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Techno Teddy

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the flugeldufel-flugeldufel-flugeldufel dept.

jazzman writes "In an attempt to push technology into realms it had better never set a foot on, the guys from flugeldufel have modified some consumer hardware and created a unique musical instrument: it looks like a teddy bear, feels like a teddy bear, and transforms gestures into 44kHz breakbeats."

64 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. As a wise man once said by Starship+Trooper · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Programmers are so obsessed with the fact that they can, they don't stop to think that they should.

    --
    Loneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away forever
    1. Re:As a wise man once said by telstar · · Score: 2

      Sadly most of the ones I work with don't even START to think if they can...

      ...off to monster.com.

    2. Re:As a wise man once said by FrostedWheat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Inspiration comes in many forms. Doing something like this although seemingly pointless, will inspire others to do greater things! Many of these will be pointless, but some will not!

    3. Re:As a wise man once said by plnb · · Score: 1

      It's neat and all, but what the hell is the use of the bear?

  2. The Wrong Pill! by nick_davison · · Score: 4, Funny

    Have you seen the pictures? That's just not right!
    Taking the wrong pill, the teddy remained connected to the matrix.

    1. Re:The Wrong Pill! by Mr+Teddy+Bear · · Score: 1

      Dude... I always knew I could get down with the best of 'em!

      Before you mod me as off topic, look at my nick. Now you get it... goood good.

  3. wow! by SquierStrat · · Score: 2

    I admit i only glanced at the page...but i didn't see a how-to section...come on details please! that's so frigen kewl i gotta do it myself!

    --
    Derek Greene
    1. Re:wow! by Manitcor · · Score: 2

      That's half the fun, he shows you how the hardware is hooked up and the hardware he uses. He even supplies you with the source code. He even goes through the trouble of supplying you with the actual GBA Compiled ROM itself.

      If you need more detail than that do a little research on electronics and the structure of GBA hardware.

      --
      "Don't mess with him, he taunts the happy fun ball."
    2. Re:wow! by SquierStrat · · Score: 1

      Thanks, like i said, I only glanced at the page (was to busy doing calculus 3 homework.)

      --
      Derek Greene
  4. I don't even need to follow the link... by PrimeWaveZ · · Score: 1

    If it even closely resembles Teddy Ruxpin, the world is coming to an end.

    1. Re:I don't even need to follow the link... by pakchuie · · Score: 1

      I put a KISS tape in my little brother's Teddy Ruxpin. The head started spinning around a la Linda Blair and fire shot from its mouth

  5. Gahh! by sandidge · · Score: 3, Funny

    To mangle a line from the Simpsons:

    "Can't sleep, teddy bear will eat me. Can't sleep, teddy bear will eat me."

  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. What does "unique" refer to? by EvilNTUser · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you mean unique as in "it's a teddy bear", then you're correct afaik, but using gestures to control instruments is not a unique idea.

    --
    My Sig: SEGV
    1. Re:What does "unique" refer to? by jazzman'flugeldufel · · Score: 1

      You're right... and I guess I can't deny the Theremin served as an inspiration. See the Techno Teddy as the digital reincarnation of the utterly analog, 85-years-old Theremin.

  8. A.I. by mblumber · · Score: 1

    How long until we have teddys from A.I. running around?

    --
    Anyone who posts about bad moderation are themselves off-topic and should be moderated accordingly.
  9. With the right approach... by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Funny
    This could be the next huge Christmas toy. Then we'd have slashdot carrying articles on how you can

    Install Linux on it

    Program it with AI

    Hold LAN parties for insecure programmers

    I'm kinda surprised I haven't seen something like this yet, but with all the dumb toys which have been -HOT- it makes sense something which appeals to intelligent people would be a flop. Stands to reason when you look at everything these days. Thanks to those few capitalists who actually do give tech toys a fair shot (and don't sue people when they get inside them)

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  10. Teddy Bear appeal... by Speare · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder why so many people choose teddy bears for their projects.

    teddy bear spy camera

    teddy bear network switch

    teddy bear terror bomb

    Strange geek fetish?

