(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Supposedly an acoustic trigger could have remotely sealed the under sea oil well that is currently spilling 210,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico.

Many news outlets are reporting that if British Petroleum had invested in this particular remote control technology, workers escaping from the burning BP rig on April 20 would have been able to send a signal more than a mile under water, causing 450-ton hydraulic rams to close off the well, almost immediately stopping the flow of oil.

Since they didn’t install an acoustic trigger, the people at BP are now shamefully watching their precious oil contaminate the once-beautiful Gulf, killing thousands of innocent sea creatures (as well as the price of  their stock).

So why didn’t BP have a remote valve shut-off system in place? Most of the reports I’ve seen and heard blame it on the $500,000 price tag for an acoustic trigger . I know what you’re thinking: “That’s one expensive remote!”

Do I hear crickets chirping?

Okay, so maybe you’re actually thinking about the environmental and economic devastation starting to take hold in the Gulf; but please take one more moment to further consider the remote control technology that “could have” saved the day.

Was  BP just trying to save a buck (er… 500,000 bucks) when they opted not to  install an acoustic trigger in their undersea drilling operation that’s now hemorrhaging oil into the Gulf? Maybe. But we should also consider the possibility that acoustic switches aren’t quite as foolproof as certain outraged lawmakers and media outlets would like us to believe.

These pricey switches are used voluntarily in many offshore drilling operations, and are required by law for drilling off the coast of Brazil and Norway. So why isn’t this technology required for offshore drilling in the US?

Consider one of the earliest everyday remote controls, Zenith’s Space Command, which first appeared in 1956. This remote used sound waves to control the television it was paired with. History tells us that sound control didn’t last long on land; but why?

Zenith’s Space Command fell out of favor because noise in the home environment—say the plunk of a child’s xylophone or a squealing little brother—often matched the frequencies for controlling the TV. Accidentally changing the channel or powering off was all too common.

Could competing sounds be the same reason acoustic triggers aren’t the most popular item in the offshore drilling safety toolbox?

In 2003, the U.S. Minerals Management Service commissioned a report on whether oil companies drilling offshore should be required to install an acoustic trigger for remote valve shut off.

The report concluded that,  “Acoustic systems are not recommended because they tend to be very costly, and there is insufficient data available on system reliability in the presence of a mud or gas plume.”

Hmmm… so it doesn’t really work?

I checked out the MMS report, and here’s what I discovered: the reason sound waves are not the preferred way to achieve remote control under water is same reason sound waves are not the preferred way to achieve remote control on land—acoustic signals leave too much room for error.

Under water, acoustic interference caused by the noise of a flowing oil well or a plume of mud can make the operation of an acoustic trigger unreliable.

It seems both land and sea are just too noisy for acoustic control to be especially effective. Other sounds can get in the way–skewing, blocking or mimicking actual commands.

In living rooms around the world, infrared light has been king of the remote control universe since the 1970s. Unfortunately for the little fishies of the Gulf (and every living thing on Earth),  IR isn’t a viable solution for triggering emergency shut-off valves deep in the ocean.

Slingmedia showed off the beautiful new Sling Touch Control 100 this week at CES. The Touch Control 100 has a 4.3 inch touchscreen and a stunning design which was sleek enough to get it selected as a CES Innovations 2010 Design and Engineering Award honoree.

The Touch Control 100 lets you control SlingGuide enabled DVRs over IP via your home 802.11 wireless network.  Traditional IR devices are supported as well, but no mention of its scope of coverage.  Slingmedia has yet to reveal any information about pricing, but they have said that it will not be sold through traditional retail.  Instead the Sling Touch Control 100 will be offered through various cable and satellite providers as part of a new suite of Sling products.

Certainly the resemblance to another “touch” product — the iPod touch — is unmistakable. Which brings up the question: why spend so much money on developing this kind of hardware, when a solid iPhone app and dock would do just as well?

Call me old fashioned, but I still don’t get this whole gesture control movement that is being adopted for TV’s and other devices.  I get the use of it in video games — it’s more fun playing tennis in a video game when you get to at least swing something instead of just pressing a button.  There is that associated action of swinging your arm and playing tennis.  The problem is, I don’t have any motion or movement that I would like to associate with TV viewing.  Like what’s the thumb’s up gesture associated with? What was the hand wave for page up again?

