Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Rest assured, we’ve witnessed quite a few astounding scientific displays set deep within university research labs, but it’d be mighty hard to cover up the $350,000 monolith residing at the Tufts University School of Engineering. The VisWall, unsurprisingly a product of Visbox, combines twin backscreen projectors and sophisticated software in order to display 3D imagery for DNA junkies and budding surgeons to swoon over. Aside from giving researchers and students alike the ability to investigate chemical structures and cellular makeups more closely, the 8- x 14-foot screen also dabbles in haptics, giving remote holders the ability to “guide the manipulation of virtual scalpels or surgical tweezers onscreen.” Sheesh, it’s like giving kids a reason to attend class — imagine that.

[Via CNET]

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Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals

Just in case a completely ho hum 17-incher wasn’t enough to keep your attention this morning, Toshiba is trumpeting its “design prowess” by introducing four “re-imagined” Satellites. As of today, the 13.3-inch U400, 14.1-inch M300, 15.4-inch A300 (pictured) and 17-inch P300 have all been ever-so-slightly refreshed with the outfit’s Fusion Finish, Feather-Touch multimedia keys, white LED accents and built-in Dolby Sound Room technology. Additionally, Tosh is unveiling its totally useful Sleep-and-Charge USB ports, which enable users to charge up their portable gadgetry via USB regardless of whether the laptop is powered on / off or in Sleep mode (so long as it’s tethered to an AC outlet, of course). Check out the gloating in full below.

Read – Toshiba Demonstrates Design Prowess with Four Re-Imagined Satellite Laptop
Read – Toshiba Unveils Innovative Sleep-and-Charge USB Ports

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

If you checked into those NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX benchmarks and felt they met with your high standards, now you can actually get one (or a bunch) into your rig. According to reports, the brain-laser of a graphics card can now be had (in various iterations) for the low, low price of $329.99 (at least from Newegg). And before you ask — Crysis: Yes. Doom: Yes. Overlords: Welcome. Will blend: Yes. Russia: Benchmarks you.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Mini tripod brings massive optical zoom to your mobile

Filed under: Transportation

Your favorite driverless vehicles from the DARPA Urban Challenge are getting set to tackle yet another task — speed racing. Yep, Junior, Boss (pictured) and Ben will all be greasing their gears in an attempt to outrun the others around one lap of the 1.97-mile, 11-turn circuit, all without smashing into walls or hailing a motorist to take over. Unfortunately, all three won’t be on the track at the same time — which ensures that no green / red shell ejections will have an effect on the outcome — but those interested in seeing this in person can head on down to Long Beach on April 20th.

[Via CNET, image courtesy of PaulStamatiou]

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