Video: Toyota Auris goes further off the rails with "Spanking Orchestra"

Filed under: Etc., Japan, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, Toyota

How do you follow up androgyny? With a Spanking Orchestra, obviously. Proving that the 2013 Toyota Auris has depths we haven't begun to comprehend, Toyota's Japanese ad agency has followed up the head-turning spot with Stav Strashko by kitting an Auris out with "spanking machines" and putting it on display at the Daikanyama Art Street festival.

The machines are computer-controlled hands that tap (or spank, if you prefer) the car to the programmed beat. As if that weren't enough, two pairs of free-standing hands, with arms, clap time at either end of the car. If there's a meaning to it, we're not aware of it, but it's fascinating to watch.

It isn't often - actually, never - that we get to say, "Ladies and gentlemen, we present The Spankers." You'll find them below, and the action begins in the first video at the 2:40 mark.

Continue reading Toyota Auris goes further off the rails with "Spanking Orchestra"

Toyota Auris goes further off the rails with "Spanking Orchestra" originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: VW Zombie Rabbit is focus of latest Depth of Speed vid

Filed under: Classics, Budget, Performance, Hatchback, Volkswagen, Design/Style

There are many aspects of the Depth of Speed video series worth loving. The beautiful cinematography, moving soundtrack and gorgeous vehicles all combine to make for some compelling clips. But for us, the real attraction is how accurately the filmmakers capture the relationship between vehicle owners and their machines. Take Joel Erkkinen and his wild Mk1 Volkswagen Rabbit, for example. What started as a $400 potential Grassroots Motorsports Challenge entry for 2008 evolved into an all-consuming passion.

Having never built a car before, the Rabbit served as Erkkinen's schoolroom when it came time to cut out old rust and weld in new metal. While the Minnesota native had toyed with later generation Rabbit models previously, going back to the Mk1 required a bit of a learning curve. Fortunately, he found himself surrounded by helping hands.

"The VW community here in the Twin Cities is really friendly and inviting," Erkkinen tells Autoblog. "I had people I didn't even know want to come over and help just because they saw my thread on VWVortex."

The Zombie Rabbit slowly transformed from a clapped-out heap into a turbocharged widebody terror thanks to the knowledge and guidance of that community. But it's Erkkinen's attention to detail and eye for style that make the car what it is.

Unable to find a suitable material for the steering wheel cover, Erkkinen scrounged up an old leather jacket from a thrift store and set to cutting his own pattern and stitching the hide by hand. He did the same for the Corbeau Forza seats, covering the race buckets in fabric with custom embroidered Zombie Rabbit emblems.

Check out the video below as well as the gallery for a closer look at the resurrected bunny. You can also take a peek at the full modification list. Still hungry? Check out the full build thread over at VWVortex.

Continue reading VW Zombie Rabbit is focus of latest Depth of Speed vid

VW Zombie Rabbit is focus of latest Depth of Speed vid originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Sebastian Vettel and Melanie Fiona star in new music video

Filed under: Convertible, Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Infiniti, Celebrities, Luxury

The Infiniti Inspired Performers series takes Red Bull Formula One team drivers out of the cockpit and into videos that require a different skill set. As part of his ongoing role in the campaign, Sebastian Vettel has now given up kung-fu in China on the Mission Impossible set for wheelman work in New Jersey on a music video set with singer Melanie Fiona and the song "Watch Me Work."

Sure, driving and drifting an Infiniti G37 Convertible doesn't sound like a big step away from his day job, but Vettel also helps get the party started, and gets to play DJ. You can watch him and Fiona work in the video below, plus have a look at the behind-the-scenes.

Continue reading Sebastian Vettel and Melanie Fiona star in new music video

Sebastian Vettel and Melanie Fiona star in new music video originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DARPA's Captive Air Amphibious Transporter can drive on water, help during disaster relief (video)

A couple of months back, DARPA announced it'd been working on developing technologies to help during natural or "man-made" disasters, and this TEMP plan (Tactically Expandable Maritime Platform) included the addition of four key modular systems -- one of which was sea-delivery vehicles such as that monstrous one pictured above. Dubbed Captive Air Amphibious Transporters, or CAAT for short, the rugged wheeler gets its drive-on-agua powers from air-filled pontoons, with its main purpose being to carry "containers over water and directly onto shore." However, according to DARPA's program manager, Scott Littlefield, it is more about the big picture, saying, "To allow military ships and aircraft to focus on unique military missions they alone can fulfill, it makes sense to develop technologies to leverage standard commercial container ships." Thanks to a vid uploaded by DARPA itself, you can now get a feel for what CAAT's all about, so head over past the break -- where you'll find a quick preview of the ATV carrier in action.

Continue reading DARPA's Captive Air Amphibious Transporter can drive on water, help during disaster relief (video)

Filed under: Transportation

DARPA's Captive Air Amphibious Transporter can drive on water, help during disaster relief (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Aug 2012 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Mini shows Cooper Works GP goes for a smoke, cheats the wind

Filed under: Videos, Hatchback, Mini, Specialty

Mini wants you to know all about its latest, limited-to-2,000 John Cooper Works GP edition. After a stint at the 'Ring to set a time of 8:23, the two-seat-only Cooper has parked itself in the wind tunnel to demonstrate its various wind-cheating features like the engine shield and rear wing.

The narrator informs us that that JCW GP has six percent less drag, 30 percent less front axle lift and 90 percent less rear axle lift - we'll assume that's compared to a standard Mini Cooper, since he doesn't say, but those are healthy numbers no matter what. Check out the video below to see how it achieves them.