This doesn’t seem to phase Microsoft and their Project Natal for the X-Box 360.  Yeah, I know Project Natal is originally for playing games but some recent talk from Microsoft shows that they are extremely interested in using Natal as a complete input for your home theater.  Granted they also want you to run that entire theater through an X-Box 360 of course.  With services like SkyTV and Netflix they want to provide all of your media content which you could control via your Natal, or Project Natal, or whatever it will actually be called.

Having your media content centralized in a single place is awesome, I love my XMBC setup but I don’t feel I need any special way to interact with it except for my remote control.  Now to be fair, Microsoft is actually touting the facial recognition and voice recognition as the main way to control your media via Natal, but do I really need a 360 and Natal for that?  The facial recognition is nice since everyone one has different tastes and you can have custom content for each user.  The voice recognition on the other hand, isn’t too special.  My Macbook has been able to recognize voice commands for a few years now, if I wanted to I could easily set all that up myself.  In fact that is a good idea, I think I’ll go do that now.

Everyone company wants to be “green” now and doing their part, or at least claim they are green, because it is so popular right now.  I haven’t seen much actual progress yet unfortunately (especially from the electronics industry), but then I ran across this interesting prototype from NEC.  They have created a remote control that doesn’t use batteries or any source of external power except for you.  It’s not going to save the world or anything but every little bit helps.

Apparently the device draws its power from the actual clicking on the buttons — something called “scavenging” or, (more appealingly) “harvesting” because it uses waste energy for a good purpose.  Basically it’s the same idea that Swiss watchmakers have been using since the late 18th century to wind watches automatically.

NEC joined forces with the company SoundPower in order to work the technology into their remotes. When a user clicks a button vibrations are created, these vibrations are what they actually draw the power from.  Each click generates enough vibrations and power in order to send the command which means the device should be “sustainable” … another one of those green words.

Personally, I think NEC has a very interesting concept on their hands. It would be very nice to never have to change the batteries in my remote again, specially since I never remember how to properly throw them out.  Then again it would probably be a whole lot greener if we didn’t have to use remotes at all, or at least 10 per household.

• iPhone controlled R/C Car
• An actual Oldsmobile
• Dance lights
• A minivan (2007)
• R2D2
• Dog feeders
• Military Drones
• A helicopter

What next? How about a bi-pedal walking robot named Walky.  The robot and controller were developed by a group of grad students from Keio University in Japan. Video after the break.

Walky understands a set of touch gestures that allow him to walk, jump, and kick.  Apparently they had attempted other methods of control like a PS3 Controller unsuccessfully and had settled on the iPhone. The touchscreen is more intuitive than a joystick since you can simulate walking using two fingers — remember the old Yellow Pages ads? Walky is pretty simple, but still seems well made and I like how they have broken the mold here with iPhone gestures.

No offense to Motorola, Verizon, or their Droid commercials, but this doesn’t seem like a very closed development system to me. Yeah, it’s true that the App store requires some approval, but that doesn’t seem to be discouraging too many people. The iPhone SDK is well thought-out and by far the easiest mobile development platform out there. Period. Plenty of people are using it to develop for reasons other then making money in the App store, including academic and scientific pursuits such as this one. I’m not going to be looking for the Walky Robot app on iTunes, but it’s nice to know that I could develop something like this if I wanted to.

I’ve seen a few cars being driven by the iPhone, that’s cool and all, but the guys from Mythbusters have basically been doing that for years.  Starting your car with the iPhone makes sense, but driving hands free?  The people from Engineer Awesome, which is a part of Waterloo Labs at National Instruments, make it clear… why drive inside of a car when the outside looks so much more fun?

Weather it is called Redneck Surfing or Ghost Riding, it’s most certainly dangerous (i.e., don’t do this at home), but for the sake of science and engineering it’s pretty cool.  The system is pretty simple, though they destroyed the in the process (seeing how it’s an Olds ’88 I doubt anyone will cry over that).  I’d like to see someone try this out on a Ferrari, although they should wear football pads.

