Awesome Prototypes

Fujifilm has developed an ultra short throw projector that has a lens that rotates on two axes. This allows for more options when mounting the device, as well as the option to aim at various surfaces – floor, wall, ceiling – without moving the device itself.

Volvo is working on Vera, a system of autonomous trucks for short-range jobs, such as those needed in ports or logistics facilities. At the heart of the system is an autonomous vehicle that communicates with other units for safety and efficiency.

BMW Motorrad spent 2 years developing a motorcycle that can start, accelerate, turn, and stop on its own. But the company won’t sell the bike to consumers. The data they’ve gathered will be used to integrate safety features into their production bikes.

LEGO Ideas member The Humble Bricksmith proposes to turn the popular board game The Settlers of Catan into a set made purely of LEGO pieces. Even the dice and cards have been turned into LEGO. At only 2,717 pieces, the game still fits in a small box.

Researchers at UC Berkeley developed an amazing piece of imaging software that can transfer the dance moves of a person in a video to another person in a second video. The result is not perfect, but it’s surprisingly smooth and even captures head movements.

LEGO Ideas member baeeee9 made this proposal for an official set of Voltes V, the super robot from the eponymous 1970’s anime. Just like in the cartoon, it consists of five vehicles that can be combined to form the humanoid robot. We love the proposal’s sleek look.

Michael David Young’s patent-pending framing hammer can be loaded with sets of collated framing nails, which it can eject one at a time when you press a button on the side. It has a safety lock so that the hammer can be used like a traditional one.

Product designer Sebastian Maluska came up with the Nest Tent, a simple and lightweight rooftop tent inspired by sailboats. It’s made of aluminum and waterproof sailing fabric. It can be installed in nearly any vehicle and acts as a rooftop rack when folded.

MARS Bioimaging has an X-ray scanning machine that can generate full color 3D images. Their technology allows for different materials to be clearly seen, including bone, tissue, fat and metal. The company hopes to have a human-scale version up and running soon.

CeramicSpeed is working on Driven, a bicycle drivetrain that uses a pinion-style driveshaft instead of a chain and a derailleur. The company claims that Driven creates 49% less friction than chain and derailleur setups, leading to a more durable and more efficient system.

Shunji Yamanaka and Takayuki Furuta are working on RiDroid CanguRo, a three-wheeled robot scooter. Aside from being a transportation device, it can also follow you, perhaps while carrying something else. It can also be set to go to a destination using an app.

LEGO Ideas members Valerie Roche and Matthew Nolan’s SpaceX Ultimate Collection consists of 1,583 pieces. It lets you build the Falcon 9, the Falcon Heavy and the launcher. It also comes with a cargo ship, the Dragon spacecraft and Musk’s Tesla Roadster.

Guardbot Inc. is working on a rolling surveillance robot that can be used on any terrain, and even on water. The eponymous robot can go up to 9mph on land and up to 3mph on water. It can be as small as 5in and as large as 7ft in diameter.

Developed by students from the University of Tokyo, the DRAGON is a snake-like drone with jointed modules. This allows it to change its shape in mid-air, passing through small passages and even theoretically interacting with or manipulating objects.

ASUS’ Project Precog is a laptop with two symmetrical touchscreens as its main output and input interfaces – no keyboards, no touchpads, no palm rests. It’s like the peak of a 2-in-1 laptop-tablet hybrid, though it remains to be seen how practical such a device can be.

The Mission E Cross Turismo is Porsche’s concept sports SUV. The electric all-wheel drive vehicle has a total output of around 600hp, lasts up to 310mi per charge and can be charged to a nearly 250mi range in just 15 minutes.

Jeep and Mopar have unveiled their annual concepts for the Moab Easter Jeep Safari. The seven vehicles include the restored 1965 Wagoneer, a stripped-down, lightweight Wrangler called 4SPEED, and the rolling Mopar catalog known as the Nacho.

Vivo’s Apex concept smartphone manages to stretch the screen to nearly the entirety of the front with clever workarounds. The phone’s fingerprint sensor and speaker are both beneath the display, while its front facing camera pops up from the top.

Intel is working on augmented reality eyeglasses designed mainly to show information. The Vaunt looks like a normal pair of glasses, and have no cameras or hardware controls. It projects a small red display directly to your eyes, just below your line of sight.

Revolve splits the tire into segments, which are then mounted on a hexagonal frame. The frame lets you collapse the wheel into a pod that’s 60% smaller than normal. Inventor Andrea Mocellin hopes it will lead to transforming and compact transportation devices.

Arvind Sanjeev’s Lumen is a portable augmented reality system in the form of a flashlight. The idea is for it to automatically recognize objects and enhance their function, provide information, display video or animation and more.

The Cota Forever Battery is a proof-of-concept AA battery that receives power over long distances, similar to how connected devices use Wi-Fi. It relays its location to a transmitter, which then sends back up to 1W of power 100 times a second.

Razer’s Project Linda is a laptop dock for the Razer Phone. It has a 13.3″ 2560×1440 touchscreen, 200GB of storage, a USB-C port, a USB-A port, and a headphone jack. It charges the phone, while the mobile device can act as a second screen or a touchpad.