3D Modeling
3D Canvas is a real-time, 3D-modeling and -animation tool that incorporates a drag-and-drop approach. Complex models can be constructed from simple 3D primitives or created using 3D Canvas´s object-building tools. Creating an animated scene is as simple as positioning the objects within your scene for each point in time in your animation. 3D Canvas will ensure the resulting animation runs smoothly.
3D Modeling
DeleD is a 3D modeler and level-editor combined into one and is specifically designed to create static objects/worlds. It unites the functionality needed to create complex 3D scenes with an easy-to-understand userinterface: build entire worlds within an hour!
The concepts behind DeleD are simple. Draw and manipulate 3D objects like cubes, polylines, spheres, rectangles, grids, pyramids, cylinders and more. Combine them into new 3D objects and use those to create complete scenes. Then use various types of lights like spotlights, directional lights or pointlights to bring your scene to life!
Anything you create with DeleD, either by using the LITE or the PRO version is license free. This means that you can use whatever you make with DeleD for your own purposes, whether commercially or not. No license fees, no legal strings.
Yesterday evening I went to an event organised as part of the London Games Festival, called Dorkfest – Console Hacks.
It featured some pretty bonkers homemade games, including a funny Pong controller – made from a modified pair of leather boots and a riding crop – created by the inimitable James Larsson, a regular at London Dorkbot events.
Tim Hunkin, star of the TV show The Secret Life of Machines, also showed videos of the amazing homemade amusement arcade he's built on Southwold Pier in Suffolk. Instead of shoot-em-ups or Dance Dance Revolution, it features a dog walking game (see image above), a machine that simulates a short holiday break and another that sends you on an underwater adventure. You can see more of his incredible arcade inventions here and a short video about the arcade below...
Browsing YouTube for videos tagged 'mechatronic' – as you do – I came across this gem. PAW was developed at McGill University, Canada, and has spring-loaded legs.
It actually has wheels on the end of those springy legs. Skip to 2:45 into this clip and you can see it bound in slow motion, and keep watching after that to see it showing off outdoors with some graceful skating actions. Read more on the page of James Smith who helped build it.
I think it even trumps this graceful 'land swimming' robot I have blogged about before.
I think the bounding gait makes PAW looks happy, or exuberant. Do you agree? That fits in with the idea of making robots behave like dogs so they are easier to relate to, as we covered earlier in the week.
Tom Simonite, online technology reporter
Spooky costumes are all well and good, but if you really want to scare the living daylights out of someone, technology can certainly help. Here's a round-up of stuff that might come in handy this Halloween…
Harness the 'uncanny valley'
One way to give someone the heebie-jeebies could be to send them into the uncanny valley. This phrase defines the unnerving feeling that occurs when something looks and acts much like a human, but quite clearly isn't. It's a phenomenon particularly associated with unnervingly lifelike robots and, looking at this "robotic child" CB2 (below), it's not hard to see why.
CB2's odd skin gives it tactile capabilities, but combined with some disturbingly realistic behaviour, its weird appearance is also enough to give anyone bad dreams.
While less bizarre than CB2, Aactroid – a robot designed to work as an office receptionist – is still realistic enough to give someone the creeps.
Brain imaging experiments carried out by researchers at University College London could help explain why such human-like technologies naturally invoke a feeling of uneasiness in people. Thierry Chaminade and Ayse Saygin at UCL speculate that this reaction may have an evolutionary explanation – helping people to identify individuals who may be carrying an infectious disease. Whatever the explanation, it could be a useful trick for spooking out guests at a Halloween party.
Creepy critters
There are other ways robots can tap into a person's primal fears, by impersonating other things that invoke a sense of dread – insects, snakes and spiders, for example.
The six-legged robot below might have a remarkable ability to climb walls and trees, but its insect-like movement are also likely to trigger feeling of unease.
The wriggling snake-like motion of this underwater robot has a similar effect. And there's something about this mechanical centipede that certainly gives me the creeps.
Another video clip shows a beetle-like robot crawling through a stretch of intestine. It could one day perform life-saving stomach surgery, but it also looks worryingly like something out of a science-fiction movie. Or how about a robot that needs to consume living insects just to keep going. The stuff of nightmares indeed.
Get inside the brain
This is all well and good, but if you really want to terrify someone, perhaps it's best to tap directly into the fear centres in their brain.
