fangs are more charming here. I just know that I may have actually released a girlish cry of glee when I first came across this case. It’s the Eye Phone case, by the way. As though the thing itself wasn’t already disgustingly adorable!

Oh, but that’s not all. The ArtsiBitsi store has got pouches and cases galore, cases for everything from crayons to cameras, and they are all beautifully stitched and fitted with cunning little faces.

…and a certain familiar alien. Those guys get around.

Designed by Japan’s Takara Tomy, Clockman jars you awake each morning with a variety of chatty statements, along with some goofy animated facial expressions. But even after you hit the snooze bar, he seems to keep going, and going, and going. Clockman just doesn’t know when to shut up. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for those of us who don’t speak Japanese, we have no idea what Clockman is actually saying. Here – watch the video below and let us know what you think Clockman is talking about.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I like to think he’s saying something like “What the hell are you still doing in bed?”, “Don’t you have to get to your McJob so you can buy more cheap plastic gadgets from Japan? Loser!”

The other weird thing is that you’re supposed to choose a Clockman based on your blood type. There’s AB, B, O and A versions for you to pick from. Why? Why not? The guys over at CScout Japan seem to have an explanation – but it’s about as scientifically sound as biorhythms, horoscopes and tarot card readings.

I dare you to buy an O, even if you’re AB negative. Do you think it might reject you like a transplanted organ?

Clockman hits the streets of Japan this September, and it’s doubtful that we’ll see an English-language version anytime soon ever.

[photos: Kaden Watch and CScout Japan]

The scientists’ next goal is to get the Einstein robot to socialize, and eventually robot tormentors tutors.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Marian Bartlett, a facial recognition expert who was a part of the experiment, said that the aim is to use robots to conduct one-on-one tutoring, which she says can improve learning “by as much as two standard deviations.” Sounds like they want our kids to go insane.

[via Wired]

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 three new Allstars, the first of which is Rotten, the punk rocker Tengu. He is an anarchist.

Next up is Stardust, the glam rock Tengu whose dad came from Mars, and grew up in a spaceship. Tengu, do you use your pointy nipples as telescopic antennae to transmit data back to Earth?

Tengu Allstars are available over on Charles & Marie for $40 (USD) each.

The source image is on the left, and the CG is the one on the right. Currently, MotionPortrait can modify the CG face by adding glasses or facial hair, as well as changing hairstyles. Click here or here to see an example of a MotionPortrait in action.

The CG face is still obviously artificial – the color is too pale, and the movements are a bit stiff – but it’s not that far off. MotionPortrait technology has been used in commercials in Japan, but I’m really hoping that the technology could be incorporated into video games someday.

Think of it: you snap a picture of yourself, upload it into your console, and it generates a CG face that you can use in games, complete with facial expressions. How awesome would it be to see a CG version of yourself playing basketball with the pros in NBA 2k15? Or be able to play Final Fantasy 25 with you as the hero? Technology: it’s the bee’s knees.

[via Tech on!]

The watch is a collaboration between high-design and art house Gourmet and the jeweler Christian Tse. It sports a white leather band and a whole mess o’ white diamonds.

While I don’t have the official specs, I will be happy to do some rough estimations for you, so here goes: The watch has about a bazillion diamonds and costs infinity dollars. Hope that helps.

[via Cyana.Trend.Land.]

Created by Korea’s J’Story, these little removable tabs sit on the edge of your folders, documents or other papers, and help you keep organized.

The series includes a whimsical menagerie of characters including comical bears, rabbits, and little ninja dudes.

Aren’t they irresistable? As a matter of fact, I think they’re so cute I just might have to puke. The certainly beat those boring Post-It tabs that many of us have on our desks.

You can find the whole family over from Korea’s DCX for 1700 to 2500 Korean Won per pack (between $1.50 and $2.25 USD). Now you’ve just got to figure out a way to get them shipped here from the other side of the planet.

Emily is a truly monumental achievement, recreating every nuance of human facial expression, even though what you’re actually looking at is the face of a digital actor. Created through a partnership with USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), the team’s primary objective was to create a completely convincing, animated computer-generated face, and I think they succeeded.

Using ICT’s special scanning system that can capture facial details down to the individual pore, the face of actress Emily O’Brien was transformed into a digital representation of herself, which could then be entirely machine-manipulated. A special spherical lighting rig captured O’Brien in 35 reference facial poses using a pair of high resolution digital cameras. The facial maps were then converted into 3D data using Image Metrics’ proprietary markerless motion capture technology.

Image Metrics then generated a new animation sequence and precisely superimposed it onto the live actress’ head. As you can see from the video below, you’d be really hard-pressed to tell the difference between digital Emily and real-world Emily.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Amazing, no? Be sure to check out some of Image Metrics’ other CGI projects, which include work on Grand Theft Auto IV, Devil May Cry 4, and a most excellent Gnarls Barkley video featuring a anthropomorphic singing heart.

Named for its similarity to clocks which appear in train stations around Europe, the Station Numbers Hologram clock was designed by Dutch designers Ruben van Boxtel & Reinier Buijs for Karlsson.

And while I’m not really sure that the display counts as a true hologram, there’s definitely some sort of lenticular printing illusion used to produce the effect. And if simple black on white isn’t your thing, the clocks are also available in white on red and white on black versions with stainless steel accents.

You can find a wide variety of Karlsson clocks – including these ones – over at UK retailer ClockCo for £30 (appx. $59 USD) each.