Kreyos Meteor smartwatch brings Star Trek tech to life

The Kreyos Meteor promises hands-free control over your iOS, Android, or Windows Phone handset while it remains in your pocket. The Meteor features a microphone and speaker, which, once you pair your smartphone with your smartwatch via Bluetooth, allows you to interact with the former using the latter. Everything you can currently do with your phone's voice command system you'll be able to do through your smartwatch. This includes making and answering calls, replying to text messages, composing emails, posting to social networks, changing the music that's playing, and setting up alarms and appointments.
If voice controls aren't your bag then the Kreyos Meteor smartwatch also offers gesture controls built into the operating system. With a three-axis gyroscope fitted into the watch, you'll be able to customize your Meteor to respond in different ways to different gestures. Possibilities include answering your phone with an upwards flick of your wrist, or skipping a music track with a flick to the right. Four directional gestures come preconfigured – left, right, up, and down – with additional gestures promised for future platform updates.

Kreyos claims the Meteor is the only smartwatch to feature voice and gesture controls, and that boast does appear to hold true at the time of writing. The Smile smartwatch from Emopulse also promises voice recognition, but it's a different breed from the Kreyos Meteor, working on its own without the need to be paired with a smartphone. And there isn't a hint of gesture controls.
Some big-name tech manufacturers are either announcing smartwatches (Samsung) or rumored to be working on them (Apple), so this may not be a unique selling point for much longer. For the time being, however, the Kreyos Meteor has this advantage over the growing competition. And with it the opportunity to cite Star Trek in its promotional material.
The Kreyos Meteor smartwatch can be worn on your wrist with a strap, on your belt with a clip, or around your neck with a lanyard. All of which come in a range of colors including simple black or white and eye-popping pink or lime. Further customization determined by personal taste is possible thanks to the 20 different watch face designs offered, with more promised in the future. These can be switched between at will.

There are a range of apps built into the Meteor, with the creators appealing to runners, swimmers, bikers, and golfers (amongst others) with activity trackers that can record data to be stored in the cloud. Developers are invited to create more apps for the platform through the SDK.
The price for Indiegogo backers started at US$95 for one Kreyos Meteor smartwatch, with the retail price set at $169. Having passed its funding goal, the Kreyos Meteor smartwatch is expected to be delivered to backers in November 2013. The campaign ends on Aug 8, 2013, with perks ranging in value from $29 (for two accessories) to $11,000 (for 100 watches and wristbands to go with them).
The money raised by the Indiegogo campaign will be used to finish developing the software and to begin mass production. The pitch video below introduces the Meteor, explaining some of its noteworthy features and explaining how they could be used in real-world situations.
Source: Indiegogo

DFKI's robot ape to colonize the Moon?

Exploring the hazardous lunar landscape calls for a variety of forms, and researchers at the DFKI are exploring their options (including a combination of legged and wheeled robots). An ape-like body has certain benefits over a wheeled robot; its four-legged stance is stable when scrambling over obstacles or hilly terrain, and it can easily right itself if it falls over. Then when it needs to do something with its hand(s), it could feasibly balance on its hind legs to free them up for manual work. The CHIMP robot currently being developed for the DARPA Robotics Challenge has adopted a similar strategy.
With renewed international interest in lunar missions, there is a remote possibility that iStruct (or one of its descendants) could be frolicking on the Moon at some point in the future. Colonizing the Moon with robots begins by developing one that can move and react intelligently to whatever situation it finds itself in.
To that end, the goal of the project is to build "biologically-inspired intelligent structural components" and a robot system to test them on, to test and improve the robot's ability to react to its surroundings. The robot contains an articulated spinal column connecting the torso and pelvis, giving it more flexibility, and sensor-laden foot and ankle structures which react to the ground.
Other features include:

• 43 individual force-sensing resistor (FSR) sensors
• six additional FSR sensors on exposed parts used for collision detection
• a 6-axis Force/Torque-sensor
• a distance sensor in heel to anticipate heel strike
• a digital 3-axis accelerometer to perceive the orientation of the foot
• two temperature sensors to compensate for temperature changes in the electronics
• digital magnetic angular encoders to monitor every moving axes of the foot and ankle structure

