Awesome Tech

This keycap from HolyOOPS looks like a tiny game controller with D-pad, ABXY, and start/select buttons. It’s made from CNC-machined aluminum with silicone buttons that let light shine through. At 1.75u wide, it’s the perfect replacement for your Caps Lock key and is compatible with Cherry MX switches and clones.

The always informative and compelling vlogger Tom Scott visited Engineering Arts to check out their work in humanoid robotics. What he was greeted by was a mechanical doppelgänger the team built, which Tom commissioned to deliver sponsor’s messages on his behalf.

Typically, when you want to input text into a computer, you need a keyboard or dictation software. But Fletcher over at Everything Is Hacked wanted to type without using his hands or making a sound, so he got to coding an application that can interpret facial gestures and convert them into keypresses.

Long for the startup sound of your old Macintosh? Or perhaps the squeal of a dial-up modem? Save the Sounds’ Museum of Endangered Sounds offers an online soundboard where you can enjoy the sounds of retro technology any time you’re feeling nostalgic. Try playing them all at the same time for fun.

This powerful electric off-roader is one of the concepts headed to the 56th Moab Easter Jeep Safari. Its axial-flux electric motor cranks out 625 hp and 850 lb-ft. of torque, silently and effortlessly traversing rocky terrain. It’s 12″ wider than a stock 2-door Wrangler and has a 3″ lift kit, 20″ wheels, and massive 40″ all-terrain tires.

The adidas Originals Ozworld sneaker collection has launched a personality-based, AI-enabled avatar generator. Users create their unique digital selves, which work with Ready Player Me, a cross-app avatar platform for the metaverse that lets anyone explore virtual worlds across 1,500 apps and games with a consistent identity.

This lightweight, pocketable touchpad offers remote on-screen control for all kinds of devices. It works with Apple, Windows, Android, and as a TV remote control. Its touchpad supports one- and two-finger gestures, and it has a built-in laser pointer for presentations. It runs for up to 20 days on a charge.

Python is one of the most versatile and widely used programming languages in the world. This series of 12 online courses will get you up and running in Python and will have you going from entry-level coder to advanced app dev techniques in days, not months. Another great e-learning deal from The Awesomer Shop.

AnkerMake claims its upcoming M5 3D printer can run up to five times faster than other FDM printers (250 mm/s) while producing details as small as 0.1 mm. It has a built-in camera that can monitor your print, capture time-lapse videos, and AI tech to notify you of print problems.

Manufacturing motors for EVs and hybrids is a very different process from making conventional engines. In this video, you’ll go inside the factory where Audi produces its EV motors, and robots and humans work in concert to transform metal, plastic, and coils of copper wire into a modern and powerful mode of propulsion.

The wake that motorized boats leave behind can disrupt smaller craft as well as the marine ecosystem. This extremely efficient Candela hydrofoil electric boat leaves only the smallest wake as it cruises through the water. The boat floats above the water, minimizing drag and surface contact, and maximizing battery life.

Nostalgic for the ’90s? Skullcandy goes retro with this limited-run earbud collection, borrowing the neon-pink, purple, and blue splatter colorway from Pit Viper, the lifestyle brand conceived on the ski hill and born in the back of a van. Options include the popular Grind, Push Active and Dime true wireless earbuds.

EV maker Tesla takes us on a high-speed drone flight around and inside of its Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory in Germany. Along the way, you’ll get closer to the incredible metal stamping and robotic assembly machines than most humans will ever get.

This unique effects pedal offers hot-swappable audio effects packaged in Nintendo 64 cartridges. The Console Pedals 3D-printed base station can hold two effect cartridges at the same time, and runs on batteries for portability. Harpist Emily Hopkins got her hands on a demo unit and put it through the test.

This professional-grade lens lets you shoot bloomy and soft vintage-style images using modern interchangeable lens cameras. It offers six different aperture settings from f/36 to f/233 and an 18-36mm variable focal length for fine-tuning your shots. It will be offered with EF,RF,F,Z,A,E,PK,M43, and X mounts.

An old-fashioned hourglass is a handy way to count down fixed increments of time. While a traditional hourglass is filled with sand, Engineercly’s 3D-printed version is completely digital, counting time on a pair of LED matrices controlled by an Arduino Nano. He used an accelerometer to track its angle and to direct the LED dots.