Crazy Tech Countdown - best of 2010

Since the year is finally coming to a close, I thought it would be appropriate to do list out the best of the best of 2010. From the craziest gadgets to the weirdest robots, we’ve got you covered.

5. Next time you go grocery shopping, keep this in mind – On a quest to end all problems known to man, freaky gadget makers keep bringing awesome products to the market. It’s the case with this awesome wall-mounted grocery list maker. You push a button and just speak to it. Just say the name of the product you want and it’ll memorize it. Then when the time comes for you to go shopping, you tell it to print a neat little categorized list you can then take to the store and, well, get deeper into debt. But this is killer.

4. 3D images you can touch? – Japanese scientists are developing a 3D TV that actually allows viewers to touch the images. By attaching clips to your fingers for tactile feedback (yup, now you’ll have to wear glasses AND clips, for now anyway) and tracking your movements thanks to 16 cameras, this TV lets user pinch, stretch and move 3D images. Right now we have a similar technology known as “real life”. Seriously though, if you don’t think this is awesome…

3. Buy your friends a drink, even if they’re miles away – Now with social networks and games, it’s really not that hard to give your friends stuff, even if it’s virtual stuff you can’t take advantage of in real life. But interestingly enough, a company named Webtab changed all that by launching Bartab, a mobile and web app that lets you buy your remote friends an actual drink. You pay $1 to give your friend a virtual coupon they can then use to buy a drink themselves. Sadly not many bars accept these coupons right now, this service is only available in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles and your friend needs to pay $1 as well due to state regulations, but it’s a great concept I hope gets developed further.

2. GPS glasses, WHAA? – Shifting over to Japan, Japanese engineers might have figured out a way to actually let you check your directions and look at where you’re going at the same time. It’s not rocket science really: just use your glasses. After entering your desired destination on the computer (and yes, that is a must), lights on the frame will just tell you which direction to go. It’s pretty basic but it can do wonders! I only hope they come up with a sunglass version, as the current glasses are a little ugly in my opinion.

1. Augmented reality translator - Augmented reality has been around for quite a while already, but this takes it to a whole new level. Imagine yourself travelling with this: