This is so cool how they could actually make Music using regular glasses. simply beautiful.
Sugar Plum Fairy by P.Tchaikovsky – Glass Harp LIVE
Glass Duo (Poland) – Chamber Music Festival in Bologna, Italy – June 2010.
Placed in Chiostro della Basilica di Santo Stefano.
Festival di Santo Stefano XXII edizione.
P.Tchaikovsky – Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker)
Glass Duo na Festiwalu Muzyki Kameralnej w Bazylice Santo Stefano w Bolonii.
Designed by Aruliden for Gaia and Gino, the Fishscape is a 2.5 gallon handmade glass fishbowl with a super cool textured interior landscape. Nemo never had it so good! Fish not included. Hand wash only.
An interior of this extravagance would never endure a conventional television. The dielectric mirror TV is carefully positioned as a subtle centerpiece with a frame that is customized to blend effortlessly with this sophisticated décor. The graceful mirror shows off the elegance and dimensions of the room and disguises the high end entertainment technology for quiet conversation and fine dining.
After a dinner of fabulous cuisine and fine wine you can relax in the living area with state-of-the-art high definition entertainment. Who would have thought that you would be able to outfit such an exquisite décor with a television? Now it is possible with the dielectric mirror TV which is offered in an impressive array of sizes and styles with a custom frame that is exclusively crafted to the high standards of your taste in décor.
Strap a yoga ball to 16 horizontally rotating propellers and apparently you can claim a world’s first. German aircraft company E-Volo slapped together something they’re calling a Multicopter and recently they achieved the first manned flight that lasted about 90 seconds.
If the prototype looks familiar, that’s probably because you’ve seen a variety of quadricopter in the last few years, the most notable being Parrot’s A.R. Drone. However, up until this point all them have been too small to lift a person off the ground.
The Multicopter is controlled using a wireless remote and apparently will float, much in the same fashion as Parrot’s quadricopter, without any human input, though it’s not clear if E-Volo has incorporated a variety of sensors unlike the A.R. Drone. However, there are a set of onboard computers that calculate the rotational speed of the propellers and thus control altitude and the direction of travel.
This version of the multicopter is powered purely on battery juice, but the company says that they might develop a gas and electric hybrid version which would increase flight times from 10-30 minutes to perhaps an hour.
We’re really not sure what we would do with a multicopter. In fact, it reminds us of the Segway – cool tech but not really practical in any application. Then again, the military could surely use somethings like this to perform recon, though it might be a bit too large and manned flight is slowly being eliminated from their strategy.
Did you know that 50% of your energy bill is derived from heating and cooling your home? Did you also know that you can cut that number by as much as 20% if you program your thermostat? But let’s be real, who does that?! More often than not we just walk up to the thermostat and adjust the temperature when our feet are cold or our pits are sweaty. As a result, many folks set it and forget it, leaving AC cranked or the heat burning when they’re no longer home or in that room. So what’s the solution? The Nest Learning Thermostat.
It’s a $250 device that is supposedly as easy to install as putting in a new light fixture. If we’re to trust Nest’s stats you can make your money back in as little as 16 months, or perhaps less if you’re incredibly remiss when it comes to cooling or heating your home. It’s able to achieve this feat by learning about your habits. Just install the Nest, answer 3 basic questions and then use the thermostat as normal. A simple ring rotates from left to right allowing you to easily modify the temperature as you see fit. In a few days time the Nest will begin to build a database that reflects your desired temperatures. But that’s not all.
The Nest includes an activity sensor, which boasts a 150 degree field of view and can detect when no one is home and set itself to auto Away. Built-in WiFi not only allows you to control the Nest from your smartphone or any computer from anywhere, but keeps tabs on the weather conditions and forecast, and factors this into its algorithm. Lastly, an array of sensors (humidity, proximity, ambient light) are baked into the equation. Once enough data has been collected the Nest will begin to automatically adjust the temperature according to your weekly schedule and habits. However, that’s not all that the Nest Learning Thermostat has to offer.
A light sensor detects the ambient light in the room and adjusts the display’s brightness so you won’t be blinded in the middle of the night. Furthermore, the screen will glow red for heating or blue for cooling, and will display a green leaf when you’re saving money.
You can add a number of these throughout your home and they’ll all work together to increase your energy efficiency. We’re not sure if that happens over WiFi or the Ziggbee standard, but in any event it includes both wireless protocols, which means it should be compatible with whatever home automation gear you throw in its direction. Lastly, you can log into the Nest website, review your stats, adjust your schedule accordingly and best of all see how much cash you’ve managed to save.
You can preorder your Nest today for $250. It should ship 11/14/2011.
Doors are standard fair in any home. However, an awe inspiring front door can convert any blah home into an architectural wonder. It can add warmth, pizazz and though it serves as a gateway to your abode, it is also a suggestion to what kind of interior awaits its entrants.
The curtain door is not only sick looking, but an engineering feet. It measures 5.2m high and 1.7m wide. 60 pulleys, 80 ball bearings, a wire-rope and a counter weight are hidden inside 40 sections of 254mm-thick Burma teak. So a few trees (understatement) died in the vein of this door, but there is no over looking its functionality and design.
When in the closed position each section stacks on top of itself. A push on the door’s planks causes it to rotate open. We can only hope this all happens in an effortless manner.
The curtain door was created by Matharoo Associates.
Though often necessary, dropping an ice cube or two into your chardonnay is totally unacceptable. The Corkcicle will do the trick of keeping your wine at the perfect temp and prevent you from looking like an unrefined yahoo, even if you are one.
Need to get from London to Australia in three hours? Billionaire and Virgin Founder Richard Branson is getting closer to bringing “sub-orbital” travel to reality with the opening of Spaceport America, the home of Virgin Galactic. Located in New Mexico and resembling a set that looks like it came straight out of a big budget sci-fi blockbuster, the Foster + Partners design will house Virgin’s White Knight and SpaceShipTwo aircraft where space tourists will soon depart for a 3.5 hour flight that includes six minutes of weightless, sub-orbital flight time. Tickets for flights will cost $200,000. Link / Source
If your own two aren’t providing enough entertainment, the wild and crazy Robotic Ball could curb your ball playing jones. Controlled by your smart phone, this product is what the name suggests, a ball that does what you want it to. Unlike the others that are extremely fragile, this one will stand up to all-day play.
Some things were just meant to go together, like peanut butter and jelly, peas and carrots, tea and… robots? Judging by the Robot Tea Infuser ($15), it certainly appears so. This whimsical kitchen gadget holds your favorite leaves inside while using its arms to ensure that it stays below the water.
Sphero the Robotic Ball
