The Geek Church

Okay, I probably used way too many B-words in that title. I guess it shows my excitement for Buhel’s SpeakGoggle G33, some ski goggles that pair with your smartphone via Bluetooth.

That’s right, someone invented a ski goggles that work like a Bluetooth headset, so you can take phone calls while you are on the slopes.

In case you are wondering if you have to put something in your ear to have conversations or listen to MP3 audio files while you are skiing, the answer is “no”. You see, the SpeakGoggle G33 have bone conduction inside. If you aren’t familiar with bone conduction, it is a method of headphones that only require contact with the skin. In the case of Buhel’s SpeakGoggle G33, the bone conductors are at the nose.

In case you are wondering, the controls for the SpeakGoggle G33 are on the sides with those large buttons for easy controls, especially while you are wearing gloves. You can also do some voice dialing, and the battery is good for 12 hours of talk time and 10 hours of music playback.

Unfortunately, I have not heard a price or availability of the SpeakGoggle G33, but it really should be soon, as ski season is almost over.

Yes, that is Jillian Michaels there, and what you should notice is the armband.

The armband is provided by BodyMedia FIT, a body monitoring platform designed to energize your weight loss efforts. You can use two software methods for this: The first is the BodyMedia FIT coach, a software upgrade providing the market’s first personalized feedback system capable of recommending activity and dietary adjustments based on each users’s actual calorie expenditure and food intake for the day. Then there is the partnership with Jillian Michaels 360 degree Weight Loss Navigator program for exclusive use with BodyMedia FIT.

Each of them offer tracking of calories, steps taken, level of physical activity and sleep patterns that affect health and weight. You can use the FIT CORE Armband for $179, plus the FIT LINK Armband, with Bluetooth tech to communicate with a smartphone for real-time fitness data.

All right, if you are interested, find out more at the Body Media website.

The regular punching bag is a common tool for physical fitness. Professional athletes, amateur sportsmen and the general consumer all have uses for it, which include training, physical conditioning, relieving stress and blowing off steam in a healthy way. Of course, we’re accustomed to seeing the type of punching bag hanging from a rope on a ceiling or dangling from a chain on its own holding stand. However, a company called Domyos recently created a different kind of punching bag for personal exercise.

They call it the Interactive Boxing System. Instead of a conventional punching bag hanging from a ceiling or personal stand, this fitness tool is actually mounted on your wall to make sure it’s kept at the right height for the user at all times. This boxing set features an adjustable rack, a small LCD display for showing your numerical score and sensors and LEDs within the bag that track the areas where your punches have landed. The Interactive Boxing System is also comes with ten fitness programs for cardio exercise and personal training in self-defense.

However, the two main parts of the Interactive Boxing System have to be purchased separately. The adjustable rack is available for $97 while the actual punching bag costs $182. This doesn’t seem like a great deal for the consumer since the individual parts are sold individually. In a practical sense, you can’t really use one unless you have the other too. Nonetheless, a more significant issue might be the stress that the wall may take as you dish out a flurry of blows on the punching bag. Personally, I wonder if Domyos actually considered that potential problem and designed their product accordingly to make sure the wall doesn’t get damaged.

Source

In this modern age of technology, businesses and product manufacturers continue to take advantage of every available tool to advertise their merchandise to the general consumer. Gone are the days when the general public only had to face junk mail, television commercials, billboards and advertisements from newspapers, magazines and books. In more recent years, online commercials, pop-up ads, spam and junk emails have become regular methods for companies to push their products on consumers. Now technology has added augmented reality as a new weapon in the advertising arsenal of businesses. Furthermore, Adidas, well-known among shoes and sports product companies is now using this weapon as a marketing strategy.

The company has recently developed a new product line of footwear that is equipped with an augmented reality marker. This literally enables the newly designed shoes to function as controllers for game applications online. The company calls its new product line Adidas Originals. These shoes work by using a special marker built into the shoe’s tongue to bring virtual objects visually into the real world. In order to use them, you must first choose from a selection of product models, which includes Superstar, Stan Smith, Forum, Nizza and Samba. Then you log into the Adidas website and use the shoes you chose to play a game application.

