Future tech

CHIBA, Japan--First you had personalized media. Soon, it will be personalized deodorizers.

The SpotScents device, devised by automaker Subaru, consists of two air cannons precisely aimed at a passenger about two feet away in a car. The cannons spritz the passenger with fragrances--there's "Cool Wind" and another one mysteriously called "Pleasure Time." Just the thing you need while driving.

The idea behind SpotScents is that not everyone wants to smell the same fragrance. Some people hate the smell of those little pine trees, after all, while other people hate the smell of dust in the … Read more

We're all about blue-sky thinking here at Crave, and this is some of the bluest we've seen. From the drawing board of Dutch inventor John Bakker comes the personal air and land vehicle (PAL-V), a cross between a Carver One three-wheeler and an autogyro that can be driven and flown at speeds as high as 200 kmh (125 mph).

While on the road, the gasoline- or biodiesel-powered machine relies on the same Dynamic Vehicle Control (DVC) system that enables the Carver to tilt when cornering. For flight, it uses the DVC combined with a gyrocopter rotor blade, which … Read more

KOLR, of Springfield, Missouri, reported on Daren Luedtke's new electric car, which runs for 150 miles on lead-acid batteries. Luedtke claims it would run for 500 miles on lithium ion batteries. Luedtke showed off a van and a motorcycle powered by his electric drive system at the Ozark International Raceway on October 1. The video and accompanying article are short on technical details, merely describing two electric propulsion systems developed by Luedtke as an "electromagnetic transmission" and a "variable speed belt-driven transmission." Both propulsion systems are being marketed to automakers by Luedtke's company, LEI … Read more

When I heard that MIT student Star Simpson had been arrested at Boston's Logan airport for wearing an outfit that incorporated what police called a hoax bomb, but which was really nothing more than a piece of electronic art, I was outraged.

I know that times being what they are, law enforcement needs to take security threats seriously. No one will dispute that. But what we're seeing, again and again, as in the case of the two Boston men arrested for putting up devices that were part of a Cartoon Network marketing ploy, is that police, media and … Read more

NEW YORK--Spykee, a communications robot from the toymaker Erector for $299, allows you to listen, see and record the surroundings of the robot from anywhere in the world through a Web-based software application.

Similar in function to iRobot's ConnectR robot, the Spykee offers a VOIP telephone that works with Skype 3.0 and a Webcam, as well as controlled movement around a room.

Spykee operates over a wireless network and is controlled through downloadable software that Erector refers to as its "machine man interface."

You can upload music to the device from a computer and it will … Read more

It's not quite Rosie yet, Mr. Brooks, but we'll concede that the company you founded is a step closer to The Jetsons world of communications.

iRobot is expected to unveil this ConnectR communications robot, aka a physical avatar, at DigitalLife 2007 on Thursday.

The ConnectR for $499 is a robot you control on your behalf from anywhere in the world using a Web-based application. With a VoIP speakerphone and one-way video, it allows you to carry on a conversation as if you are right in the room. You can also control where it goes.

The video camera mounted … Read more

NEW YORK--Gadget-freak homeowners may never have to face the gunk of fall fallout ever again.

iRobot's CEO Colin Angle is expected to unveil two new robots at the DigitalLife 2007 consumer electronics show in New York on Thursday.

The Looj, which was accidentally leaked in August by the Federal Communications Commission Web site, is a remote-control robot that cleans out the gutters on the outside of a home.

The $99 robot's mobile base was based on that of iRobot's military PackBot, only on a much smaller scale. The robot can be slid into a gutter and then … Read more

You've probably seen or heard of the industrial robots that build cars, and the various humanoid robots like Honda's Asimo. Most of these are made in Japan. But let's face it, there's only so much these can do. An industrial robot is bolted down, and only knows one or two simple tasks. Asimo is small and weak, and famously collapsed once while trying to climb stairs.

As we know from sci-fi movies, real robots are the size of a man and can do things--dangerous things. Real robots are suitable for building robot armies. For that, we … Read more

As NASA explores the possibility of sending astronauts to an asteroid, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working on a tethering system that could help explorers with the prospect of walking on a surface without much sticking power.

Gravity is almost nonexistent on an asteroid, which can be as small as a speck of dust or as big as tens of miles in diameter. Two MIT researchers have proposed the idea of a lightweight rope that could be tied around a small asteroid--one that's larger than a few kilometers--deployed most likely with the use of a remote-controlled … Read more