<p>With just two months since the launch of the iPad in the United States, users are still exploring new ways to use the shiny, iphone-ish tablet. Some of the obvious uses include as a book reader, photo album and laptop computer. But creative iPad owners are finding unexpected uses for Apple's tablet computer.</p>
<p>This could be one of the more expensive ways to create mood lighting. Dofl Yun, of New York City, decided to make his own mood lighting with the help of an iPad, according to his video post on vimeo, a video-sharing portal similar to You Tube. Loaded with Yun’s custom-built software and perched on some sort of stand, the iPad throws a range of colors and brightness onto the wall, creating a light show that its developer says is “impressive.”</p> <p>Once registered with Apple, the iPad mood lighting app will be available for free, according to Yun’s Web site.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipadnewsdaily.com%2Fipad-now-offered-as-in-flight-entertainment-0821%2F&ei=z2kOTNjxA4jWNv385M4M&usg=AFQjCNHo_uTzqDQJTxgZ14I2wuOz0WddrA">The iPad will make its debut in the friendly skies</a> later this month as a replacement for back-of-the-seat entertainment displays. Jetstar Airways, an Australian budget airline, plans a trial run of using Apple’s tablet on some domestic flights, letting passengers watch movies and television programs, read books, play games and listen to music.</p> <p>However, while stylish, <a alt="((CONLINK|15|iPads))" href="/15-11-iphone-tips-same-as-ipad.html">iPads</a> could be more difficult to operate than their low-tech alternative. Instead of controlling the screen’s contents with an armrest remote, to operate the iPad, passengers will need to support the tablet, while touching the screen.</p> <p>There are benefits, however. Instead of staring straight ahead at a display, with the iPad, passengers can move around and take their entertainment console with them.</p> <p>The iPad will cost passengers AUD$10 ($8.17) to rent on select flights starting at the end of June.</p>
<p>The final launch of the space shuttle Atlantis before <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBkQhgIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipadnewsdaily.com%2Fbest-ipad-astronomy-apps-0792%2F&ei=AWoOTP3PIJKONpC2qfIM&usg=AFQjCNFlftFmqofy2deFIxw-KOT4VJLfnA">NASA</a> retires the space plane was caught on camera via an iPad. About 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the launch pad, Scott Audette, a Reuters contract photographer, used an iPad to wirelessly control his camera, which was standing by to take pictures of the shuttle launch.</p> <p>The photo shoot was intended as a way to test out Canon’s new transmitter software in a real-world application for the first time, Audette said. The iPad was a last-minute addition, which was prompted by the arrival of an iPad-toting friend, Stan Jirman, a software engineer for Apple.</p> <p>“We were sitting at dinner 25 miles away, and we were actually able to log into the camera, turn on the video function, the Live View function, so that we could see sunset from the restaurant … and then take pictures with that camera from the iPad,” Audette told TechNewsDaily.</p> <p>The camera used was a Canon 5d Mark II equipped with Live View – a Canon function that lets the photographer view and adjust real-time video through the eye of the camera – and Canon’s WFT-4E A transmitter software.</p>
<p>Global Mundo Tapas, a tapas and cocktails bar located in North Sydney, Australia, has traded in their traditional, paper menus for something a little more hi-tech, the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CC4QFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipadnewsdaily.com%2F12-little-known-ipad-features-0718%2F&ei=nGkOTLTKG5zONIy9wNEM&usg=AFQjCNGyLfx_DmOZ4Gl4JGy6lmFuFr_axQ">iPad</a>. With a custom app, customers can “page” through the menu with a swipe of the iPad screen, letting them view menu items, images of the dishes and tasting notes.</p> <p>Customers can select their meal and then send it wirelessly to the kitchen, avoiding lost-in-translation mistakes between you and the server.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipadnewsdaily.com%2Fipad-to-help-humans-speak-with-dolphins-0819%2F&ei=WGoOTJToGZv4MKm_oMsM&usg=AFQjCNEd45-4yQxFJn-AECzk05Dc9n4C0w">Using an iPad to develop a human-dolphin language</a> is definitely one of the more unusual uses of the device.</p> <p>Jack Kassewitz, president of Global Heart, a non-profit firm heading up the dolphin research, is using an iPad loaded with apps to interact with a 2-year-old dolphin named Merlin.</p> <p>How it works: Kassewitz shows Merlin an image on the iPad – a cube, yellow duck, ball, or a circle – which, if the gadget-friendly dolphin recognizes, he taps with his nose and then looks for the real 3-D object that someone is holding nearby. At the same time, underwater microphones connected to the iPad record what the dolphin is saying; that is, his language.</p> <p>The goal is to develop a system of symbols and sounds that correspond to objects and concepts for dolphins and humans to communicate.</p> <p>Like tech fans, the iPad was simply a new gadget for Merlin. “For him, it was a new toy,” Kassewitz said. And Merlin also gets his own stylus. “What happens is, if the dolphin gets too much water on its nose it affects the connectivity between the skin of the dolphin and the iPad so we have a backup system using a dolphin stylus.”</p>
<p>{youtube kn_bKt8n7pE}</p> <p>Surgeons at Kobe University’s hospital located in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan have used the iPad as a surgical tool. That is, they’ve brought it into the operating room, wrapped in plastic of course, to view images while they operate. The iPad displays real-time video of the operation, which the surgeons can zoom in and out.</p>
<p>{youtube 5d6hPiZXyLo}</p> <p>The Japanese magician Shinya, also known as Salary Magician, has used the iPad as part of his magic show, according to news reports. The magician transfers 3-D objects, including a book, from his hand to an image on the tablet’s screen; pours what looks like a glass of milk into the tablet, which is then displayed on the screen; and creates optical illusions, including one of smoke billowing from the tablet.</p>
