Well, the New York Police Department’s plan for mobile weapon scanners sort of remind me of that, but they are, of course, completely different.

The NYPD is developing a small, portable version of the full body scanners – similar to those that you have to go through in the airport, but using infrared sensors. These devices would enable officers to determine if someone is carrying or concealing a weapon under his or her clothes, without having to leave the police car or van. The device would be able to differentiate between the suspect’s body and any metal objects they are carrying.

The initiative was announced this week by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. So far, Kelly reports they have already been able to produce a prototype scanner in conjunction with the Department of Defense, although it’s still pretty limited: it only has a range of three to four feet. Kelly remains confident though, that they can push this up to eighty feet with continued work on the project.

[via Gothamist via Dvice]

Made by the tinkerers over at Gadget Gangster, the Toilet Buddy has three abilities based on two parameters. When it senses that the toilet seat is up and the restroom light is on, it plays a flushing sound. When the toilet seat is down but the room’s light is on, it plays back a reminder to turn off the light. And when the toilet seat is up but the room’s light is off, it’ll tell you to put the toilet seat down. You monster.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you may have guessed you can turn the Toilet Buddy into another kind of Buddy, like one that automatically rings the door bell or plays a scary sound to surprise passers by. And then reminds them to put their toilet seat down. Check out the build instructions and parts list over at Gadget Gangster.

[via Hack A Day]

Beacon for Android uses hardware and an app to control your home entertainment system.The hardware part connects wirelessly to your tablet or smartphone using Bluetooth. It then turns the BT commands your phone sends out into IR commands your home theater gear can understand. The app has a database of 200,000 devices that it can control, and also has an integrated guide that tells you more about the programs and tells you what is on.

You can buy Beacon for either Android or iOS now for $69.99 (USD) over at the Griffin website.

The CCD-Me-Not is a modified umbrella created by Mark Shepard, studded with infrared LEDs, which are designed to confuse the object detection algorithms used in computer-aided surveillance systems.

It’s definitely an interesting device to have if you are worried about Big Brother watching your every move.

This project is an offshoot of Sentient City, which offers a number of different and unusual devices including, sensor-detecting clothing and setting up an ad-hoc wireless network with your thermos, among other things.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[CanadianArt via DVice]

The technology will include a special Apple-approved dongle that plugs into the bottom of your iPhone, iPod or iPad, and lets you steer and drive an R/C vehicle using infrared signals using a free app. The first vehicle scheduled for release is the futuristic-looking “Buggy” pictured here, but WOW! Stuff says they’ll be releasing more toys in future. They also want to make versions for other smartphones down the road, so Android users probably won’t be left out for long.

I’m not crazy about the fact that they went with infrared control, though. If they made cars that could respond to WiFi or Bluetooth commands, I’d think they could work without a direct line-of-sight. Still, the idea sounds like fun – especially for the kids. No word yet on when the first iKon RC car will drop, but I’m betting these things will be out before the 2011 holiday season. You can sign up for updates over at the WOW! Stuff website.

The ANDI-ONE can interact with devices via Wi-Fi, IR or RF. It also remembers the last 20 actions that you made, so you can quickly search the list and repeat them, although frankly I don’t know exactly how this works, or what it counts as an action. You can also set up macros and organize devices by room. Downloading channel guides is also an option.

But more than that, the Android 2.1 remote is also a portable media player. It can have up to 8GB of internal memory and supports microSD cards up to 64GB. You can watch videos on its 3.5″ touchscreen, connect a 3.5mm jack or just use its built-in speakers and play tracks on it, and you can even download and use over 10,000 Android apps. You can even make VOIP calls on it. And what about its charging cradle? In addition to having a couple of 3W speakers, an HDMI port and an Ethernet port, you can also dock an iPhone or iPad on it.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wonder why the remote in the video has a different layout than the one on Conspin’s website; must be a prototype or something. Anyway, now that you know what the ANDI-ONE is capable of, you’d be a fool to think that this remote is cheap. Its suggested retail price is $350 (USD), but Krex already has it listed at about $290. They’re out of stock right now though. If you’re looking to replace your your remote and your Android media player, keep an eye out for the ANDI-ONE.

[via Conspin & Talk Android via Gadgetell]

The front side of the Smart Qwerty has all your standard home theater and media controls for playback, device selection, changing channels and audio. But flip the remote over, and you’ll discover a 66-key QWERTY keyboard. There’s also a trackball mouse for speedy navigation. A built-in gyroscope figures out which side is currently facing up.

The Smart Qwerty’s front is a six-device IR universal remote, while the keyboard and trackball works with Google TV devices, gaming systems and HTPCs that support USB keyboards. Just plug the included RF dongle into your device, and you have a mini wireless keyboard. It’ll also work in IR mode if your device supports infrared keyboard remotes. There’s no word yet on where you can buy the Smart Qwerty yet, but it will retail for $129.99 (USD) when it eventually hits stores.

