Andrew Hicks is a mathematician. And he uses those math skills, coupled with a little computer algorithm assistance, to create mirrors that accomplish feats like reflecting text without turning the writing backwards.

His mirrors can reflect wider angles, capture 360-degree panoramas without distortion and even reflect vast amounts of infrared data (to measure body temperature).

New Scientist has a complete blow-by-blow of Hicks’ creations, but this lead shot is of a wide angle mirror free of distortion—lines that are straight in the real world remain perfectly straight on the mirror. Who would need such a thing? It’s implemented in a stair-climbing robot that requires precision angle information for each step.

The currently conceptual ‘Immaculate’ prosthetic was designed by Hans Alexander Huseklepp and looks like a robot’s arm. Am I running? No, but I am typing this standing up.

The concept “immaculate” from Hans Alexander Huseklepp explores the idea of turning a handicap into a high-performance, cybernetic fashion statement. The neurological prosthetic is clad in technology-packed corian plates with dome-joints that offer a larger degree of freedom than that motherly-issued arm of yours.

Hey, anything that makes a prosthetic more efficient and those wearing them feel better is alright in my book. I just wish they came with a wood veneer option. What can I say — I’m a pirate at heart. A really classy one who wears a monocle over his eyepatch. YAAAR, anyone for tea?

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iStik’s Apple iPod nano case lets you stick your iPod anywhere on your person, assuming you’re not a nudist. The iStik uses magnets to keep your iPod in place on your clothing, so no more worries about your iPod bouncing loose if you’re running and focused on beating your best time.

The case comes in three parts — a slide-on faceplate and backplate with four magnets in each corner that encases your iPod, and a third fastener plate that also has four magnets. Place the encased iPod against your clothing and stick the fastener plate on the inside of the clothing. The magnets attract, and presto, your iPod stays in place as though it were glued to your shirt.

The iStik for the 4th-gen iPod nano is available now for . Since the nano uses flash drive technology, the magnets won’t affect its memory, but it can play havoc with your computer’s hard drive, so keep it away while surfing for new tracks on iTunes. And they recommend you use it with a “thin, fitted” article of clothing. And their site certainly has plenty of semi-cheesy photos to hit that point home.

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Recycling requires a good amount of organization. Since every material needs to be separated, you can’t just toss all of your recyclables into one big bag. No, that’s not what Mother Earth requires. She demands that cans be separate from cardboard, and so on. That whole process is made easier with the All-in-One Home Recycling Center.

It has separate compartments for all of your materials, and it smashes and crushes them down to save space and keep you from having to empty it every couple days. Of course, for 0 it’s pretty insanely expensive, but think of how good you’ll feel about yourself and your eco-friendly ways once you get this bad boy running.

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WeSC presents yet another interesting music collaboration on their headphones. After previously working with Dim Mak and with Edbanger Records, they have now gotten together with The Bloody Beetroots. The headphones are now out in stores.

Check out the the presidential limotank, Cadillac One.

The 3-inch Headphonies concept combine the designer vinyl toys with the functionality of a portable speaker. What you need to do is plug your media player into the back of your Headphonies, and start listen to your music. A limited-edition design.

More images after the jump. Read more »

Camera in a mobile phone does make sense, but how will you use a camera implanted in your headphones? Only the designers, Andy Kurovets & Kris Dekeijser, can explain the functionality of their unnamed gadget that features a camera in the headset. Probably they are targeting the spy agencies as their potential buyers. If you are also a die hard fan of Sherlock Holmes and looks to capture every detail of the incidents going around you, the head or webcam maybe an ideal spy device for you.

Usability:

The headphones present a giant crystal on the side that conceals the webcam when not in use. You may simply pull the webcam out of the crystal and place it in your table or PC to be used as a camera.

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Motoman SDA10 from Yaskawa Electric can grill okonomiyaki with manual precision.

When done with grilling the dish, Motoman even puts it on a plate and applies condiments. Designed to operate independently alongside humans in the workplace, the 135-centimeter (4.5 ft) tall, 220-kilogram (480 lb) industrial robot has 15 joints — 7 in each arm and one in the torso — allowing a wide range of motion for the job, whether it be on the factory floor or behind the kitchen counter. The robot is on display at the International Next-Generation Robot Fair now underway in Osaka. The company reported a sales plan: 1,200 units/year for 2008, 2,400 units/year for 2009, 3,000 units/year for 2010.

Evan Roth, is working on a project that will be released soon - the pictures say it all, it’s a “carry on” communication system. These metal places contain messages which will appear when they are X-Rayed.

The D10 is a barebones rig with the classic Shuttle form factor, but the addition of a 7-inch (800 x 480) touchscreen out front makes things a little more interesting. Intel Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Duo E4000 series, Dual-Core E2000 series and Celeron 400 series processors are all supported with up to 4GB RAM, and the kit ships with an Intel GMA 3100 GPU, 5.1 channel audio and SATA II support. A base configuration is offered on Shuttle’s Japanese site with a 1.6GHz Celeron processor, 1GB RAM and a 80GB hard drive for ¥69,800 (about 8), but no — it isn’t available in the States.

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We’re not sure why the music industry thinks consumers want to buy even more physical media, but it can’t seem to stop pumping out plastic in a futile attempt to stay relevant — this time it’s an initiative called slotMusic, announced today in partnership with SanDisk and several major retailers. The 1GB slotMusic microSD cards are preloaded with DRM-free 320kbps MP3s, and are aimed primarily at mobile phones — the idea is that you’ll be able to buy music and listen to it without having to sideload it onto your device using your computer at home. Sure, we can see the appeal of that, but when we half-facetiously asked SanDisk’s reps if they expected us to carry around a stack of individual microSD albums, they didn’t laugh when they said yes, and even told us that slotMusic media binders would be available at launch — no, they weren’t kidding. We’re not sure anyone’s going to be sold on going back to lugging around physical media with the iTunes and Zune WiFi stores out there, but it sounds like we’ll be seeing quite a push for this from retailers and the labels — and artists are apparently enthusiastic about using the full 1GB of space to include content beyond basic liner notes and cover art. We’ll see when these launch around the holidays — if we had to guess, we’d say this is just Ringles and CDVU+ part III.

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Vehicle concepts from designer Yutaka Igarashi.

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ere’s a great example of a robot originally developed for war being reused to help those in need. These tiny UAVs were once spy planes, but today they could deliver medical samples from isolated South African villages to labs for testing, or deliver emergency medicines and antidotes to those same locations. “The implications of these delays are huge for the individual and for the community,” says Barry Mendelow, a project leader with the South African National Health Laboratory Service. “The patient is waiting for treatment, and in the meantime they could be passing on a very contagious disease.”

And, Barry, when these things get cheap enough for the mass market, give me a ring. There’s this remote on my coffee table that’s just out of reach. [New Scientist]

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Recent history has shown us that high fashion designers teaming with hardware companies won’t necessarily yield you a home run with consumers, but the trend continues nevertheless. With echoes of New York Fashion Week still reverberating, Hewlett Packard has unveiled a new laptop called the Digital Clutch Notebook designed by none other than Chinese fashion big shot Vivienne Tam.

Festooned with an oriental floral pattern, the intent of the collaboration was to create a notebook that looked more like a purse than a computer. Mission accomplished. But far from a purely superficial pass at notebook design, Tam also designed the computer’s overall packaging and included a special “enter” key on the keyboard featuring the Chinese character meaning “double happiness.” Although pricing has not been announced, the notebook your girlfriend or wife would kill for will be available next year here.

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