Technabob » pool

Billiard Ball Flash Drive: 8GB in the Side USB Pocket

Range — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:44:45 +0000

Check out this cool USB flash drive that was designed by Alain Berteau for Tamawa. This flash drive is made out Bakelite, the same material out of which they make billiard balls. What’s really cool is that you can choose a between a combination of 7 colors for each of the ‘beads’ that make up this flash drive.

Since you can pick the colors for each component, there are a ton of possible color combinations. The flash drive itself stores 8GB and is made up out of two identical 21mm Bakelite beads, that close up perfectly when the flash drive is not in use.

They are available in seven official snooker colors and will cost €86 (~$124 USD) and can be ordered of Tamawa’s website.

[via MoCo Loco]

Pool Playing Robot: Future Robo-Hustler

Shane McGlaun — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:01:27 +0000

If they ever remake that old Tom Cruise flick The Color of Money where he was a pool shark, but in the distant future after the robots take over, this ‘bot is the one that should play Cruise’s character. The robot is a humanoid design that is able to play pool on a full size table using both hands. The builder of the bot is Thomas Nierhoff.

Each arm the robot has offers 7-degrees of freedom and can sink easier shots with up to an 80% success rate. That is much better than my own success rate; I am not good at pool. Nierhoff apparently created the robot for his master’s thesis at the Institute of Automatic Control Engineering at the Technical University of Munchen in Germany.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The video above shows the robot nailing five balls in a row. The video also shows some of the times the bot misses a shot too. As the shots got more difficult, the robot didn’t perform nearly as well with 30% of the hard shots being successful.

[via Singularityhub]

Starship Enterprise Submarine: Its Dive-Year Mission

Technabob — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 21:18:04 +0000

It’s funny, I always thought when they named it the Starship Enterprise, they were talking about the type of ship that could fly through outer space. But apparently, the ship part was referring to a water-bound vessel. At least that’s what I learned when I stumbled onto this remote-controlled Enterprise that can dive beneath the water.

Created by Japan’s Yokosuka Dry Docks, this Starship Enterprise model is water-tight, and can zip around underwater without flooding the bridge or shorting out its nacelles. Check out the video below to see it in action…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

“Photon torpedoes approaching from port side! Dive, Captain Kirk, Dive!” That’s what I imagine the tiny little crew of Sea Monkeys is saying on board at this very moment.

Be sure to head over to YDD’s YouTube page to see more of their underwater spaceship creations, including the Millenium Falcon, USS Voyager and highly appropriate Battleship Yamato.

[via Videosift]

Making Pictures With Water and Waves

Technabob — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:45:49 +0000

Not that this idea is really good for anything other than looking cool, you’ve gotta hand it to these Japanese researchers, who have managed to create a special tank which can momentarily suspend illustrations in water.

By sending precisely coordinated pulses through the water, the National Maritime Research Institute is able to generate pre-determined shapes out of the waves. So far, all they’ve been able to muster is primitive shapes like hearts, stars, a musical note, and the letters NMRI. Someday we hope they figure out a way to create a real life version of the water creature from The Abyss.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you’re interested in how they did it, here’s a technical explanation (translated from Japanese). You can check out more videos of the wild wave action here.

[via Japan Probe via DVICE]

Robots Start Playing Pool and Hustling Humans

Range — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:04:49 +0000

I used to love playing pool when I was younger. I still do from time-to-time, but not like I did before. Well, if you thought that you were the best at pool, you’d better move along – because soon, pool ‘bots everywhere will start hustling you for your money!

The PR2 from Willow Garage might look pleasant enough, but it’s a serious pool-playing machine. It doesn’t use any fancy human remote-control cameras to play its perfect game of pool. Instead, it uses a set of high-resolution cameras with a “color blob tracker”, and special software to plan its shots.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sure, at the end of the day, if PR2 doesn’t win, it could beat your brains out. After all, it probably doesn’t like losing to us puny humans. Thankfully, PR2 appears to be a good sport at this point.