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
    1. Re:Teddy Bear appeal... by speedfreak_5 · · Score: 1

      Please tell me they were joking about the terrorist teddy bear...

      --
      Why yes I am paranoid! Thanks for asking!
    2. Re:Teddy Bear appeal... by Guppy · · Score: 1

      "I wonder why so many people choose teddy bears for their projects."

      You know, you just gave me a great idea for a teddy bear battlebot...

    3. Re:Teddy Bear appeal... by Alizarin+Erythrosin · · Score: 1

      You don't have a teddy bear from your childhood up in your closet? Mine sits on my bookcase even...

      --
      There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
    4. Re:Teddy Bear appeal... by ObviousGuy · · Score: 1

      It's not a joke.

      --
      I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
    5. Re:Teddy Bear appeal... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2

      > teddy bear terror bomb

      Whoa, Cowboy Bebop flashback.

      "YOU! Teddy Bomber, serial bomber!"

      Chris Mattern

  11. Good for babies by FullClip · · Score: 1

    The ideal way to get a crying baby into a peacuful sleep: some hardcore breakbeats :)

    Does it say: "I want a hug" or "I need to go to the toilet" occasionnaly too ?

    1. Re:Good for babies by jazzman'flugeldufel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Believe it or not, but when we bought the teddy (some 15), it was already loaded with electronics. It had pressure sensors in different parts of the body, and would talk and teach you the names of its body parts ("Touch my tummy! Nooo... that's my right arm. Yes... that's my tummy! You're smart!"). The chip didn't look programmable though and sound quality was rather sub-par, so we ripped it all out and put in the Gameboy.

    2. Re:Good for babies by arkanes · · Score: 2

      God, that's amazingly disturbing. And yet, my poor caffeine addled brain is already thinking up various perverse uses for such a thing...

  12. Must resist... Can't hold out much longer.. Aagh! by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Funny
    Imagine a Bearwulf cluster of these...

    Hangs head in shame for moment of weakness...

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  13. The extra ingredient is love. by Burgundy+Advocate · · Score: 4, Funny

    Raver Teddy

    1 Techno Teddy
    4 Lightsticks, assorted colors
    1 Sparkly Shirt, toddler size
    30 Count extacy hits
    2 Bottles water, trendy brand preferred
    1 Roll duct tape

    Dress bear in shirt. Break lightsticks and attach to bear with duct tape. Place extacy hits on convenient locations on bear, using duct tape. Tape water bottles to teddy. Let sit for ten minutes, toss into pit of e-tards and let the fun begin!

    --
    Dragging people kicking and screaming into reality since 1996.
    1. Re:The extra ingredient is love. by dotgod · · Score: 1

      I get it now...I've been doing it all wrong. So this is what true geeks play with while they're rolling. Guess now I can stop getting neck cramps from blowing myself up by staring at the lights on my NIC.

  14. Just imagine... by FueledByRamen · · Score: 1

    This could have so much potential. Ruggedize and waterproof it, add a built-in loudspeaker, and get a circle of friends together for some hackey-sack. Imagine the breakbeats you could pump out with a few good hackers (of the hackey-sack variety)...

    --
    Every cloud has a silver lining (except for the mushroom shaped ones, which have a lining of Iridium & Strontium 90)
  15. David... by amstrad · · Score: 1

    Teddy [in deep, rough voice]: I'll break, David.

  16. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  17. Reason for the appeal might be the GBL... by _N0EL · · Score: 1

    ... Gnu Bear License (not to be confused with GPL of course).

    --

    "My mother works for Microsoft now. A whole other cult."

  18. Politically incorrect by iggly_iguana · · Score: 4, Funny

    I read the headline, and immediately thought of girls in wearable computers......

    It's hell being a geek...

  19. Reminds me a lot of... by twoshortplanks · · Score: 4, Informative
    This guy's work with making music with ultrasonic sensors. I saw his stuff a London dorkbot meeting where he let us play with these things.

    Waving your hands around in a analogue space above sensors to create music is a weird experience - quite unlike playing the keyboard or strumming a guitar.

