The a fur computer mouse by Hungarian design studio Geppetto . I can’t decide whether I find this one creepy or funny. Maybe rather creepy as it’s called Cyclopes, and Greek mythology has always been my greatest provider of nightmares.
[Via popgadget]
China is getting into the humanoid robot game. Baizhixing,
or “smart star”, doesn’t play soccer or have individually moving
fingers, but he can make facial expressions and gesticulate at
preschoolers. Dr Bao Qingshan, in charge of the development of this
shoeless Teddy Ruxpin at the Harbin Institute of Technology, is quoted:
“It
combines animal imitation technology and modern preschool education
theory, integrating control systems, complicated mechanical structures,
speech synthesis and expandable networking technology… All the core
technologies have been developed independently, and are equal to the
advanced techniques utilized abroad. We have complete intellectual
patent rights.”
I can’t tell if the little girl
in the photo is fascinated by Baizhixing or about to start bawling, but
the half-lidded leer the robot’s giving the camera is pretty
unnerving.
[Via Carbongeek]
By David Pescovitz:
Frankie Flood fabricated a series of ultra-designed pizza cutters. From his artist statement:
My work investigates one of a kind objects and their role in a world
based on mechanical reproduction. Industry has removed the aura from
objects and stripped them of their individuality. My pizza cutters seek
to demolish the sterile conformity of mass produced objects and
represent the stylistic and flamboyant embellishment of groups who live
on the fringe of popular culture. The outlaw biker image is a break
from the conformity that has taken over America since
industrialization. My machined pizza cutters draw inspiration from
chopper motorcycles and attempt to reclaim the mythology and economic
usefulness of the American worker as patriarch; translating machine or
functional object into flesh and blood. The outlaw as defiant
nonconformist, as well as social outcast, parallels being an artist who
makes functional objects and being an individual who takes pride in the
power of invention and skill.
Link [via Gizmodo] - [boingboing
