Whyfore

Design Inspiration for the Inventive Mind..

Data Visualization

Hans Rosling is a credit to geeks everywhere. He has a great data visualization product, and gives one hell of a speech. Our world currently suffers from being bigger than we can easily visualize, and a simple graph just doesn’t cut it for complex data. Google has bought the trendalyzer software and is in the process of integrating it into the reports on their Analytics service. You can use the motion chart software here.

Update: In order to use this software in Google Analytics, look for the Visualize button above many of the graphs.

New Nike Hindsight Sunglasses Improve Your Field of Vision

These new shades from Nike are still in the prototype stage, but once they have named it (Hindsight) and released pictures and info, they can’t be far off. They use fresnel lenses around the sides to create a distortion like no-line bifocals, but these gives the wearer around 25º of additional periferal vision on each side. They are intended for cyclists, but I think they have plenty of uses. Sports come to mind. A baseball pitcher wouldn’t even have to look around for base stealers. More info and pictures via CrunchGear.

Update:

Well it looks like I was wrong. As of the last time I checked, this product still hadn’t materialized.

Sawstop: The Vegetarian Table Saw

The three fingered wood shop teacher may be stereotype of the past. The SawStop table saw blade has a small current running through it. Whenever an unfortunate finger or wiener comes in contact with the whirling blade, it changes the electrical resistance enough to cause a sensor to trip a spring loaded aluminum brake, which stops the blade and uses the blades momentum to carry it back and down out of harms way so fast you would barely need a band-aid (1/200th of a second).

Erika from Hot For Tools will run you through a demonstration. So far the feature isn’t available in existing brands, so you have to buy the Sawstop saw. The stop mechanisms aren’t cheap enough to make you want to show off the feature in action to your friends, but they are a whole lot cheaper than an emergency room visit, regret, or for you employers out there, workers comp adjustments. As Erika showed us, this saw is sold by ToolKing here:

SawStop Table Saws at ToolKing

LaChLuVe Air Fish Captivates Airship Regatta

Last week in Friedrichshafen in southern Germany, there was an airship regatta (race). Along with the usual group of speedy nearly uncontrollable little blimps was this beauty which will be sure to be getting a lot of attention in the coming weeks. Team LaChLuVe has set the bar so high with their Fi-Fi- Fin-Fish that the airship races will never be the same, and may have a lot of new applicants. Unlike the propeller driven blimps and zeppelins, the air fish glides through the air propelled by a very natural looking swish of the tail, which also provides steering when holding it in place and gliding. The pectoral fins are servo actuated for additional control. I would be shocked not to see this as a consumer product within the next couple of years, and I can’t wait to see what shows up at the world air games next June.

Update: The Fi-Fi- Fin-Fish was made by Empa (a Swiss materials technology development institution) by using electro-active polymers to power the motion of the tail. When electricity is applied, the polymer contracts like a muscle to give the tail its kick. The fins, in combination with the low center of gravity, do a great job of keeping it upright. There is a further abstract for a more complex system with a flexing body here. A flexing strip along the top and bottom of the fish would be attached to the vertical ribs. The contraction of the polymer would cause the body to flex in a more natural fashion.

Update: The project was a collaboration with the Technical University of Berlin, and has been a several year project. Earlier versions of the fin-fish flew in the ’06 and ’07 regatta. Empa started with a more traditional airship, and got more fishy with each revision. Several tails were tested, as were several different ways of using the electroactive polymer.a

 

 

 

Part of their vision is creating a solar powered version that could operate efficiently and silently for surveillance. There is a growing demand for spy drones, and most of their competitiors sound like flying weed-whackers.

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Underwater Combat Knife

Don’t you hate it when you are out for a swim and you get swallowed by a whale? WASP Injection Systems has the product for you: A hollow knife with a CO2 cartridge in the handle. Just jab it into the offending predator and push the button. Not only will you have an instant balloon animal, but it will be rapidly carried toward the surface with the marine equivalent of cement galoshes. 

Wagometer

wagometer

A joint project between James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, the Augmented Animals Project seems like a joke gone nearly right. With ideas ranging from stealth jackets for whales to acorn locating wrist worn GPS for squirrels, these guys couldn’t possibly be serious, but amidst all the projects that suggest there were too many joints in this joint project, there are a few winners. Most notably this wagometer tail ornament for dogs. Ostensibly a translation device, this LED stick uses the same persistence of vision trick seen in novelty clocks, and dozens of other recent devices. In the end it really just makes your dog look even goofier than usual, but it will also get them a lot of extra attention which will not only make them happy, but could also keep them safe from drivers on their daily walk.