Currently viewing the category:
"technology"
Scottish designer Peter Ananin has created a way to bring a little more of the outside world into our everyday lives by creating personal miniature rural worlds dubbed MyBioPod. MyBioPod provides people with green fingers, a scientific streak or city dwellers with an innovative way to feel a little more connected to the natural world, as nature and technology are combined into a single device to study small ecosystems.
Read the rest of Peter Ananin’s MyBioPod Connects Nature and Technology to Create Miniature Ecosystems
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: bio, Design, eco design, ecosystem study, Eden Project, environmental design, green design, mybiopod, Nature, peter ananin, Scotland, sustainable design, sustainable learning, Technology
Beads of water on glass photo via Shutterstock
Glass is a fundamental building material with thousands of practical applications, and if you believe what the folks at Corning are selling, our use of glass is only going to grow in the coming years. But typical glass has a few flaws, as anyone who has stepped into a steamy room wearing glasses can attest – it has a tendency to fog up at inopportune times, and it can also produce annoying glare. But a team of researchers at MIT claim to have developed a new and improved glass that is both anti-fogging and glare-free. The near-invisible glass is also said to be self-cleaning, and it could have dozens of practical applications.
Read the rest of MIT Researchers Create Self-Cleaning Glass that is Anti-Fogging and Glare-Free
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: fog-free glass, fog-resistant glass, glare-free glass, glass, green tech, MIT, research, science, self-cleaning glass, Technology
During this year’s Milan Design Week Swedish furniture maker IKEA rolled out a bunch of bright-colored tables, chairs, and other pieces of furniture. But perhaps the most interesting product IKEA unveiled in Milan was found in a press kit. According to Gizmodo, at Milan’s Salone design show IKEA distributed a press kit that doubles as a digital camera made of cardboard (which will soon be released). The camera runs on a pair of AA batteries, and can reportedly hold up to 40 images on its built-in memory stick.
Read the rest of IKEA Unveils Cheapo Digital Camera Made of Cardboard
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: camera, cardboard camera, consumerism, disposable camera, ikea, Milan, rangefinder, tech, Technology, wasteful products
Read the rest of Designers Take a Low-Tech Approach at Salone Satellite 2012 During Milan Design Week
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: "green furniture", eco table, Fragment Table, green furniture design, green table, Milan Design Week, milan design week 2012, Milan Furniture Fair, Recycled Materials, rubber table, Rubber Table Studio, Salone Satellite, sustainable design, Technology, Thomas Schnur, young designers
Last week we reported on the groundbreaking new media platform Earth 2 Hub which aims to create a space for the world’s most creative artists, designers, scientists, and storytellers to explore and share their solutions to the numerous problems facing earth and its inhabitants. To shed more light on Earth 2.0 and the newly-unveiled hub, we talked to Melissa Sterry, who is one of the most well-known futurists on the planet. A design scientist and transformational change strategist for the built environment, utilities, manufacturing, design, publishing, media and communications industries, Melissa is also a PhD researcher at AVATAR – the Advanced Virtual and Technological Architecture Research group, where she is developing The Bionic City – a sustainable smart city that transfers knowledge from earth’s ecosystems to create a mega-city blueprint that can withstand extreme meteorological and geological events such as flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, eruptions and earthquakes. Step on in for a fascinating glimpse of what the future of design and architecture might hold.
Read the rest of INTERVIEW: We Talk to Futurist Melissa Sterry About Earth 2.0 and the Bionic City
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: biomimicry, Bionic City, Earth 2 Hub, Earth 2.0, eco design, Futurist, green design, Melissa Sterry, social media, sustainable design, Technology
If you are a scientist, designer, filmmaker, or any kind of environmentally-conscious creative person who is tired of zipped-up and dull sustainability science, then Earth 2 Hub might be the solution you’ve been looking for. A groundbreaking digital media platform conceived by some of the brightest, most forward-thinking people on the planet, Earth 2 Hub encourages the discussion and implementation of cutting-edge scientific and technological innovation by engaging with the global community through social media, cloud technologies, and smart technology. No idea is too far-reaching as long as it is grounded in the highest standards. The time to envision bold solutions to our environmental woes is now, and Earth 2 Hub is leading the way with thousands of fans around the world. Hit the jump to for a peek at the Earth 2.0 Initialization video to get a better sense of what these folks are working to achieve.
