Showcased earlier this year at the annual 'Consumer Electronics Show' in Vegas, was the EKSO......
Developed by Ekso Bionics; the Ekso is a bionic exoskeleton that allows paraplegics to stand and walk. Utilising 4 electromechanical motors coupled with an ingenious algorithm, this mechanical skeleton allows the user to walk smoothly. With the advantage of being close fitting this structure can fit through doors and corridors increasing the mobility of the user.
Originally funded by the US army, the Ekso was a research project with an aim to make soldiers 'super strong,' yet it's applications to medical areas is extremely exciting...
Set to reach the retail markets next year the Ekso will debut at around £100,000, despite it's high price this technology is an astounding glimpse of what the future holds for mobility disabilities.
This instrument seems quite fitting for Halloween.....
The AirPiano designed by the innovative Omer Yosha was released this summer. This highly unique synthesiser interface allows the user to play music without touching anything. Quite haunting really, the user waves their hand over the plank of 24 LED's activating notes and faders.
The playing of this instrument looks almost dance like and thanks to its intuitive interface and flexibility this instrument is bound to inspire new creative ways of playing music and composing.
One artist who has already composed a piece and is planning on writing a whole album using the AirPiano is Jo Hamilton;
The instrument at the moment will cost you a trial price of £900, to get your hands on one and find out more click this wee widget
Time we all invested in some noise quenching curtains! Lightweight, translucent, compact and not to bad on the eye, the EMPA teamed up with textiles experts, acoustical engineers and computer modelers to create a fabric that stops sound from passing further than your window....
This one is pretty clever. The ashtray measures the amount of ash placed in it, the smart little thing then calculates how much closer to death you are and kindly informs you by turning a demonic red and uses LED's to light up the figures.
This evening I saw a band that managed too leave a conversation at the back of the venue and venture to the very front. An acquaintance turned to me and said 'I don't think they could be anymore Mod'
True enough, the members had the hair, style and swagger down to a T, but there is so much more to them than a 'Mod' appearance.
All six members of Nightworkers are confident in their delivery and style and are SO SO tight. Nightworkers performance was full of dramatic energy, yet despite their swagger (especially front-man Jack Moullin) the band are still so accessible. Describing themselves as 'Rock/Blues/Electronica,' their influences are broad, resulting in musical stunners such as 'From a Distance'. The stage at the Green Door Store was too small for their amazing live performance. They would definitely be more than capable of dominating a large stage space.
Who would of thought that a Saw not only cuts wood.... but makes music too.
Although, it kind of sounds like it should be from a scene from some psychological thriller. Imagine...
As our heroine sits, gagged and tied by hand and feet to a chair. She watches in fear as the man she trusts (well trusted) climb up back into the attic with a saw. The victim tries to escape, but stops when this man sits down and starts to create music from this Saw. Chilling as it is, he is playing her favourite song, she begins to relax.
The man stops, turns, smiles eerily and the torture commences....
If you want to learn to play the saw I have sourced a tutorial.If you want to buy one click buy.
Japanese company Hario Glass Co. Ltd developed a range of glass instruments including; a cello, a violin and a keyboard. The first of their kind each instrument is hand blown from a single piece of heat resistant glass. Each piece is hand painted and the results are aesthetically stunning.
Violins and Cellos are often perceived to be delicate instruments, making the use of glass as a construction material quite fitting. Playing these transparent materials surely must provide the user with a feeling of creating music from air?
Of course, the users must also be shit scared that if they drop their instruments they will shatter into a million pieces. Transporting the thing must be a bugger too, in constant fear of it smashing and at the least, acquiring a chip in the body.
The glass instruments have been criticised for the sound they produce;
'It does not have the same depth as say a cello made from maple'
(Some comment made by someone on some post elsewhere)
Well yea of course it won't sound the same; the qualities of glass compared to maple are so different. Instead the fact that a new sound can be produced from these instruments should be celebrated and explored. OK the sound does lack warmth to its tone however, it does create a metallic sound that is individual and unique in it's own right. This exploration of using different materials for such traditional instruments is definitely exciting!
Drum and Bass, Dubstep, Heavy Basslines and epic drops... I'm not a lover, I also don't understand the difference between them. When my Drum n Bass Junkie housemate asks to borrow my speakers, I swear he can feel the heavy tug of reluctance and resistance I give handing them over, only because I know he will be 'dropping' them heavy Basslines the house at full blast and I will be writhing on the floor in faux pain and real disgust.
That is until a few months ago when Alex Clare played at a local venue. Oh My God. This man had this like voice, and as much as it frustrates me to make this comparison (this may have something to do with the fact the guy ain't so tall and he wears a hat and has some stubble on his face), he kinda struck me as a kind of less pure, coarser but still gorgeously soulful and beautiful Matt Cardle.
Alex Clare layers his voice over some very obvious basslines, technically I should of turned up my nose, but I didn't. I bloody loved it!
