UNIVERSE: CARS

Waterless Washing Machine Levitates Laundry and Cleans It With Dry Ice

Rebecca Boyle

at 05:06 AM February 17 2012

Comments 2

Waterless Washing Machine The spherical drum floats through magnetic levitation.

IMAGE BY ELIE AHOVI

Concepts //

It makes my day when new technology promises to make life's most tedious tasks more interesting. Take laundry, for example. I would loathe it so much less if I had a friendly robot to help me fold my socks. Or perhaps if I had this waterless washing machine, which would levitate my clothes and scrub them clean with dry ice in a matter of minutes.

Video: An Augmented-Reality Bananaphone, With a Real Banana (or Anything Else)

Dan Nosowitz

at 09:10 AM November 23 2011

Invoked Computing, With Banana

IMAGE BY DIGINFO

Concepts //

Researchers at the Ishikawa-Oku lab at the University of Tokyo have gone one-up on augmented reality with a system they call "invoked computing." Basically, that means computers will be embedded everywhere in your daily life, and you'll "invoke" operations, so everyday, non-computerised objects - like a banana - can be given computer-like capabilities. This is all leading up to a real-life bananaphone, obviously.

The Future of Commuting

Danika Wilkinson

at 02:31 PM November 7 2011

Comments 1

Concepts //

Commuting - it's something we all do, and something we all hate. While there's no way of avoiding it, these latest innovations could still make commuting just that little bit awesome.

Laid-off Shuttle Engineers Build Mad Rocket Trike

Clay Dillow

at 03:10 AM September 21 2011

Concepts //

In the shadow of Launchpad 39A--where the Space Shuttle Atlantis once stood ready for orbit--a team of former NASA engineers laid off when the shuttle program ended are building a rocket-inspired street legal tricycle. And it's not just for kicks. Treycycle Gold--as the company building the bikes is now known--aims to employ more than 100 people within the year, breathing new life into the Space Coast's engineering economy.

Realizing Bondesque Visions, BMW will Mount Lasers in Its Headlights

Clay Dillow

at 04:28 AM September 7 2011

Comments 1

The BMW i8 Concept Now with lasers.

IMAGE BY BMW

Concepts //

Calling laser headlights "the next logical step" after the LED headlamp, BMW has announced that it will be rolling out laser-based illumination on its next-gen BMW i8 concept and will further develop laser headlight technology for extension across its various models. Why? It saves fuel. And presumably because laser headlights is something we've all secretly wanted on our European sports cars since MI6 tricked out 007's first ride.