The Affinity Chair can turn invisible

This is the Affinity Chair from designer Ben Alun-Jones, and it is a chair that can turn invisible. Actually, it is a chair that is already invisible and can turn visible when needed, seriously.

The Affinity Chair is made of some clear acrylic that uses the mirror film that is seen to tint car windows. If someone approaches, there is an ultrasonic sensor that kicks into gear, then a pulsating set of LED lights inside the chair. As a person gets closer, the LED lights speed up to make it clearer to look at. So not only is your furniture invisible, but it starts lighting up.

The Affinity Chair is on display at Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I don’t think that there is way for a person to actually buy this.

Then again, do you really want to have invisible furniture on your house? You know that time when you bump your knees on a chair or a couch because your lights are off? Just picture doing that when the lights are on.

Yes, I can imagine a lot of bumping around like being in a giant invisible pinball machine of pain. Still, I wouldn’t mind having an invisible bed, especially if it lit up as I got into it. I won’t tell you why.

Check out this large slide!

What you are seeing here is not a roller coaster, but a slide. That’s right, this is a slide like on a playground.

I remember that I had a small park near by house growing up, and I always felt I was fortunate. Right now, I’m looking at this slide and thinking that the kid who lives near this park with this slide is the luckiest kid in the world.

In addition to this long roller coaster of a ride, there is also a huge lighthouse of a tower for a higher view. Man, if I took my kids to this park, then they would never want to leave.

You know why I like this slide? It’s all a bunch of rollers and I don’t see any way that a kid can climb up it. I swear, my kids are always running up the slide. I wonder if they would try to run up this one.

Unfortunately, my Source does not show where this park with the roller coaster slide is. It would almost be worth flying to this place like going to Disneyland or some other theme park. Yes, travel guides of the world, you definitely want to put a pushpin in the map for wherever this slide is.

Simon Flash to be coming soon

If there is one thing that doesn’t seem to go out of fashion, it is Simon. The game where the player must use their memory and repeat a flashing pattern of colored lights has been imitated inLoopz and various other iPhone Apps.

It has now been updated into Simon Flash, which is essentially Simon split up into 4 different blocks of red, blue, green, and yellow. I suppose that you could put these blocks quite a distance apart, and get some exercise while you play the memory game.

In addition to the often imitated memory game, the user can also play a different game based on another age-old and often imitated game: Mastermind. The player will have to find out a secret color combination in a certain amount of moves, says my Source.

There is no word as to when the Simon Flash will be available, nor a price. I would imagine that you would have to put a battery or a few batteries in each particular square, and these squares would have to be somehow linked together, perhaps with Bluetooth.

You know, I have a great idea. Is there any way that someone could take 4 iPhones or 4 smartphones and link them together to make a DIY Simon game? If you know of anyone who has done this and has it on YouTube, leave us a comment with the link.

It’s a Mouse, It’s a Game Controller, It’s a Remote Control – No, It’s the Chameleon X1

I’m a huge fan of multitasking. In fact, the more a thing can do fairly well, the more fun it is for me. I never kid myself though, most of the time when something tries to do too much it doesn’t usually do most of it very well, like the Chinese pizza and taco place down the street.

However, if there were to be 3 things that should fit great together, why wouldn’t it be a seemingly ordinary, albeit simply gorgeous mouse, that when flipped upside down, offers a fully functional game controller and a PC remote that can bring up your iTunes with the push of a button, flip through some tracks, handle your power point presentation and shut down your computer.

The X1 gamepad that is built into the bottom includes a 5 stage adjustable 1600 dpi optical sensor with 125 Hz polling rate and connects to your laptop or desktop through a USB dongle over a 2.4 GHz wireless connection, and while all that certainly isn’t very high-tech by todays standards and I can’t be sure you’re going to be able to make it through Azeroth with it,  you can certainly enjoy it with some classic arcade video games from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Definitely more fun than pizza and tacos.

