Slashdot Mirror
Smart 'Lego' Set Conjures Up Virtual 3D Twin
philetus writes "New Scientist has up a story on Posey, a hub-and-strut construction kit that senses its configuration and communicates it wirelessly to a computer. From the article: 'If you gave Lego brains, you might get something like Posey, a new hands-on way of interacting with computers developed at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, US. When Posey's plastic pieces are snapped together, an exact copy of the construction appears on a computer screen. Every twist of, say, a stick figure's arm is mirrored in 3D modelling software ... Each piece's plastic shell is stuffed with chips and devices for processing these signals. They are sent wirelessly to a computer using a low-power protocol called ZigBee. This means, bending Posey's pieces can make objects on-screen respond in real time. Right now, each custom-made piece has about US$50 (£25) worth of parts, Weller estimates. But if mass produced, it could be much cheaper.'"
Is there anyway to turn of this new comment-UFO floating on the left side of my screen? I liked the old forum better. This new fangled thing is overkill and annoying.
Why the heck should a post like this get modded up? If someone wants to know what a single term is (with no special context or anything), they should be able to look up the wikipedia article themselves. This is just simple karma whoring. (also, you should have linked to a specific revision instead of the main article to remove the temptation of vandalism)