Developed by researchers at the University of Applied Sciences in Linz, the proCover is a sensor-enabled smart sock that adds sensations to current prosthetic limbs.

Although work on more advanced prostheses continues, commercially available limbs still lack tactile feedback. The proCover addresses this not by modifying or replacing the prosthesis, but by using a sock with piezoresistive force sensors embedded in it. This allows for the user to tell where on a foot it’s being touched, as well as the pressure applied, and it can be set up to suit a user’s needs.

Feedback is provided by vibrating rings that can also be placed on a user’s body where convenient. A version that detects how far a prosthetic knee is bent has also been tested.

The design and construction of prostheses that can emulate a natural sense of touch is of growing research interest. Over the last few decades, a number of solutions have been developed for the detection of pressure, slip, heat and texture… However, many of the exciting innovations in this field will likely remain out of reach for most people due to a multitude of factors pertaining to cost, accessibility, health status, and personal attitudes towards elective surgery. We introduce proCover, a low-cost sensing wearable in the form of a textile sock that can be applied retroactively to lower-limb prosthetics to make sensing capabilities more broadly accessible to those who rely on these assistive devices.

You can find more information in the project’s 12-page paper or in this TechCrunch article for a slightly shorter summary.

(Photos: Media Interaction Lab)

Developed by researchers at the University of Applied Sciences in Linz, the proCover is a sensor-enabled smart sock that adds sensations to current prosthetic limbs.

Although work on more advanced prostheses continues, commercially available limbs still lack tactile feedback. The proCover addresses this not by modifying or replacing the prosthesis, but by using a sock with piezoresistive force sensors embedded in it. This allows for the user to tell where on a foot it’s being touched, as well as the pressure applied, and it can be set up to suit a user’s needs.

Feedback is provided by vibrating rings that can also be placed on a user’s body where convenient. A version that detects how far a prosthetic knee is bent has also been tested.

The design and construction of prostheses that can emulate a natural sense of touch is of growing research interest. Over the last few decades, a number of solutions have been developed for the detection of pressure, slip, heat and texture… However, many of the exciting innovations in this field will likely remain out of reach for most people due to a multitude of factors pertaining to cost, accessibility, health status, and personal attitudes towards elective surgery. We introduce proCover, a low-cost sensing wearable in the form of a textile sock that can be applied retroactively to lower-limb prosthetics to make sensing capabilities more broadly accessible to those who rely on these assistive devices.

You can find more information in the project’s 12-page paper or in this TechCrunch article for a slightly shorter summary.

(Photos: Media Interaction Lab)

For those living in a high-rise, have you ever wondered what was going on behind the closed blinds of your neighbor’s home directly across from you?

Caretaker is a concept project that explores just that. It consists of a custom-made switch board with which you can control the lights of the flats opposite of yours, providing active entertainment that stimulates your senses better than passive media consumption.

If you want one of your own, simply take a picture of the building that you see from your window and Caretaker will design a laser-cut scale model of it for your use. The prototype runs on an Arduino and is battery-powered, allowing you to freely move it around.

The project is the work of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME) student, Máté Varga, in collaboration with Barbara Sterk, Miklos Erhardt, Adam Polhodzik, and FabLab Budapest.

You can see it in action below!

For those living in a high-rise, have you ever wondered what was going on behind the closed blinds of your neighbor’s home directly across from you?

Caretaker is a concept project that explores just that. It consists of a custom-made switch board with which you can control the lights of the flats opposite of yours, providing active entertainment that stimulates your senses better than passive media consumption.

If you want one of your own, simply take a picture of the building that you see from your window and Caretaker will design a laser-cut scale model of it for your use. The prototype runs on an Arduino and is battery-powered, allowing you to freely move it around.

The project is the work of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME) student, Máté Varga, in collaboration with Barbara Sterk, Miklos Erhardt, Adam Polhodzik, and FabLab Budapest.

You can see it in action below!

Inspired by The Goonies movie and The Room game, Guido Bonelli has constructed a piece of Arduino-controlled interactive furniture to entertain his guests.

After what appears to be a massive amount of work involving 3D printing, laser cutting, wiring, and programming, Bonelli has come up with a puzzle box that shouldn’t need any explanation. Using button presses and other interactions with it, participants are able to unlock a treasure box in the bottom, a working wooden safe!

Additionally, the box tells time in a very unique way. It has an hourglass that is automatically flipped to indicate minutes, and Roman numerals at the top to reveal hours. You can see how it works and how it was assembled in the videos below!

I wanted to create a unique piece of furniture for my home which my guests could interact with. This time however, I wanted it to be something which I wouldn’t have to explain how it worked. Instead, I wanted mysterious scriptures scribed all over the sculpture to intrigue my guests.