The camera itself has a 5MP sensor and can record VGA video. That’s somewhat basic, but since it can shoot in IR, it makes up for it. It’s got an IR illuminator to light up the world in the dark. . It can also take normal shots, but who cares about that? With the IR mode on, plants will highlight like ghosts, and humans will look like aliens. While it may or may not be able to take photos as good as the one below by Bill Gracey, it’s certainly worth a shot.

The Midnight Shot sells for $129.99 (USD) over at ThinkGeek, and since the camera captures both infrared and visible wavelengths, you’ll want to add a cheap infrared filter to get the best night shots possible.

[via DVice]

Artist Audrey Penven’s Dancing with Invisible Light collection consists of a series of Kinect-lit subjects, covered in celestial disco-dots generated by Microsoft’s popular motion gaming peripheral. Audrey put together these shots with the help of Aaron Muszalski, Mike Estee and Ian Baker.

You can check out the complete series of images over Audrey’s Flickr album, or better yet if you haveppen to be near Emeryville, California between April 1 and 29, you can see the originals up close and personal at the Pictopia Gallery .

Funny thing is that Audrey doesn’t even own a Kinect – she had to borrow one from a friend.

[via Laughing Squid]

The Gun O’Clock has three modes. The normal mode only requires you to hit the pop-up targeting area once, while in hard mode you’ll need to hit it five times. And of course there’s the awesome game mode, which gleefully throws out the clock part of the gadget. Just start shooting and it’ll give you a score.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can order the Gun O’Clock from Amazon for approx. $28 (USD). If you’re the DIY type, Kipkay recently put up an Instructable for a wired version of the clock. It doesn’t have a targeting area though, or a game mode. Boo.

[via Bandai via Unpluggd]

The video that you can see here shows that the Kinect fires out a series of IR dots into your room, so that it can determine and predict a pattern that it can recognize. The dots are also used to measure distance. It’s quite cool to see and the fireworks start off about a minute into the video. And before you freak out, let’s just say that Kinect throws out an uncountable number of IR dots. Pretty freaky.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It looks awesome, but I won’t get one. Not into that whole Wii thing, I’d rather just blow up stuff on the Xbox 360.

[Reddit via CrunchGear]

If you already have a PS3 and an iOS device but not the RedEye and RE-BL X, you’re in luck, because you can buy the two as a bundle at Remote Shoppe. The bundle contains a Red Eye Mini (the stick-shaped device that’s plugged into the headphone jack of the iPod Touch in the picture), the RE-BL X and an adaptor for the RE-BL X, all for $100 (USD). You can also purchase each device separately at Remote Shoppe, but you’ll save $28 if you get the bundle. Of course, if you’ve got a better idea for controlling your PS3 on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, share your tips in the comment section.

[via HomeToys]

A Black Fox equipped vehicle will have a camera that continuously scans the thermal texture of the surroundings, which are then processed by onboard computers. The computers will then make the plates match the background scene, thus concealing the vehicle.  I’m obviously oversimplifying things, but I hope this is still as jaw-dropping for you as it is for me. Here’s a hilarious presentation from Eltics, with a cameo from Capt. Obvious:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

“Now we are invisible, indeed.” The demo in the end of the video confused me a bit at first, and in case it’s got you stumped as well, watch it again and look at the background, and you’ll see that part of the car looks exactly like the background, such that the person’s waving hand seems to be floating in mid-air. I don’t know why they didn’t just cover the whole damn car with the plates. Below is a much easier comparison; just look at the Black Fox plate at the rear of the car:

Stealth add-ons? Fake thermal signatures? Sounds like the real world is finally catching up to video games. I won’t be surprised if someone makes a real Metal Gear. With stealth. Okay I’ll probably die from seeing too much awesome if that comes out.

[via Defense Update]

I can sort of see where they are coming from; I do normally have my iPhone beside me when I watch TV. That said, my iPhone will never replace my sweet Logitech Harmony One universal remote. Without that thing, I would go insane since no one else in my family is qualified to change an input to go from cable to the PS3.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Power A has unveiled a new software/hardware combo for the iPhone called the iPhone Universal Remote Case. The thing has a case that slips over the iPhone with a built-in IR transmitter. It works with a free app that lets the iPhone control anything that uses IR. The case sells for about $60 and will ship soon. Why does the Power A name make me think of Rick Moranis, beer and Canada – Eh, you hoser?

The guys over at Senario sent me a sample Zibits robot to play with – he kinda reminds me of the Android logo, but in orange instead of green. In all, there will be 12 different robot designs for you to collect – so you could build out an entire robotic army for about $120.

Zibits measure about 2.5″ tall, and feature little light-up LED eyeballs, and offer just one basic set of maneuvers – drive forward, or do a 360-degree spin move using the remote joystick. Sure, your plans for world robotic domination might be difficult to achieve with that one move, but whaddya want for $10 bucks?

