Then there’s also those who post news updates, talk about breaking news or events as they occur, and post updates on the current temperature and humidity. But only those people who have the Tweeting Sensor can do the latter.

The Tweeting Sensor was developed by UC Technology. Basically, it’s a device that detects the current temperature, humidity, and amount of sunshine through its wireless sensor. It will then post the readings on Twitter. UC Technology explains: “You connect this device to the Internet and plug in the AC adapter. You can also connect a slave unit, so you have a wireless sensor that measures temperature, humidity, and sunshine. This sensor makes the wireless connection automatically, and sends its data each time.”

You could also elect to connect the Tweeting Sensor to a radiation meter. When enough information is gathered from a particular area, then the data can be used to generate a radiation map. Now that’s using the power of the Internet and social media to the fullest.

The Tweeting Sensor will be priced at around ¥40,000 (~$520 USD). With a little work, you can probably do the same (other than the radiation part) with the new Twine sensor for a lot less money.

[via Diginfo]

There are five levels available: mild, regular, hot, extra hot, and flaming. I usually go for regular, but I do want to try out the flaming one someday – and maybe wear the Nuclear Taco Sensor Helmet while doing so.

This colorful helmet is actually a discomfort meter that measures just how uncomfortable you are while you chomp down that taco by taking note of how much you’re sweating, notes your temperature, and measures how much of that water + yogurt liquid you’re drinking to soothe your tastebuds.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The sensors that measure all this stuff are connected to an Arduino board and a meter that displays if the taco you’re eating is “no sweat” or if it’s a “hot volcano.” Aside from that, the helmet’s front has been installed with a camera that records every moment of your taco discomfort.

The helmet was developed by a team from altLab in Lisbon and won first place in the 2011 CodeBits 48-hour hacking competition.

[via Verge via Geeky Gadgets]

It’s based upon the phenomenon called phantom sensation, which occurs when two points on your skin are stimulated at the same time. Putting one in the palm and back of a hand, the researchers thought they could use this to make you believe that something was passing through your hand. They use a Wii-mote to sense the location of your hand. In their simulation, the device is activated when the user tries to grasp black falling balls.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The strength of the vibrations can be adjusted, meaning that it could be used to simulate getting stabbed in a fighting game. Hopefully, it won’t hurt and there will be no blood. They think they could even simulate getting shot. This could be very useful in making virtual reality and gaming more immersive.

[via Diginfo.TV]

Apparently, Mitchell takes a bunch of test shots with some sort of Polaroid instant camera that spits out 8×10 photos. The photos are used to test the focus and other settings before snapping the official images. Each of those 8×10 test shots costs about $15 and each product needs up to eight test shots.

Feinberg shoots enough products that he spends $50,000 yearly on the instant film alone. Rather than continue with the film, Feinberg took hundreds of thousands of dollars and commissioned the largest image sensor in the land and it is called the Maxback. The sensor has 10MP resolution and shoots 8×10 images. The sensor and a backup along with development is thought to have cost about $500,000, but the true price is unknown. Feinberg did say he could have purchased a nice home with what the sensor cost. That what I call taking your work seriously.

[via TechCrunch]

The tiny power generation system uses a vibrating cantilever that is made from a piezoelectric material. The material is able to generate electric potential that is turned into actual electricity to charge a thin-film battery about the size of a postage stamp. The cantilever is able to generate about 200 microwatts of power. The researchers say that 200 microwatts is a usable amount in many applications.

That is enough juice to operate low power sensors like those used to monitor tire pressure in late model automobiles. The technology can be used for lots of other things as well. There is no indication of when the tech might make it to the market.

[via Technology Review]

During the NFL Scouting Combine this weekend, some players were wearing high-tech shirts from Under Armour that have sensors that are around the chest height. The sensors inside the clothing were used to measure the players’ respiratory system, heart rate and G-forces as they ran and performed other tasks.

According to the NFL, the sensor-laden shirts will help trainers to get players into peak form. The G-force sensors for instance will let the trainer and coach know that the player can’t cut as well from one side as the other so they can work on the off side to improve performance. Eventually, the sensor-laden shirts will find their way to the consumer and other sports.