Most humanoid robots already contain many of the same sensors, but the iStruct's articulated spine (which can function as a 6-axes force-torque sensor) is something of a rarity outside of musculoskeletal robots and helps when moving on all fours. The sensors in the foot and ankle allow it to maintain its balance on sloped terrain.
Back between 2008 and 2009, Dipl.-Inf. Daniel Kühn worked on a similar robot called the Little Ape, which was already capable of simple quadrupedal walking. After that project wrapped, he began work on the iStruct, which features some significant upgrades. It's larger, weighing 18 kg (40 lb) and measuring 66 x 43 x 75 cm (26 x 17 x 29 in), and contains 26 degrees of freedom powered by a variety of electric motors. The project is due to be completed this August.
You can see how it uses its intelligent foot and ankle structures to walk and maintain its balance in the videos below. It's a small step for a robot ape, but a potentially giant leap for robot ape kind.
Source: DFKI Robotics

VEPS sensor detects signs of traumatic brain injury before it's too late

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common feature of life around the world, causing some 60,000 deaths each year in the US alone. The primary causes of TBI include shootings, falls, and traffic accidents. Of additional concern has been the recent discovery of the long-term effects of mild but repeated TBI, primarily in participants of sports such as football, hockey, and martial arts. Overall, about 20 percent of TBI lead to death within a month, with many others resulting in permanent brain dysfunction.
Physicians believe many of these negative outcomes could be prevented by earlier diagnosis and treatment, ideally in the so-called "golden hour" immediately following the injury which offers the greatest chance of minimizing brain damage. Unfortunately, when injuries occur in the field, or are not clearly seen as serious conditions, evaluation by CAT scan is often delayed far beyond the golden hour.
Dr. Cesar Gonzales, of Mexico's Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela Superior de Medicina, was particularly concerned about the lack of medical imaging in rural areas and economically disadvantaged areas of the world. He wanted to develop an inexpensive sensor with which medics in the field and ambulance paramedics could diagnose, with the help of remote physicians, situations that require some form of immediate treatment, and to provide notice of critical cases arriving at a hospital.
Noting that brain injuries usually produce characteristic changes in, for example, the amount of fluid in the brain, Dr. Gonzales, together with Professor of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley Boris Rubinsky, developed a method to measure the associated changes in the brain's electromagnetic properties. The result is a prototype Volumatic Electromagnetic Phase-shift Spectrometer (VEPS).

The VEPS sensor features two coils that are mounted on a helmet-like device to be worn by a patient. The smaller exciter coil emits radio waves into the top of the skull, and the larger coil is the sensor antenna. When radio waves are broadcast from the smaller coil, the signals received by the sensor antenna are modified by their interaction with the patient's brain. The system comes adjusted so that no signal is received from a normal brain.

A commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) digital synthesizer is used to activate the exciter coil at 200 frequencies between 1 and 200 MHz. The signal received at each frequency is measured using COTS phase and amplitude sensitive electronics. Any signal which appears is then evaluated using computer analysis to decide what form and extent of brain trauma may have occurred. The list price for the sensor electronics is less than US$100, which will make the brain injury sensor widely available.
A small-scale clinical study of the VEPS sensor was undertaken with the assistance of the Critical Care Unit of the Mexican Army Military Hospital. VEPS readings from 46 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 to 48 years were compared with those of eight patients aged 27 to 70 who were admitted for brain injuries resulting from infection, intracranial bleeding, or TBI. These patients were further assigned to one of two groups; those showing diffuse swelling as the main abnormality, and those showing local bleeding. CT images of the brain injuries of the eight patients appear in this article's photo gallery.

The result of a VEPS scan can be summed up in two parameters, β (beta) and γ (gamma), which are integrals of various sensor responses over applied RF frequency. As shown on the graph above, three groupings stand out clearly from the Mexican clinical study. Beta values greater than about 2.0 seem to indicate normal brain structure, more or less independent of the gamma value. (There are age-related correlations not shown here.)
In contrast, when beta is smaller than 2.0, some form of brain injury is indicated. The diffuse and localized injuries included in this study are clearly differentiated, with those TBI patients suffering diffuse edema producing gamma values considerably smaller than one, while for patients with local hematoma gamma was about 1.5 or larger.
While these early results are rather crude, the researchers say the device’s diagnoses for the brain trauma patients in the study matched the results obtained from conventional computerized tomography (CT) scans.
This suggests that the VEPS sensor can indeed act as a new instrument of field triage, to identify patients critically in need of immediate care so the medical rescue system can put them on a fast track toward treatment. It also seems possible that further development of VEPS as a diagnostic tool might result in a tool capable of finer distinctions, so that effective diagnosis of head injuries may not require access to a CT scanner.
In the absence of clear symptoms, brain injury is often missed until the damage is done. VEPS is likely a step toward prevention of permanent brain damage, rather than relying on rehabilitating such damage.
Sources: UC-Berkeley, PLOS ONE

