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Chiggity check these decked out Scion DJxBs by Five Axis on display at this year’s SEMA auto show in Vegas.  They’ve got TVs in the doors, a grill in the back with a sink, amps up the yin yang, slotted turn tables in the roof with dance floor and a whole bunch of stuff that truly does pop!

More pics after the ‘leap’

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Oh air bags, how I do appreciate them, especially after getting in a head on collision.  Over the years, it seems like vehicles get more and more of them.  First it was the driver side air bag, then passenger, then curtain and side air bags, so what’s next?  The Seat belt Airbag, but of course.

Ford will start to install them in their SUVs sometime next year and according to them inflate in about 40ms.  The airbag belts, which deploy using a rush of cold compressed air, are designed to more evenly distribute the impact of a crash.  Often in crashes, even while wearing a seat belt you can experience bodily harm due to the belt’s tight grip, such as broken or bruised ribs.

Personally, I’d just prefer a giant bubble around me or fill the car with some sort of protective foam.

FORD INTRODUCES INDUSTRY’S FIRST INFLATABLE SEAT BELTS TO ENHANCE REAR SEAT SAFETY

* Ford introduces the auto industry’s first-ever production inflatable seat belts, which are designed to provide additional protection for rear-seat occupants, often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to head, chest and neck injuries
* Ford’s inflatable rear seat belts will debut on the next-generation Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, which goes into production next year; Ford eventually plans to offer inflatable seat belt technology in vehicles globally
* Ford’s inflatable rear seat belts spread crash forces over five times more area of the body than conventional seat belts; this helps reduce pressure on the chest and helps control head and neck motion for rear seat passengers
* More than 90 percent of Ford research participants indicated that Ford’s inflatable seat belts are similar to or more comfortable than traditional belts, which could help increase the lower rate of rear belt usage

Visit our Rear Inflatable Seat Belt minisite for fact sheets, profiles and multimedia content.

DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 5, 2009 – Ford Motor Company is bringing to market the world’s first automotive inflatable seat belts, combining attributes of traditional seat belts and air bags to provide an added level of crash safety protection for rear seat occupants.

The advanced restraint system is designed to help reduce head, neck and chest injuries for rear seat passengers, often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to such injuries.

Ford will introduce inflatable rear seat belts on the next-generation Ford Explorer, which goes into production next year for the North American market. Over time, Ford plans to offer the technology in vehicles globally.

“Ford’s rear inflatable seat belt technology will enhance safety for rear-seat passengers of all ages, especially for young children who are more vulnerable in crashes,” said Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of Sustainability, Environmental and Safety Engineering. “This is another unique family technology that builds on our safety leadership, including the most top safety ratings of any automaker.”

Safer and more comfortable
Advances in air bag inflation and seat belt construction methods have enabled Ford and its suppliers to develop inflatable seat belts that are designed to deploy over a vehicle occupant’s torso and shoulder in 40 milliseconds in the event of a crash.

In everyday use, the inflatable belts operate like conventional seat belts and are safe and compatible with infant and children safety car and booster seats. In Ford’s research, more than 90 percent of those who tested the inflatable seat belts found them to be similar to or more comfortable than a conventional belt because they feel padded and softer. That comfort factor could help improve the 61 percent rear belt usage rate in the U.S., which compares to 82 percent usage by front seat passengers, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

“Ford is pioneering inflatable seat belt technology to help enhance crash safety protection, while encouraging more people to buckle up with a more comfortable belt,” said Paul Mascarenas, Ford vice president, Engineering, Global Product Development.

In the event of a frontal or side crash, the inflatable belt’s increased diameter more effectively holds the occupant in the appropriate seating position, helping to reduce the risk of injury.

Vehicle safety sensors determine the severity of the collision in the blink of an eye and deploy the inflatable belts’ air bags. Each belt’s tubular air bag inflates with cold compressed gas, which flows through a specially designed buckle from a cylinder housed below the seat.

The inflatable belt’s accordion-folded bag breaks through the belt fabric as it fills with air, expanding sideways across the occupant’s body in about the same amount of time it takes a car traveling at highway speed to cover a yard of distance.

The use of cold compressed gas instead of a heat-generating chemical reaction – which is typical of traditional air bag systems – means the inflated belts feel no warmer on the wearer’s body than the ambient temperature. The inflatable belts also fill at a lower pressure and a slower rate than traditional air bags, because the device does not need to close a gap between the belt and the occupant.

“It’s a very simple and logical system, but it required extensive trial and error and testing over several years to prove out the technology and ensure precise reliable performance in a crash situation,” said Srini Sundararajan, safety technical leader for Ford research and advance engineering.