If you’re interested, footwear in the Adidas Originals’ product line starts at a price of $65 and goes up to $95. These augmented reality shoes certainly serve a three-fold purpose, functioning as footwear, entertainment and a unique form of advertisement to other potential customers. This new concept for Adidas products seems to be just another marketing ploy dressed up as a trendy form of entertainment. Personally, I have to wonder how many parents and teenagers will open up their wallets for this one.

Source

Let’s consider the sport of surfing. Why do athletes and novices of this sport find it so appealing? Common reasons for surfing include the thrill of riding massive waves, the drive to master your skills with the board, the intense rush of risking your safety in some of the roughest waters and impressing other people. From the amateur enthusiast to the professional athlete, surfers are often admired for their display of skill and unique style of handling the board. Of course, surfers rely on their ability to manipulate waves and wind with their use of the board and some are aided by motorboats. So, think about how this sport could change when an independent motor is added to the surfboard itself.

Recently, a self-propelled surfboard called the Powerski Jetboard was developed for surfing without the need for using waves or a motor boat. The board has its own motor, which generates forty horsepower and runs up to forty miles per hour. Apparently, it moves like a jetski while being used. However, the Jetboard offers flexible mobility for stunts that are more difficult to perform on a jetski and requires less skill than using a regular surfboard.

The creation of the Powerski Jetboard could be the dawn of a new surfing generation, considering the dominance of technology in today’s culture. Nevertheless, this innovation may not be embraced by all who love the sport of surfing. Those who favor the conventional method of using a regular board might argue that motorized boards make surfing too easy since relying on waves requires more skill. However, amateurs and novices may rejoice that a new board now exists, which does more of the work for them in surfing. It will be interesting to see how this motorized surfboard will affect the future of surfing.

Source

For the athlete in any sport, regular practice is extremely important for developing skill, building physical stamina and keeping the body in shape. Of course, machines play a key role in this aspect of an athlete’s life. Ball launchers and other automated devices were built to help players in their practice sessions. Now a new mechanical device has been developed in Japan to help the baseball player.

In Japan, the Meiji University and the Yokohama-based metal recycling company MRC have teamed up to create the Jet Hitter. This device is a batting tee robot that allows a player to practice his swings with the bat when he is alone. Its creators say that the Jet Hitter is the only one of its kind in player practice technology. An athlete will use the device by pushing a button at the robot’s base, causing a baseball to pop up into teeing position. Then the ball is kept suspended 10-20cm above a nozzle on a jet of air, waiting for the user to strike it with a swing. The Jet Hitter can hold up to seventy balls while in use and the player has the option of using hard or soft balls in a practice session.

According to the Meiji University and the MRC company, several pro-baseball teams in Japan are already using this batting device. However, for any consumer willing and able to pay, the robot is available for $7,700.

Source

Clearly, Adidas has now become an acronym for “All day I Dream about StarWars”. Granted, I had to make Star Wars one word in order for that to work, and I won’t tell you the original version of that acronym (because you probably already know it).

For some reason, and let’s just say that it’s money, Adidas went and made themselves some Star Wars shoes. They come in four designs that include X-wing pilot (see above in lovely orange), gray Tie Fighter, white X-wing, and a weird color for Princess Leia.

Get them wherever shoes are sold, and be prepared to give George Lucas his cut.

Source

I like air hockey as much as the next guy, but I just don’t have the space in my place for one of those gargantuan air hockey tables. I suppose that all the space is necessary for all the air to rush up and reduce the coefficient of friction, but all that really needs to slide is the puck.

This Portable Air Hockey kit from urban outfitters is just the thing I am looking for. It comes with the two “hockey bats”, plus a special puck. This puck takes two AAA batteries to make it “hover”. Of course you realize that this puck will slide off the table, so you might want to block the edges somehow.

However, it is only $14, so that might be worth purchasing. You can buy it here.

Source

Remember how Kip had the bumpers on when he was bowling in Napoleon Dynamite? If he had this remote controlled bowling ball from 900 Global, then he wouldn’t have needed them.

Yes, I’m certain that we all have wanted a remote control bowling ball, but not because we wanted to cheat. No, this is for the good of science. I’m actually surprised that someone could create a rolling object that could steer like this.

There is a video here after the jump if you want to see it in action, and this rolling ball is surprisingly accurate.