SRT releases $460,000 Viper GT3-R race car

The GT3-R offers buyers the opportunity to benefit from SRT's racing experience and know-how. It was developed in cooperation with North Carolina-based Riley Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of race cars ranging from Daytona prototype endurance cars to GT competition cars. The GT3-R employs a chassis, suspension, electronics and aerodynamic components derived directly from the GTS-R being raced this year by SRT Motorsports. The body kit includes a front splitter, fender louvers, an adjustable rear wing and a rear diffuser.
The Viper's 8.4-liter V10 engine is tuned up to 680 hp and 640 lb-ft of torque. Other race-day upgrades include an Xtrac six-speed sequential transmission with paddle shifters, a multi-disc race clutch, six-piston front brake calipers with four-piston rears and lightweight wheels. Inside, the GT3-R has the necessary FIA homologated racing seat with six-point harness and optional air conditioning system.

"Like every Viper race car, the GT3-R is a direct descendant of the SRT Viper street car," says Ralph Gilles, President and CEO - SRT Brand and Motorsports, Chrysler Group. "There is no mistaking the similarities between the two which is a key component of this class of sports car racing. The GT3-R stays true to the visceral appeal of the Viper and has been carefully evolved for the demands of racing at a world class level."
The new GT3-R comes out of the factory eligible for a wide variety of races, including international GT3 championships, the United SportsCar Series GT Daytona, Pirelli World Challenge GT class, NARRA and SCCA. Chrysler estimates the price at US$459,000 with deliveries slated for late 2013.
The last Viper GT3 car debuted in 2005 and went on to win two GT3 championships and a World Challenge GT title. That car was based on the GTS-R program dating back to 1996.
Source: Chrysler/SRT

Street Charge solar charging stations for smartphones make New York debut

AT&T, Goal Zero and Pensa have started rolling out the Street Charge public solar charging stations in New York
Telecomms provider AT&T has partnered with portable solar power systems public solar charging stations in New York. Each station is topped by PV panels that charge up a powerful internal battery to provide smartphone and tablet users with a free juice up. The first units debuted at Riverside Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fort Greene Park and Governor's Island on June 18, and will be followed by another 20 or so stations in the coming months.
The original Street Charge station concepts were designed in early 2012 by Pensa as, according to the group's Marco Perry, "an elegant all-in-one community solution for solar charging of mobile devices." Development sketches then became working prototypes. One sported an LED street lamp with a PV panel on top, and another was created in collaboration with the Dumbo Business Improvement District with solar panels above sun umbrellas for use in a cafe setting. Perry told us that the umbrellas are still in use today.

Pensa teamed up with Goal Zero for the final design, which has an aluminum facade with a steel core. At roughly standing height, small wooden-topped shelf tables fan out from the center like leaves from a flower stem. Sprouting from underneath a lip at the inner edge of each table are USB and micro USB cables, along with charging tips for popular specialist connections like Apple's 30-pin and Lightning. Three 15 W microcrystalline PV blades sit at the top of the unit, and included Lithium nickel manganese cobalt (or Li-NMC for short) batteries mean that the station can be used day or night.
The unit is completely stand-alone, so there's no sneaky leeching from the grid, and the developers reckon that the charge time from a Street Charge station will be about the same as when plugging into a wall socket.
"Users' devices are not pulling direct from the panels, the panels charge a 168 Wh Lithium Ion battery which then charges smartphones and tablets at the same rate as a wall outlet," explains Goal Zero's Mark Olson. "The panels are constantly charging that internal battery."
AT&T has committed to install a total of about 25 Street Charge stations across all five boroughs in the next few months, including Hudson River Park, Coney Island, La Tourette Golf Course, Rockaway Beach, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Orchard Beach.

