“You can lazzzer biodegradable plastic!”
Make biodegradable “bioplastic” out of common household ingredients, then laser-cut it with ease. [the Shapeways blog]
Energy & Sustainability
If you’re a maker just starting out your journey in sustainability, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to get started. From understanding the types of materials to utilize, learning what steps will help reduce waste and emissions, and finding inspiring new ways to explore creativity that don’t have a negative environmental impact. The good news is there are plenty of resources available for DIYers looking for ways to make their projects more sustainable – from simple switches you can make today, big-picture ideas for longterm change, or exciting new ways makers are helping push sustainability into the future. In these blog posts we’ll look at tips tricks and ideas specifically tailored towards diyers and makers on the road to creating projects with greater eco consciousness so that not only will you create something beautiful but also respect its impact on our planet!
Making walls invisible with augmented reality
Carnegie Mellon’s Dr. Yaser Sheikh has developed a prototype augmented reality (AR) system that combines images from two or more cameras to allow drivers, for instance, to see around blind corners by making intervening structures “invisible.” In the simplest case, the image from a camera on the blind side of an obstacle is mapped, with appropriate foreshortening and in real time, onto the visible surface of the obstacle in the display from a camera at the user’s position.
The concept reminded me of a brainstorm I had during my last commercial airline flight. Crammed into a middle seat on a crowded 747, feeling claustrophobic and a bit airsick, straining to get a look out one of the distant porthole windows, I longed for a pair of AR glasses that would make the plane invisible so I could look freely around the sky. The video feeds from panoramic cameras mounted above and below the fuselage could be combined and processed through a head-tracking system so that passengers could have an unimpeded external view in any direction they cared to look–the ground, the clouds, the night-time stars up above. Such a system would have no clear commercial purpose other than passenger comfort, but think how much more enjoyable those long-haul flights could be if you were soaring through the wild blue yonder instead of staring at the back of the seat in front of you?
[via Boing Boing]
Vertical Drawer-Style Herb Garden
John Baichtal @ MAKE points us to this rad apartment-sized vertical herb garden. I think even I have space for this!
myPod looks like a neat pad
Need a unique spot for your studio/workshop/cave? Inside, perhaps you could get inspired to incubate your latest crazy ideas. They’re being pitched as an environmentally benign alternative to commuting and less expensive to heating a whole house for a home office. These appear to be production models with standardization of design and materials. Anybody have alternative versions we can see?
Creating an “E-Tractor”
Students at Bonham ISD High School, in Bonham, TX, are turning this old on tractor, donated to them by the Ivanhoe Christmas Tree Farm, into their Electric Vehicle Project for the 2009/2010 school year. Plans are to use the tractor in a farm tractor driving certification/safety course. Primary charging of the E-Tractor will be via […]
“Cutest trailer in the known universe”
On the blog Stuff I Like, they posted this heartbreakingly cute vintage trailer they saw while vacationing at Calaveras Big Trees. Talk about efficient use of space. The Cutest Trailer You Ever Saw
FabLab House: MIT cribs?
So apparently, MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms is in the housing biz. Recently they sponsored the FabLab House, a futuristic-looking concept house designed for the Solar Decathalon Europe. The FabLab House was designed as an ellipsoid structure prefabricated from wood that is formed into a rib-like structure. Although this specific house was designed for […]