Read the rest of Groundbreaking Earth 2 Hub Platform Reboots Approaches to Sustainability (VIDEO)
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: apps, Art, clean tech, Design, digital media, Earth 2 Hub, Earth 2.0, eco design, Film, future cities, green design, innovation, London, media platform, rio 20, social media, Sustainable 2050 Conference, sustainable design, Technology, UK, WWW
Ever wish you could access Google Maps without looking down at your phone? Or that you could snap a photo and send by just looking at something? The future might be closer than you think. This week, Google took the lid off “Project Glass,” the company’s long-rumored foray into augmented reality. A new first-person YouTube video demonstrates the glasses’ potential, showing a man using Google Maps, Google+, and Google Talk while walking down the street in Manhattan. View the video and catch a glimpse of the future at Ecouterre.
READ MORE >
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: augmented reality, cyber vision, Fashion, Google, Google glasses, Google Goggles, Google maps, Google Talk, Project Glass, Technology
When auto makers submit their cars to crash tests, the sensors that are used to collect data about the crash process are often destroyed by the impact of the crash. To solve that problem, German car maker Volkswagen is turning to “space foil” – a special type of super-thin and highly accurate sensor that was originally developed to measure the pressure on a spacecraft’s wings as it reenters Earth’s atmosphere. VW has already used the special foil in crash tests, and it expects the results to help improve overall car safety.
Read the rest of Volkswagen Uses Space Foil To Make Cars Safer
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: car safety, cars, crash test, engineering, german engineering, germany, green cars, outer space, Paul Mirow, piezoelectric foil, piezoelectric sensor, space foil, Technology, volkswagen, vw
Detecting diseases such as HIV and malaria in third-world countries is often a costly process, but that might soon change because a team from the University of Texas at Austin has designed a three-dimensional sensor crafted from paper that could make diagnosis simple and cheap. Clearly using origami as an inspiration, the Paper Analytical Devices, or oPADs cost less than 10 cents each – and they stand to revolutionize how doctors work in labs where equipment is scarce. ”This is about medicine for everybody,” says Richard Crooks, the Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry. “Anybody can fold them up. You don’t need a specialist, so you could easily imagine an NGO with some volunteers folding these things up and passing them out. They’re easy to produce, so the production could be shifted to the clientèle as well. They don’t need to be made in the developed world.”
Read the rest of Folded oPAD Paper Sensor Detects HIV and Malaria for Less Than 10 Cents
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, diagnostics, folded paper sensor, Global Health, hong liu, opad, origami paper sensor, Paper Analytical Device, paper sensors, paper sensors HIV, public health, research, Richard Crooks, Technology
Climate talks have stalled, and many countries view geoengineering — like cloud whitening or constructing a space-based sun shade — to be too risky. Could the genetic engineering of the human body to make people smaller and more energy-efficient, for example, be a last-ditch effort to combat climate change? That’s just one of the controversial ideas floated by authors S. Matthew Liao, Anders Sandberg, and Rebecca Roache in a new paper that’s set to be published in the journal Ethics, Policy and the Environment.
Read the rest of Can Scientists Combat Climate Change by Bioengineering the Human Body?
Permalink |
Add to
del.icio.us |
digg
Post tags: bioengineering, carbon footprint, Climate Change, CO2, DNA, genetic engineering, geoengineering, global warming, kyoto protocol, livestock, Meat, Newborn Baby, S. Matthew Liao, science, Technology, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarianism
Sneakers embedded with pressure sensors and accelerometers bring all-new opportunities for athletic performance tracking
Originally unveiled in 2006, Nike+ has grown to a committed community of over six million digitally connected users. To build upon this concrete foundation Nike has today announced the Nike+ basketball and training shoes embedded with pressure sensors and accelerometers to collect previously unmeasurable, movement-based statistics across multiple levels of speed and agility. The groundbreaking technology is the next step in building a robust ecosystem, in compliment with the innovative Nike FuelBand and specialized Nike+ mobile apps. While these first shoes and apps are focused on basketball and training, this massive innovation represents the beginning of an entirely new chapter in sport measurement and motivation.
The first sneakers to feature the sensor technology are the Hyperdunk+ basketball shoe and the Lunar Hyperworkout+ and Lunar TR1+ training shoes. In all three shoes four embedded sensors—toe, heel, ball and outer foot—work with an internal accelerometer to accurately measure movement and relay stats to your iPhone wirelessly. The three-axis accelerometer and Bluetooth sensor are contained in a removable disc that lasts for about 40 hours between charges, which are achieved using the included USB adapter. An innovation from Nike's "Kitchen," this measurement technology isn't new—it has been used extensively in design research to better understand how athletes move. The revolution comes from the company's ability to bring this innovation to consumers in a usable and exciting form.
