HumanCar can go 60 mph with just human power

This is the HumanCar, and it is a vehicle that does not require gas. Oh yes, I am not making this up.

It is designed by Charles Greenwood, and it made by the user “rowing” to go forward, and it also has a back-up electric battery. Somehow, this allows the driver to reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.

There is a video of this after the jump if you want to see this row-powered vehicle in action.

I suppose that we have all wanted the human powered car since we saw Fred use one on The Flintstones. I suppose it was just a matter of time before someone saw that arm power was better than the courtesy of Fred’s two feet. Just be grateful that you don’t have to brake with bare heels. I’m guessing that this is a lot like riding a bike, and I don’t really want to take this up hill.

This vehicle does weigh in at 10,000 pounds. It will be available next year, but the inventor has already received approximately 100 pre-orders already. It also has an all-weather roof, and it apparently has a touch-screen display, as well as a GPS.

So are we looking at an age where the HumanCar floods our streets? Well, perhaps not the freeways. I do like the idea of saving on gas.

Sony Nextep Wrist computer of 2020!

I remember back in the eighties, when someone wanted to show some concept technology, they would say something like: “By the year 2000, this will be the technology”.

Apparently, 2020 is the new 2000. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen concept technology that has said: “this is the tech of the year 2020″.

This is a bracelet watch/mobile device called the Sony Nextep Computer, which has a pull-out keyboard, as well as an OLED screen.

Now, you’re probably thinking that the white box above the Sony Nextep Computer is the box that the device comes in, but it is, in fact, a hologram. Yes, that’s right, I said hologram. This is one of those technologies that requires holograms in order to be made real. I can’t help but wonder how far away is a holographic society?

I guess we’ll soon find out, and when we do, it will be one of those technologies that just takes over. Sort of like cell phones, texting, Twitter, Facebook, and everything else technological that feels like it sprung up overnight.

Anyway, the Nextep wrist computer is designed by Hiromi Kiriki, and I would love to see it on my wrist. Perhaps I’ll see it at a trade show and get a chance to try it out. In the words of George Takei: “Oh my!”

EKON car uses the power of Emoticons

This isn’t the first time that we have posted about a concept car, and many of them sort of look the same.

For some reason, they all have this odd silver or gray color, and have lights in weird places, as if they existed in the world of Tron.

The EKON is definitely something very different as its main feature could change the very road as we know it. You see, it is the only car that I know that uses emoticons.

You see that red face on it? That is the car’s happy face. Yes, this is so you can signal to another driver that you are pleased with their performance. It beats the heck out of calling that “How’s my Driving” number and reporting positive feedback.

I’m not certain how much of the print you can see in the photo, but there are a whole catalog of emoticons that you can project on your car. For example, sadness, boredom, nervousness, surprise, or even some weird ones like “LOL” and other symbols.

Granted, I’m not certain how the user gets the Emoticon. Is there an array of buttons on the dash? That could be distracting. Maybe if you just text it in, but that is texting while driving.

Well, I’m sure by the time this car comes out, there will be voice controls for this emoticon. As for now, it is just a concept.

A Hollywood Sign Makeover

I’ve sure we all know the iconic Hollywood sign, but it is undergoing some dire straits. Hugh Hefner himself recently donated $900,000 to preserve the 138 acres it is founded on.

Bay Arch, a Denmark-based architecture firm has an idea to completely restructure the Hollywood sign. Not only do they want to keep the original letters, but they want to make them into a hotel.

In fact, they want to more than double the size of the 45 feet letters and turn it into a 105 foot tall resort. It would have clubs, movie theaters, spas, and all sorts of things that could easily make this the new Hollywood “place-to-be”. It will even have an observation deck.

Considering that the sign itself was originally built in 1923 as a part of a real-estate promotion, it is fitting that some sort of housing would be built there. I don’t know if you know this, but the sign originally spelled out Hollywoodland but the last part was removed in 1949. If this hotel becomes reality, then I suppose Bay Arch could expand by putting “Land” on it.

Personally, I would love to just see this. I mean, how cool would it be just to stay in a resort that looks like leters? Can you imagine the conversations afterward? “Oh, yeah, I stayed in the Hollywood Hotel. Yeah, I was in the L-Suite, the second L.”

Wind Up Socket Concept Timer

Here is an interesting concept that allows the user to save energy, the easy way.

Think of it as a power strip made up of egg timers. Even if you’re too young to know what an egg timer is, you can still figure out how to use it. Just turn it to the proper setting, and it will tick down until the bell goes off. It’s technology that has been almost completely replaced with digital clocks. My children have never seen one, I’m sure.

The Wind up Socket is designed to save energy by plugging in your device, and then turning it to the time that you want it to run. It’s perfect for devices that don’t need to be always plugged in.

The Wind Up Socket is so easy that even your grandmother can use it. I realize that this could come across as a slam to most senior citizens, but hey, just watch her try to program a VCR. She still hasn’t figured out that the VCR has been replaced by DVR. She probably still uses egg timers, though.

Of course, this looks like an easy way to get your cords tangled up, doesn’t it? That seems like an obvious design flaw in an otherwise good-intentioned idea from designers Dongwon Joo and Jieun Choi. Perhaps that figure out another way of doing this idea by simply putting dials near the plugs, not as the plugs.

Berlin Brain Computer Interface lets you play pinball, with your mind

This is an odd way to play pinball, don’t you think? Shouldn’t this man be standing in front of the machine? And what’s with that wired bathing cap?

This is probably what I would have said if I was at CeBIT 2010 and passed by this display of the Berlin Brain-Computer Interface. As it turns out, this man is playing this game of pinball with his brain. I’m not saying that he’s really getting his head into the game, but his head is playing the game.

You can watch a video of the setup of this person in action after the jump. I really have no idea if this man is just some visitor to CeBIT or someone who works for the company, but you can watch him as they set him up to play pinball on this Addams Family themed pinball machine. Yeah, I would have chosen a different theme, but the multiple flippers does make it interesting.

Unfortunately, there isn’t really an explanation about how this works on the video, which has absolutely no voiceover narration. I have no idea if you have to think: “Left flipper, right flipper” to get it to work. I notice that this user has to manually start the ball rolling, and I’m guessing that mentally tilting is not an option.

I suppose we are probably looking at an age where arcade games make a comeback, and the players are jacked into them mentally. That, or come up with a console version of this mental controls. I suppose that this could be the next version of Project Natal.

Skinput: Get your whole body into your interface

What you are seeing here is not some sort of modern art, but it may make some statement about our society today.

This is Skinput, a conceptual technology that can recognize a user’s taps of a finger on the skin, but it seems to be limited to the hand and the rest of the arm.

This tech is under development from Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft, and requires that the user wear a certain armband with “piezoelectric cantilevers, or sensors that measure pressure, acceleration and force”. Click on the video after the jump to see this technology in action, and a most unusual method of controlling Tetris.

Skinput also uses a pico-projector to create images like menus on the user’s arm. With a tap on the skin above or below the menu, the user has a very unusual form of navigation.

You have to admit that this technology could have all sorts of applications for the mobile world. Just picture selecting your tunes on your arm instead of your iPod, or dialing your phone on your palm instead of your mobile device.

Still, I can’t help but this tech will lead to an age when we are all comfortable with integrating technology with our flesh. Then our cyborg teachers will say that it all began with Skinput.