The Pactuator: a clockwork Pac-Man from Jonathan M. Guberman on Vimeo.
What do you get when you make the classic Pac-Man fully mechanical? A Pac-Man that chomps only when you hand crank its gears. In other words: awesomeness. Just watch. The hand-cranked, mechanical Pac-Man, called Pactuator, is actually part of a bigger, much loftier project: a playable, mechanical Pac-Man cabinet, called ‘Pac Machina.’ I can’t wait for that. [Up, Not North via BoingBoing] More »
Has there ever been a technology as pervasive as the television? Ever since John Logie Baird demonstrated his mechanical device that showed moving images at 12.5 frames per second in 1926, the world has had an ongoing love affair with TV. And all this month, we’re going to be looking back at how the technology that we all take for granted grew and developed into the LCDs and plasmas we use today. More »
Steampunk may be tired, but this mechanical elephant doesn’t need any labels to leave us speechless with its design and detail. It’s just simply stunning, from tail to trunk. Built over the course of three and a half month by photographer/designer/cool-guy-at-large Andrew Chase, the 38kg elephant automaton is made out of “transmission parts, electrical conduits, plumbing pipes and 20-gauge cold rolled steel.” The robot is part of a book he is writing, called the Robot Trionic Morphatractable Engineer. As you will see in the gallery, the designs he’s creating for that are even more spectacular than the elephant.
This isn’t the tool box you’d likely see at your local garage right now. No, this is straight out of a gearhead’s rock n’ roll fantasy: A huge tool chest that also comes with an integrated Pioneer sound system and beer fridge. Top that off with self-illumination and built-in power strip and you’ve got almost everything you’d need. Except tools. At US$1600 it’s something you might actually start seeing in hobbyist garages soon. I know my stepdad’s going to want one. [Kobalt tools via Uncrate]
It turns out the wet t-shirt-wearing girls riding those mechanical bulls at the local bar were actually exercising. No lie, as you can see with this Five Axis Core Muscle Trainer, ripped from the everlasting kitsch-ridden pages of Hammacher Schlemmer. The saddle tilts left and right, up and down, and throws in a few twists for good measure. All the while the motions target your “core muscles,” which are worked as your body attempts to regain equilibrium. The whole idea of a rocking, jocking mechanical exercise bull for the home actually sounds kind of exciting, until you realise this piece of equipment was designed with the senior bull rider in mind. And yes, those are stirrups.
If the Di Grisogono Meccanica DG was the first watch with a mechanical-digital display, the Opus 8 watch by Harry Winston comes in at a close second. While the DG used mechanical tubes to display the time, the Opus 8 works using a complicated system of mechanical pixels that rise up from the display when the user activates a mechanism on the side of the case. But that’s not all.
Often need to pick up tiny things with the use of a mechanical claw? This Mini Mini Hand Strap cellphone strap is the thing for you. Choose from one of three insane-looking colors and you’ll be picking up hairs, eyeglass screws and our dignity with ease. More »
Dutch designer Will Vanden Vos takes an old style and gives it a new look. In much the same way of older clocks and information boards (like the ones you used to find in airports, and still see in many train stations), the Bomba Alarm Clock displays time by dropping the top half of the card down, exposing the number behind. But what’s most eye- catching is the exposed machinery. More »
