Potato / Deformed brain USB Hub

Posted in USB by Conner Flynn on May 26th, 2009

Potato / Deformed brain USB HubYou say potato I say pot-a-to. I think we can both agree that this thing looks more like a deformed mutant brain than a potato any day. Seriously, would you buy a potato that looked like this one? Me either. Anyway, if you like your USB hubs on the disturbingly weird side, this is for you, ya damn freak.

It’s a 4-port USB 2.0 compliant hub that is what it is. The USB Potato 4-Port Hub will cost you $16 from Brando. Not Marlon Brando, the gadget site. I know I’ve seen this thing it several B movies, but I just can’t place it.

SmartNav units control PCs with your brain

Posted in Computers by Conner Flynn on March 10th, 2009

SmartNav units control PCs with your brainThere have been plenty of conceptual gadgets that claim to control computers with just the brain, but the difficulty is getting them ready for the commercial market. That’s where NaturalPoint comes in. They are serving up a new pair of SmartNav 4 human-computer interface devices that will let users control all basic tasks with just by using their noggin.

The AT and EG models are designed so that physically handicapped individuals can control their PCs like a Jedi, moving the mouse around by with head movements and selecting commands and phrases on a virtual keyboard. Like Stephen Hawking for instance.

Mattel trains young Jedis with Mindflex

Posted in Toys by Conner Flynn on February 15th, 2009


If you’ve ever dreamed of being a Jedi and having the ability to move objects with your mind, your dreams are about to come true. Mindflex is the new mental acuity game from Mattel, arriving this fall. It may not let you lift an X-Wing out of a Dagobah swamp, but you will be able to move a ball with the power of your mind.

A lightweight headset with sensors measures your brainwave activity. When you focus your concentration, a small foam ball will rise on a gentle stream of air. Relax your mind and the ball will drop. It’s not just mental, there’s also some physical stuff involved as you try to guide the ball through a customizable obstacle course.

Scientists extract images directly from the brain

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on December 11th, 2008

Scientists extract images directly from the brainIn what could be the first step toward recording your dreams, researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor. That means it won’t be long before you can share your thoughts and dreams with others the way you share your flickr pics. They’ve successfully displayed simple images produced in the human brain on a computer screen.

The device converts electrical signals sent to the visual cortex into images that can be viewed on a computer screen. In the experiment, they showed test subjects the six letters in the word neuron and successfully reconstructed the word on screen by measuring brain activity. So, is this awesome or scary as hell? I vote scary.

The Apple “iThink” concept

Posted in Concepts by Conner Flynn on August 2nd, 2008

The Apple “iThink” conceptConsider this a concept that that might have been and may still be, should Steve Jobs get a bit too enamored with The Matrix. It could be the next hot Apple item, leaving the iPod and iPhone in the dust. Designer Paul Micarelli came up with it.

The Symbiosis™ Neural Interface:Direct brain-computer link means your mind and computer are one. It sports Intel Fusion™, Quantum Processing that uses the power of the atom to instantly compute at the speed of thought., Holographic Data Storage thanks to the iThink’s tiny internal holochip with an amazing individual capacity of over 666 Yottabytes for seemingly infinite augmented memory, Intra-neural Communication lets you mentally allow or block any kind of signal you want. With the iThink, it wont be long until you are docking yourself like some Borg in the hive collective, rather then docking your iPod.

Nerd Hellraiser brain-computer interface

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on June 22nd, 2008

Nerd Hellraiser brain-computer interface
Some German scientists with a love of bad horror movies and some time on their hands, have come up with the nerdiest brain-computer interface yet. It’s from the Technical University of Braunschweig.

No placing electrodes on your head with this one. This one is all about wearing a large metal helmet full of sensors, that can detect your brain activity through your hair. They claim that the system is good enough to control an RC car and they’re hoping to use it in wheelchairs and prosthetics. Check out a video below.

Mind blowing chair sends images to brain via skin

Posted in Furniture by Conner Flynn on February 5th, 2008

Mind blowing chair is creepyThe Mind Chair will blow your mind if the product description is accurate and can be believed. It uses sensory substitution techniques that enable the sitter to see moving images right in their brain. The nerves in the skin are the mode of transport. Cool and yet very very creepy. Just sit somebody down in this thing and you could interrogate them as if you had just pumped them full of psychotropic drugs.

The Mind Chair will be made available to curious onlookers at the MoMA in New York as part of the Design and the Electric Mind exhibition. Problem is, like a scene from some Phillip K. Dick novel, did you experience what you thought you did? Or in reality did they sit you down in that chair and brainwash you? I suppose you’ll never know. Sucks to be you. I’m staying away from the chair, thank you.





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