Last year, theme-park rides equipped with EEG and heart-rate monitors for each user were installed at Science Museum in London. The idea was to measure sense of excitement and fear felt by those being flung through the air. But equally the information could be used to create the most terrifying roller coaster imaginable.
Computerised optical illusion are another scary way to play with someone's brain. Here are some neat examples of tricks used by Swiss and UK researchers to induce out-of-body experiences in subjects. Computer software might also provide the perfect Halloween costume by changing your skin to something much weirder.
Similarly, information gleaned from experiments with video games could prove useful for working out how best to be scary. Another team of researchers at UCL built a version of Pac-Man that delivers an electric shock when the player gets caught by a ghost. It's an interesting exploration of the way fear affects the brain, but the same information could be used to train a game to scare the pants of its player, by identifying what makes them most afraid and springing surprises when they least expect them.
Once the perfect moment has been chosen, a direct approach would be to deliver a huge magnetic pulse to someone's brain, an approach pioneered, with terrifying results by Michael Persinger, a neuro-scientist at Laurentian University at Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, who used his "god helmet" to investigate into the nature mystical and psychic experiences.
If you want to get more, this paper from Nature describes experiments that involved inducing the disturbing sensation of someone standing nearby by stimulating the left hemisphere of the brain. French, Swiss and US researchers discovered the trick while preparing a patient for treatment for epilepsy, and it resembles experiences reported by numerous psychiatric and neurological patients. Oh, and it's worth noting that research has shown that the dark really does make people people more fearful.
So, based on the evidence above, the ultimate way to terrify someone must be to place them on a particularly scary roller coaster, next to an unnervingly realistic robot, in the dark, while wearing the "god helmet". Of course, I wouldn't recommend actually doing any of that while you're out trick-or-treating, though.
Will Knight, online technology editor
Heroes is an Official Mobile Game that is based on the popular television series and the game has just been launched in the US.
This game chronicles fan favourite moments from Season One, but also offers a unique, exclusive spoiler from Season Two that will not be (read more on this…)
This week will be the second time that the X Factor contestants have performed live to the nation and they are said to be terrified.
Adam Chandler, who sings in boy band (read more on this…)
Top Gear from the BBC is loved in the UK, and has also become very popular in the US so fans from both sides of the pond will enjoy these Outtakes from (read more on this…)
I don’t know about you but last night I watched the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards ceremony and it has to be the most moving awards ceremony I have ever seen.
Ordinary people with extraordinary tales have stunned (read more on this…)
Well the first episode of A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila starring the MySpace beauty premiered on MTV yesterday and for those of you who missed the show you can get the chance to watch the full episode over on MTV.com. We spoke about the kind of (read more on this…)
Reportedly SCI FI has ordered a third season of Eureka, the channel’s most-watched original series.
Production on the new thirteen episode run will start early next year for (read more on this…)
It has been reported that the Philippine government are seeking an apology from the writer’s of Desperate Housewives.
During the show, Teri Hatcher aka Susan Mayer (read more on this…)
Albert Reed Is The Second Evictee in Dancing With The Stars
Albert Reed has become the second evictee in the ABC’s Dancing with the (read more on this…)
Last night The Secret Diary of a Call Girl proved a big hit for ITV2.
The drama about a high-class hooker, which stars Billie Piper, grabbed an average 1.8 million viewers and an 11% share in multichannel (read more on this…)
The real-life transsexual who plays Billy Baldwin’s love interest in new U.S.
TV drama Dirty Sexy Money is raising eyebrows and temperatures on the set.
Billy’s character falls in love with a transsexual called Carmelita in the racy new drama, and the part is played by real-life (read more on this…)
Bionic Woman has finally premiered on NBC.
For those who have any experience with the 1970’s version of Bionic Woman, this version is extremely different.
The obvious difference being that (read more on this…)
Ryan Seacrest was the host of the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards that aired live last night.
I am in the UK and I watched the awards last night (read more on this…)
Last night saw the 59th annual Primetime Emmy Awards that took place in Los Angeles.
As we all thought the Sopranos took the top (read more on this…)
Reportedly Kylie Minogue will make her television comeback on this year’s Children In Need.
Kylie has recently returned to showbiz life after battling (read more on this…)
Kelly Brook talks about her first training sessions with Brandon Cole. Kelly said that “He seemed quite shy and couldn’t think of any steps I don’t know if I was intimidating but he had to go away for ten minutes. He seems more (read more on this…)
Last night did any of you see Big Brother 8 What Housemates Did Next on channel 4.