Olson told us that Goal Zero will be partnering with third party maintenance companies, with personnel taking care of regular battery swapouts and monitoring for vandalism and repair. The company is also currently in talks about future Street Charge deployments in other municipalities, universities and outdoor spaces.
The charging station design is modular to fit the needs of local architects and developers, and also has the potential to host lighting, Wi-Fi hotspots or signage for directions or advertising. Units are best positioned in bright sunlight, but can still harvest energy on cloudy days.
Sources: Goal Zero, Pensa, AT&T

Samsung Galaxy NX brings Android to interchangeable lens cameras

The Samsung Galaxy NX is the world's first interchangeable lens camera to run on Android

The recently announced Samsung Galaxy NX is the world's first interchangeable lens mirrorless camera to run on Android. Unlike previous Android-powered shooters, the NX boasts some serious photographic credentials, including a 20.3-megapixel APS-C format sensor and a hybrid autofocus system. It also features 3G/4G LTE and Wi-Fi technology for instant sharing.

Lytro camera gains wireless capabilities and an iPhone app

The Lytro camera has been given a wireless boost with a new firmware update

The Lytro camera has gained wireless capabilities and a new friend in the iPhone, thanks to a functionality-adding firmware update. Its new-found Wi-Fi capability means the light field camera can work with an equally new iPhone app, which allows users to share and view refocusing pictures while on the go.

Previously, users had to import their living pictures (as Lytro likes to call them), via a desktop application, before uploading them for sharing. But, following on from an update that added manual controls, the camera has now received another that turns on its wireless capabilities.

Airbus A350 XWB makes surprise visit to Paris Air Show

The Airbus A350 XWB made a visit to the 2013 Paris Air Show during its third test flight

There was a surprise appearance at the Paris Air Show on Friday as the first prototype Airbus A350 XWB airliner did a flyover for the crowds at Le Bourget Airport. The flyover was part of what was the aircraft’s third time in the air and was a last minute bonus appearance due to it performing much better than expected on its previous two test flights.

QUQUQ transforms a van to a camper within a minute

The QUQUQ packs sleeping, cooking, cleaning and storage into a large chest

Similar to the Swiss Roombox and Yatoo, the QUQUQ is a European-designed camping box that transforms a regular passenger vehicle into a fully equipped camper for two. Within just one minute, you can be sleeping, cooking or just hanging out in your QUQUQ camper van.

iFetch allows a dog to play fetch on its own

A dog playing with the iFetch device

Playing fetch with your dog is surely one of life's high points. After a short while though, it can all get a bit tiring and just a tad boring. Your bouncing bundle of fun, on the other hand, would happily keep the game going for hours. Fortunately, technology is here to help. The iFetch from the Hamill family shoots out a ball for your dog to fetch, and when fido drops it in the opening at the top, it's fired back out again.

Nissan unveils the world's fastest electric racer at Le Mans

Nissan's ZEOD RC electric racer will make its racing debut at Le Mans 2014

Le Mans in France, home to one of the world’s most prestigious 24-hour races, was Nissan’s site of choice to unveil its prototype electric speed racer. Touted as the fastest electric race car in the world, the oddly named ZEOD RC is being charged up and made ready to make its racing debut at the infamous track in 2014.

Pentax brings a splash of personalized color to the K-50 DSLR

There are 20 body colors to choose from and six grip colors, with buyers being able to select from up to 120 combinations

When it comes to outlandish color schemes for digital SLR cameras, Pentax surely takes the crown. With the launch of its K-50 mid-range DSLR, Japan's photography giant is putting the choice of camera body color firmly in the hands of its customers. There are 20 body colors to choose from and six grip colors, with buyers being able to select from up to 120 combinations. The new 16 megapixel camera includes a broad sensitivity range, an 11 point tracking autofocus system, and an optical viewfinder with 100 percent field of view. It's joined by the similar, but cheaper, K-500 entry-level DSLR.

