(Credit:
Flower Robotics)
Japanese design firm Flower Robotics has unveiled a new concept robot cell phone that moves around on two wheels and learns from user behavior.
Flower teamed up with telecom KDDI and its Iida line of products to create the device, dubbed Polaris. In the Japanese video below it looks like a cousin of the Sony Rolly MP3 player, but Polaris is more than just a pair of wheels and electronics.
Polaris consists of a robot sphere and the phone itself. The sphere can autonomously dock with its charging unit. The phone gathers information about user behavior and sends it to the sphere, which displays the information on a TV screen. The phone can also serve as a TV remote control.
Flower Robotics says the device can collect data and pool it in a "Life Log." It gathers info such as kilometers walked daily, online transactions, and e-mails sent and received. It then starts to predict user behavior and display relevant "advice and other information" on a user's TV.
The company, which is headed by designer and architect Tatsuya Matsui, isn't too clear on what such advice would consist of. Presumably nuggets like, "You really shouldn't kick me. Don't kick me, OK?"
"Polaris 'grows on you' not only because of its physical charm but also because of the way its daily data collection causes it to develop its own personality, creating unique movements, sounds and light patterns," the firm says.
The lithium ion battery-powered sphere has infrared, image, and obstacle sensors, with a motion range of about 10 yards. At 6.6 pounds and 5 inches across, it's designed to fit right next to a TV.
Flower hopes to commercialize Polaris sometime next year, but there's no word on a possible price.
(Via Pink Tentacle)
(Credit:
Trade Media Holdings)
With Mother's Day still several months away, we were caught somewhat off guard by this new media player from Hong Kong-based Sysbay. The reason: We're not used to seeing gadgets adorned with flowery patterns until that time of year.
But we can't blame the company for trying--after all, if people are willing to buy anything with Hello Kitty's mouthless face on it, there are bound to be fans of the foliage depicted around the PF500's 7-inch screen, as Engadget says. And that would be welcome news, because it's about the only thing that differentiates this device in a market that gets more crowded by the day with new models.
(Credit:
Spycatcher)
As spy gadgetry is concerned, this one isn't exactly 007 smooth. It's quite the opposite, actually, in that talk-into-my-carnation kind of way.
Although this product is presumably meant for covert activities--it's being sold on Spycatcher, after all--these "Spy Sunglasses" are basically a pair of shades with a camera stuck on the side, about as camouflaged as a snowman in a coal mine. It would go perfectly with the Discovery wrist cam in the Department of Glaringly Obvious.
Besides, now that we can sneak a video feed with a pinhole camera built into a tie, who would need anything else? But if you do end up getting the camera glasses, you might also want to consider another gadget for the inevitable lulls in espionage: You can always pop a "Teleglass" onto the other lens and watch a movie.
Those of us who talk to our plants are used to one-way conversations. Now, thanks to the Communication Flower from Japan's E-Revolution, the human-horticulture rapport is about to get more reciprocal.
(Credit:
E-Revolution)
The gizmo is a small box with a speaker and 200 words and phrases in its memory. Touch the flora and a little guy sitting atop the cube spouts the preprogrammed sentiments randomly. We're having a little trouble extracting the nature of the phrases from translated Japanese promotional materials, but one blurb explains that you can expect to hear "the word which gives vigor to you, encourages."
Hey, we'll take validation wherever we can get it!
The gadget, which comes in green, white and pink, will be out at the end of December for $36. Don't be baffled. We at Crave understand that sometimes it's best to take the Zen approach to gadgets: just breathe and accept.
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