[via NFL]

It will collect information about how many calories are burned, steps are taken, and real time physical activity. The software will also keep a log of food consumed throughout the day.

This is a pretty interesting sensor. It uses galvanic skin response and other factors to calculate calorie burn. The Activity Manager means that you log onto the website and input data about your daily food input, etc. For a moment, I thought that the device sensed what food you were eating.

The BodyMedia FIT Armband BW will cost $249 (USD). The Activity Manager costs an extra $13 per year (less with a quarterly or annual commitment).

[via Ubergizmo]

Here’s the car in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The only downside, as you can see in the video, is that the car doesn’t zoom around so much as stroll. But I bet this thing will blow the minds of children, especially since it not only allows them to race, it also lets them doodle. You can order the Doodle Track car from ThinkGeek for $15 (USD). It comes with a marker, a mat and a demo sheet.

[via Switched]

So, this thing is actually called a Garden Sensor. It will ensure that your veggies will turn out perfect. It’s a tiny sensor stick that you can insert into the soil, right next to your precious veggies. It has the ability to measure moisture levels, as well as sunlight.This data is then sent wirelessly to DoCoMo, where their gardening experts will give you expert advice on how to get the best out of your garden. They will communicate with you via email, phone, or text messages. The diagram below makes it all look much more complicated than it is. Perhaps that’s because it’s in Japanese.

These sensors, which are priced between $20 to $30, will be deployed on a test basis in Japan in 2011.

[Impress Watch (JP) via DVice]

Exmovere is showing off the Exmobaby PJs that have a bunch of different wireless biosensors in them that can monitor the baby’s heart rate, breathing, and emotional state. That last one is a bit out there since there are two modes in baby world happy (or quiet) and pissed (or screaming) and that is pretty much it.

The sensors use Zigbee protocol to communicate and would send the vital signs to some sort of monitor that the parents could see. This is actually a very cool idea and would help ease the worry of SIDS for many new parents.

She gets really grumpy if her coffee gets cold and she chugs a mouthful of the tepid brew. She needs this mug from the Art Lebedev Studio. You probably recognize the name from the much cooler products the design firm usually offers like the Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard.

This coffee cup has a battery outline on it that has a green temperature indicator. The temp gauge shows when a liquid inside is more than 96.8F. The fuller the cup, the higher the gauge goes. This might be a good thing, especially in my household. I could look at the cup from a distance and if the gauge were not showing, I would know not to talk to my wife for a while.

Thanks to fabric technologist Hanna Perner-Wilson (aka Plusea), you can now purchase pre-made components which you can use to make interactive clothing pieces.

Her collection of wearable tech items includes things like fabric pushbuttons, a pressure, stretch and bend sensors and even a special neoprene battery pack you can sew into your clothes.

Most parts sell for about $15 to $20 (USD) over at Plusea’s Etsy shop, and of course you’ll need some electronic circuitry to wire these elements to.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you’re into hacking and modding, you could definitely come up with some cool concepts using these. Personally, I’d like to see a complete wireless game controller for my Xbox 360 woven into a jacket. Why? Why the heck not?

CMU’s Snackbot is a roving wheeled ‘bot who’s primary purpose is to roam the halls of the University’s buildings, delivering tasty treast to students and faculty. Snackbot not only drives around bringing snacks, he also brings plenty of goodwill, with a pleasant-sounding voice communication system and calm demeanor unlikely to be rattled by even the most demanding snack customer. He features a sophisticated “multi-sensor fusion algorithms” which let him understand where he’s going, navigate through crowds, and can autonomously learn new objects.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

My only complaint is that all that he seems to be delivering in the video clip above is granola bars and souvenirs. What kind of snacks are those? Where are my Ding Dongs, Ring Dings, Big Wheels and King Dons? Even Snackbot’s early prototype delivered M&Ms, Twix and Oreos…

While Snackbot was designed for a nobler cause – studying human-robot interactions, bringing snacks to my office each day would be plenty reason for me to invest research dollars – as long as there are creme-filled snack cakes, that is.