While the sensor arrays are the same in all shoes, the Nike+ apps the data is sent to provide the different approaches to tracking, motivation and sharing data. Nike+ Basketball lets you know how high you jump, how quick you run, and how hard you play. In addition to these precise stats a universal NikeFuel score is captured—all allowing the user to compare to previous games plus general exercise with their friends.
The Nike+ Training platform takes the same approach, quantifying each and every movement, shuffle, step, lunge and jump. For training, however, the app features videos of pro athletes coaching you through a series of workouts dynamically sequenced based on your fitness goals. The data captured from these workouts not only provides the measurement necessary to set new goals and improve, but also statistics to share with friends or competitors.
All the data gathered is meant not only to impress but to inspire. By making a workout into something close to a game, feelings will positively shift to improve performance and dedication. To fully understand what the latest Nike+ advancements mean for the company, consider President and CEO Mark Parker's general but bold statement: "It's about much more than a shoe. It represents a shift for Nike from product, to product plus experience."
The Nike+ Pressure Sensor enabled Hyperdunk+, Hyperworkout+ and Lunar TR1+ will debut in specialty shops come 29 June, 2012.
Upscale design lines, advanced technology and unmatched fuel economy in an all new sedan
You can't help but notice the 2013 Ford Fusion, a midsize category-busting car hell-bent on improving suburban driveways around the world. The new Fusion is the first car that very clearly articulates the ONE Ford mantra (cars designed for a global market) and the company's Kinetic design language (which debuted on the Evos concept car launched in Fall 2011 in Frankfurt).
Ford sold Aston Martin (in 2007) and Jaguar (in 2008) along with the other brands in their Premier Automotive Group. Perhaps the best thing the come out of that experience was the importance of design and how it can elevate a very expensive hand made car as well as a car you'll find all over your neighborhood and in every parking lot at every mall. There was no shortage of comments at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit yesterday that the new Fusion looked "Aston-like" or "Jaguar-like," things you don't usually hear about the most crowded and pedestrian segment of the automobile market. Part of this may be attributed to the raised hexagonal grill, narrow lights and rear license plate surround, which Mays says "create a terrific stance." Sexing up the midsize market is good for Ford, and good for all customers who seek to be inspired by design regardless of price point.
The Fusion brings a new level of features to an inexpensive, accessible car—or, as Ford's VP of Global Design and Chief Creative Officer J Mays puts it, "a car you are proud to drive." Standard features include Ford's Sync voice-activated control system and a lane drifting warning system. Options include blind-spot warning and automated parallel parking systems—things you're more likely to see on high end luxury cars.
Ford offers the extremely fuel efficient Fusion in five different four cylinder engines—an existing gasoline engine, two new EcoBoost turbo engines, a hybrid and plug-in hybrid. Mays elaborates, ""the mpg on this car is truly spectacular—26 mpg on the standard model, 47 mpg on the EcoBoost Hybrid, and 100 mpge on the Energi model. It's just game changing."
From what we've seen so far, Ford has come together to achieve something their competitors have failed to do—create an economy car that is desirable, practical, and affordable. I'm looking forward to road testing it.
The 2013 Ford Fusion will be available in the U.S. mid-2012 (with all models available by Fall 2012), and will be available in Asia and Europe as the Mondeo in 2013.
Our look at the illusory works found at Art Basel and the surrounding fairs
Many themes emerged from the various galleries converged in Miami for Art Basel and the surrounding fairs this year, but unsurprisingly the one that stood out the loudest among the crew from Cool Hunting was work that played visual tricks on the viewer. Whether eluding us with clever technology techniques or purely an abstract form of painting, below are the pieces that grabbed our attention through some element of subterfuge.
Hans Kotter's 2011 "Tunnel View" series features LED lights between plexiglass, which are amplified by a metal mirror. The two mind-bending works featured here were on view through Priveekollektie at Art Miami.
Anish Kapoor dazzled the crowd with his stainless steel "Untitled" 2011 work, on view through Lisson Gallery at Art Basel.
"Lover's Quarrel" is the work of media artist James Clar. At first glance the piece appears to only say the word "leave" but further inspection reveals the subliminal "don't" behind it. The playful lighting installation was on view at Blythe Projects at Pulse.
