High heels illuminated by fiber optics

Design, Fashion, Images, , , , ,

Italian fashion designer Francesca Castagnacci’s bold new project called “bright fashion” weaves and integrates LED-powered fiber optics into accessory fabrics.  Here is an example of the fashion statement instituted in a high heel shoe.  The result is an illuminated radiance that will surely catch the eye of modern trendsetters.  Each fiber optic wire is as thin as a human hair and requires an LED at either end to light up.  Ladies, interested?  Look in the gallery below for additional shots of this truly cutting-edge design.

[Via Gizmodo; DVICE; Yatzer]

Gary steps into the 8-Bitinator 2000, comes out a better man

Design, Technology, Video, , ,

In an attempt to promote their laptop line, Toshiba imagined a new marketing campaign focusing on a character named Gary.  In the extended commercial, lab assistant Gary gets “deresolutionized” into glorious 8-bit form after journeying inside the 8-Bitinator 2000.  The best part of the commercial is the fact the 8-bit costume is not a CGI animation; it’s a suit made from over 3,000 hand-cut foam boxes.  After a viewing I find myself pining for an 8-bit version of myself; a Toshiba laptop–not so much.

[Via Gizmodo]

Advanced physics engine produces the most realistic dirt you’ve ever seen

Technology, Video, , , ,

Thiago Costa’s  Lagoa Multiphysics 1.0 physics engine simulates real-life physics like you’ve never seen before.  The engine can produce High friction granular materials; Incompressible fluids; Elastic structures; Plastic deformations & more…  Can you imagine how video games would look if they utilized something of this magnitude?  Virtual reality, here we come.

[Via Gizmodo]

FOD: Jewel goes undercover at a local karaoke bar

Hilarity, Video, , , , , ,

Funny or Die approached artist Jewel and asked her if she’d like to have a hand in their latest prank.  Like a good sport she said yes.  Here’s the setup: Jewel gets disguised as a mild mannered businesswoman and gets encouraged to sing some of her most popular tunes at a local karaoke bar.  Her audience is dumbfounded by this amazing voice coming out of a Plain Jane.  Not a single person realizes that behind all the prosthetics is the actual Jewel.  After some time Karen (Jewel’s alter-ego) leaves the stage and Jewel comes back as herself to perform more songs.  To our amazement most of the bar hoppers still don’t realize this is Karen and make the connection.  Watch it all go down in the video above.

[Via EW-MusicMix]

Man animates fire at will

photography, Video,

Over the course of two weeks YouTuber brusspup utilized the power of stop-motion to create this fascinating fire animation.  Stop-motion involves snapping pictures at rapid rates to capture the illusion of movement; when the individual shots are placed together in post-editing they can be played in a continuous sequence, and this results in a video (of pictures).  I cannot imagine the amount of time and patience it took to make all this happen!

Video games invade our world again in “Gnarcade”

Sports, Technology, Video, , , ,

Check out Mike Benson’s “Gnarcade”, a world where classic video game characters and obstacles interact with pro athletes.  Pacman, Frogger, and baddies from Super Mario make memorable appearences.  But it’s the Portal effect at 2:21 that gets me every time.  Beats are provided by Ground Up.  Enjoy!  (I say “again” in the post title in reference to the awesome NYC pixel takeover.)

Domino medley uses a wonderful arrangement of instruments

Music, Video, , , ,

Brett Domino and his partner-in-crime Steven Peavis are back to perform a medley of popular songs using an ecclectic choice of instruments.  Said instruments include (in order of appearence) soft drink cans, an iPod Touch (using the DigiDrummer app), accordion, Roland E-36 keyboard, Korg digital piano, Stylophone beatbox, theremin, ukulele, egg shaker, Roland AX-Synth keytar, recorders, glockenspiel, kazoos, and stylophones.  From Jay-Z to Bieber to Ke$ha the talented duo cover it all.

Gary Numan plays hit song “Cars” on cars

Music, Technology, Video, , , ,

Apparently one Platinum DieHard battery can power a cube of lights, a double-stacked keyboard, 24 cars without batteries, and um, Gary Numan.  Watch the ’79 one-hit wonder perform “Cars” on keyboards hooked up to car horns.  He’s aged, hasn’t he?

Over three days in the desert, a team of six engineers worked on 24 cars and removed the batteries from each. Instead, they connected them all together to a central computer and a keyboard. The horns inside the cars were removed and instead an MP3 player was used to tune it. The entire set-up was hooked to one DieHard battery. .. As Numan hit each key on his keyboard, the software turned on the lights and sound for the corresponding car.

[Via Wired]