Wood and Waves

Look at your keyboard. Now look at the Engrain. See a difference? The Engrain Tactile Keyboard by Michael Roopenian (say his last name repeatedly please) “uses nature’s tactility to strengthen the relationship between user and interface.” His words, not mine but I I agree. It certainly looks “touchy feely.,” just begging for my fingers to glide across its undulating surface. Whoa whoa! This post is getting dirty. Tell me, what do you guys think of it?

Designer: Michael A. Roopenian

Pop Goes the Weasel!

In this case it’s a plug; The PumPing Tap is a spring-loaded socket that ejects a plug when the appliance is switched off. What this means is that residual power is being conserved and wastage of electricity, curbed. So when you finish using an appliance or device and turn its power off, but haven’t unplugged the device, a ring of light appears on the socket. Ten minutes later, the socket automatically ejects the plug; just like toast popping up from a toaster!

PumPing Tap is a 2011 red dot design concept winner.
Designers: Seong Soyeon, Kim Seonmi, Lee Jeongjae, Park Jihye & Lee Yeontaek

Little Printer

We've heard of personal publishing, but this is ridiculous. Little Printer ($TBA) is a tiny, friendly-looking thermal printer that connects to the cloud to bring you customized news updates from sources like the Guardian, Foursquare, Google, and Nike+, plus puzzles, weather updates, and other useful info, printed on a receipt-sized publication that prints on-demand when you press the button. Expect to see one on a bookshelf near you next year.

People People Speaker

Okay, so it's not really real yet, but they plan on building it, which is close enough for us. The People People Speaker ($TBA) is designed to free interior designers from the tyranny of home audio lovers — or vice versa — by building powerful speakers into a clear box that's large enough to produce great sound but allows its surroundings to shine through. Other features include a small, headphone jack-connecting Wi-Fi antenna to stream audio from nearly any source, and a package that includes everything you need minus the glass, which is sourced from local glass repair shops, making the rig both interior- and eco-friendly.

From Boring to Beautiful!

From 2×4 wall studs to plastic light switches, common American construction tends to use predictable, albeit utilitarian materials, methods, and dimensions. Peter Bristol’s American Standards Lamp is a clever nod to this archetype that derives its character directly from this set of rules but also stands alone as a modern icon that is both familiar and intuitive to the user… that is, if you’re American!
In addition to being fun and smart, the lamp also creates inviting, diffused light and provides an easily accessible extra power outlet.
Designer: Peter Bristol

Beware the Steamy Robot

The adorable Alianoid is a humidifier guised as an alien robot that keeps venting steam in anger! With stubby legs and rotund demeanor, this babe from space is bound to captivate your attention. Simple controls in the form of a dial indicate the water levels and input. Please Lee, put me up in your list as prospective buyers, I so want this!
Size: H510xW330xD330
Color: Black / Gray
Material: Plastic
Designer: Minwoo Lee




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AlessiLux Lamps

AlessiLux lamps are pretty pricey (~40+ euros!), but they are so good looking. Designed to be the focus of the light fixture themselves, the lamps are nicely designed.

via Mocoloco.

Carlo Borer - Otto Fan

Love this wooden Otto Fan by Carlo Borer. Beautiful (and pricey!).

Via Reform-Creative.

A Robotic Begger

DONA is a robot that interactively solicits donations from passers-by. How? It engages people in a pet-like interaction. People rarely respond to adult humans in need but babies and animals? It’s very hard for us to resist. A wonderful exercise in behavioral science, sociology and robotics. Hit the jump for the video. I want one of these soliciting donations for my own personal project. It has to do with clothing and pandas. Any takers?
Designer: Min Su Kim

The Power Play Continues

This is so simple. Continuance is a set of batteries with a USB interface on the side. The batteries are rechargeable plus dole out some juice to stranded gadgets that are starved of power. Handy, compact and a totally do-able concept! Kudos!

Continuance is an iF concept design entry for 2011
Designers: Haimo Bao, Hailong Piao, Yuancheng Liu & Xiameng Hu

The Tron Tug

The Universal Plug kinda puts an end to all debates about how a plug should be designed to remind us to yank it out, once we switch off our devices. The convenient hollow center and glowing Tron-esque halo are an intuitive reminder. If nothing else, it doubles up as a cheap night-light, so I’m sold!
The Universal Plug is an iF Concept Design winner!
Designer: Seungwoo Kim

Hone Your Handyman Skills

The Repair-Ware Series are a group of household appliances designed for easy maintenance and urges you to be self-reliant. For example, the Steam Iron is assembled in simple layers and is held together by two screws. These screws are a prominent feature on the surface of the iron serving as a semiotic of repair.