Continue reading Mini shows Cooper Works GP goes for a smoke, cheats the wind

Mini shows Cooper Works GP goes for a smoke, cheats the wind originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney researchers can now digitally shave your face, clone it for animatronics (video)

The minds at Disney Research aren't only interested in tracking your face -- they want to map, shave and clone it, too. Through a pair of research projects, Walt's proteges have managed to create systems for not only mapping, digitally reconstructing and removing facial hair, but also for creating lifelike synthetic replicas of human faces for use in animatronics. Let's start with the beards, shall we? Facial hair is a big part of a person's physical identity, a quick shave can render a close friend unrecognizable -- but modern face-capture systems aren't really optimized for the stuff. Disney researchers attempted to address that issue by creating an algorithm that detects facial hair, reconstructs it in 3D and uses the information it gathers to suss out the shape of the skin underneath it. This produces a reconstruction of not only the skin episurface, but also of the subject's individual hairs, meaning the final product can be viewed with or without a clean shave.

Another Disney team is also taking a careful look at the human face, but is working on more tangible reconstructions -- specifically for use on audio-animatronic robots. The team behind the Physical Face Cloning project hope to automate part of creating animatronics to speed up the task of replicating a human face for future Disney robots. This complicated process involves capturing a subjects face under a variety of conditions and using that data to optimize a composition of synthetic skin to best match the original. Fully bearded animatronic clones are still a ways off, of course, but isn't it comforting to know that Disney could one day replace you accurately replicate your visage in Walt Disney World for posterity? Dive into the specifics of the research at the source links below, or read on for a video summary of the basics.

Continue reading Disney researchers can now digitally shave your face, clone it for animatronics (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Robots, Software

Disney researchers can now digitally shave your face, clone it for animatronics (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 03:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: DeLorean hovercraft shows up in McCovey Cove

Filed under: Coupe, Etc., Specialty

What's better than any Back to the Future tribute DeLorean? This. Because hovercraft.

And thanks to the guys at Deadspin, we can present video of it frolicking in McCovey Cove outside last night's Giants/Rockies game. As Deadspin reports, the DeLorean hovercraft's build was Kickstarter-funded and previously covered by MAKE. The finished product, which you can watch in action below, is fantastic.

Continue reading DeLorean hovercraft shows up in McCovey Cove

DeLorean hovercraft shows up in McCovey Cove originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 11 Aug 2012 09:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Ducati and Audi team up to attack Pikes Peak

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, Audi, Motorcycle

Audi and Ducati. Two powerhouses in their respective realms, and as of recently the motorcycle brand belongs to Audi AG as part of Lamborghini. Inspired, perhaps, by the freshly forged relationship between he two companies, Audi has decided to examine how much the two share in their pursuit of glory at Pikes Peak by taking it on in tandem.

Of course, cameras were in place to capture the action as the hill-climb-ready RS5 and Ducati Mulitstrada took on all 12.42 miles and 156 tuns of the climb together. The stupendously high production value allows the you to take in the new, fully-paved course in all its glory.

You can watch the full 14,110-foot dual ascent below.

Continue reading Ducati and Audi team up to attack Pikes Peak

Ducati and Audi team up to attack Pikes Peak originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 11 Aug 2012 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an 'emotional reaction' (hands-on video)

Hiding in the back of the SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies demo area -- exactly where such a project might belong -- is a dark wood chair that looks anything but innocent. Created by a team at the University of Electro-Communications in Toyko, Chilly Chair, as it's called, may be a reference to the chilling feeling the device is tasked with invoking. After signing a liability waiver, attendees are welcomed to pop a squat before resting their arms atop a cool, flat metal platform hidden beneath a curved sheath that looks like something you may expect to see in Dr. Frankenstein's lab, not a crowded corridor of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Once powered up, the ominous-looking contraption serves to "enrich" the experience as you consume different forms of media, be it watching a movie or listening to some tunes. It works by using a power source to pump 10 kV of juice to an electrode, which then polarizes a dielectric plate, causing it to attract your body hair.

After signing our life away with the requisite waiver, we sat down and strapped in for the ride. Despite several minutes of build-up, the entire experience concluded in what seemed like only a few seconds. A projection screen in front of the chair lit up to present a warning just as we felt the hairs jet directly towards the sheath above. By the time we rose, there was no visual evidence of the previous state, though we have no doubt that the Chilly Chair succeeded in raising hair (note: the experience didn't come close to justifying the exaggerated reaction you may have noticed above). It's difficult to see how this could be implemented in future home theater setups, especially considering all the extra hardware currently required, but it could potentially add another layer of immersion to those novelty 4D attractions we can't seem to avoid during visits to the amusement park. You can witness our Chilly Chair experience in the hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: Chilly Chair hands-on

Continue reading Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an 'emotional reaction' (hands-on video)

Filed under: Household, Science

Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an 'emotional reaction' (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers create Meshworm robot, beat it up (video)

We've seen a number of options for controlling real worms, but never a worm robot, until now. Enter Meshworm, the latest creation from researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University. The bot is made from "artificial muscle" composed of a flexible mesh tube segmented by loops of nickel / titanium wire. The wire contracts and squeezes the tube when heated by a flowing current, but cut the power and it returns to its original shape, creating propulsion in a similar way to its living kin. Taking traditional moving parts out of the equation also makes it pretty hardy, as proven by extensive testing (read: hitting it with a hammer). DARPA is known for getting its fingers in all sorts of strange pies, and it also supported this project. We can't see it being the fastest way of gathering intel, but the potential medical applications, such as next-gen endoscopes, sound plausible enough. Full impact tests in the video after the break.

Continue reading Researchers create Meshworm robot, beat it up (video)

Filed under: Robots, Science

Researchers create Meshworm robot, beat it up (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 06:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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