Fake for Real: Toys are Us
Koert van MensvoortPlay can be a wonderful way to learn new things. Even young lions obtain their predatory skills through play. Don't worry - it's only a game! Humor can bring relief in tense …
Play can be a wonderful way to learn new things. Even young lions obtain their predatory skills through play. Don't worry - it's only a game! Humor can bring relief in tense …
Blood Wars is an art-science installation that will pit white blood cells from two different people against each other in a "tournament" that aims to see which person has the …
Has nature become a fairytale or do we want it to be one? In their installation The Clockwork Forest , artist collective Greyworld seems to opt for the latter. The work of art …
The Pavlok wristband gives its wearers an electric shock if they fail at hitting work deadlines or completing fitness goals.
It is the era of smart toys, but they certainly raise difficult questions for parents.
We present for the real sneaker heads amongst us, six new futuristic pieces of footwear. Going from pineapple leather to self lacing 'Back to the Future' Nikes.
McDonald’s provided their Happy Meals with a high-tech activity tracker toy.
Barbie has been turned into a hologram version of herself and will now be your kids assistend.
Meet the Robo Wunderkind, a new breed of smart toys that introduces children to the basics of coding and robotics in a playful way. Advanced technologies are increasingly embedded …
Nowadays, young children are so used to the omnipresence of disposable toys. When their parents buy them a living pet animal they are unable to take care of it. Hamster tend to …
I guess we shouldn't expect better from Axe. I'm sure it makes watching internet porn feel so much more like the real thing. One of those products that is a clear signal to RUN if …
Joyful recycling from Japan, comes this powerful frog that can crush cans! You can buy it from this Japanese store . A less whimsical can crusher can be found at Amazon for $20. …
Japanese researchers have developed head gear that lets people control devices such as an iPod using their teeth. Now that is not really new, except when you take in mind that …
Starting as noise makers, the owlproject work on different products which are deeply rooted in nature. And electronics.With their logs the owlproject travel around the world, …
Remember no-tech? Back in the days, we would ocassionally write down things with a pencil on paper. If we made a mistake, we would rub something that looks like an delete button …
The TEMPO is a fake product with a real idea. As I am really neat and eager to clean up my digital desk I tend to throw away too much files. This digital trashcan copies the stuff …
NeuroSky (founded in 2004) innovator in "wearable" bio-sensor/signal processing systems and SEGA TOYS are developing mind-controlled computer games and next generation consumer …
The bear is a wild animal, a predator and hostile to man. Yet somewhere in the beginning of the 20th century someone caught the idea of making a cuddly toy out of it. Perhaps …
Tom Ballhatchet introduces mice and hamsters into the officegarden. tomballhatchet.com
No no, don't worry! These hypernatural animals aren't the genetic surprise of some mad scientist, it is artist Sarina Brewer resampling, remixing and stitching together her Custom …
Ever since Rosie from 'The Jetsons,' robots have been the next big thing, but the business case was never there. So far, companion robots have been a big flop in the market , but …
I don't know how it is with you, but to me sending smileys in emails or text messages always feels a bit primitive. It's not that I don't like the icons, I really do. I just don't …
Will Wright's hugely successful games SimCity and The Sims let players shape the structure of urban areas and the lives of virtual humans; his upcoming game, Spore , lets them …
Tech company Fuijtsu released a new way to look around you while driving a car. Following the old fashioned neck turning and mirroring this tech has cameras around the vehicle to …
For mobile gamers in western Japan, a hearty seafood dinner awaits just a few key clicks away, thanks to a unique new cellphone fishing game that rewards successful players with …
A million years from now that hand would probably look more evolved, but the idea is nice: What if we would mold objects of the now into stone or bricks to preserve them over time …
This weeks peculiar image gives gaming that "natural" touch: the Hemp–Mote by dhrek.com Made from 3 kinds of 100% natural hemp string on the outside, while remaining 100% …
A commercial by an orthopaedic reconstruction company introducing the next generation of joint replacements: " Highly advanced hips and knees. Engineered to meet the needs of your …
Starting next spring, a complete human-genome sequence can be ordered the Californian startup Complete Genomics for just $5,000, Techreview reports. Currently sequencing still …
Or you could get an iDog. This electronic animal with musical sensibilities. It sits on your desk and sings along with the music you are playing. Dog haters don't need to worry; …
A giant, smiling Lego man has been fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort. Workers at a drinks stall rescued the 2.5-metre tall model. "We saw something bobbing …
Somehow I feel there is some deeper meaning in this cheesy video. No? See also: Water in my Phone .
Inspired by the death of his grandfather, LEGO builder Shannon Ocean visualizes the chaos that lies beyond death in this thoughtful and somewhat disturbing piece called " Letting …
This is not a 3-D-animation of a fictional creature, but an actual existing animal: the Angora Rabbit.