[via BotJunkie]

Robot Tiles were created by Hiroo Iwata, a professor working in the VR lab at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Each robotic vehicle is covered with a layer of Kuralon EC, a touch-sensitive conductive fabric that detects where pressure has been applied by the walker’s feet, predicting where they will take their next step. A set of ultrasonic sensors relay the position and orientation of each tile back to a central computer that tells them where to go next. Here’s a video clip showing off the Robot Tiles in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

See – it’s sort of like an infinite walking surface. While you have to walk really slowly for the tiles to have enough time to get into position, I didn’t ever see the pedestrian wipe out and fall on the floor, so they are doing what they’re supposed to do.

While I can’t think of too many real-world uses for this technology, Iwata points out that they could be perfect for providing a realistic walking surface within virtual reality applications, which could be kind of cool. But until they can speed these up, I’m keeping my feet on the ground.

Welcome Robot 1.5 is red and yellow as an homage to Ironman. When you turn him on, the LED lights come on to let you know he’s in sensing mode. Input to his sensors from people passing by triggers the waving.  Check out this video to see WR 1.5 in action.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sure, he kind of welcomes people with a Nazi-like salute, but let’s recall the robot was made in just one day. It would take me like a year to make anything even approaching this. Besides, Armanda says that now that the whole one day thing is over, she plans to fix that wave right up, plus add an elevator sensor and sound. Until then, check out more of her robotic LED mashup art projects here.

KEYnetik’s motion interface system uses multiple accelerometers to detect not just the direction of movement, but to triangulate where force originates from. The dual-sensor design is also immune to minor, unintentional motions (a.k.a. “motion interference”). The system can detect user gestures and translate them into on-screen interactions. By combining the motion-based interface with side-grip finger controls and joysticks, an entire device can be controlled with just one hand, freeing your other digits for, um, whatever you need them available for.

An added benefit of the design is that it’s totally ambidextrous. Just flip a KEYnetik-powered device over, and it’ll automatically get its bearings and adjust the interface appropriately.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

In addition to the prototype device (above), KEYnetik has already completed a proof-of-concept implementation on the Nokia N95 (below), called “RockNScroll”. N95 owners will be able to download RockNScroll for free by registering on the KEYnetik forums.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The gestures in these prototype videos are arguably a bit exaggerated, but hopefully they’ll find a way to tone them down and keep users from ending up with some nasty repetitive strain injuries.

While it’s designed as a platform, capable of playing a number of different games and puzzles, the interactive plaything happens to do a great job digitally emulating the old Rubik’s Cube.

The digital puzzle’s 216 mulit-colored LEDs are controlled by touch-sensitive panels and 3D motion accelerometer circuits (like the ones found in the Nintendo Wii).

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Fentem says his Cube will be available in limited quanties from the UK’s Kinetica electronic art museum in the near future.

[via Engadget]

The Massage me jacket lets the person giving the massage get their game on while the person receiving the treatment gets to chill out. More intensive massage results in better game play, motivating the masseur to give a good rub down. According to the designer of the device “Otherwise wasted button-pushing energy is transformed into a massage and the addicted game player becomes an inexhaustible masseur.”

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Numerous pressure sensors are built into the jacket, converting massage into control signals for a video game console.

Since the jacket really just works in place of a traditional gamepad, it works with many off-the-shelf games. I’d imagine that “button-mashers” like fighting games are best, while first-person-shooters probably wouldn’t work all that well. I wonder if Dance Dance Revolution would work best if you walked on the person’s back?

[via Instructables]

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While I’m a bit skeptical that the video clip could be a fake, developer Erling Ellingsen does have a track record hacking motion-sensors and says he’ll be posting the source code soon. Even if it is phony, I just can’t get enough of that Steve Jobs bobblehead.

[via Gizmodo]

Their force-based InfiniTouch technology can not only read X and Y coordinates, but even the Z-axis force, so they can sense the intensity of the touch.

Designed for use in environments where traditional touch panels won’t survive the elements, initial applications will be in places like tollbooths, outdoor kiosks, ATMs, building lobbies and gas stations. The technology also provides designers and architects with tremendous creative freedom, such as in the photo above, which shows a touch panel made from slate, with water running across the surface.