The inflated belt helps distribute crash force energy across five times more of the occupant’s torso than a traditional belt, which expands its range of protection and reduces risk of injury by diffusing crash pressure over a larger area, while providing additional support to the head and neck. After deployment, the belt remains inflated for several seconds before dispersing its air through the pores of the air bag.

Ford’s safety leadership record continues to grow
The inflatable seat belt debuting on the next-generation Ford Explorer continues Ford’s record of safety innovation. Ford today has more 5-star U.S. government ratings and “Top Safety Picks” from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety than any other automaker.

Ford was the first automaker to introduce seat belts in 1955 and led the way in making driver and front-passenger air bags standard in most vehicles by 1993.

This year, Ford introduced radar-enabled Adaptive Cruise Control with Collision Warning with Brake Support and Blind Spot Information System (BLIS®) with Cross Traffic Alert (CTA). These technologies – introduced on the new 2010 Ford Taurus and Fusion – help drivers avoid potential dangerous crash situations using radar to detect the relative position of other vehicles and warn the driver with a combination of visual and audio alerts.

Ford’s other recent seat belt and air bag innovations include the industry-first BeltMinder system in 2000, which the U.S. government credited with increasing front belt usage by 5 percent in Ford vehicles. On the 2002 Explorer, Ford launched the industry’s first rollover-activated side curtain air bags – called Safety Canopy – as well as Roll Stability Control technology that goes a step beyond traditional stability control systems by helping measure and prevent side-to-side skidding and dangerous situations that could lead to rollovers.

Ford also introduced on the 2009 F-150 and 2010 Taurus some of the industry’s first pressure-based air bag technologies that help deploy side air bags up to 30 percent faster.

# # #

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 200,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

Tokyo, Japan has long been a place with a massive population and a small amount of land.  So as you can imagine they’re always inventing new ways to store their worldly positions without displacing their living space.

The multistory computerized bike parking garage is just one of those things you have to see to believe.  The bike slips into the mini freight elevator’s clutches and using an attached electronic tag it drops below the earth’s surface and stores it until the user returns.  To retrieve the bike they simply need to swipe a card and the computer will look up its location and retrieve the bicycle. Cost for storage is about $20/month.

[via Treehugger]

This video is apparently from 2007 so I feel a bit remiss posting in now, but hey, here goes.  NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese telecom had plans to introduce a phone that could help middle aged businessmen and young women lose weight.  It included a pedometer and software to keep you on track.  But that’s not even the cool stuff.  Muck like the KissMe breath analyzer, this phone also features a sensor that can tell you how bad your breath is.  So thinking about it more, I’d say the phone is all about getting you some tail – stay in shape and have good breath – yeah, definitely about getting you a date.

Video after the ‘leap’

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The Microsoft Surface is super old news at this point, but that hasn’t stopped Sony from teaming up with a company called Atracsys to build their own version of a multitouch table.  Unlike Microsoft’s version, though, Sony’s uses some sort of camera that can be used for not only measuring hand placement but can see faces as well.

Hit the video above.  You’ll notice that their seems to be some lag time on the touchscreen.

[via Hardocp]

OK, so while this bike looks interesting enough, it also looks really for lack of a better adjective, stupid.  With the last decade seeing rise to the fixed gear bike (much to my disdain), this bike seems to absolutely epitomize that design mindset with a little impracticality thrown in for bad measure.

Looking at the picture of the dude sitting on this I can’t possibly fathom how you could want to ride this for more than a few blocks.  He looks pretty poised to take a dive off the front of the thing as soon as he hits a bump.  The only thing inner city about this bike is how ghetto it is.  What do we think?

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Combining the most primitive elements discovered at the dawn of mankind, this rolling fireplace from Conmoto wants to go off-roading down your stairs with a passion. From the look of the picture it seems pretty fake but it actually runs off of ethanol and is a real heat source believe it or not.

Imagining some awesome YouTube videos involving bowling and day care centers this fireplace isn’t designed to roll at all.  What are we supposed think?  Anyway, cool concept and I’d love to mess with one.

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It’s amazing what some people will do to further what can be done with Air Guitar.  With the several air guitar apps for the iPhone and the wearable guitar shirt, I’m beginning to miss the original version.

In this video, some foreign gentlemen demonstrate  how their new air guitar peripheral works and what it sounds like.  It looks like they’ve got the speed down pretty good but the sound is like last call at some Hooka Bar.  Do you think this idea has some traction?

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Not knowing that there even was a Toy Hall Of Fame, I’m pleased to announce that the Nintendo GameBoy has just been inducted.  Officially called Strong National Museum of Play’s Toy Hall of Fame, this black and white portable gamer was the final choice among 12 finalists of culturally important toys.

Many of you gamers around for the advent of the Gameboy will remember clearly just how cool this thing was.  I actually never had one.  I did have the Atari Lynx which was awesome for back then too.

Also recently inducted was the ball.

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