Dongiverse

We all heard about Thingiverse... but there is also Dongiverse, for those with a more sexy appetite...

Start of Mouse Add-On

I wanted to play around with the Kinect scaning something, and I also wanted to start with what will end up being a plastic add-on to the device so it can be used as a Open Source High End mouse!

My device is already ready to be a mouse. What is missing is the enclosure and some extra hardware for buttons and such.

So, I scanned my hand, ran it through MeshLab to clean it up/add more vertices to make it smoother. After some smoothing of the mesh in Blender, it ended up like this:





Note though that this is far from done. It would be nice to keep the mesh form as much as possible because it would be a perfect fit for my own hand. However, I guess I will smoothen it out more so it will fit others. The whole thing will be available for everybody later either way, if anyone wants to tweak it. Also, I need to modify it so it can be printable and make room for buttons. Still, it's quite cool to have this scanned object of my own hand! Saved me a lot of time as I don't have to create this from scratch. It is also more ergonomic! Furthermore, it is easy to mirror, so I end up having a left hand as well (for lefties).

Makibox - The $300 3D Printer

This is an interesting project. Beating Printrbot mentioned earlier... A 3D printer for $300. Could be interesting to follow...

http://blog.makible.com/makibox-the-300-3d-printer-first-glimpse

TOOB Immersive Dome Display

I was talking about jDome earlier, which is nice, but in my opinion waay too expensive. So, I just now came across this:



http://www.thinkoutofbox.com/global/products/toobearth

which I really found through Kickstarter here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1439004669/toob-immersive-dome-display

Now, not only does it look better, it's price is better too. $800 vs $2293. At least now as it is on Kickstarter. Will probably be more later. This is really interesting though, and I'm tempted to be a backer on it actually... What is good as well is that they seem to have a factory both in USA and UK, so that will keep shipping costs lower...

One thing I've noticed though, is that with the jDome you seem to be more inside the dome, compared to the TOOB one... That would mean better immersive experience...

"Personal Trainer"

I came over this Dragons Den (UK) episode where a guy talks about his "Personal Trainer" package that is related to what I'm doing. Season 2, Episode 6 aired 20 December 2005. What is interesting there is trying to figure out what Duncan Bannatyne is really saying.

"... none of it worked. The only thing, that could any chance that keep somebody who's bored on a machine, is a television screen. It's the only thing that works. I know from experience. Nothing else works."

Then he says:

"I've had this screens on my cycle classes. I've thrown them away. .. because they don't work."

He got a point that seeing the same thing, over and over again will probably get you bored though.



I would say that the execution here is the main bad thing. Presentation isn't good either. They have sold 130, which is quite cool. Also, the main complaint is about the distance from device to PC. Too bad he didn't explain how he connects to a PC, because using a cable isn't all that hard.. On that note, I've been thinking using WiFi, or Bluetooth, but that makes it more expensive... and more complications regarding regulations using the air for communication.. particularly on a global scale... Could be possible for a version 2 though...

Filabot: Plastic Filament Maker

In case you missed this, there is an interesting project on Kickstarter which is about taking your current plastic objects, grind them down, and recreate filament to be able to use with your 3D printer and reprint something with it!



http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rocknail/filabot-plastic-filament-maker

I'm not sure how well the product they are working on will end up, as it's hard to read their cridentials. Plastic is complex chemicals... However, I'm sure this kind of product will come sooner or later...