Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Because what good is a robotic housekeeper if it can only clean the ground floor, engineer James Bruton challenged himself to build a robot capable of ascending and descending stairs. It accomplishes the task via its three sections, which it can lift and lower individually, making stair-climbing possible.

Because where we’re going, we don’t need roads; Hot Toys is releasing a highly detailed 1/6th-scale replica of Doc Brown’s time-traveling DeLorean DMC-12 from Back To The Future II. Available at Sideshow Collectibles, the large 72cm (~28″) model includes functional gullwing doors, and the wheels even fold up when it’s time to fly.

Just when you thought you’d heard it all, Shiftall has announced the release of the Mutalk, a mouth-covering Bluetooth microphone that digitally amplifies your voice online while muffling it to those around you. Plus, it makes you look like you’re being held captive by robots.

Because who hasn’t dreamed of sipping a cocktail with their initial floating in it, Etsy shop HonestIce sells ice molds of all the letters in the English alphabet. Plus numbers 1 – 9, AND the omega symbol!

Video gaming and Oreos: they’re a match made in heaven. Oreos make a great video game snack because they don’t leave your fingers all dusty as chips do. Trust me; I have an almost entirely orange PS5 controller.

Snacks: they’re delicious. But what happens when you have a variety, possibly including a beverage, and don’t have enough hands to hold them all? Enter the 3D printed Snack Attack snack organizer printed and sold by Etsy shop McMaster3D.

Bird Buddy bird feeders are smart, AI-powered bird feeders that can identify your local flying fauna when they come to eat and capture photos or videos in high definition. The feeder already exists for common backyard birds, but a model designed specifically for hummingbirds is going to be released this April, with the capability of identifying over 350 species.

Because who doesn’t want to pretend they’re a steampunk Victorian-age camper braving the wilds, Barebones has created this Edison Stick Light. It’s a small, portable light in the style of a vintage Edison bulb. It’s not actually an Edison bulb, though, just an LED strip that makes it look incandescent.

Because in the future, all our entertainment will be produced by robots; we now have a video of the robotic One Hacker Band covering Nirvana’s classic ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ That song is 32 years old now, by the way.

You know what the problem with glow sticks are? They aren’t big enough. I demand maximum glow. And here, to right that wrong, are these massive 14″ long, 1″ thick glow sticks. Available on Amazon (affiliate link), the sticks feature 12 – 16 hours of glow time, with a 5-year shelf life so that you can keep them right next to the Twinkies.

Developed by a team of mechanical engineers at the University of Maryland, this 3D printed hand is dexterous enough to use a Nintendo controller, and even manages to beat Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 in the video.

Because who doesn’t love the smell of jet fuel in the evening watching Netflix, Billington Farms Candle Company is selling these jet fuel-scented candles. The candles are made from 100% natural soy wax and, unlike actual jet fuel, are eco-friendly and burn clean.

The Volkner Performance S luxury motor home has it all, including storage underneath for a low-height supercar and a 136-square-foot rooftop terrace. The base model starts at around $1,200,000 and goes up to over $5,000,000 for the fully optioned version seen in the video below.

Recently on display at Pack Expo 2022 (I’m sad I missed it), this high-speed donut sorting machine developed by Soft Robotics, Inc. can sort donuts by variety and handle them all without damaging its precious, doughy cargo.

Hot on the diminutive heels of yesterday’s 0.75″ gaming monitor comes YouTuber Print ‘N Play, building the world’s smallest Nintendo Entertainment System. How small is it? Just take a look. It’s about two USB plugs tall.

Presumably, in an attempt to push the envelope in squinting, YouTuber Mr. Volt decided to find out if he could game on the world’s smallest HD monitor, a minuscule 0.7″ diagonal display that still manages to deliver 1920 x 1080p resolution.