Popular_Science_Australia_November_2016

34 POPULAR SCIENCE

The strict requirements
of high-def VR gaming
require beefy PCs to use.
The PlayStation VR
makes the experience
plug-and-play for Sony’s
more than 40 million
preexisting PS4 owners.
Unlike cheapo phone-
based systems (think
Google Cardboard), the
headset delivers full
1080p images to each eye
and a wide 100-degree
field of view. Titles like
Star Wars Battlefront
Rogue Oneare the
closest you’ll get to
sitting in an X-Wing.

VR for Regular
People

B

SONY
PLAYSTATION VR

The acoustic guitar is a

perfectly self-contained

instrument. No amps,

no wires—and no fun

for anyone who wants

to produce live effects.

The Transacoustic Guitar

re-creates reverb and

chorus, using built-in

knobs to control the two.

The movement of the

strings vibrates

an actuator inside the

instrument, which alters

the guitar’s sound

on the fly—no electricity

required—granting you

on-stage rockstar

prowess right in your lap.

Onboard

Axe Effects

E

YAMAHA

TRANSACOUSTIC GUITAR

Light-field cameras,

which allow users to

tweak parts of an

image into focus post

shot, are increasingly

common among

consumer cameras. The

755-megapixel Lytro

Cinema Camera brings

the tech to pro

filmmakers, making

postproduction effects

easier than ever. Among

the editing tricks it opens

up: shifting focus,

adjusting film speed, and

removing and replacing

any part of the

background—no green

screen required.

Green Screen,

Sans the Green

F

LYTRO

CINEMA CAMERA

Look, it may have its

problems (and the

lowest review rating of

any game on Steam) but

much of the negativity

comes from hardcore

players who expected so

much more than this

open-universe game

could deliver. Even so, No

Man’s Sky can generate

in excess of 18 quintillion

planets—99.9 per cent

of which you’ll never

have time to visit. Your

job: Try to see them all

while discovering

species, trading

resources, and surviving

the scorn of gamers...

A Game the Size

of the Universe

H

HELLO GAMES

NO MAN’S SKY

Even the best 4K TVs can

swallow up details in the

darkest and brightest

parts of the image. High-

dynamic range (HDR) —a

catchall term for video

encoded with

a billions-deep colour

gamut—brings those

nuances into the

forefront. LG’s Signature

OLED TVs render colours

better than any other.

The sets support both the

HDR10 and Dolby Vision

HDR standards, so

viewers can count on

seeing the full rainbow,

no matter their content

source. So pretty!

The Most

Colorful Picture

G

LG

SIGNATURE OLED TV

If you’ve thrown a paper

plane, you can launch the

Parrot Disco. Toss the

750-gram drone into the

sky, and onboard

sensors—gyroscope,

accelerometer,

magnetometer,

barometer, and GPS—

navigate the fixed-wing

craft to 45 metres, where

it circles awaiting further

command. Users set a

course via remote

control, and algorithms

on board keep the drone

on track. A top speed of

75 km/h means you won’t

be losing any races.

Easiest-Flying

Drone

D

PA R R OT

DISCO

Not all AI-powered bots

need to be virtual

assistants: Some can just

keep us entertained.

Improving the robotic

intelligence of playtime

is Anki’s Cozmo. The

baseball-size wheeled

robot has a facial-

recognition camera

behind its friendly OLED

eyes, allowing it to learn

and recognise its near

and dear. Sophisticated

machine learning helps

Cozmo’s personality

evolve, while upcoming

tools for developers will

let them teach it a

repertoire of new tricks.

The Smartest

Robot Pet

C

ANKI

COZMO

Most home surround sound is two-

di ensional, pinging audio front to back

and side to side. When it launched two

years ago, the Dolby Atmos audio

standard added height to the equation; this

year, Yamaha’s YSP-5600 became the

first to cram the spec into a single speaker.

The sound bar’s 32 forward-firing drivers are

joined by 12 upward-firing ones, which

ricochet sounds off the ceiling, like a

helicopter flying overhead or birds in a tree.

Or simply use the first 7.1.2 channel sound bar

to play your favorite tunes off Spotify,

Pandora, and more.

A Hemisphere

of Sound

YAMAHA

YSP-5600

I

ENTERTAINMENT

SONY PORTABLE ULTRA SHORT THROW PROJECTOR

Projection on

Any Surface

Sony’s tiny, laser-based projector turns surfaces into

screens. Placed against a wall, the projector shoots up to

produce a crisp 55-cm picture. Back up by 50cm or so, and

that expands to 200 cm.

A

SAMSUNG 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY PLAYER

The First 4K

Blu-ray Player

Ultrahigh-def content is coming, and Samsung’s device is

the first to handle it all. The player streams 4K video from

Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon, along with, of course,

playing physical UHD discs.