What a show it was.
Click here to see the moment that Chanelle clapped eyes (read more on this…)
The MySpace phenomenon that is Tila Tequila is to get her very own dating show on MTV, where 32 contestants compete for her attention. The show is much like (read more on this…)
Alec Mazo and Edyta Sliwinska from Dancing with the Stars have just got married this Saturday just gone.
The hot couple got married in San Francisco, but this marriage was wanted by the two much sooner in 2006, but they had to put dancing first as they were very busy (read more on this…)
Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole has criticised X Factor producers for lowering the show’s age limit to 14.
Cheryl has claimed that teenagers will struggle (read more on this…)
Big Brother 8 finale always goes out with a bang and it certainly did between Charley and Chanelle because just before the live grand finale security (read more on this…)
Earlier in the week we told you about Pixar’s 2D adventure with their 11 minute hand-drawn animated short titled, “Your Friend The Rat”. Three production stills from the film have now been released, check them out below. (read more on this…)
If Disney were to produce live action remakes of their animated classics with top Hollywood stars who do you think they would choose? Well how about Rachel Weisz as Snow White? Beyoncé as Alice in Wonderland or David Beckham as Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty? Well don’t worry yet Disney fans, these photos aren’t part of a film production (read more on this…)
It has been reported that Sony Pictures has hired James Vanderbilt, the man behind the Zodiac script, to write Spider-Man. Sam Raimi recently claimed that he didn’t want to write the screenplay for the fourth film and many Spidey fans were relieved. I think Vanderbilt is a great choice. (read more on this…)
The announcement of a Wolverine spin-off movie got X-Men fans very excited. The movie promised to give fans an insight as to how Wolverine became Wolverine and let them know a little more about their favourite mutant. (read more on this…)
A few weeks after we told you that Halo director Neill Blomkamp claimed the Halo film was ‘dead’ we get some news that will excite gamers worldwide. Yes, it seems a Halo movie is not dead in a world where (read more on this…)
The photo you see above isn’t a fan-made photo, nor is it something I whipped up on photoshop. It’s a Predalien from Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem. I’m not teasing you, it is actually an Alien and Predator hybrid! (read more on this…)
PKK mezarlığı külliyen yalanIrak'ın kuzeyindeki Kandil Dağı'nda bulunan PKK mezarlığının, bazı internet siteleri ve gazetelerde Diyarbakır'ın Bismil İlçesi'nde bulunuyormuş gibi gösterilmesi tepki çekti. Diyarbakır Valisi Efkan Ala, PKK mezarlığının Diyarbakır'da olduğunu yazanları ‘provokasyon yapmakla' suçlarken, Bismil Belediye Başkanı Şükran Aydın da, bu iddiada bulunanlar hakkında dava açacaklarını söyledi.
PKK'nın üstlendiği Irak'ın İran sınırı yakınlarındaki Kandil Dağı'nda yaptığı mezarlığın fotoğrafı önce bir internet sitesinde ‘Diyarbakır'ın bir ilçesinde PKK mezarlığı' başlığıyla yer aldı. Ardından bazı gazetelerde yer alan fotoğrafın, Diyarbakır'ın Bismil İlçesi'ne çekildiği ileri sürüldü.
Vali Ala, Diyarbakır'da böyle bir mezarlığın bulunmadığını ve olayın provokasyon olduğunu söyledi. Vali Ala, şöyle konuştu: ‘Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devleti sınırları içerisinde böyle birşey olması mümkün mü? Binlerce yıllık geleneği olan bir devletin temsilcisi olarak söylüyorum ki, bu tamamen provokasyona yöneliktir. Uydurma, tamaman yalan gerçek dışı bir iftiradır. Akılla, mantıkla izah edilmez. Türkiye Cumhuriyeti devleti basiit provokavatif eylemlerle meşgul edilecek değildir. Buradaki tüm güvenlik güçleri, asker polis hepimiz hangi işi yaptığımızı biliyoruz. Bunlar külliyen yalan.'
Bismil Belediye Başkanı SHP'li Şükrün Aydın da ilçede 5 mezarlığın bulunduğunu, bunların duvarlarını yeni yaptıklarını söyledi. Başkan Aydın, ‘Bizim ilçemizde PKK mezarlığı yok. Böyle bir şey olsa gazetecinin haberi olur da devletin ve bizlerin haberi olmaz mı? Bunu yapanların peşini bırakmayacağız' dedi.
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