[via Plastic Pals]

Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker Goes for a Swim

Technabob — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:10:38 +0000

With the warm weather season finally upon us (sorry Australian and New Zealand readers), you’re probably hoping to spend lots of time in the pool this Summer. But just because you’re floating around on an inflatable raft with a piña colada in hand doesn’t mean you have to be separated from your digital music collection.

This floating wireless speaker from Elima can connect to any Bluetooth device that supports A2DP or AVRCP for transmitting sound. And since it can receive transmissions from up to 10-meters (appx. 30 feet) away, you can set your iPhone or other compatible device over on the poolside table – or grab an underwater case and float the whole thing in the pool. The orb-shaped speaker measures about 6-inches in diameter, and features a pair of 2-watt speakers for stereo sound.

But unlike the guy in the picture above, I wouldn’t recommend floating this thing in the salt water ocean – otherwise, glowing pink musical notes could come flying out of it. Or worse yet…

If you can bear the thought of buying something that’s being marketed by mentioning how you can play Backstreet Boys music on it, head on over Chinavasion, and grab one for $40 (USD).

Focal Aquatune Lets Your iPod Go for a Swim

Technabob — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:40:01 +0000

How many times have you said to yourself – Self… Why is it that I can’t take my iPod in the swimming pool with me? Well this new waterproof sound system from Japan’s Focal is the answer to your inner prayers.

The new AquaTune Nano 4G provides a durable waterproof case for your Nano 4G, while pumping sound out of a pair of high-output 1W speakers which can also handle the wet stuff. The polycarbonate shell is sealed with a watertight O-ring to keeps the H2O out, and your delicate electronics nice and dry.

Don’t have a Nano? Then the AquaTune v2 is right for you. While not as svelte as the Nano 4G, the V2 works with almost every non-touchscreen iPod model under the sun (and in the water), and ups the audio ante with a pair of 3W drivers.

They’re perfect for the beach, swimming, a rainy day, floating in the tub or to accompany your off-key singing in the shower.

No word on when the AquaTune will turn up stateside, but they’re available in Japan with the Nano 4G model selling for ¥10,800 (appx. $118 USD) and a rather pricey for ¥15,800 (appx. $173 USD) the V2.

Tikitoonz Tiki Speakers Say Aloha

Technabob — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:30:09 +0000

Getting ready to throw that last big pool party before the Summer comes to an end? There’s nothing better than a Luau themed party, complete with a variety of rum-and-fruit-juice-infused cocktails served in some Tiki Tumblers. What better way to complement your Luau but with some matching Tiki speakers (blasting some appropriate Elvis or Israel Ka’ano’i Kamakawiwo’ole, of course) to set the mood?

These fun new Luau Luey speakers from TikiToonz should do the trick just fine. Based on the classic Polynesian carvings, these outdoor speakers crank out 80 watts per channel and are made from durable weather-resistant enclosures. They’re perfect poolside or anywhere you want to set that retro Tiki bar look.

A pair of the speakers retails for $149.95 USD from the TikiToonz website. And no – it doesn’t matter how many Zombies or Mai Tais you serve me, I won’t wear that grass skirt and do the hula.

World’s First Waterproof Digital Video Player

Technabob — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:23:27 +0000

If you’re into multi-tasking, specifically swimming and watching movies at the same time, have I got a gadget for you. This new digital media player can not only play your favorite vid clips, it can do it in the pool.

Coming soon from Chinavasion, this waterproof digital video player can handle being submerged in up to about 10-feet of water without skipping a beat. The earphones are also watertight, but only if you keep them in your ears (duh!) The player has a small 1.8-inch color display and comes with software to convert videos from MPEG, WMV, ASF formats. Audio playback is also supported in WAV, WMA and MP3 formats.

The player only ships with 1GB of memory, but since it can only muster 128 x 128 resolution, 15 frame-per-second playback, I think that would still hold a decent amount of video.

Here’s my recommended viewing list: Jaws, The Deep, Pirahna and Open Water.