Tag: Electronic

It’s been a while since I did any serious circuit board hacking, but back in the day I saw my share of electronic components. One of my favorite parts was always the resistor – not because of its rudimentary electrical properties – but because its value could always be identified through a convenient color-coding scheme.

If you’re the sort of DIY tinkerer that likes to fiddle about with Arduino-based projects, you’ll be glad to hear that the Arduino project has officially launched a new version of the powerful little microcontroller. The new product is called the Arduino Micro board, and it is based on the technology behind the Leonardo board.

There’s usually a lot of thought that must go into the design process for diapers. Especially electronic ones that are meant for use by men only.

If you’ve ever had a hankering to create photography that’s based on some sort of automatic trigger, have I got a cool gadget for you. The Triggertrap will let you use just about any electronic signal to make your camera snap a picture on cue.

Have you ever thought about creating electrical circuits with a pen? Apparently some engineers have, and came up with this prototype. These electric circuits were drawn using a silver-inked rollerball pen. The circuits can be drawn directly on paper, wood, and other surfaces.

When I first saw these things, I honestly didn’t know what to say, but you get used to ridiculous headgear pretty quickly around here. These MIDI hats were designed by Sunny Oh and Anna Obikane, and allow you to make music.

Ok guys, you can all thank me for this later. I have found the perfect gift that shows your girl you love her, and lets you flex your geek muscle at the same time. Over on Etsy you can pick up this set of butterfly earrings.

This crazy looking contraption isn’t just a bunch of smartphones, it’s a musical instrument. Made for a presentation at MobileCampBrussels, the Phone Guitar is made out of five smartphones (actually there’s an iPod Touch standing in for the iPhone) on three different mobile platforms using three different programing languages as well as two third-party apps, a custom cross-platform sequencer app, a stick, some battery powered speakers, and a whole lot of duct tape.

Ever thought about putting together your own “smart garments?” Well here’s a way to weave technology into your very own clothing without too much effort. 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.

I know, we’re more than a month away from Hanukkah, but when I saw these awesomely geeky LED Menorah kits today, I just had to give them a mention. Heck, if it were the middle of April, I’d probably still write about them.

The thinking geeks at ThinkGeek recently unleashed one of their most awesome creations: WEARABLE ROCK. Their Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt features a semi-guitar with 14 major chords – which were recorded from a real electric guitar – assigned to different areas on the neck, so you can play songs for real without really knowing how to play the guitar.

This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve written about a many-keyed synthesizer on technabob, but it is the first time I’ve featured one today. So there. The Ketron SD8 differentiates itself from the keyboard pack by offering a keyboard that isn’t based on the traditional 88-keyed piano, but instead on the chromatic scale that you might find on an accordion.

Perfect for interviewing prospective job candidates, this truth-detecting wristband is a must have for human resources managers. The wearable TRUTH wristband uses a set of red and blue LEDs, tied to a circuit that measures GSR (galvanic skin response).

You might play electronic music on synthesizers, drum machines, key-tars and guit-boards, but how many of you can claim you’ve jammed out with a set of cubes? AudioCubes are designed to be played in live performances, and let you control sounds by manipulating the position, angles and relationships between the palm-sized cubes.

Can’t get enough of the retro beeps and blips of old-school video games? Then today must be your lucky day. There’s a new online radio station that’s just for you. 8-Bit FM is a new Internet radio station that plays everything from classic video game soundtracks to modern day electronic music played on old gaming hardware.

What do you get when you take four of your closest friends, attach electrodes to their faces, and then fire off small jolts of electricity to the beats of electronica? Video genius, I say. Tokyo electronic artist / programmer / composer /DJ Daito Manabe connected each of his four friends to the business-end of his “Face Visualizer” device, which shoots computer-controlled myoelectric charges through the wires.