Volvo's autonomous self-parking car

Vehicle sensors and cameras scan for pedestrians and vehicles, then trigger braking and steering adjustments as needed

Volvo Car Group, known for building safe cars, has been busy expanding its autonomous portfolio. Last year Volvo finished its multi-vehicle “Safe Road Train” (SARTRE) program in Europe with reasonable success. Next week Volvo will again bolster its autonomous program with its self-parking concept car.

Taichung Cultural Center proposal calls for 1,620 recycled shipping containers

LOT-EK's proposal calls for the use of 1,620 recycled shipping containers as a building material

New York-based architectural company LOT-EK has unveiled its proposal for the Taiwan Taichung City Cultural Center. The concept comprises a public library and fine arts museum, both of which feature sustainable tech in the form of solar panels, water recycling, and green roofs. The project is to be constructed using 1,620 recycled shipping containers as a primary building material.

Curiosity's panorama of Mars is worth a billion pixels

The 1.3 gigapixel panorama made of over 800 individual images (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS )

On Wednesday, NASA unveiled a rather large postcard sent back from Mars by the Curiosity rover. It’s in the form a panoramic image packing more than one billion pixels that was stitched together from 896 images. NASA sees the gigapixel image as a way for “armchair explorers” to take a close-up look at the Red Planet by means of an interactive webpage.

Autobots, roll out: Self-transforming Transformer toy headed for mass production

The self-transforming robot toy revealed by Takara Tomy at Tokyo Toy Show 2013

Remember that awesome transforming robot built by the one-man wonder Kenji Ishida? Well, apparently Takara Tomy took notice of it after videos of the robot went viral last year and is developing its own mass-market version under the official Transformers banner. They showed the automatically transforming toy alongside a robotic lion from its Zoids line, both controlled with an iPhone, at Tokyo Toy Show 2013.

2013 MacBook Air (11-inch) vs. Microsoft Surface Pro

compares the specs (and other features) of the new 11-inch MacBook Air, and the Microsoft Surface Pro

Mobile devices have turned the traditional PC market upside down. While Apple's "post PC" strategy is all about the iPad, the Mac still gives it a horse in the traditional PC race. Microsoft's strategy is more convergent: it wants hybrid devices like the Surface Pro to become our primary computers. How do the two measure up? Let's find out, as we compare the specs (and other features) of the 2013 MacBook Air to the Microsoft Surface Pro.

Is this the world's smallest RC helicopter toy?

The Nano-Falcon easily sits in the palm of your hand

Namco Bandai subsidiary CCP toys has launched its Nano-Falcon remote-controlled helicopter toy, which it claims is the world's smallest. The Nano-Falcon, which is designed for indoor flight, has a body size of just 6.5 cm (2.5 in) long and weighs a scant 11 g (0.38 oz). The infrared controller, which takes four AA alkaline batteries, has a range of just 5 m (16 ft), which may be a good thing, lest you lose sight of it!

Google floats balloon-powered internet network with Project Loon

Google recently launched Project Loon, which will send internet-enabled balloons into the stratosphere to provide high-speed connectivity in remote areas

Almost two-thirds of the world does not have access to high-speed internet, but Google is determined to change that. Unfortunately, setting up an affordable infrastructure in remote areas is beyond even a huge multinational corporation's capabilities, which is why the company had to devise a completely out-of-the-box solution called Project Loon. As part of the project, Google recently launched a series of internet-enabled balloons into the stratosphere over New Zealand to provide broadband connectivity to rural areas.

STABiLGO keeps your GoPro on an even keel

The motorized, computerized STABiLGO GoPro stabilizing rig

Looking for smoother hand-held video, but wanting something a little more high-tech than the SteadiCam Smoothee? Well, you might be interested in the STABiLGO. Designed for use with the GoPro HERO2 or HERO3, the gimbal-mounted stabilizing rig utilizes a gyroscopic sensor, a 32-bit high-speed microcontroller, and two electric motors to keep the camera horizontally and vertically level at all times.

Three-wheeled e-scooter offers added stability, but still leans into turns

The Electromobile City Scooter demonstrator vehicle, on display in Hannover

While electric scooters are considerably cheaper and easier to park than electric cars, many people are still put off by the idea of having to balance on two wheels. Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering is addressing that problem, with its leaning three-wheeled Electromobile City Scooter.

