Tag Archives: do-it-yourself

DIY-er creates Star Trek style air-powered sliding door

Design, Video, , , , ,

DYI handyman Marc DeVidts has gone ahead and create the coolest door I’ve ever seen.  (It’s certainly not the biggest or most aesthetically pleasing, but’s it’s the coolest.)  He’s created a switch that opens the door (and can hold it open or closed), above the door is an air vent and that’s where the air from the air compressor (located in the attic) gets released when the door closes, and next to that is a control panel that allows him to disable the door and shut off the air supply. So go on, click play and watch the door open and make the “whoosh” sound when it closes.  DeVidts succedded in what he set out to do: construct “the perfect, most geek-ified entryway for [his] bedroom.”  If you are feeling the urge to build a door like this in your home, head over to Instructables where you’ll find a step-by-step guide authored by DeVidts himself.

[Via Gizmodo]

Halloween costume of the year goes to ‘I am 8-Bit’

Design, Images, , , ,

One Dan Liuzzi from Cleveland, Ohio “thought it would be funny to create a huge version of [his] own head and wear it” for Halloween this year.  So he decided to make an 8-bit version of his head and show it off on Halloween night.  This awesome piece of headgear likely provoked senses of awe instead of screams, however.  It’s made from insulation foam, joint compound, a cardboard box, glue, some gesso spray, and acrylic paint; that snazzy tie was purchased at ThinkGeek.  It took around 2-3 weeks to complete and Liuzzi calls it “pretty amatuer stuff.”  Can’t wait to see what he thinks up next!  Perhaps one day he may fully realize the 8-Bitinator 2000.  Look in the gallery below for more angles.

[Via DanLiuzzi; Likecool]

Oh, oh it’s magic: Watch the iPhone OS run on a 58-inch multitouch table

Design, Technology, Video, , , , ,

A group of tinkerers have devised a way to hook up an iPhone 4 to a large multitouch surface to display and interact with the device’s interface like you’ve never seen before.  Making “Table Connect for iPhone” work is super simple.  All you need is a jailbroken iPhone 4 running a dedicated app, a 30-pin dock connector cable, and of course that gorgeous 58-inch multitouch table.  The iPhone plugs right into the 30-pin connector located at the base of the table and “immediately after it is attached, the magic starts to happen,” says the creators.  Watch said magic unfold in the video above, and look in the gallery below for some mockup stills.  For an alpha firmware the transition appears to be buttery smooth.

[Via TableConnectforiPhone; Engadget]

DJ gives multitouch a spin

Music, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , ,

Check out this crazy amazing homemade DJ setup called Token Concept.  Sure it uses rear projection video on glass for the cool visual effect, but the multitouch implementation is far out.  Into the future.  It’s running off a Traktor Pro controller called Emulator.

[Via Engadget]

Amazing Daft Punk helmet took 17 months of labor to complete

Design, DIY, Images, Video, , ,

Now is that one of the coolest things you’ve ever seen?  Harrison Krix of Volpin Props set aside 17 months to create to most amazing DIY Daft Punk helmet ever made.  It lights up and everything!  Head over to Krix’s website to find an intensive two-part build archive if you think you’re up for the challenge (or if you’re even slightly interested to see how it was made).  Look in the gallery below for a collection of helmet pics and jump after the break for a brief video that speeds through the construction process and reveals the final result.  I am blown away right now, for realz.

[Via VolpinProps; @ChelseaLoPinto]

Continue reading Amazing Daft Punk helmet took 17 months of labor to complete →

iPad finds a home in Macintosh Classic & clamshell iBook

DIY, Image cache, Technology, Video, , , , , ,

Let’s travel back in time, shall we?  The year is 1984 and the Macintosh Classic is all the rage.  9” (512×342) display, 8 MHz Motorola 68000 processor, 1MB of memory, no HDD, $999.  Flash forward to 2010 and you’ve got the $499 iPad.  Leave it to a mac enthusiast and do-it-yourself guru to gut the Mac Classic and shove an iPad inside it.  Which happens to fit almost perfectly where the original display would sit.

And let’s do it one last time.  The year is 1999 and the iBook classic reinvents the laptop scene with a clamshell design.  12” (800×600) display, 300 MHz PowerPC G3 processor, 32 MB of memory, 3.2GB HDD, $1599.  Now it’s 2010, so why not remove the display and place a brand new iPad inside.  And while you’re at it, take out the janky old keyboard and install a current Apple keyboard in its place.

Ah, the awesome-ness that results when retro and modern unite.  Hit up the source links for more images and peek after the break for a video tour of the Mac Classic + iPad.

[Via Hirac; AppleNoir] Continue reading iPad finds a home in Macintosh Classic & clamshell iBook →

A virtual window into a scene you wish lived outside your home

DIY, Technology, Video, , , , , , ,

One Ryan Hoagland has a created a DIY virtual window of sorts using two 46-inch Panasonic plasma displays, a Mac Pro workstation, a Wii-mote with a custom-built IR-emitting necklace, Bluetooth, and custom software called Winscape.  If everything is implemented correctly, it should result in two large virtual windows that could theoretically project any scene you’d like.  And thanks to headtracking technology, the windows will create an illusion that you are actually peering inside this virtual realm.  Oh, and you can control scene selection with an iPhone app.  Intruiged?  You can build one of your own virtual landscapes come this July when Hoagland plans to sell basic kits for under $3000.  Look after the break for a timelapse video of its construction.

[Via RationalCraft; Engadget]

Continue reading A virtual window into a scene you wish lived outside your home →