2GB Flash Drive Memory Spy Audio Digital Voice Sound Recorder

Now that’s certainly one of the longer names for any device in my history with Coolest Gadgets, why can’t we just call it a spy voice recorder? Oh yeah, perhaps that will not help it stand out from the rest of the crowd, that’s why. The next time you go to work and tote a USB flash drive, make sure it is this$19.99 model since it sports an advantage that your colleagues’ don’t – it has a built-in sound recorder. Yup, even if it is lying prone on a table, it is capable of capturing crystal clear audio across a 5-meter radius, storing all of the recordings onto its internal flash memory. All you need to do for that to happen is slide the switch and audio recording happens instantly and automatically. We find it rather strange that audio is recorded in WAV format instead of MP3, but good thing its 2GB of internal memory can hold up to 4.5 hours of non-stop recording. Since it doubles up as a USB flash drive as well, this one has something slightly different – an integrated 120mAH Li-battery that takes 1.5 hours to juice up. We would have liked to see something with more internal memory though to keep up with the Joneses.

Desktop Combustion Engine

Ever wondered how an engine works? Well, you can spend some time with one up close and personal thanks to Hammacher who has come up with theDesktop Combustion Engine. This unique device is capable of generating a cool 2,000 rpm right in front of your own eyes, where it is crafted from solid brass, stainless steel, and aluminum by a German engineering company.

Needless to say, the German touch results in an engine that has a precisely calibrated carburetor, spark plug, and piston which will generate maximum mechanical energy in a smooth, efficient manner. It relies on butane which is readily available at camping stores to fuel it, where the engine will start simply by turning its flywheel.

There is also a piezo magneto that is attached to a timing disk which will send an electrical impulse to the spark plug, helping ignite the fuel within the cylinder. An adjustable fuel valve will control the engine’s speed where this simple yet elegant movement of the valve rod, cross head, and crankshaft are clearly visible at lower revolutions.

The whir of the engine is similar to that of a kitchen blender, where its dual exhaust pipes emit a non-toxic, invisible gas – so you can forget about committing suicide with this in a sealed office room simply because you can’t handle all the workload that’s thrown at you (alongside the fact that the hot secretary rejects your advances daily). A full tank will have this $999.95 engine run for 15 minutes.

Sennheiser PX 360 BT and PX 360 collapsible headphones

Sennheiser intends to blow your ears away with a couple of their latest releases – the PX 360 BT and PX 360 collapsible, circumaural headphones. Of course, these debuted at the recently concluded CES 2011, and since we didn’t have the time to cover all the good stuff that came out, we thought that audiophiles would definitely want to hear about these two.

Of course, don’t judge a book by its cover – in this case, a pair of headphones by their ability to be folded away into a pocket-sized package – the new PX 360 BT and PX 360 are no slouches when it comes to performance, with the former’s “BT” suffix depicting Bluetooth connectivity support, while the latter will rely on the traditional wired connection.

It doesn’t matter where you are whenever you put on the PX 360 BT and PX 360, as either model will allow you to immerse yourself in Sennheiser’s rich world of sound. Featuring a natural sound with strong bass, the powerful Neodymium magnets thrown inside alongside Sennheiser’s Duofol diaphragms ensure detailed, lifelike sound reproduction with a frequency response of 15 to 22,000 Hertz. There is also a very good reason behind the closed design of the headphones that ensures background noise is effectively kept out, letting you enjoy music in peace even in noisy environments.

The PX 360 is touted to offer an exceptionally comfortable fit despite it being a wired headphones, where soft circumaural ear cushions allows you to wear it on without any adverse effect for hours on end. As for the Bluetooth-enabled PX 360 BT, it will allow you to play nice with a wide range of portable video and audio devices. The inclusion of SRS WOW HD SurroundSound technology helps spatially expand the sound image to offer an intensive sound experience with powerful bass.

Needless to say, all functions are activated and controlled by a control unit integrated into the ear cup. Stashing them away is a snap, just fold them and you can be on your way. Don’t fret about them cracking, since the folding headband has a metal reinforcement for maximum mobility and durability, while each purchase comes with its own carrying case. The PX 360 and PX 360 BT will retail for $199.95 and $399.95, respectively.

