Autobuzz

Monday, March 12th, 2007

Smart seat detects tired drivers, Redbull shares plummit

University of Tokyo researchers have developed a smart car seat that can detect when you are about to fall asleep at the wheel. Focusing on pulse and respiration, pressure sensors embedded in the seat detect these changes even with bulky clothing and without the need for physical contact with the drivers skin. While all fine and dandy, the system doesn’t have an alarm system built in to alert you to your impending accident, although they expect it to be commercially accessable within 5 years. In the mean time, maybe Redbull should offer to hardcode the chairs with a GPS unit that alerts drivers to the nearest Redbull-stocked vendor.

[Read PDF Press Release]

Saturday, March 3rd, 2007

Anti-Theft Device Eye of Sauron

Imagine a day when you can surround your car with your own force field of electricity, when you too can say “Shields up Mr. Sulu” and laugh others who simply have a useless sound alarm on their cars. Well although that day has been brought closer by those crazy Ozzy’s who feel that the Tesla coil has many more uses in the real world than just as a novel science experiment. Creating one was as simple as mounting a Tesla coil to the top of your car, adding a 7 foot aluminum pole and watching the effects. (The photo was taken on a long exposure). Check out their site to see what else you can do with your own Tesla Coil. Jump