    --
    -- Sorry, I can't think of anything funny to say here.
    1. Re:Reminds me a lot of... by MartinB · · Score: 2

      Waving hands to create music? Sounds a bit theraminish to me.

      --

      The only thing you can accurately describe as "Scotch" is a sticky tape made by 3M. And it's

    2. Re:Reminds me a lot of... by twoshortplanks · · Score: 1
      Yeah, but not quite.

      The theramin is used to create a direct location -> note mapping. What I saw was a much more complex system where the the ultrasonic sensors would be rigged to control the flow of several finite state machines.

      The finate state machines would loop round and play back repetative beats, or decay, or whatever the ibook had been configured to play. Basically, rather than just playing notes directly (which was still possible) the system could also be used to build up a collection of notes and 'develop' a tune rather than each action being directly mapped to a sound.

      --
      -- Sorry, I can't think of anything funny to say here.
  20. Re:The Mysterious Urge by ealar+dlanvuli · · Score: 1

    amazing

    I give it +5 interesting :)

    keep it up

    mods: please refrain from killing my karma, thanks

    --
    I live in a giant bucket.
  21. BECK by snack · · Score: 1, Funny

    Got 2 TeddyBears and a microphoooooone!

    WHERE IT'S AT!

    -Tim

    1. Re:BECK by DaCool42 · · Score: 1

      Actually, by the looks of it its more like:

      Got 2 Turntables and a teddy beeeaaar!

      --

      ----
      All of whose base are belong to the what-now?
  22. sadistic by meis31337 · · Score: 1

    haha, this sounds like a few troubled musicians' excuse to smack around a helpless teddy bear and call it music!! :)

  23. Re:Undocumented feature of this teddy bear... by echucker · · Score: 1

    Everyone touts Teddy Ruxpin. My cousin had an AG Bear. AG mimicked the speaker's voice, and mumbled back to him, in a voice slightly reminiscent of Charlie Brown's teacher. It was a ton cheaper than Ruxpin, and had inifitely more play value.

  24. Re:Great by jazzman'flugeldufel · · Score: 1

    Actually, I've been learning to play the piano for 13 years. The teddy, however, is not for musicians trying to express themselves, it's for geeks wondering what to do with the hardware they find in their little brother's room :D

  25. Re:Undocumented feature of this teddy bear... by ross.w · · Score: 4, Funny
    Some friends of mine had one of these. they also had a small fluffy dog. The scene went something like this:

    Interior, a loungeroom. In the centre of the floor sits a Teddy Ruxpin, switched on. A small fluffy dog approaches

    Small dog (tentatively, not sure what to make of this furry creature): Woof?

    Teddy Ruxpin: Woof?

    Small Dog( backing away in fear): Grrr! Woof! Woof! Woof!

    Teddy Ruxpin: Grrr! Woof! Woof! Woof!

    The dog flees under the settee and cowers in fright at the fearsome Teddy Ruxpin. Onlookers roll about on the floor laughing as the scene fades



    --
    If my call is important, why am I talking to a recording?
  26. dirty dirty! by ComSon0 · · Score: 1

    I think only my job's server room is messier than the table in the pictures.

    dirty dirty people I say. No respect for the pretty equipment :)

    .

    1. Re:dirty dirty! by cyraxx'flugeldufel · · Score: 1

      It was just our table on the party .. and we had so much stuff and so little space there - and we were too busy and too tired to clean it up :)

  27. Will it work with the teddy BORG? by kireK · · Score: 1

    The real questions, will it work with the previously covered teddy BORG?

    What's next? A Teddy Bear based file server?

  28. I love this teddy :) by Ruliz+Galaxor · · Score: 1

    ohh... great!! now I can replace my pillo... I ment girlfriend!

  29. weird insturments by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

    isn't this thing just a theramin in teddy bear form?

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    1. Re:weird insturments by spoonboy42 · · Score: 2

      No. Theremins have two electronic sensors that, on two different axes, track position, with one hand controlling pitch and the other controlling volume. The theremin is a a very simple (but very cool) hand-position controlled synthesizer.

      This device, on the other hand, is more of a sequencer. If you take a look at the webpage, you'll see that the software plays whatever is currently selected (breaks, basslines, ambient FX, etc.) on loop. When a recognized gesture is made, it switches one of the loops to another sample in memory.

