Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Posted: 01 Apr 2012 05:30 AM PDT

A USB charging hub is one ordinary accessory that we have all come to take for granted. I mean, how many people would actually give a second look to this particular USB accessory? Not many, I suppose. Thinkgeek has a mind to change your viewpoint by introducing the $39.99 Converge USB Charging Hub, where it will be able to juice up to a quartet of exhausted device batteries via USB in style and comfort. When you are done, just stash away the cables in the back – and you know what they say, out of sight, out of mind.

All you need to do is plug the power source into your nearest outlet and you are good to go. Just bear in mind that USB might stand for Universal Serial Bus, but that does not mean it is capable of powering up Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit or the Blackberry Torch, Blackberry Curve, or the Barnes & Noble Nook. Don’t ask me why those devices are exempted, but then again, going with what the majority of people use is always a better idea than supporting more obscure devices.

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[ Converge USB Charging Hub copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Trampoline game interface for a fitter you

Posted: 01 Apr 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Nintendo certainly sparked off a gaming exercise craze with their Nintendo Wii when it rolled out several years ago. While it might seem to look like some sort of a novelty system to many people, the move eventually paid off, with Sony following up with their own version called PS Move, while Microsoft takes things one step further with the Kinect, where your entire body functions as the video game controller itself. Gaming for fitness has since seen programs begin in hospitals in order to rehabilitate stroke patients and the like.

Well, here is yet another potential game changer (pun not intended) with the trampoline game interface, which has nothing to do with Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo at all. Instead, this exercise support system will rely on one’s movement on the trampoline as a form of input in a virtual space. A research group at Tsukuba University is spearheading this project, where the latest version paves the way for a wider range of movements in the game world. Apart from forward, balancing, and jumping motions that were made available in the previous version, the newer version will allow you to input sideways and backward motions.

The research team describes it this way, “We’ve developed this system to make exercise less intimidating for people who aren’t used to it. Exercising on a trampoline has less impact on the legs and back than exercising on the floor, and it can be very effective. We thought that combining exercise on a trampoline with a virtual space might be a way to make exercise fun. And that’s how we’ve developed this system. The sensors detect the position of the user’s center of gravity, showing whether the person is leaning left or right. If the center of gravity moves continuously left then right, that’s detected as “walking forward,” and if the body weight is to the left for a certain time, that’s a “balancing motion.” If the trampoline surface is depressed, that’s detected as a “jump”.”

I know for sure I would be so out of breath after spending just five minutes on this. Best to hit the gym then and stop talking!

Source

Conference Calendar – The global conference and expo finder.
[ Trampoline game interface for a fitter you copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]