Take a stroll through the uncanny valley with Emily, an impressive example of how far facial animation has progressed -

Previous methods for animating faces have involved putting dots on a face and observing the way the dots move, but Image Metrics analyses facial movements at the level of individual pixels in a video, meaning that the subtlest variations - such as the way the skin creases around the eyes, can be tracked.

"There's always been control systems for different facial movements, but say in the past you had a dial for controlling whether an eye was open or closed, and in one frame you set the eye at 3/4 open, the next 1/2 open etc. This is like achieving that degree of control with much finer movements.

"For instance, you could be controlling the movement in the top 3-4mm of the right side of the smile,"

This tutorial is meant for computer cases, but could be applied to lots of things. Learn to get a mirror finish from the mnpctech website. Via Core77.

This Instructable details how to make your own jog/scroll wheel and volume control, a la the Griffin Technology PowerMate.

Desktop Scroll Wheel and Volume Control!

GIF News was a GIF-based hardware and software newsletter released bi-monthly from 1988 to 1993 by Eric Hsiao. (This set currently only houses issues from 1990 to 1993.) Pages have been arranged in the set in chronological order for easier reading. After January of 1993, GIF News ceased publication, replaced the next year by GFX News.

Dark Roasted Blend has a large round-up of weird, wonderful, and thoroughly unnecessary computer casemods. Some of these you've likely already seen in your online haunts, others not.

Cool Computer Case Mods

Retro-tech artist Datamancer has just finished this amazing "Archbishop" Gothic PC cabinet, keyboard, and graphics tablet/pointing device (a Wacom tablet is housed inside of a tooled leather antique book). The PC was built for a Steampunk Art show in Bridgehampton, NY. The show opens next week. You can find out more about it here.

"The Archbishop" Computer

Old hard drives CD-ROM drives can be repurposed towards a variety of interesting projects but don't overlook one of the most vital applications - an automated method for making those really tough decisions.

This is a gadget made from recycled computer parts to give an absolute, unequivocal and irrefutable answer to that eternal office question - "Whose turn is it to make the coffee?" Each time the power is turned on, this wonderful device will randomly select a person to do the coffee-run.

More:


Weekend Project: Hard Drive Wind Chimes

HOW TO - Make a Spinner

This project uses a variety of sensors, Max/MSP, Jitter, and an Arduino to create an interactive virtual environment. I like the augmented plants. When the user touches the plants they create different types of musical notes. Another favorite part is the pressure sensitive moss. There is a lot more information and pictures on the website.

The project explores the integration of biological and technological systems in the development of an interactive human interface. This notion is investigated through the design and construction of an interactive installation where user interactions with hybrid systems affect the light and sound-scape of the installation space. The design is suggestive of an information rich, technologically augmented landscape. Kinesthetic user/landscape relationships are forged within a mediated spatiality of light and sound.

More about Augmented Ecologies

Here's a nice how-to on building a basic OLED wrist watch modeled after the real (analog) version. Lots of nice details here including the PCB designs and info about the ARM7 processor driven circuit. Check out the details at the link below along with some bonus info about a Guitar hero whammy bar mod this maker built.

OLED watch

Here's a pretty cool tutorial on how to mod a Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 to use as a mini telescope to monitor the stars and take pictures (aka "astro imaging") of the view. Check out the step by step instructions at the link below.

Instructions for Converting Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 for Telescope Use

This is just dying for a remake: German company Reinda is selling this bag designed specifically for toting your iMac around. It fits around the base, leaving it exposed, and has spaces for keyboard and mouse. Hey, the thing doesn't weigh too much more than a 17" laptop, anyway. Via Cool Hunting.

The "Windows Washing Machine" is a kinetic sculpture constructed out of a standard personal computer, an electronic can-opener, an aluminum frame and two large road bricks. The computer is set to rotate itselt 360 degrees and software instructs the windows, buttons, and scrollbars on the screen to react accordingly to the gravitational pull of the motion. A stone is connected to the mouse, functioning as the balancing receptor so that when the computer rotates, the mouse clicks and releases according to the changes in gravity. We like this project, especially the connotations it has for cleaning up your "dirty laundry" emails and other gripes about Windows in general.

Windows Washing Machine

Even when they're relatively small scratches in an LCD monitor can be an ongoing nuisance. If you're willing to try reworking the display surface yourself, then consider this strategy using paper mask and spray lacquer - DIY How To Fix a Scratched LCD Monitor

More:
How To - Revive scratched plastic lenses

Read more about making your own Wireless network printer [CircuitProjects]

Day 2 of 5 in 5 brought to life a periodic tote, tickets to a sunset, a year in pictures, balls of light. In an impromptu celebration of old-time computing we got earrings compatible with your PC, AsteriskFTP, and thank goodness there's finally BASIC for Twitter. Clink your glasses for a laser photo trigger, trip the family crest fantastic, snap a jacket, work some flash, and with today's guest star, compare the Olympic to the merely average.

The group is now 14 strong and with today's Guest Star Dennis Crowley, they did each project in a single day. Three more days to go! Check out the Etsy Video published yesterday by Guest Star Bre Pettis that includes FrankenFace.

Days: 1 2 3 4 5

It's the first day of 5 in 5 and there's a parade of projects. See the gang free themselves from Positioning Systems, choose their food decisively, sash a speaker, stick socks to a tee, mate software circles, print Mega Man, enliven their claw prizes, greet with robots, calm a TV, root for poops, Eco-nomize a billfold, season some mittens, dramatize their voicemail, cut their own coins and Franken their Faces. This motivated group of ITP students and their Guest Star, Bre Pettis did each project in a single day and they'll do another four each this week for a total of around 50 different projects in five days!

