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Tag: dummy

Bristly pacifiers, for weaning [new patent]

July 29, 2019 Martin Gardiner

If you gave a baby a pacifier [that’s ‘dummy’ in the UK] which was covered in (mildly) irritating bristles, what kind of psychological impact might that have? “Minimal” says the documentation for a newly patented invention that incorporates : “[…] bristle like structures which discourages continued use of the pacifier by a child of appropriate […]

Arts and Sciencebaby, dummy, invention, pacifier, patent

Headless mannequins – good for business (or not)?

September 24, 2015 Martin Gardiner

Mannequins in shop windows – should they have heads, or shouldn’t they? And what about mannequins displayed online? From a retailer’s point of view, the question of whether to use headed or headless mannequins is a complex one – or rather, the answers are complex. And now, for the first time, such answers can be […]

Research NewsBusiness, display, dummy, mannequin, retail, shopping

Forge a head: Two ears bad, Four ears good

July 17, 2015 Martin Gardiner

A dummy head (or Kunstkopf) is sometimes used to create ‘binaural’ recordings. There can however, be a problem with this approach – in the sense that from the listener’s point of view, it’s not always completely clear which way is the head facing, could it be back to front? Researchers at the Virtual Acoustics and […]

Arts and Sciencedummy, head, listen, microphone, Music, recording, Sound

A look at Walter, the sweating manikin

February 29, 2012 Marc Abrahams

This image shows Walter, the sweating manikin, whose wholesome story is told in the study “New Functions and Applications of Walter, the Sweating Fabric Manikin“: For more detail and context, see this week’s Improbable Research column in the Guardian.

Arts and Science, Research Newsdummy, experiment, manikin, sweating, Walter

When you’re shopping for a head…

July 10, 2011 Marc Abrahams

Investigator Albert Bates writes: In case you have never shopped for a head, let me recommend one of my favorites. After unhappy experiences with knock-offs, I always come back to the Bludgeon Head made by the oddly named Crime Sciences Inc. It does the basics. It’s (for me, anyway) reasonably priced at $445. And I […]

Arts and ScienceCrime, CSI, dummy, head, reconstruction
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