Xbox

Kinect Was Tested By Dropping It On Concrete

The Microsoft engineers building Kinect “knew this thing was going to be viewed as a toy,” says one, “and so it was going to be abused.” So they abused it first, toughening the thing up to the point it could be dropped on concrete and still function.


February 22, 2011
News

Driving A Car Using The Power Of Your Mind

German engineers have rigged up a Volkswagen Passat so it manoeuvres using only the driver’s mental directions. This technology could lead to a new age in which people actually use their brains while driving.


January 26, 2011
In Real Life

The Greek Engineer Who Invented The Steam Engine 2,000 Years Ago

Almost two millennia before the rest of humanity entered the industrial age, the Greek inventor Hero invented the steam engine, wind-powered machinery, and theories of light that couldn’t be improved for centuries. And then he invented some really crazy stuff.


December 15, 2010
In Real Life

Neuroscientists Create The First Brain-controlled Exoskeleton

We’ve had brain-computer interfaces for years now, as well as mind-controlled prosthetic limbs. Now neuroscientists have taken it to the next level, with a system that would allow you to control a super-powered exoskeleton using only your thoughts.


April 26, 2008
Uncategorized

PlayStation 3 To Get New Heatsinks, Ooohhh

For the extreme hardware dorks, this news is actually pretty neat. With 3rd generation PlayStation 3s, Sony will be using a new, small set of heatsinks. They are only half the weight of what we saw in the launch PS3, and the manufacturer, Furukawa Electric, has reduced their number of different components from 20 to just 3. It helps that Sony has managed to shrink some of the PS3′s chips, of course, but the accomplishment is still impressive from the engineering perspective—and the kind of ingenuity we need for the PlayStation 3 to ever trim its waistline. Here’s hoping the parts reduction works as well as Furukawa Electric claims. 3rd-gen Heatsink for PS3 Unveiled [Tech-On! via Next Generation]