Gizmodo: netherlands

Google Street View Captures Fire Truck Hit and Run With an Old Lady On a Bike

Sean Fallon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:40:00 EST

The latest adventure for the Google Street View car comes to us from the Netherlands, where it witnessed a fire truck mow down an innocent old lady on a bike.

Grotere kaart weergeven

Yeah, it looks like the fire truck just continued down the street like nothing happened. Look at her, in the classic "I've fallen and I can't get up" pose. Poor thing. Fortunately for the bike lady, Google did what fire fighters are supposed to do—come to the rescue. [Jalopnik]

Office Cubicle for the Road Saves Precious Commuting Time

Danny Allen — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:40:00 EDT

You're looking at the Slow Car concept from Jurgen Bey, one of the Netherlands' most respected high-end home furniture designers. He's taken the humble office cubicle, and slapped it on a 25mph scooter. Talk about being chained to your desk.

He imagines environments like campuses and airports offering the vehicle, because it lets folks stay productive at a desk, in privacy, without walking. He says by limiting the speed, users should feel a sense of calm at being able to max out the throttle, something we don't always get to do in cars.

Personally, being boxed makes me feel pretty far from calm. Fail. Check out the vid and decide for yourself. [Jurgen Bey via Mocoloco]

Titanium Tricycle Ensures Trust Fund Babies Break The Bank, Not Their Bike

Jack Loftus — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST

This $2,500 tricycle is pretty straightforward. Made of titanium, the hook is the trike is nigh indestructible, meaning rich little snots can pedal around the driveway without fear of bending the frame or snapping it in two. Racing to the mailbox for the latest Hammacher Schlemmer catalog has never been safer. A carbon (fiber?!) seat, white leather saddle and white rims complete the look. Just be wary of that silver spoon in your kids' mouth as jockey for position at playtime. Hello? Choking hazard, anyone? [Jan via FirstBike]

Flame Bot Has Manliest Walk in Robot Kingdom

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Next Friday, a Dutch robotics researcher named Daan Hobbelen at TU Delft will be getting his PhD for building a robot named Flame. What's the big deal? you robo-saturated Giz readers ask. Flame has been built to walk like a man, using human-based principles that strike fear in the hearts of other robotics experts. UPDATE and BONUS VIDEO BELOW!!

The essential but counterintuitive concept is that, to walk like a man, the robot must "fall forward." Flame derives information from its "organ of balance," which it then applies to things like stance using seven motors. Springs in its joints make the movements smoother, as you see in the video above.

Flame will be used not only to further robotics research, but to help diagnose orthopedic problems in humans as well. Me, I'm waiting for Flame 2. Word on the street is that it'll be able to pull off, yes that's right, the Electric Boogaloo. [PhysOrg via KurzweilAI]

UPDATE: A reader named Jerry just told me about an earlier bipedal robot from Cornell that supposedly used the same principles to walk. As you can see in the video below, on the upside, it has arms; on the downside, it looks like it's been using the arms to do the 12-oz curl if you know what I'm sayin'. Thanks Jerry!

Soaring Spybot RoboSwift Mocks Real Birds (and Pays the Price)

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:25:00 EST

The RoboSwift, built by researchers at the Delft University of Technology, is among the first flying machines with a "morphing" wing sweep. As you'll see in the video below, its wings reduce in surface area when pulled back to limit drag, the way the wings of actual fast-flying swifts do. Unlike the real birds, however, the RoboSwift is designed to spy on you.

Inside its small body (20" wingspan), there's a low-resolution wireless camera. The idea, already thought to be a good one by Dutch police, is that RoboSwift can be used to surreptitiously hover over crime scenes or football riots. People below, if they did look up, would only to see a soaring, swooping bird of no consequence.

The dudes from Delft are so proud of their little 3-oz. beast, they reckon they can even use it to observe other birds without being noticed—they just have to find a way to fold up that propeller once RoboSwift is aloft. Stashing that long-ass antenna on the end of the tail might help too.

In the video below you can see it soar, spy—and crash into a tree—like a true master of espionage. [LiveScience; Reuters]

Heated Sleep Suit Uses Same Technology as Spacesuits, for Insomniacs, Not Astronauts

AddyDugdale — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:27:05 EST

Dutch researchers have come up with a heated sleep suit that could help insomniacs and older people who suffer from disturbed sleeping patterns. A system of micropipes filled with water warms the patient, increasing their body temperature by just 0.4 degrees Celsius. At 35.4ºC, the body shifts from nocturnal wakefulness to a deeper sleep because, scientists believe, that skin temperature affects cells in the hypothalamus of the brain responsible for controlling sleep. As long as it doesn't spring a leak, eh? [Wired]

