Alt.CES: Kinect-Ctrl’d Board of Awesomeness

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Alt.CES: Kinect-Ctrl’d Board of Awesomeness


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Since CES is such a big show, some companies do outrageous things to get noticed. Whether it’s building a $30k iPod dock or hiring stuntmen to ride around town on top of cars, the idea is to stick out. The thing is, there’s a fine line between causing a little buzz and accidental product development. The last thing you want is people thinking your gimmick is vaporware. Case in point: Chaotic Moon‘s 800 Watt Kinect-Controlled Board of Awesomeness.

Chaotic Moon Labs’ “Board of Awesomeness” is intended as a technology teaser to show how perceptive computing can turn around the way we look at user experiences. The project utilizes a Microsoft Kinect device, Samsung Windows 8 tablet, a motorized longboard, and some standard and custom hardware to create a longboard that watches the user to determine what to do rather than have the operator use a wired or wireless controller.

4 thoughts on “Alt.CES: Kinect-Ctrl’d Board of Awesomeness

  1. whurley says:

    Actually, if you watched the interviews you might have noted that this is an open source project that we will be releasing plans for at SxSW. Chaotic Moon Labs breaks all projects into the “Why” and the “Wow” set apart by about 4-6 weeks. So the “Board of Awesomeness” is the “Why” (and will be open sourced), and the “Wow” will be coming very soon (and has nothing to do with skateboarding). Sorry for any confusion but if you’re at SxSW and want to ride it just say the word and we’ve got you covered. :)

    1. Adam Flaherty says:

      Perhaps my humor is a little cryptic. Your BoA is obviously full of awesomeness! And that’s why you bring it to CES, right? I assume it’s a technology demo that’s used to attract people to your booth so you can talk to them about your wares. The point I was trying to make was that when you go to shows like CES, you see all these crazy demos that tend to be the stuff you actually want. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors involved and I find it funny that a certain segment believe parts of the dog and pony will actually show up on a shelf. It’s that acute willingness to believe that I find so fascinating. The fine line I’m talking about is the one you cross when you bring a overly-cool demo that you think shows off your product and people keep bugging you about the demo to the point of ignoring your actual product. Does that make sense?

      It’s great that you’re putting it out there as an open project anybody could build. You should totally kit it up.

      BTW, I will be at SXSW and *YES*, I would love to ride the Board of Awesomeness.

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