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    This Could Be Big

    • Descriptive Camera Trades Pictures for Text

      By Bill Weir, David Miller, Justin Bare & Mark Monroy | This Could Be Big – Fri, Feb 1, 2013

      The Descriptive Camera is a novel idea. It’s the kind of idea someone who’s looking for new ways to approach photography comes up with, when, as a society, we’re oversaturated with digital cameras, Facebook and Instagram.

      Instead of revealing a picture, the camera prints a description of what’s in the image. And the description isn’t written by Watson or a carefully written algorithm, it’s actually crowd sourced. The camera hooks up to a wired internet line, and after you take the picture it’s sent to a webpage. There a “describer” views the image, types whatever he or she sees, and hits “submit.” A printer built into the camera then reveals the description. It can be literal or humorous; it can be a short 140 characters or the truly necessary 1,000 words.

      The camera is homemade and built with off-the-shelf technology by Matt Richardson, a student and, fittingly, an editor at MAKE Magazine. The camera clearly didn’t roll off the Apple manufacturing line next to its sleek

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    • Turn Your Old Plastic Bottles into 3-D Filament

      By Bill Weir, C. Michael Kim & David Miller | This Could Be Big – Tue, Jan 29, 2013

      With any printer, the cost of ink is what puts people off long after the machine has been paid for. With ink jet and laser printers, you can’t turn your plastic recyclables -- the cartridges -- into new toner. With 3-D printers, you can.

      Tyler McNaney, a college student in Vermont, fell in love with 3-D printing about a year ago and has spent his spare time reconfiguring an old plastic extrusion technology to build his own line of recyclable 3-D filament extruder to turn plastic bottles into more projects. The Filabot grinds the pieces of plastic to a uniform size then feeds the plastic chips into the heating unit, which melts the plastic to the appropriate temperature. It’s extruded as filament through an interchangeable nozzle.

      The Filabot, as McNaney has named it, will turn water, juice and milk bottles into 3-D printing filament. Not only does the Filabot offer a cheap alternative to expensive 3-D filament - MakerBot sells its online for $48 per kilo (a little more than 2 pounds)

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    • Bluetooth Comes of Age

      By Bill Weir, C. Michael Kim & David Miller | This Could Be Big – Thu, Jan 24, 2013

      To this day, the name Bluetooth brings back bad memories of the wireless cell phone earpiece that was more personal statement than practical tool. It seemed as if every small-time baller had to show he was successful enough to own one and in demand enough to keep it on him all the time, even when out to dinner with his girlfriend’s parents.

      But Bluetooth has come of age. It has become the muse of several start-ups and established companies that are finding new and creative ways to take advantage of Bluetooth’s drastic uptick in efficiency, from the Nike Fuelband to the Pebble Smartwatch, which we previously featured on “This Could Be Big.”

      This week we spoke with a start-up out of Southern California called Tethercell, whose founders, Trey Madhyastha and Kellan O'Connor, are former rocket scientists who designed mechanical and fluid systems for the Falcon 9 rocket.

      They were at CES this year, showcasing their new technology, which brings the tried-and-trusted AA battery into the 21st

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