Days: 1 2 3 4 5

I collect patches for my travel pack, and they're great for conversation starters while traveling. This patch can help you meet fellow nerds along your way, and let them take away a little digital something (website, email addy, favorite recipe) by snapping a phonepic. Here's a sample use-case from the p8t.ch website:

THEM: "Hey, what happened to your leg?"

YOU: "Oh, I broke it in a highly harebrained, yet thoroughly entertaining way. Here, scan my p8tch and you can watch the video!"

THEM: [scans the p8tch: BEEP!] "OH DEAR GOD YOU IDIOT wow ha ha, let me buy you a beer."

YOU: [enjoys beer]

When you have one, you can change what it points to through the website's database, so I'm sure with a little scripting it could even reflect your twitter feed. If you have silkscreen and serging capabilities, though, I'm sure you could make your own! Via Core77.

More:

• QR codes from Google
  
• HOW TO - Decode your drivers license barcodes
  
• Space Invader - QR code scarf
  
• Cutout QR code
  
• Semacode Needlepoint on CRAFT
  

Artist Ruth Whiting had a show up in Asheville, NC of her oil paintings of cables and plugs. Many of the paintings celebrate the details of the cable much in the same way plants are often rendered: luscious. Via BoingBoing.

More:

• Internet meme paintings by Jeremiah Palecek
• Password painting
• #BADA55 In A Can
  
• CAPTCHA Paintings

This mod shows you how to replace the AA batteries inside your old G3 powerbook's battery. Sure you can go buy a replacement, but why not just pry it open and do it yourself?

Replace the Cells in Your Apple Powerbook G3 (Lombard or Pismo) Battery

Sarc had a tibook with a broken LCD, so he removed it and uses an external monitor. From the MacNN forum post:

Since I operate the computer on "closed-lid" mode, I was having trouble keeping the LCD closed because it didn't allow the heat to dissipate, so the fans where running constantly ... I removed it. After it was gone, the computer would still think that it had an LCD attached. After a lot of Googling, I found on this helpful page that a magnet-operated sensor manages the 'open' or 'closed' status of the lid. The magnet was inside the lid, so I removed it and now its under the masking tape shown on Pic. 1. It has to be placed on that precise spot on top of the trackpad.

Via Hackaday.

This maker was fed up with the amount of noise his PC's internal fans were making so he built a mod to control their speed with an automotive rheostat. Check out all of the intricate details on the link below.

Using an Automotive Rheostat for Fan Control

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) presents Immune Attack™, an educational video game that introduces basic concepts of human immunology to high school and entry-level college students. Designed as a supplemental learning tool, Immune Attack aims to excite students about the subject, while also illuminating general principles and detailed concepts of immunology.

Ah, a blast from the video storage past. The now dead VHS tape gets remixed as a 4 port USB hub thanks to a clever maker who even decided to use the incoming power line from the USB port to create this glowing blue backlight. So next time you are thinking of dumping your old tapes, think again and turn them into something your friends will envy.

Glowing video tape USB hub

Don't want to shell out a few hundred bucks for one of those iPod speaker docs? This Tupperware homebrew dock and speaker set is a cheap alternative and pretty simple to build with little overhead investment. There's even a trapdoor for easy access for your iPod when you hit the road.

Ipod Cool & Creative DIY Speaker!

Lyndsay Williams of Girton Labs brings us the Sensesurface control interface -

Applications that would normally use a mouse or Qwerty keyboard can be now controlled with traditional knobs. The scroll bar on the right hand side of your computer screen can be controlled with a real slider button. SenseSurface can be used with most laptops with a USB input. The sensing knobs have a custom designed movement sensor to determine position within approx 180 degrees with a 10 bit digital output, linearity typically 1%. The magnetic knobs can be removed and repositioned immediately by picking them up and moving to a different part of screen. A unique sensing x/y matrix is attached to the rear of the laptop screen to detect the control's position.

By way of the Steampunk Workshop comes this incredible alt.victorian mouse, found on a Russian modder's forum. I guess the caged innards are to house the mouse (of the biological kind) that powers the contraption. The occult symbols and incantations hammered into the brass are a nice touch.

Steampunk mouse

This project shows you how to build a custom cooling system for the 780i Striker II. Tons of great photos for this one but be careful to check your pipes for leaks before you install the system.

Water-Cooling the 780i Striker II with 3 x 8800 GTX

More:

HOW TO - Making a hard drive laser oscilloscope.

HOW TO - Build a 15000 rpm Tesla Turbine using hard drives ...

HOW TO - Make hard drive speakers.

Hard drive art...

Old hard drive orchestra.

Make - Volume 12 - $1000 Wind Chimes (DIY: Home) (Page 133).

Matt Mets writes:

Being a console junky, I am always looking for ways to improve my experience at the terminal. One thing that is is dire need of improvement is the console bell. You know, the really annoying beeping sound that occurs when you pressed the wrong key, that you immediately disable when setting up a new computer. Unfortunately, the bell really does provide a useful service: that of allowing the system to notify you when you need to fix your input. It is possible to turn on a ‘visible bell,’ which inverts the foreground and background colors of the console. In practice, though, I find this almost as annoying as the bell, and disable it as well. So what else can we try? It occurred to me that there is an obvious solution: haptic feedback! The only trouble is, I don’t know of many keyboards that have a vibrating motor built in. Of course, this is an easy thing for a DIYer to fix.