Ordinarily, trikes can’t lean into turns. On the Fraunhofer scooter, however, the two air-sprung rear wheels are suspended separately, allowing them to move independently of one another. It’s a setup that we’ve seen at least once before, on the Deliver-E Trike.

Top 10 most-wanted next-gen games for Xbox One and Playstation 4

top 10 next-gen games from E3 2013, all slated for the Xbox One and Playstion 4

E3 is always an exciting time for gamers, but this year's show proved particularly enticing with two new video game consoles mere months from release. The Xbox One and Playstation 4 have handed game developers a much more advanced piece of kit to deliver some truly groundbreaking experiences. Each company's presentation revealed titles both familiar and brand new, but these are the ones that have us most anxious for the upcoming generation of console gaming.

Rac-Em-Bac puts a bullet in your bow

Bow Mag increases the striking power of your arrow with the insertion of a .38 special or .357 Magnum handgun cartridge

Many archers in adventure stories and comic books use arrows with unusual heads. These include the standard explosive and grappling hook arrows, and the not-so-standard boxing glove arrow, Greek fire arrow, handcuffs arrow, and the ever popular atomic warhead arrow. While real archers generally have to make do with target and field heads, Louisiana-based archery company Rac-Em-Bac is now providing some spirited alternates.

Cruise terminal replaces Hong Kong's legendary Kai Tak Airport

Berthing area for the terminal

Flying into Hong Kong was once an aerial adventure as gigantic passenger planes made alarmingly steep descents over the harbor and then low over crowded high rises to runway 13. Those adrenalin-filled landings ended when the new Hong Kong International Airport to the west opened in 1998, however, the site of those dramatic flights has now been repurposed as the new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. It was formally opened on June 12 as the Commissioner for Tourism, Mr Philip Yung, welcomed the inaugural berthing of the cruise ship Mariner of the Seas.

Xbox One vs. PS4

Gizmag compares the specs (and other features) of the Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox One

Typically, E3 is all about new game announcements. Though we still had a few of those this year, 2013 was more about hardware: the Xbox One and PS4. Both push the technical boundaries of gaming consoles, offer their own mixes of strengths and weaknesses, and release at around the same time. So how do you choose? Allow Gizmag to lend a hand, as we compare the specs (and other features) of the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4.

Halo combines canister stove and fuel cell charger

The Halo is a backpacking stove with built-in fuel cell charger for charging mobile devices

 Point Source Power, the company responsible for the Voto, is looking to extend its product line with the Halo. Where the Voto is a fuel cell charger that works with an open fire, the Halo is a gas canister backpacking stove with built-in fuel cell charger and dual USB ports.

Molybdenite sensor may allow cameras to be five times more light-sensitive

Are you fed up with your camera – or any camera – not being able to take decent low-light photos? Just be patient. Swiss researchers have developed a molybdenite light sensor, that they say is five times more light-sensitive than current technology.

EPFL's prototype molybdenite light sensor

On an ordinary light sensor, the semi-conducting silicon surface of each pixel generates an electrical charge in response to exposure to light. The camera’s firmware processes those individual charges to form one cohesive image.

New material could lead to cheaper, more eco-friendly LEDs

LED light bulbs may be more energy-efficient and longer-lived than their incandescent equivalents, but they’re also considerably more expensive to purchase. This is largely because rare earth elements (REEs) are used in their phosphors. There are hazards involved in the mining and processing of REEs, plus China is responsible for almost the entire world’s supply, so they’re becoming increasingly pricey. Now, however, scientists have come up with a plentiful alternative material that they say is much more environmentally friendly, and that should drive down the price of LEDs.

LumiSands founders Chang-Ching Tu (left) and Ji Hoo, demonstrating the warmer hue of an LED bulb utilizing their technology

In regular LED bulbs, the REE-based phosphors are used to soften the LED’s existing blue-ish light. University of Washington spinoff company LumiSands has developed a material that reportedly does the same thing, but that also converts the light to a color temperature closer to that of natural sunlight. What's more, the material is made from cheap, abundant silicon.

Radical Pininfarina Sergio concept moving toward production

The world usually sees cars like the Pininfarina Sergio at a few select international auto shows during the debut year. Then the outlandishly-styled cars retire to their designers' headquarters and museums, peeping out every so often for special events and shows. Sometimes they fetch millions at auctions. But the wildly impractical, often beautiful design exercises don't usually enter production. It's looking like the Sergio will be an exception to the rules.

