As you can see the prototype looks far more serious than the smiley-faced concept, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t care about its ward. Supposedly it can gauge the prisoners’ emotional state and record their normal habits so that it can watch out for errant behavior such as suicidal tendencies. Hopefully it won’t reprimand folks for being too happy.

The robot is also equipped with a camera and a two-way audio system so the human guards can taunt be bribed by talk to prisoners remotely. The robot can also be controlled via an app, which is both a user-friendly feature and a horrible security risk.

I wonder if they’re going to install weapons or defense mechanisms to the final version.

[via CBS News via Walyou]

The ‘bot as conceptualized in the above image won’t toy with a nightstick as it patrols the corridors at night, but it will function as surveillance, sending video back to a central base. It will be on the lookout for the usual trouble: suicide attempts, fights, etc.

Using a speaker and microphone, those in charge can talk to prisoners through the robots and they can have a conversation. Each ‘bot will stand about 5 feet tall and will weigh between 70 to 80 kilograms. It’s a cheerful looking guard bot. Too cheerful for prison. I think they will be trashed very quickly.

[via Fareastgizmos]

All kidding aside, the bill that criminalizes the creation or distribution of computer virus was finally enacted last Friday by Japan’s parliament. The law also includes provisions regarding punishment that will be meted out to people who have been caught sending pornographic images to random people.

These laws are meant to crack down on the dirty web of cybercrime; however, some parts of the law border on infringing the privacy of communications as it allows data to be obtained or subpoenaed by authorities from servers for investigation when necessary.

Japan is the first country to enact and implement such a law. Hopefully, we’ll be able to gauge the effectivity of passing the law a few months down the line.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

Akon has unveiled his new fragrance called Konvict for men and women. The men’s variety comes in two silver bottles that look like handcuffs joined by a chain. Each bottle has 1.7 ounces of the scent. The ladies version is in a pair of gold handcuffs. I wonder if it smells like weed and malt liquor.

You can buy either version for $49.95 right now. In related news, the rock band Tool is releasing its own scent based on its popular song “Prison Sex” shipping in a bottle shaped like a giant glass cock. The fragrance will sell under the name Ben Dover for Men.

That’s a cigarette lighter, a simple hack made of a battery, duct tape, and a piece of wire. The picture is from temporaryservices.org. We already featured their book before, which is also about prison inventions. Next up we have a tattoo gun (image from TownNews). Obviously a portion of inmates don’t acquire their tats before or after their time in jail, but I doubt if prison officers would let them have real tattoo guns.

The tattoo gun pictured above is made of batteries, a small motor (perhaps the one that’s found in toy cars?), a needle, a pen casing, and some ink. I don’t have a tattoo and I’ve never seen a real tattoo gun, so I don’t know if this one inflicts more pain than the real thing. Anyone have an opinion on that?

And finally we have these inventions featured in Marc Steinmetz Photography, the necessity of which I don’t want to think about. The one on the left is a knuckleduster, made using a rasp (coarser version of a file, usually used in woodworking), some cloth and strings. It was found in a prison cell in Wolfenbüttel, Germany in 1993. The one on the right is from the ‘Santa Fu’ jail in Hamburg, Germany. It is what it is – a whip, and I don’t think I need to elaborate on what it’s made of and what it’s made for. Although I do agree with the sloshpot article writer that it’s more of a psych-out weapon, compared to the knuckleduster, which is more of a skin, flesh and bone-out weapon.

There are a few more inventions featured in the original article. What would you invent if you were in prison?

[via The Presurfer]

The project, entitled Prisoners’ Inventions, resulted in this fascinating 119-page book of detailed drawings that explain exactly how prisoners build contrivances from all sorts of found materials.

The book documents everything from how to build an electric cigarette lighter out of paper clips, ice cream spoons and parts from a hot-pot, to an electric tattoo gun made from a bic pen, a walkman cassette player and a battery, to how to use your toilet to chill your soda.

This book, above all things, proves that necessity is truly the mother of invention. Maybe the best way to really get the most creative solution to technical problems would be to lock up engineers during the design phase of their projects.

The book can be ordered from the Giant Robot store for $12.00. is now out of print, but you might be able to get your hands on a used copy over on Amazon.