Boeing teaches two UAVs to flock together

Boeing is always doing some interesting experiments with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) before, and they have just created a new “milestone” with multiple unmanned aerial drones.

Granted, it was only two drones (Boeing ScanEagles), but the company got them to fly together. These vehicles searched a test area through “self-generating waypoints and terrain mapping, and sent information to teams on the ground”.

This means that unmanned aircraft can collect and use data while communicating with each other for their mission. I’m sure that you can easily imagine more than two aircraft involved in a search-and-rescue mission or perhaps a military invasion.

Are we looking at a future where swarms of these automated airplanes will be our advanced Air Force? Think of the scene in Independence Day where all those tiny fighters invaded that base. We could be those aliens!

Of course, I wonder how in the world we can get all those planes to work together so they don’t shoot down the wrong targets. Something tells me that this is going to be a whole new type of interface.

Then there is that scary situation where the whole army of robot planes turn on us. Think of the movie Stealth but with many planes instead of just one. I hope that someone isn’t taking that idea and making a sequel to that film, because it was horrible.

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Vivitar 690HD Digital Video Recorder

Vivitar calls its 690HD camera a DVR. This is an abbreviation for Digital Video Recorder, but it has nothing to do with what your TiVo does.

The Vivitar 609HD is a handheld camera that looks like it should be held horizontally, but it is best used vertically as the user can see the 2-inch preview screen.

I got a chance to try it out, and the video is good for 1280 x 720 HD, 640 x 480 VGA, or 320 x 240 QVGA. The frame-rate is good for 25fps, 30fps, and 30fps, respectively. The camera is also capable of still shots, but I don’t have any word on the number of Megapixels.

The 690HD has very little built-in memory (8MB), but it can support an SDcard of up to 32GB. The SDcard is not included, but it does come with an AV Cable for watching the footage on your TV.

One major feature of the 690 DVR camera by Vivitar is that it is waterproof up to 10 feet. The packaging has scuba divers on it, which leads me to believe that this camera is marketed to the rugged extreme crowd.

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Microsoft Kinect Hacked to play World of Warcraft

Living Rooms all around the world are shaking with fear of users actually taking swords and attacking their big screens thanks to a new hack for the MicrosoftKinect that allows gamers to play World of Warcraft without a keyboard.

It’s no secret that the Kinect is rapidly becoming the most hacked device since the Hackintosh, but students at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies have takent he next step in developing a software hack which enables gamers to use the motion device to immerse themselves even deeper into the online Mid-evil world.

The hack is called the “Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit, (FAAST) and it uses full-body motion control. Gamer can not only wield a sword or axe to take out a feisty orc, but they can also cast spells, making it nirvana for those who secretly love to dress up to play their favorite game. And it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to use their light saber collection to battle someone online.

But with everyone creating bold new uses for the Kinect and porting it over to the PC, the sky is truly the limit for what can be done with this game changing device. And it makes the world of Minority Report that much closer, but in a bold and exciting way. Imagine editing video’s just with a snip of your fingers and a wave of your hand? Designing in CAD programs Tony Stark style. And getting rid of the keyboard forever?

It’s not just for games anymore and that’s a cool thing.

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Vending machines spit out 3D glasses now

Aren’t you glad that 3D glasses are something that you wear across the front of your face, and not as personal as a pair of earbuds? Good thing this makes it easier to use 3D glasses in movie theaters, never mind that a gazillion other people have also worn the same pair of glasses before you did. Well, the next time you want to catch the next big 3D flick, how about bringing your very own pair of glasses along so that there is no more need to share with anyone else?

Marchon3D is the brains behind this idea, where they have teamed up with Cinemark and UltraStar Cinemas in San Diego and Huntington Beach to deliver the first in-theater, self-service vending machines of its kind. Needless to say, these vending machines won’t deliver popcorn for you – but rather, it will spit out Marchon3D’s line of patented, curved RealD 3D compatible glasses known as EX3D Eyewear.

EX3D is a recently launched brand of Marchon3D, where they intend to make 3D glasses fashionable instead of dorky looking. Well, I guess this is fine and dandy for those who have perfect vision or are wearing contacts, what about the group of people who wear glasses that have bulkier than normal frames? Will Marchon3D be able to provide a decent and yet stylish pair to wear over the glasses?

Movie fans will be spoilt for choice as they can pick from fashion, sport, casual and kids styles in a variety of trendy colors and fashionable shapes. Apart from that, my question above has been answered – EX3D will also deliver smart solutions for prescription glasses wearers such as clip-on lenses. It really depends on the kind of style that you want, as each pair will retail anywhere from $22 to $30, although there is this bunch of limited edition models that can cost you around $70.

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