Once tried, even grown-ups just can’t let go of that hilariously funny Chewbacca mask. Also, the speaking toy literally cries out to be hacked. Weary of the whining Wookie, [John Park] set out to bring variety into Chewie’s mode of expression, expanding the mask’s memory and vocabulary to unprecedented levels.
Continue reading “Chewbacca Mask Hack Cheers Up The Whining Wookie”
There are so many good ideas crammed into this project its hard for us to believe this isn’t already widely used for critical welding applications. Traditional welding masks simply filter out light to protect the welder’s eyes. This mask doesn’t have a window in it at all. Instead, the mask includes two cameras on the outside and two LCD screens on the inside. It filters light by processing the video which lends itself to that grab-bag of features we mentioned earlier.
Possibly the best of the system is its ability to selectively filter the brightness of the weld. What this means is that areas outside of the welding arc appear at a normal brightness level, whereas before they would have been greatly dimmed. A demonstration of augmented reality is also shown, where a computer monitors the welding surface, giving the welder a target to follow and measuring the distance between the weld and the filament. The video mentions that an FPGA would be well suited for the image processing, making us think this could be produced at a reasonable cost. After all, they already use X-ray machines for some welds, we’d bet a set of these helmets could be supplied to a crew at a similar cost.
[via Reddit]
Here’s an effort to make a cheap lucid dreaming mask that is also comfortable. The idea is in response to the goggles we saw in April (which would not be too comfortable to sleep in) and the wildly successful Remee (which has an $80 target price).
The mask itself is sewn from a child’s fleece blanket. Inside is a piece of foam cut from some recreation mat. You know, those squares made for a play area that connect together like a jigsaw puzzle. You may have already spotted the Arduino in the image above, but the project is designed to run from an AVR chip embedded in the foam. The design only uses three LEDs, which may or may not work for you — we’d guess it depends on how they line up with your eyes. The video after the break does a great job of illustrating each point in the construction.
If you’re looking for something less soothing and more recreational you could always try out these trippy goggles.
Continue reading “Lucid Dreaming Mask Marries Economy With Comfort”
