MIT’s Media Lab always has a lot going on to inspire. Hacker in the trenches Dick@MIT reports in with some great links and descriptions of some of the projects and experiments. Balloon speakers, Self powered remotes, text projection, augmented reality, 3D object scanner, light slinky and a ton of videos…

Ever thought of balloons as speakers? You will after this… 10 years old, and still freakin’ cool. A must for your next party.

What if pressing the buttons on your remote made all the necessary power? No more batteries!

Spiffy smart way to project text or simple images… I’ve been thinking about something along these lines for a monitor with nonconsecutive scan lines. How can spinning mirrors and lasers not be fun?

Just watch it. No. Really. Do it now. NOW. Mmmmm…. augmented reality…

Need a 3D object scanner for anything? Don’t have the big bucks to spend on it? Grab yourself a trio of webcams and a microwave turntable and get it on!

The coolest thing you’ve ever seen a spring do. Or anything else, for that matter. I did a little consulting on this and a few hours of soldering, but Jeff is the idea and design god behind it. Your life won’t be complete until you watch the video. Don’t worry, it gets exciting.

And finally, a million hours of random Media Lab vids… no credits, no descriptions, just lots o’ love.