Pininfarina designed the Sergio in honor of the late Sergio Pininfarina, the former head of the Italian design firm who passed away last summer. The luscious two-seat barchetta looked like the epitome of one-off Geneva concept cars, but Pininfarina built the car atop Ferrari 458 Spider mechanicals and said from the start it could easily be developed for exclusive limited run production.

Pininfarina Sergio concept

According to several new media reports, Pininfarina wasn't just toying with rich folks lusting after the Sergio concept. Last week,Car & Driver reported that the Italian design house is listening intently to such folks, and they're hearing an overwhelming message: Build it and we will buy!

iRobot Ava 500 autonomous telepresence robot is designed for chatting

Business grows more global everyday and what was once done by a single corporation is now more likely to be spread over many small businesses. Ideally, managers and remotely-based employees would like a virtual presence at a location, but telepresence robots are often more like smartphones on remote-controlled sticks, so they lack a feeling of personal presence and naturalism. At the InfoComm 2013 Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida, iRobot, in collaboration with Cisco, have unveiled the Ava 500; a telepresence robot that combines auto navigation and a high-definition screen for a more natural telepresence.

The iRobot Ava 500 in an informal conversation

According to a UCLA study, seven percent of communication is verbal and 93 percent is non-verbal. Beyond this simple fact, many people are much more comfortable working with others in person and a surprising amount of work is achieved through seemingly casual conversation. A chat while leaving a meeting can make a deal and a casual observation on a factory tour can break a seemingly insoluble problem.

Samsung's Galaxy S4 zoom packs 10x zoom lens, tells you what to snap

With the announcement of its Galaxy S4 zoom, Samsung has gone the extra yard beyond its Galaxy Camera to release a capable snapper – with a 10x optical zoom no less – that is also an out and out smartphone running Android Jelly Bean 4.2. Samsung claims that the 16-MP device combines uncompromising performance as both a smartphone and compact camera.

Samsung's Galaxy S4 zoom cameraphone

The device includes a 4.3 inch 960 x 540 AMOLED display and a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor. There's a secondary 1.9-MP front-facing camera. The Galaxy S4 zoom can talk to LTE and 3G networks and includes integrated Wi-Fi (stop me if this is taken as read, these days).

Exbury Egg: The floating off-grid workspace and home

Exbury Egg is a floating off-grid workspace and home, installed on the shore of the Beaulieu River, UK. It was conceived by artist Stephen Turner, and created with the help of both Perring Architecture and Design, and SPUD design studio. The egg-shaped structure will support Turner for a year as he carries out observations on the local environment and produces his works of art.

Exbury Egg is located on the shore of Beaulieu River

The shape of Exbury Egg was inspired by the nesting seabirds local to the Beaulieu River, and during the year in which it will be used as Turner's base, its exterior will weather and visually attest to its contact with the tides, wildlife, rain, and sun.

Prahran Hotel's facade is made from huge concrete pipes

The newly renovated Prahran Hotel, located in Melbourne, Australia, must not be confused with the Tube Hotel in Mexico. Though they both share the use of gigantic concrete pipes in their architecture, the Prahran Hotel is not actually a hotel but a pub. And if you’re asking yourself why it’s called a hotel, well, that’s just the Aussie term for pub.

The newly renovated Prahran Hotel features the clever use of recycled concrete pipes

Local architectural studio Techne was asked to rethink the facade and concept design of the pub’s adjoining premises. The project involved the demolition of the old additions, in favor of a dramatic double-story building with a central courtyard.

In pictures: Royal Institute of British Architects 2013 Awards winners

The Olympic Park Masterplan by Allies and Morrison

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced this year's winners of its annual National Awards and EU Awards. The competitions offer an excellent opportunity to look at some of Europe's most interesting new architecture. This year's UK winners include a variety of building types, and most of the country is well-represented (except Wales, which didn't snag a single win). A chapel in a back garden in Edinburgh, a visitor museum in Northern Ireland's Giant's Causeway, and a commercial building on London's Regent Street all attest to the range of buildings which took the judge's fancy. However, educational facilities were the big winners this year, with a full third of the winners dedicated to learning.