Peculiar image of the week. Langley researcher Elton W. Miller stands poised in the Propeller Research Tunnel, as if pondering the future of aviation in this image from mid-1927. …
With her babybunnies series provocateur/artist/designer Tinkebell aims to provide an analysis of the consumptive attitude people have in relation to their pets. This latest work – …
Confused with the pile of remote controls in your house? Now here is an idea: get a robot to control them. Researchers at Toshiba have developed a talking robot, named ApriPoko, …
In 1921 the word "Robot" (meaning "labor") was introduced by Czech writer Karel ?apek . In his play "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots), robots seem happy to work for humans. …
'The LED Dog Tail Communicator' is an initiative of James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, and it is part of the larger 'Augmented Animals' project. Its focus points to technological …
Wool sculptor Stephanie Metz researched the meaning of 'cute' through the morphology of some Teddy bear species. Related posts: PacMan's Scull | Animatus
You wouldn't give it to her but Barbie is already over 50 years old. The doll made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in 1959 and has been a young girls (and gays) …
This new 3D webcam with two cameras spaced approximately as far apart as human eyes is our anthropomorphic object of the week. Can you feel it, watching you? The little brother …
This video shows the first beta version of TwittARound – an augmented reality Twitter viewer on the iPhone 3Gs. It shows live tweets around your location on the horizon. Because …
Cursor Kite brings the desktop of your computer outdoors. Nerdy? Yep, but the youtube video of the mouse pointer exploring the beach is fun to watch. Related: Boomeranged …
The world of tissue engineering is usually associated with medical applications . But how about some tissue engineered toys? The Epidermits toy is the Karten Design firm 's …
The Eyeborg Project is the work of Rob Spence, a 36 year old filmmaker residing in Toronto, Canada and Kosta Grammatis – an unemployed engineer from San Francisco, California. …
In response to the Boomeranged Metaphors post of last week, visual wizard Ton Meijdam sent us these foldable icons. Print them, fold them and use them to decorate your 3D desktop …
Gadgets! You love them when you buy them, but what happens next? Over half of Brits have abandoned gadgets because they don't know how to use them properly. Seventy-one per cent …
Robots are penetrating our homes... disguised as cats? On July 30, Sega Toys releases an el-cheapo simulation cat toy for robot cat lovers with allergies or pet-unfriendly …
This week a Brazilian prosecutor asked a judge to nationally ban toys sold with meals in fast-food outlets like McDonald's and Burger King, because it can lead children to develop …
We already know that guys love dolls ... Now learn why some mothers can never stop playing with dolls and that cuteness is defined in the mind's eye. Image credit: Kentish Babies …
These college students perform a "live-action" skit of the old school Super Mario Brothers video game at a talent show. Virtual for real in a high school musical (hilarious …
In next nature, video game characters become part of your everyday environment, however I am no sure if I would hire this guy to do my plumbing. This hyperreal Mario was created …
Let the robots do the dirty work! This real-life Wall-E Recycling robot, part of the $3.9 million DustBot research program that is trying to improve urban hygiene, collects trash …
Tiger meets tiger. Apparently some of the owners of a vacuum cleaning robot feel the need to 'costumize' their device. We are now awaiting the witty bio-robotics company that …
The American Chemical Society is holding a contest seeking short videos that answer the question: "What is nano ?" UC Berkeley graduate student Patrick Bennett and his colleagues …
Though I did not eat as many crayons as PiPi growing up, I’m sure we all remember the first day we tasted wax. How can something *look* so tasty, yet be totally bland. But I …
The Drive in Wheel is an unique and spectacular giant wheel made especially for cars. The wheel is 100 feet high and takes four cars on one trip. City sightseeing has never been …
Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro ( Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaska University) has done it again! This time in coöperation with robot-maker Kokoro Co. Ltd . Objective: to …
Now here is an example of the fusion between the made and the born , most kids would crave for. Much better than the robotic dino toy. Designed by evolution! Hopefully this …
Now how is this for a Boomeranged Metaphor ? Gene suffers from first person shooter disease, also known as Duke Nukem’s disease. It is such a sadness. See also: When Facebook gets …
Hurray, the Next Nature tribe is growing! Today, we’ve welcomed our 2,000th friend on Facebook . And what better way is there to honour this person with a celebrational parade …
Protection is the fundamental purpose of the helmet. This helmet, a conceptual design project by Seungjoo Lee , enables the storage and protection of memories. Plug in your USB to …
A relatively new kind of marine species is called "Seabreacher" . These watercraft vessels started appearing from 1997 and have been evolving at a rapid pace. Seabreachers enable …
Urban intervention, naughty boy-style! The public media interventionists of VR/Urban have designed a cool tool to intervene into next nature: the SMSlingshot. A wooden, embedded …
You know the HeHe collective from their laser projection on a power plant emission cloud . But did you know these folks have a real emission clouds fetish going on? In this …
When fruit flies die, they don't go to heaven, but they do get to go to outer space. At least that's the conceit of artist HsienYu Cheng's Collector: Afterlife , which zaps bugs …
It works like this. Position yourself with a friend in front of a battery hen and flap your arms as fast as you can when the music sets in. The harder you flap the faster your …
In a vivd example of the blur between culture and nature, players using an online game called Foldit have helped solve complex questions for researchers about enzyme models. The …
Some beautiful images from games gone wrong. If you have more of them, post a link in the comments Via
As they went down the elevator shaft, going deeper underground, neither Nada nor Manko spoke a word. To Manko it seemed to take forever. In his mind, he went over the long …
In twenty years , the mobile phone has become man's closest utensil. Can you imagine living without this umbilical box? Too bad it's often still a box that we hold to our ears... …
Stanford researchers are developing 'biotic games' involving paramecia and other living organisms. So far, they have created three games that mimic classic video games. The …
Lovely image of a really fat car by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm . This image is for a Belgian eco-awareness campaign.
