Posts with «socialnetwork» label

Check 'N Chew Foursquare-enabled gumball machine hands-on (video)

When Tyler DeAngelo asked if we'd be interested in checking out his new project, we jumped at the opportunity. After all, we were pretty blown away with Fifth Avenue Frogger, his hacked arcade cabinet that incorporated real-time webcam footage of a busy Manhattan street into gameplay. His latest project, Check 'N Chew certainly has more apparent commercial applications, offering up a form of immediate gratification for social media users. The concept is fairly simple: check into Foursquare, get a gumball.

DeAngelo has hacked an off-the-shelf gumball machine with a stepper motor, Arduino and an XBee radio. There's also a port on the rear of the machine that plugs into a wall to power it all. The Check 'N Chew communicates wirelessly with an ethernet-to-wireless gateway device. When someone checks into an authorized location, information is sent from DeAngelo's server to the gateway, and a gumball is dispensed. The whole process is quite speedy, only taking a couple of seconds from Foursquare check-in to gumball dispensing.

Continue reading Check 'N Chew Foursquare-enabled gumball machine hands-on (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Check 'N Chew Foursquare-enabled gumball machine hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
Engadget 16 Aug 23:59
arduino  check n chew  check-in  checknchew  fourquare  gumball  hack  hands-on  misc. gadgets  social  social network  socialnetwork  tyler deangelo  tylerdeangelo  video  

MyRobots.com: for all of your robot's social needs

You have your Facebook, Twitter, and some even MySpace. But what about your beloved cyborgs? They've got social needs too, you know. According to NewScientist, there's a new site on the block that'll allow your droids to have status updates of their own. Furthermore, MyRobots.com aims to be a complete social hub for humanoids; aside from the "I need to be charged" updates, they'll also secure a complete profile with name and photo. Of course, apps couldn't be left behind, which is why the company is planning a cloud-based app store to cap off its efforts. Unfortunately, just like The Facebook in its early days, the site is only open to a select few for now: Nao and Arduino-based robots. Needless to say, if you're going to have your mechanical partner make you a sandwich, the least you can do is let it share its feelings with friends.

MyRobots.com: for all of your robot's social needs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
Engadget 21 Dec 05:12
arduino  arduino robot system  myrobots social network  myrobots.com  nao  nao robot  nao robots  robot  robots  social network  social network robots  social networking  socialnetwork  socialnetworking