KohlerCoaster spent an entire year painstakingly bringing Starman to life from scratch. Prototype after prototype was made and disassembled while he perfected every feature of the train, track, and entire support system over months. With each test, it became evident that even minor adjustments were required to make the 3D-printed roller coaster to work properly.
Filmmakers have a long history of adopting deceptive techniques to distort reality on screen, and few techniques are as effective as forced perspective. Peter Jackson realized this when he utilized the technique throughout The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring to make Gandalf appear to tower over the hobbits without using CGI.
Apple continues to push the limit with the AirPods 4, fine-tuning the open-ear design and adding active noise cancellation, a tough ask given the lack of those bothersome silicone tips. Users report that the buds effectively reduce low rumbles and background chatter without shutting up the ear canal. However, when compared to Bose’s latest QuietComfort Earbuds, priced at $129 (was $179), the differences are quite noticeable in real-world use.
Photo credit: Otsuka Maxwell Design
Officina Moto D’Epoca, a San Diego shop also known as OMD or Otsuka Maxwell Design, transformed a 1987 Ferrari 412 into a one-of-a-kind vehicle. An American collector commissioned the project and invested his heart and pocketbook in it; a cool $1.8 million and 5,000+ hours later, the beast was created. Over 500 handcrafted elements were included into the vehicle, combining the classic lines of the Ferrari with the raw power of a contemporary supercar.
Humanoid robots from companies like Unitree rely on human operators to accomplish a variety of sophisticated tasks. The operator must wear a full-body motion capture suit with sensors all over it that monitor how you move, every shift in posture, and every movement of your limbs, and this data is transferred to the robot in real time. The robot then simply replicates the operator’s actions because it is a direct mirror.
Back in the summer of 1997, you could walk into a Toys “R” Us with probably around $60 in your wallet and walk out with either a brand new Game Boy Pocket or this strange grey brick of plastic known as the Game.com. The Game Boy was, of course, the obvious choice for most children / teens. As for everyone else, most people had probably forgotten about Game.com within a year.
Matty Benedetto runs Unnecessary Inventions, a channel dedicated to creating gadgets that answer problems that no one actually has. For his most recent project, he took a reasonably ordinary workshop tool, and enlarged it to ludicrous proportions…a pair of digital calipers measuring 61 inches from tip to tip, complete with working display.
Apple certainly raised the bar with the Watch Ultra, which combines a rugged construction with seamless smartphone integration. However, Garmin adopted a different route with the Epix Pro (Gen 2) in its largest 51mm size, priced at $499.99 (was $999.99), focusing on athletes and outdoor enthusiasts who demand a device that can withstand long sessions without needing to be recharged on a regular basis.
MANGMI is continuing its mission to provide low-cost Android handheld flips the script on mobile gaming with a large screen and easily customizable, modular controls.