Introducing the Skizee, the Stand-up Snowmobile

What you are seeing here is the Skizee, and it is designed to do what skis cannot, carry you uphill. Yes, I still remember that first lesson of skiing back in grade school: skis go downhill, and you need a rope-tow or ski-lift if you want to go up.

It looks like someone just cut a snowmobile in half and somehow figured out a way to put a tread with a 10.5 hp 4-stroke engine on your back, but you can watch the video after the jump to see that it gets the job done.

I suppose that the Skizee takes the fun of a snowmobile and gives it to the user in standing-up form. It also puts it in a small form, as this can be put in the back of a trunk along with the poles it comes in. Now you don’t need a pickup truck or a separate trailer to do your snowmobiling habit, assuming you can handle the new method where you don’t sit down.

So, is this a new method of going on snow? I remember when snowboards first hit the slopes, and things were never the same. I wonder what these things run on, and how efficient is their gas mileage.

The Skizee costs about $2,500, so that seems a little high to me. Perhaps it is too expensive to be the newest snow fad.

Holocube HC70, 70-inch holographic projector on display

Sometimes, I have a video of the product that I am writing about, and I usually put it after the jump. It’s put there in case you the reader want to know see it in action, and I highly recommend you hit the jump and check it out now.

This a display of the Belgacom Holocube HC70, and it is a bigger version of the Holocube that we have reported on before.

The HC70 has a 70-inch transparent screen that can be viewed from both sides. It is powered by a Windows 7 Embedded machine with 40 GB of flash storage which allows it to loop eight to eighteen hours worth of three-dimensional footage with a 1080p projector.

The video shows some interesting things in 3D. These are things that I usually see before in these holographic displays like a cell phone, and a cute little kid that looks like she is in free-fall. They never seem to have what I would like to see in hologram mode, like the entire Star Wars trilogy, for example.

I wish I was at this place where they had this cool hologram on display. Does anyone know why they have this weird creepy music going on in the background? I think that holograms are pretty inspirational, and I would rather hear some more dynamic and not macabre music to accompany it.

Mad Catz WWE All Stars BrawlStick and BrawlPad accessories announced

Mad Catz has long been a leading brand name when it comes to video game accessories and peripherals, and their latest foray into the world of video games would come in the form of the Mad Catz BrawlStick and BrawlPad, where either one of them is slated to high octane WWE action to life, letting you lay the smack down right in the comfort of your living room. Both of these will be more than suitable for recreating signature moves of the WWE Legends and current WWE Superstars. Of course, get these only if you’re a huge fan of entertainment wrestling, as the game itself, WWE All Stars, was specially developed to deliver one of the greatest rosters ever assembled in a WWE videogame. WWE All Stars will be able to roll back the years and bring the stars of yore through a time travel machine, where you can hold fantasy matches between WWE Legends and current WWE Superstars to answer the nagging question of who is the “greatest of all time”.

The official WWE All Stars Arcade BrawlStick will be available for the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 consoles, and regardless of which platform you are rocking to, you will be able to find precision control and quality engineering in either accessory, boasting official artwork from the videogame which depicts WWE Superstars and WWE Legends. There is also a useful dual-speed Turbo functionality for each button, and LED indicators let you know whether it is toggled or not. Gamers worth their salt should be able to execute moves with impressive speed, while the eight-button arcade configuration ought to make larger-than-life moves performed with precise execution. Of course, for those who are more comfortable with a D-Pad can always switch over in a jiffy to alternate between that and analog sticks for maximum control flexibility. Sounds like a pretty good deal at $79.99 a pop.

As for the official WWE All Stars BrawlPad, this $39.99 purchase will target gamers who want a traditional console controller without wishing to compromise on features. It will sport an ergonomic design with an enlarged circular eight-way floating D-Pad and arcade style six-button configuration, while carrying a similar integrated D-Pad switch as with the BrawlStick. Both peripherals are tipped to ship worldwide to coincide with the game’s launch which is happening on March 29, 2011 in North America and April 1, 2011 throughout Europe (hopefully that won’t be an April Fool’s prank!).