So here it is – my wrap up of NextFest.

Overall, the convention was great. Definitely something for the whole family with plenty of simple descriptions of the technologies on display and plenty of ways to get involved in the exhibits beyond reading and looking.

My favorite display was the humanoid robot. And if you couldn’t tell from the photo in my earlier post, the real person is on the left.

My other favorites (click on each image to enlarge):

Look how hot I am! A body-heat-sensing-camera took photos of people at the convention and then a Xerox printer (using solid ink that looks and smells like crayons) printed out the photos as though on the front of WIRED magazine. Very cool and fun.

This dish holds pulsating tissues of artificial heart. This project by the University of Michigan could someday save thousands of lives. The university’s goal is to recreate a functional heart organ from just a handful of cells, until then, the lab-grown tissue can be used to replace tissue damaged by a heart attack or defective valve.

This is a space-tracking surveillance system by Northrop Grunman – a satellite designed to continuously track missiles in all phases of orbit.

Meet Albert Hubo – a disco-dancing (aren’t they always) robot topped off with a fake Albert Einstein head.

The convention even had a dragon! This is the first-privately financed space aircraft named Dragon. It is designed to hold cargo and up to seven people. The inventors called it “a pony express for the 21st century.”

And finally, what I call an interactive art piece, is the Cell Phone Disco wall. I’m not sure of the use for something like

this outside of a gallery or convention, but everyone seemed to enjoy this exhibit. People hold up their cell phones to the wall and sensors detect the electromagnetic causing little red lights to light up.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.