People continue to find some pretty random uses for iPhone, not to mention the 100,000 apps that are already out there, but there are still quite a few more things we’d like to see come out for the iPhone.  At least we can cross ghost riding off that list now.

Bowling can be pretty frustrating — unless you have those awesome bumpers we used at my 5th birthday party.   I’ve always wanted to bowl a perfect game like Mort Goldman, but to be honest I think the LHC has a better chance of actually getting started first. Until now. With the RC900, a remote control bowling ball from 900 Global I could cheat my way there.

The RC900 uses internal mechanism to control the direction the ball rolls. For those who like to roll in style, it also has flashing lights.  Of course you have to charge a battery in the ball, but if that wears you out, you can launch it from from a ramp instead of getting up out of your seat.

Normally we’re pretty big on remote controlled gadgets, but the RC900 just takes the fun out of the game.  Still, if your an amateur and your goal is roll a 300, then the RC900 may be right up your alley.

P.S.  Holding back on the Big Lebowski jokes thanks to Gizmodo…

Plexidor Pet Door is an electronic doggy door with vertical sliding door (i.e Awesome).   The Plexidor opens when your pet nears it, thanks to an RFID chip that is placed in your furry friend’s collar.  The hope is that this intelligent doggy door can prevent unwanted intruders from sneaking into of your house while letting your pet come and go.

The Plexidor Pet Door for large dogs comes in at a hefty $800 dollars, which seems pricey.  Plus, it most likely will have to be professionally installed since it needs to be hardwired for power.  If bragging rights is your thing, then the electronic doggy door may be the new gadget for you.

Just kidding — I prefer my technology on the outside. But for those of you who like it the other way, I’ve got an interesting product to share. (drumroll, please) May I present the amazing, incredible, remote-controlled, Astrea 1 Vibrating Briefs.

Okay, so we usually don’t cover “intimate accessories,” but since we are about everything remote control, I feel a little obligated to take this one on. Here goes.

The Astrea 1 Vibrating Briefs include a pair of underwear and a small massage unit — and that massage unit comes with its own remote control. Yes, these panties do exactly what you think they do, and before I get a flustered explaining, let me pass the torch to the experts:

“Apparel at its most intimate! Tucked into the lining of these saucy lace briefs is a quiet, removable little massager that you (or an exceptionally trustworthy companion!) operate by remote control … One sizes fits most adults.”

Yes, even when it seems we have seen every remote control imaginable, along comes something to surprise. But lest you think this is a light-hearted jaunt, let me say that the remote control has an operational range of up to 12 feet, so you can reach out and touch someone from the other side of the party. Maybe it’s Bluetooth equipped — the “literature” isn’t particularly explicit (on that feature, anyway). And supposedly the vibrating effect is discrete, although given how often I hear other people’s phones vibrate, I hope that’s true. Or maybe those aren’t phones I hear…

Anyway, I’m no expert on these things, but maybe with the Astrea Vibrating Briefs you won’t have to pretend anymore like Sally:

Unleash your inner Spielberg: SkyShutter has released the AeriCam, a remote controlled helicopter for your video camera. Backyard home videos just got a lot more interesting.

The AeriCam is a “lightweight 3-axis camera mount coupled with a customized Industry Radio Control Helicopter.” Founder and commercial photographer, Jason Lam brought his R/C enthusiast skills to bear in this product, which seems like something really special. Capable of flying up to 400ft into the air, the AeriCam not only makes aerial photography much more affordable, it also enables professionals to access locations that would have been off limits to full-size helicopters because of nearby buildings and other regulations. And for the consumer who can afford a $3,000 camera accessory — well, it might not be for the everyday wallet, but taking flight lessons and renting a chopper isn’t necessarily a day’s paycheck, either.

Operating the AeriCam is a two person gig: one navigates the helicopter via remote, while the other person pans, tilts and rolls the camera while monitoring a live video feed. I imagine this would be a natural evolution for the Google Street View crew. Why stalk the planet solely by pavement when you could take to the skies in beautiful panorama, cinema-scope?

Aerial Photography New York from Jason Lam on Vimeo.