Alvarez may have (deservedly) stole our CES thunder with his Wii-tech post, but we saved the money shot for our final day of convention coverage.
Remember DARPA's self-driving vehicle challenge? Here's the winner. We rode in it. Beat that.
As you can see, it ain't called "The Boss" for nothing. Want to know how it works? Dig our interview with one of the engineers, after the jump.
Continue reading 'Video: GM's self-driving robocar will own you' >
With a headline like that, could this come from anywhere but CES 2008?
The TN 3rd Space gaming vest's unintentionally funny tagline says it all: "Get Pounded On Your Own Terms." Strap this on, and you'll feel the impact of every frag as it shatters your onscreen spinal column, every bullet as it whines past your in-game ear. It transmits force-feedback via a network of 8 pneumatic cells in the vest pockets.
Amazingly, this gear was invented by a vascular surgeon named Mark Ombrellaro, who wanted a device that could let him perform physical examinations on patients remotely. But it's still stuck in the FDA approval process, so Dr. Ombrellaro decided to bide his time by repurposing his invention as a gamer joygasm interface.
Watch SciAm reporter Nikhil Swaminathan interview TN's VP about the device, and take a few slugs in the process.
Another CES video dispatch: Emotiv Technologies showed off their latest collaboration with IBM, a brainwave-reading gaming interface. It sits on your head (looking sort of like the SQUID rig from Strange Days... did anyone else ever see that besides me?) and lets you control virtual stuff with your mind.
For example, an onscreen avatar will smile when you smile, or adopt a Matthew-McConaghey-like body posture when it senses you're feeling relaxed. (Emotiv says the rig could be also be used for autism research, among other non-gaming applications.)
Or you can concentrate and move game objects telekinetically a la The Force. Check out this video - near the end, Marco The Emotiv Rep does a damn good Skywalker impression.
More from the CESpool: we scored a personal interview with Mr. Microsoft himself, Billy G. His PR handler informed us that in addition to discussing robotics and stuff, we'd do well to engage the Master on Microsoft Surface, a giant touchscreen table-puter he just happened to have in the interview room.
Watch Bill Gates design a snowboard with his bare hands.
If we didn't fear that he'd murder us with his mind Darth Vader style, we'd also have asked him if he ever saw this fake PR video for Microsoft Surface in which is it accurately marketed as "a big ass table."
I'm in Vegas (baby, Vegas) trailing intrepid SciAm reporter Nikhil Swaminathan as he roves the gadget-festooned halls of CES 2008. All our coverage can be found here, but I thought I'd cross post as well when I'm not cursing the Sahara Hotel's shitty internet service and scarfing Clif bars like it's my job.
In short, CES is straight nutty. This preview will give you an idea of the scene.