      In other words, it's a cute, cuddly MMT-8.

      --
      Anonymous Luddite: "What do you think of the dehumanizing effects of the Internet?"
      Andy Grove: "Not Much."
  30. Those who stop to think if they should... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

    rarely move beyond that. Unless it is to tell everyone else to stop moving as well.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  31. Neat idea...what if you... by bandit450 · · Score: 1

    Turned a gameboy advance into a portable mp3 player? I've sorta been wanting to do something like that, but lack the resources.

    --
    -- Bandit450...If-Else-Do-*TWITCH*!
  32. Recordings? by DaCool42 · · Score: 1

    There appear to be no recordings of it on the page. I wanna hear some 8bit teddy audio in its full glory!

    --

    ----
    All of whose base are belong to the what-now?
  33. Microsoft already did this by Animats · · Score: 2
    Surely you remember Microsoft Barney for Windows.

    • "The PC Pack includes a CD-ROM with ActiMates-compatible software activities and a transmitter that plugs into the MIDI/game port on your PC. Simply plug in the transmitter, install the software, and you're ready to go! The ActiMates character has no wires. It receives radio signals up to 15 feet away from the transmitter. Requires Microsoft Windows 95 or later or Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 or later with Service Pack 3."

    Microsoft was, however, unable to achieve market dominance in the plush-toy sector.

  34. This sort of reminds me... by Tiado · · Score: 1

    Of that creepy teddy bear thing from the movie Akira, I'm almost afraid that thing's gonna come to life and drip milk all over me.

  35. Warning! by 0x20 · · Score: 1

    Site contains a link to Indiana Jones fan fiction disguised under the heading "the greatest game of all time."

    My eyes! It buuuurns!

    1. Re:Warning! by jazzman'flugeldufel · · Score: 1

      It was the only link I found to explain where "flugeldufel" comes from...

    2. Re:Warning! by 0x20 · · Score: 1

      Please, I beg you, write an explanation of flugeldufel yourself and post it to your site. Don't spring LucasArts fanfiction on an unsuspecting public.

  36. Old... by ANTI · · Score: 1

    I saw this thing live at MekkaSymposium 2002.
    And that was easter... over 2 month ago.

    Nice idea, but sounded awfull....

    --
    On the other side of the screen it all looked so easy.
  37. He used to be a supertoy... by way2muchsense · · Score: 1

    but now he's old and stupid. You want him?

    DAVID: Yes, please.

    MARTIN: So, I guess you're the new supertoy now. What kind of cool things can you do?

    --
    Republicans are idiots.
  38. Controlled by a Game Boy Advance by Xaoswolf · · Score: 1

    Gotta hear what the Konamii code sounds like...

    --
    Xaotik Designs
  39. Microsoft Innovation by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2

    Whenever somebody says Microsoft never innovates, I always mention the Actimates line. It was really quite clever. They had Actimates commands encoded in the vertical blanking interval of the Barney TV show, so the bear would react to what was was being displayed on the TV.

    Despite both Microsoft and Barney being reprehensible, the product was a neat idea.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    1. Re:Microsoft Innovation by Manitcor · · Score: 2

      I always wondered how they would send the commands to the bear. Unless the Actimates had a very high res camera to actually SEE the picture on the screen I would imagine it would be something with bright flashes in single frames of the video.

      I played with a pre-cursor to this type of tech (anyone remember Nintendo's ROB the robot).

      The only thing I keep seeing though with tech like this is 4 year olds across the nation having seizures from the flashes used to execute such commands.

      One moment little Timmy is enjoying his show with that strange bear of his, the next moment little Timmy looks like he's overdosing on ketamine and ends up spending the rest of his life in a wheel chair with half his brain not working. "Timmah!"

      --
      "Don't mess with him, he taunts the happy fun ball."
  40. might be the next DDR by weetabix · · Score: 1

    Dance Dance Revolution, meet BreakBeat Teddy.

    --

    -- "It's tough to run with both feet stuck in your mouth" - Zoe's evil side