Urban Needle Box Concept Aimed at Responsible Drug Addicts, an Oxymoron if Ever There Was One

Kit Eaton — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:28:21 EST

Dutch designer Hån Pham has devised the Urban Needle Box to tackle the problem of used, and possibly infected, needles lying around in public areas. A kind of pocket-sized safety box for sharps, the Zippo-lighter-sized device should be cheap to make, and looks easy to use. The concept might have just one difficulty to overcome: reminding someone who's brain is fizzing with Smack to actually put needles in it. [Yanko Design]

Gizmodo PSA: Don't Frack Around With Fireworks

AddyDugdale — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:00:15 EST

Any of you itching to let off fireworks over the holiday season should watch this safety film that comes with love from us to you—because, no matter how big our fireworks are, we geeks need to take care. Here's "jihadi group" the Liberation Army Against Freedom showing you how not to light your firecrackers this Christmas.

It's actually a public safety film commissioned by the Dutch government to remind people of the dangers of fireworks. However, the viral has been slammed as insensitive and as insulting to Muslims by the boss of a marketing agency.

"What is the campaign hoping to achieve by depicting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community in a fireworks advert?" said Saad Saraf, the chief executive of Media Reach Advertising. "Are the producers aware that the actors in the advert are speaking in an Iraqi accent; with the current state of affairs in Iraq, I question, what were the creatives thinking?" said Saraf. Er, what creatives usually think: namely, what is the most efficient and eye-catching way of getting this message through, I reckon. Happy Winterval, people. [MediaGuardian]

Park To Play Lets You Use Your Car as a Gaming Joystick

AddyDugdale — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 06:58:45 EDT

Esoteric Dutch blog Fresh Creation went to the Holland Innovation fair in, surprise, the Netherlands, and they found this crazy little — well, big, actually — thing. Park To Play lets you play games — Pong, Tetris, Pinball, Space Invaders etc — with your car. Yep, you didn't hear wrong. Part art installation, part crazy, what-have-they-been-smoking-over-in-them-thar-low-countries-coffee-houses, they've rigged out the steering wheel and doors with sensors so that you can use the car to control the game. Headlights, brakes, car doors, they all become buttons to control the game with. I like the fact that the pinball flippers are controlled by the car doors. [Fresh Creation]

People of Massachusetts to be Having Sex With Robots by 2012

Haroon Malik — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:30:00 EDT

MSNBC is running a report on the impending likelihood of legalized marital relations with robots. They have word from a leading researcher at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, Dr. Levy, who seems to think peeps will be getting freaky with their robots by 2012, with marriage following by 2050. One thing is for sure; Gizmodo shall be supporting the revolution all the way! Dr. Levy said:

"Once you have a story like 'I had sex with a robot, and it was great!' appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon."

We are thinking you could probably drop the phrase "with a robot," as well as the blurb after the exclamation mark, and still have us convinced. Dr. Levy goes on to suggest that Massachusetts will be the first state to contain a robot-human sexing population. He justifies his theory by stating:

"Massachusetts is more liberal than most other jurisdictions in the United States and has been at the forefront of same-sex marriage."

Though we aren't too sure the reasoning is sound, we have already seen Roomba owners gaining an emotional attachment to their machines. Whether they will be putting their winkles in the Roomba's dinkle and allowing it to have a tinkle, we very much doubt. However, if sexbots get this real (NSFW), well, perhaps the ethics of robosexuals is a serious debate, after all. If that was a bit too technical for you, don't hit up the link for a more detailed overview of the human-robot emotional landscape and its likely evolution. [MSNBC image via What the Heck]

Netherlands Debuts Video Stamp

Charlie White — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 10:56:31 EST

The Netherlands has issued a lenticular video stamp, using a special printing process on a stamp-sized piece of plastic. Each stamp sells for .39 (46 cents US), and before you think that's crazy, keep in mind that these are not flat panel displays that we're talking about. How does this work, you might ask? The technique is a variation on those little plastic decoder rings you might have seen as a kid—as you tilt the stamp to the left and right, the series of images appear to play back in sequence. Here's how Outer Aspect, the company that printed these video stamps, explains it:

Lenticular is a specialised printing process that can show depth, motion, HD video, film or combinations of these. The lenticular material is made up of tiny ridges or lenses (hence the name "lenticular" printing). We take raw images and process them through a computer algorithm, which matches the lens surface of the lenticular material. When the two work together it enables the image to be replayed back to you. The printing is always on the reverse side of the Lenticular lens material, as this is where the focal point is, allowing the images to be replayed back to the human eye as the viewing angle changes.

This technology can also be used for 3D graphics and lots of other jaw-dropping stuff.

How It Works [Outer Aspect, via PicturePhoning]