Here’s a video of the little robot dude in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Those funny robot sounds on the video? They come out of the remote control, and not the robot himself to keep things compact. The little guys comes with three button batteries to power their motors, and an IR remote that you can use to control ‘em on any flat surface. You will need to grab a couple of AAA batteries for the remote, and a small screwdriver to install the batteries for your kids.

Senario says that Zibits will be available in Toys “R” Us stores starting in mid-March 2010, and they’ll be available in the UK sometime late in the Summer.

Naturally, you can already control your iTunes on your computer using Apple’s Remote app, but you can’t use it to tune your TV. That’s all going to change next month when L5 Technology releases the L5 Remote.

The $50 (USD) infrared dongle comes paired with a free app that will turn your beloved iPhone into a universal remote. You can drag and drop buttons on the screen to set up the perfect remote control.

What’s really cool is that it doesn’t need any batteries. Nope, it drains the batteries of your iPhone! It will also control any number of devices within 30 feet.

[via DVice]

Developed by Germany’s Elektrosil and Citron, dreaMTouch can actually detect up to 32 simultaneous touch points on displays as large as 82″ diagonal. The dreaMTouch can even handle all of those tracking points without any worry about such things as your fingers crossing paths – which can be a problem with technologies like the NextWindow touchscreen tech that HP uses in their Touchsmart desktops.

The system is designed to layer on top of existing display technologies, adding a 4mm thick piece of laminated safety glass in front of the screen. Data is then sent to any computer using a standard USB interface.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The dreaMTouch can even detect the size and location of objects placed in the touch area – which means it could be used to build tangible interaction apps like the ones you find on Microsoft’s Surface. Sweet! Plus it interfaces directly with TUIO, a popular open source standard for interacting with multitouch applications.

No word on how and when you’ll be able to get your hands on one of these, so for now, we’ll just have to sit back and wait and live with our primitive old 2 finger multitouch computers. Waaah.

[via Multitouch.nl]

The Wand remote control can convert up to 13 different hand gestures into infrared remote signals. Just wave the wand in the proper direction in the air, and it’ll issue commands to your IR-controlled gadgets. Of course with just 13 gestures, you can only program 13 commands from your remotes. Oh well, that should be enough for changing channels, adjusting volume, or switching between inputs on your TV, right?  It’s also got a nifty feedback system which provides “pulses” that confirm your gestures as well as let you know when the battery is running low.

Just imagine yourself as a wizard or warlock, donning one of those pointy wizard hats, and wearing your flowing silky wizard robe, wildly gesticulating  in the air with your magical wand – only this time, it’s to flip channels between The Real Housewives of Orange County and Dance Your Ass Off. Perfect.

Here’s some video of The Wand working its hocus pocus in case the diagram above didn’t get the point across…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And if you act now, as an added bonus, The Wand ships in this schmancy storage box so you won’t lose it. Now how much would you pay?

You can find The Wand over at UK gadget shop(pe) Firebox for £49.99 (appx. $80 USD). Currently, it’s only available in the UK part of their shop, and not in the U.S. side. Boo. Hopefully that’ll change soon. Maybe you can wave your real magic wand and make that happen. Abracadabra!

For those of you out there who have put their PlayStation 3 at the center of their home entertainment system because of its stellar Blu-ray player, you know what a pain it is to control both your PS3 and your other A/V devices because of Sony’s choice of Bluetooth instead of IR as their remote communication protocol.

The new Blu-Link remote combines both Bluetooth and infrared capabilities in a single remote control. While it’s not as full-featured as higher-priced universal remotes, the six-device remote does have built-in support for hundreds of brands of consumer electronics, plus it can “learn” infrared commands from other devices as well. It’s also got all of the specialized controls for interacting with Blu-ray discs, as well as dedicated PS3 control buttons. With one of these in hand, you really can think about throwing your Sony Bluetooth remote out in the trash bin.

Priced at just $49.95 (USD) it’s really a great deal if you want to finally pare down from multiple remotes to a single control. You can order the Blu-Link now over at Interlink Electronics.

Now you too can freak the hell out of your significant other with this oversize remote-controlled spider with glowing LED eyeballs. No Boundaries’ infrared R/C spider not only can make its way across your floor, it can climb walls or even move on your ceiling. I suppose climb is actually the wrong word. You see, my spidey sense is telling me that this guys legs don’t actually propel him along. Instead, a powerful fan creates enough suction to hold the plastic arachnid in place on horizontal or vertical surfaces, and movement is acheived through tiny wheels on the bottom of the bug. C’mon, really? What’s the last time you saw a spider with wheels and light up eyes. And right now doesn’t count.

Still, this creepy (non)crawler looks like it could be fun for at least 3 or 4 minutes – or until the cat kills it, whichever comes first. You can grab one over at UK Gadget shop I Want One of Those for £29.99 (appx. $49 USD).