LEGO works are usually self-limiting, forcing you to build from static platforms on flat surfaces, but LEGO-based tape lets you take those designs into three dimensions, attaching them to walls and ceilings around you.

Developed by Nimuno, a design studio inspired by LEGO, the flexible tape can be cut into different lengths and features adhesive backing so it can be attached to walls, floors and other objects.

Roads, trains, houses and castles can sprout from basically any surface, turning your entire domicile into a veritable kingdom of abstract and concrete LEGO creations. A few rolls costs around $10 – pretty good for something so cool.

The post LEGO Tape: Terraform Any Surface with Adhesive Blocks first appeared on Gajitz.

New build-a-drone kits combine LEGO bricks and off-the-shelf parts designed by Flybrix to create kid-friendly, wirelessly-controlled drones made to be easily reassembled if they run into something and crash. In the words of another famous kid-friendly robot: disassemble, reassemble!

Flybrix is a San Francisco startup aiming to make drone-building easier and more accessible. Their kit-based flyers can be controlled via Bluetooth by an iOS or Android smartphone (or custom controller).

Children learning to fly need not worry about running these indoor-friendly bots into walls – they can be involved in collisions then put back together. The basic kit contains a few dozen pieces and instructions to build a small quadcopter in just 15 minutes – other advanced kits let kids expand and modify the basic drone (or build their own).

“Co-founders of the startup, Amir Hirsch, Robb Walters and Holly Kasun, want to get teens, or younger kids with adult supervision, interested in things like geometry, aerodynamics and electrical engineering.” While the company isn’t an official LEGO partner, their gadgets are all LEGO-compatible add-ons. One the cofounders has three degrees in math and electrical engineering from MIT, where he first got the inspiration to create Flybrix.

The post DIY Kit for Kids: LEGO Flybrix Drones Are “Crash Friendly” first appeared on Gajitz.

A growing company called Precious Plastic is developing a line of tools to let anyone convert waste plastic into usable objects, turning trash, as they say, into treasure.

Started by Dave Hakkens, a 27 year old Dutch designer, their system of modular machines are being made available with free plans anyone can download then construct with basic tools and local materials. These machines let you spin plastic into cord or even use it to 3D-print complex objects.

Last year the world produced nearly 311 million tons of plastic, but less than 10% of that was recycled. Most of it ends up in landfills, oceans and even animals.

The goal of Precious Plastic is to make recycling open-source and universally-available, ultimately as cheap and easy as throwing something away, and a way not only to help the environment but for people to save money, too

The post Precious Plastic: DIY Recycling + 3D Printing Machines first appeared on Gajitz.

Cybernetics doesn’t have to mean high-tech or complex, as this handy LED display that slaps right onto your hand or arm demonstrates with easy, helped by stretchy circuitry.

A team of researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed an ultra-thin and ultra-flexible film which works as a lightweight display, effectively creating an electronic skin. It has obvious potential applications for fun but also for monitoring vitals right on a patient or athlete.

The leap here is going from millimeters to micrometers in thickness, making for something flexible, easy to wear and ultimately see-through as well as stable in the air. Using alternating layers of organic and inorganic material, the researchers were able to create transparent electrodes while preventing water and oxygen interfering with the behavior of the device. The result is able to crumple and bend without damage.

“The advent of mobile phones has changed the way we communicate,” said professo Takao Someya of the University of Tokyo. “While these communication tools are getting smaller and smaller, they are still discrete devices that we have to carry with us.”

“What would the world be like if we had displays that could adhere to our bodies and even show our emotions or level of stress or unease? In addition to not having to carry a device with us at all times, they might enhance the way we interact with those around us or add a whole new dimension to how we communicate.”

The post Palm Pilot: Transparent Digital Display on ‘Electronic Skin’ first appeared on Gajitz.

Pyramidal holographics have become popular fast, with crowdfunding projects offering you ways to get into the game for just hundreds of dollars, but here is a way to put together your own small-scale version effectively for free.

Required tools: a smartphone, compact disc case, graph paper, pen, scissors, knife, tape or superglue. Basically, you cut a partial pyramid from the clear material, fasten it together, set it on your phone, and load up a video that turns those surfaces into four-way reflectors simulating the visual experience of objects moving in midair.

Critics will argue that this is not a true hologram and that is absolutely true, but the effect is nonetheless extremely compelling, and you can use it to animate not just the examples above but basically anything you want as well. The next step: scale things up and turn a television or computer screen into your base and buy a larger surface for the reflection.

Or, for additional easy fun, try this hand-drawn hologram tutorial (above) – it won’t be quite as visually complex or impressive, but it is still a neat trick to show friends or kids.

The post DIY Holograms: Hack a Phone & CD Case to Make 3D Videos first appeared on Gajitz.