The Internet Umbrella will let you surf under rain

I love the internet, It’s my work place but I’m not that much fanatic honestly! Maybe for some nerds who can’t get enough, their rainy days “MAY”be about to get more colorful as Japanese researchers invent the Internet Umbrella.

The Internet Umbrella, invented by a team at Keio University, acts as a photo browser by displaying images from the Internet as the user walks along. The handle of the umbrella contains a projector that displays images on the underside of the umbrella.

The Internet umbrella, named Pileus (meaning the head of a mushroom) was created by two young graduate students. Second-year doctoral student Matsumoto Takashi, 27, and first-year master’s student Hashimoto Sho, 22, of Keio University’s Graduate School of Media and Governance. These guys were motivated by a desire to make walking on rainy days more enjoyable.

So what can this umbrella do? For now it has two main functions. One is browsing the online photo-sharing site Flickr. It can display photos from Flickr and using the camera in the handle it can also take pictures and upload them to the Internet via a wireless connection. Pileus users can thus view each other’s photo streams. The umbrella can also display movies from the video-sharing site YouTube.

The other key function of the device is to help users find their way around by displaying 3D maps using Google Earth. The umbrella “knows” the user’s location (thanks to GPS) and direction (thanks to the digital compass), so it can show a bird’s-eye map of the surrounding area, enabling the user to navigate streets with ease. Both functions are easily controlled by rotating the grip of the umbrella.

Another function of this umbrella is to help users find their way around by displaying 3D maps using Google Earth. Pileus uses GPS & digital Compass so it knows the location and direction of the user, so it can show a bird’s-eye map of the surrounding area, enabling the user to navigate streets with ease. Both functions are easily controlled by rotating the grip of the umbrella. The team is currently working on enabling photos taken with the umbrella to be displayed on the map, along with their location.

Covered By: Web Japan