At the heart of GoonieBox is of course an Arduino… Effortlessly whisking away my artistically written 0’s and 1’s into a symphony of movement, sound and game play. Taking approximately 800 hours of build time, GoonieBox is my greatest accomplishment by far in the world of Arduino.

You can find more information on the project’s Hackster.io posting, or check out the author’s interesting Dr.Duino product page.

Inspired by The Goonies movie and The Room game, Guido Bonelli has constructed a piece of Arduino-controlled interactive furniture to entertain his guests.

After what appears to be a massive amount of work involving 3D printing, laser cutting, wiring, and programming, Bonelli has come up with a puzzle box that shouldn’t need any explanation. Using button presses and other interactions with it, participants are able to unlock a treasure box in the bottom, a working wooden safe!

Additionally, the box tells time in a very unique way. It has an hourglass that is automatically flipped to indicate minutes, and Roman numerals at the top to reveal hours. You can see how it works and how it was assembled in the videos below!

I wanted to create a unique piece of furniture for my home which my guests could interact with. This time however, I wanted it to be something which I wouldn’t have to explain how it worked. Instead, I wanted mysterious scriptures scribed all over the sculpture to intrigue my guests.

At the heart of GoonieBox is of course an Arduino… Effortlessly whisking away my artistically written 0’s and 1’s into a symphony of movement, sound and game play. Taking approximately 800 hours of build time, GoonieBox is my greatest accomplishment by far in the world of Arduino.

You can find more information on the project’s Hackster.io posting, or check out the author’s interesting Dr.Duino product page.

2PrintBeta solves the problem of cutting multiple cables with an innovative scissors setup.

At times, the 3D printing and engineering company 2PrintBeta needs to cut wires and other assorted materials to length. Sure, they could simply cut them by hand, but that takes time and their business is growing. An industrial cable cutter is quite expensive, so being an engineering company, they decided to make their own using a rather rugged pair of scissors actuated by a bolt attached to a drive disk.

For this operation, wire feeding is done by a pair of 3D-printed wheels, and the “brains of the operation” is provided by an Arduino Mega using stepper motor drivers.

The ideas ranged from razorblades to a holder for a dremel with a cut sheet. But a short test showed: scissors are sufficient. So why not use scissors?

If you’re skeptical about how well scissors work in this application, be sure to check out their video below! You can also read more about the project here, or check out Hackaday’s writeup.

2PrintBeta solves the problem of cutting multiple cables with an innovative scissors setup.

At times, the 3D printing and engineering company 2PrintBeta needs to cut wires and other assorted materials to length. Sure, they could simply cut them by hand, but that takes time and their business is growing. An industrial cable cutter is quite expensive, so being an engineering company, they decided to make their own using a rather rugged pair of scissors actuated by a bolt attached to a drive disk.

For this operation, wire feeding is done by a pair of 3D-printed wheels, and the “brains of the operation” is provided by an Arduino Mega using stepper motor drivers.

The ideas ranged from razorblades to a holder for a dremel with a cut sheet. But a short test showed: scissors are sufficient. So why not use scissors?

If you’re skeptical about how well scissors work in this application, be sure to check out their video below! You can also read more about the project here, or check out Hackaday’s writeup.

With Timothy Giles’ rotating digital picture frame, you’ll never have to endure black bars around your vertical images again!

Rather than accept the poor presentation of vertical images that normal displays offer, Giles instead made his own out of a discarded 27-inch LCD TV. A Raspberry Pi displays the images sideways, then uses an Arduino with a stepper shield to rotate the TV to compensate.

Mechanically, he uses a herringbone gear set to turn the TV, while the Arduino accelerates and decelerates the TV’s rotation to give a smooth transition. It’s a very cool project, and one that makes you wonder “why didn’t I think of that?”

You can find more about Giles’ FlipFrame project at his Hackaday.io page, including code and mechanical design files if you want to build your own!

With Timothy Giles’ rotating digital picture frame, you’ll never have to endure black bars around your vertical images again!

Rather than accept the poor presentation of vertical images that normal displays offer, Giles instead made his own out of a discarded 27-inch LCD TV. A Raspberry Pi displays the images sideways, then uses an Arduino with a stepper shield to rotate the TV to compensate.

Mechanically, he uses a herringbone gear set to turn the TV, while the Arduino accelerates and decelerates the TV’s rotation to give a smooth transition. It’s a very cool project, and one that makes you wonder “why didn’t I think of that?”

You can find more about Giles’ FlipFrame project at his Hackaday.io page, including code and mechanical design files if you want to build your own!