Designer: Samuel James Davies

Wait, Fiskars Audio Products?

What if Sony made cars, Apple made dishwashers and Google made furniture? This poses a unique opportunity for a designer to take a company’s brand identity and apply it to a market they don’t currently serve. Designer Edouard Urcadez took the Fiskars brand aesthetic (known for shears and garden tools) and translated it into a HDD headphone amplifier called the “88.”
It’s minimal but with just enough exaggeration to easily be identified as a Fiskars product. The 88 stores music on its HDD but also connects up to four speakers if headphones aren’t your thing.
I like these little creative exercises and I think he did a great job. I’m expecting more rubber though. Fiskars is big on ergonomics and everything the hand touches is usually coated in rubber.
Designer: Edouard Urcadez

Reprinting on One Paper Only

Typically paper fibers can go through the recycle process five-to-seven times. Not too bad, but since we’re talking about innovation here, how about increasing thas lifespan? The Eco Printer uses specialized ink composed of photographic materials that disappear from UV irradiation. What this means is that non-sensitive documents can be printed, erased, and reprinted increasing the lifecycle of paper. Awesome!

The Eco Printer is a 2010 Red Dot Concept Design winning entry.
Designer: Sharsha Lee for Liteon Technology Corp.

dryerhair

The hair dryer is a fine instrument and does its job well but its design has stagnated. What designers usually tackle is the form of the dryer and forget the hanging wire and its storage. Dryerhair is a blow-dryer that features an elongated backend….kinda like an extra housing space to coil in the wire.

icon phone by Elium Studio

This icon phone is cordless phone & Internet radio designed by Elium Studio. Featuring Wireless DECT VoIP, Hands-free facility, HiFi ringtones, SMS text messaging, HD Sound, Stereo speakers, Portable radio, Huge choice of Internet radio stations, Colour screen etc.

dyson fan AM02 & AM03

Dyson has developed two new Dyson Air Multiplier™ fans: the AM02 Tower and the AM03 Pedestal. Engineered for larger spaces, the floor standing machines produce a far greater airflow than the previous iteration – AM03 Pedestal generates 50% more airflow than the AM01 Desk fan.

Both new fans come with a remote control, which is magnetised to conveniently locate itself on the machine.

James Dyson says:

“Air conditioning is inefficient and gives little or no ventilation. The new machines are engineered to circulate smooth un-buffeted air in larger rooms. They draw in and multiply up to 50% more air than our desk fan.”

Ele-Fan | a compact aromatic fan for your desk

click images to enlarge
Yuen’to’s latest product launch is Ele-Fan (10,500 yen), a cute little fan that resembles an elephant’s trunk. It is packed with nerdy details like a convenient carrying handle, a foot that doubles as a cord-wrap, a removable filter to capture particles as well as aromatic capsules that can be attached or detached at the mouth of the fan depending on your particular olfactory preferences.

But the best part? The nozzle can be pointed upwards so you can spend endless hours staring at a spongeball (included) floating in mid-air. Included? Really? That’s awesome.

Related:

sony playstation move

© 2010 sony computer entertainment inc. all rights reserved

sony just unveiled their newest playstation motion-controlled interface at the game developers conference in san francisco. the new system is now officially called playstation move and uses motion sensing technology similar to the nintendo wii. the move controller sits in the players hand and controls the on screen interface by being moved around in real space.  this wand-like controller features a glowing sphere on its top that comes in a number of colours to differentiate the remotes. the sphere is also used as a method of tracking the remotes through the system’s camera. the remote is also accompanied by a more standard contrller that is used in the player’s other hand for additional action such as navigation. the system claims to be extremely accurate thanks to its three-axis gyroscope,  three-axis accelerometer and a terrestrial magnetic field sensor.  the new system will be released later this year.

http://playstation.com


© 2010 sony computer entertainment inc. all rights reserved


© 2010 sony computer entertainment inc. all rights reserved


© 2010 sony computer entertainment inc. all rights reserved


© 2010 sony computer entertainment inc. all rights reserved