Comments on: The man's got balls.

The man's got balls.

GrammarMoses — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:34:55 -0800

Alex Beim's Zygote is a lightweight inflated ball that responds to pressure: Tap it or squeeze it and the internal LEDs react. The balls can act as input or output devices by being linked to a central computer, as Daniel van Tijn did here to make crowd-generated music. (See also: Dorkbot.)

By: desjardins

desjardins — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:53:26 -0800

These are really kind of poor links - the first one says nothing about the project (that I could find before coffee). Plus it makes my cursor flicker. If there's not much on the web about this yet (I couldn't find much on Google) then it's not best of the web, methinks. It's "coolest of the concert venue" or somesuch, which I think belongs to a different site, not MeFi.

By: GrammarMoses

GrammarMoses — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:06:22 -0800

The first one is a Flash site, and does some mighty annoying things with the cursor, but click on the arrow for drop-down menus that give more info (including photos and video). Sorry, should have warned the precaffeinated among us.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:28:54 -0800

A better link from Vimeo, gives a bit more info about the delightful Zygote. The inventors' site, TangibleReaction (and it does some seriously silly things to one's cursor). Zygote is a wonderful idea and I love the music generated. Thanks for the post GrammarMoses.

By: empath

empath — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:31:35 -0800

awesome!

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:37:21 -0800

Although I can see how playing with this thing might be fun, as a concept, it strikes me as a bit banal. From what I can see, it's really just a binary switch -- you hit it and it triggers a random colour or a random sound. Is there something I'm missing here?

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:00:51 -0800

These are really kind of poor links - the first one says nothing about the project (that I could find before coffee). Plus it makes my cursor flicker. I found the info in like 4 seconds. Click the "forward" arrow, then "products", and then "zygote"

By: empath

empath — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:06:22 -0800

'best of the web' has been long deprecated as a standard.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:06:32 -0800

Here is a video of the ball in action, which is pretty much the only worth-while content on the flash site anyway.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:55:46 -0800

What a terrible name.

By: pantsonsteven

pantsonsteven — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:02:57 -0800

Perhaps not the best of the web, and perhaps it is just a painfully simple beach ball with a binary switch, but if you watch the video of the crowd bouncing the thing around and the amount of sheer joy they seem to be having I don't see why that matters. Happy people make for good internet.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:14:54 -0800

PeterMcDermott said: Although I can see how playing with this thing might be fun, as a concept, it strikes me as a bit banal. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:43:55 -0800

"A zygote (Greek: ζυγωτόν) is a cell that is the result of fertilization. That is, two haploid cells—usually (but not always) an ovum from a female and a sperm cell from a male—merge into a single diploid cell called the zygote (or zygocyte)." I think zygote is a fun name for this invention.

By: quin

quin — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:11:34 -0800

Ah, so it's the first generation of the Rover from the Prisoner. Fantastic.

By: M.C. Lo-Carb!

M.C. Lo-Carb! — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:58:30 -0800

Whatever. Just don't wear your ball to the airport.