Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, are developing a display that brings a digital image to life by giving it a tactile sense. Users can see visuals and run their fingers across the raised portions that correspond to what they see on the screen to obtain a true sense of the image. This simple trick, known as OptoPixels, transforms a flat screen into something that feels more like a three-dimensional object, all due to light.
Fans of the Blue Man Group have frequently found themselves tapping their toes to the characteristic pounding sound of their PVC pipe instruments, which are essentially just slapping pipes of varying lengths with paddles to produce these rhythmically resonating tones that fill theaters. Ivan Miranda, a Spanish maker known for his ambitious 3D-printed creations, decided to take it a step farther. He decided to take the whole pipe-slapping thing and build a version of the slapophone that connects to MIDI, allowing you to control it electronically while still producing the physical slap sound.
RugOne, a new brand spun out of Ulefone, made a strong impression at this year’s IFA in Berlin. The Xever 7 series is now available, with two smartphones to pick from: the regular Xever 7 and the higher-end Xever 7 Pro. Both of these devices are based on a basic but extremely useful concept: fixing an issue that many people face when they’re on the go all day or, worse, stuck somewhere without an outlet.
Mobile gaming has come a long way, but the fact that touch controls are still ineffective in terms of precision is disappointing. Even casual gaming feels so much better with a decent layout of buttons and sticks, which touchscreens simply cannot imitate. Enter the 8BitDo Ultimate Wireless Controller with Charging Dock, which is now on sale for $39.99, a significant discount from its $69.99 MSRP, making it an absolute steal in a year when everything seems to be going up in price.
Sixty years ago, on October 24th, 1965, something very special happened at the Mexican Grand Prix: Richie Ginther took the checkered flag in the Honda RA272, the first time a Japanese manufacturer had ever won a Formula One race, and Honda built the entire car in-house, from chassis to engine. Casio has released a new Edifice collaboration, the ECB-2300HR-1A, which is a watch designed to evoke that moment of triumph while yet offering all of the modern you’d expect.
Photo credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a novel material that can affect how humans deal with heat simply by applying it to everyday surfaces such as windows. Physicists led by Ivan Smalyukh developed something dubbed MOCHI, which stands for Mesoporous Optically Clear Heat Insulator. MOCHI is a silicone-based gel that you may apply to a glass surface in the form of a thin sheet or even a slab.
Hubble’s most recent image focuses on NGC 4388, a sideways spiral galaxy undergoing tremendous change. It’s located 60 million light years away in the constellation Virgo, right in the midst of the Virgo Cluster, which contains over a thousand other galaxies. Because Hubble is looking at this galaxy from virtually straight on, what would ordinarily be a flat disk has transformed into a narrow, luminous line chock full of secrets just waiting to be unearthed.
Shopping for clothes online can be a bit of a gamble, but Google has recently updated its virtual try-on tool to make it simpler and more realistic than ever before. When shopping in the United States, you can simply upload a selfie and Nano Banana takes care of the rest, as there’s no longer a need for a full-body shot.
Limited Run Games is reviving the 1987 NES game Jaws for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. This is a nice coincidence, because Jaws, the Steven Spielberg film, turns 50 in 2025, and the re-release is part of that. Players will be able to download the completely unaltered original as well as a new improved version that divides the game into numerous individual chapters and makes the action much more engaging.