At the 2011 Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, a photograph of a flesh-and-blood woman advertises a RealDoll, the life-sized sex mannequin made for people with a fetish for …
Say hello to teacher Engkey ! The city of Daegu — South Korea, introduced 29 robot teachers in 19 elementary schools as part of a large scale project to robotize teaching. The …
Steve Jobs , former Apple CEO, passed away on Wednesday October 5th after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Technology conceived from his vision has changed the world …
Adapting video games to real life has become a fairly common, jokey way of exploring the games' surreal aspects. I saw kids with balloons playing Mario Kart on my college campus, …
Like with pets and babies, we seem to like it when devices mimic our behaviour and social patterns. In the process of domesticating technology, we teach products to behave like …
Having trouble getting the kids to eat their fruits and vegetables? Try turning their 5-a-day into a trendy, collectible toy. We've seen Buddha fruit and square watermelons …
This promo video for the Google autonomous car is pretty exciting. I'm sure in a decade driving our own car will seem so old-fashioned,thinking how we ever trusted the physical …
"A robot is a mechanical apparatus designed to do the work of a man. Its components are usually electro-mechanical and are guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry. By …
Raymond Ong creates uniquely customized fish leather by transferring the DNA of existing animal patterns on the skin of stingray fishes. This leather is then used to produce highly personalized sneakers.
"Earlier today, certain realms were affected by an in-game exploit, resulting in the deaths of player characters and non-player characters in some of the major cities," wrote a …
Besides children and pets , it turns out that pigs are also attracted to interactive interfaces. Pig Chase is a computer game in which pigs and people can play together. The aim …
Back in the old days, we played with a Playmobil ® farm. With a farmhouse, two pigs and a chicken, and it was a fair reflection of how the food industry worked. Nowadays small …
Anthropomorphic products enter the human social space. Humans have the most complex social behavior of any organism on Earth. Anyone or anything trying to join in should be careful to do it right.
Created by Cary Huang, this interactive scale of the universe shows the relative sizes of everything from quarks to the Hoover Dam. Be prepared for some cosmic gee-whiz moments …
For his Made of Myth series, Marc Da Cunha Lopes goes back to the places where the elements of great game classics were made. You really didn't think it was all virtual, right? …
It looks like a normal soccer ball, but Soccket has a secret: a hole for a charging cable. Designed by two Harvard students, the ball has a pendulum-like mechanism inside that …
The embedded "share" button in the new Playstation assumes that sharing is at the center of our existence.
Need a personal trainer? Google's new sneakers fulfill the role of a human coach.
What does Barbie look like when she has the proportions of a normal 19-year-old?
New citizen science games are bringing gamification to serious issues.
A tool that could turn the arm into a touch screen display.
The Human Hamster Wheel Desk is the latest result of workspace evolution. Office work has domesticated us!
Since Darwin we tend to look at the biological world exclusively in economical terms. The idea that monkey's, frogs, or even ants do more than simply propagate, doesn't find much acceptance among scientists. And yet, even crayfishes at times seem to displace objects just for fun.
Super Mario is now able to learn and feel in the confines of his 8-bit universe.
Just like Lego, Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks.
Thync, is a new brain-altering wearable technology that promises to “shift your state of mind and conquer life” by allowing its users to change their mood whenever they need it.
A life-size replica of the fammous1980s arcade game, complete with big ghosts and pac-dots.
A virtual reality theme park where visitors can explore the virtual world in a physical environment.
Australian programmer started a social experiment called “Twitch Plays Pokémon”. Over a Million People Play Pokémon in Social Experiment
Pokémon Go is slowly taking over our planet. People know more Pokémon than bird or tree species. However, avid players will have noticed that some of the first-gen Pokémon are not available in the game yet.
Open Bionics is helping children in need for bionic hands. With Iron Man, Frozen, or Star Wars-themed prosthetics, their fantasies become reality.
What happens when someone places a virtual property on top of a physical one?
Lego announced the next generation of building bricks, bringing the creations to life.
In various parts of the world, access to education is, or risks becoming, a huge crisis. UNESCO estimates that around 20 million new teachers are needed worldwide - and that's not …
The rise of artificial intelligence has brought us more advanced toys. If AI Barbie and her talking robotic friends are going to raise our kids, what would their parenting style …