Two different 2011 works that are less smoke-and-mirrors but equally entrancing are Michael Eastman's "M1" (at Barry Friedman at Art Miami) and Karen Gunderson's "Divergent Sea" (at Waterhouse & Dodd at Scope).
Eastman used simply a wide-angle lens and pushed the depth of field to create this image, which seems like it would have physical depth but is really just a trick of the eye. Gunderson's paintings of water also challenge the eye's understanding of space, but through her detailed brush strokes. Depending on the position of the viewer and the angle of the light refraction, the water seemingly moves like nature intended.
Also on view through Waterhouse & Dodd, Patrick Hughes' 2008 work called "Sea City" is arguably the most staggeringly trippy piece we saw. This oil and photographic collage toys with the mind through "reverspective"—a concept he created in which the portion of the picture that appears furthest away is physically the nearest, painted on protruding blocks.
Have a look at our rough cut video above for a full realization of how delightfully confusing his works really are.
Known for his unusual approach to currency, Mark Wagner's 2011 work "Gale Bills" puts real money on wood panels. Twisted to a perfectly odd degree, the latest from Wagner was on view through Pavel Zoubok Gallery at Pulse.
Catherine Opie's computer animated sculptures were on view at a few galleries, but we first took notice of these optical illusions at Scope, where the various works of people walking took us by surprise as we moved around the corner where they were hung at Gallery Biba.
Mia Rosenthal exhibited several new pieces that demonstrate her adept talent for sneaking graphic design symbols into her fine art works. The Philadelphia-based artist aptly showed through Gallery Joe, on view at Pulse.
Contributions from Josh Rubin, karen Day and Jonah Samson
Flat-pack platforms, Playboy's archive for iPads, a sneaker encyclopedia and more in this week's look at the web
1. Inception Chair
Designer Vivian Chiu created this fascinating chair within a chair within a chair. The conceptual seating is so enchanting I almost can't remember whose dream I'm in.
2. Female Foosball
Showing up in NYC for ICFF, the first-ever female foosball player finally puts the ladies in power on the table.
3. Build Your Own Platform
Fashion-forward shoe designer United Nude teamed up with Spanish performance artist Alicia Framis for a carbon-fiber flat-pack shoe you build yourself, based on the belief "that humans will one day live in outer-space."
4. Lockitron
Between all the devices and accessories the modern human has to lug around, carrying (and not loosing) keys can be a pain. Enter Lockitron, a new mobile app that lets users lock and unlock doors from their phones.
5. Social Memories
For all our digital prowess, there's still nothing like a photo album for a leisurely stroll down memory lane. Enter Social Memories, Deutsche Post DHL's infographic-heavy book based on data and photos gleaned from your Facebook page.
6. Venice in Venice
Curated by Tim Nye and Jacqueline Miro, Venice in Venice bring Italy's most famous films to California, such as Federico Fellini’s Il Casanova and more.
7. Hermes and Vans
The blank canvases that are Vans sneakers have inspired many a masterpiece but none quite blend high and low fashion as ingeniously as this unofficial collaboration that customizes a pair with Hermes scarves.
8. Slew of Brooklyn Vendors Confirmed for Rockaway Boardwalk
In a win for urban revivification and low-key restaurant development, several of Brooklyn's finest restaurants—among them Roberta's, Caracas and Blue Bottle—are banding together to open up shop this summer nearby the popular Rockaway Taco.
9. This is My Dream
Full of insights like "I'm just interested in how to cut the clothing," the trailer for the forthcoming documentary on world-renowned designer Yohji Yamamoto promises a must-see film when it comes out this fall.
10. Richard Chai for Acura
Fashion designer Richard Chai created an elegant set of limited-edition driving gloves for Acura, inspired by the new film Thor made using the automaker's leather and based on the curves of the vehicle's interior.
11. Sneakerpedia
On the heels of an upswing, Foot Locker is launching Sneakerpedia on 17 May 2011. The encyclopedic sight will offer info on when the shoe hit the market, materials, style and pretty much anything else a sneaker freaker would want.
12. Playboy for iPad
The final element has fallen into place to make reading on the iPad a classy experience for any debonair gent with the release of Playboy for iPad. Hef and company have finally gone totally digital, offering ever issue since the magazines inception (1953) for mobile viewing.
From the mountain to subway, six situation-specific headphones for all your listening needs
Even audiophiles will tell you that sourcing the ultimate headphones is a hunt for the Holiest of Grails. Rather than look for an all-purpose solution, we surveyed the latest models to come up with the following favorite pairs tailored for different uses. Matched with some recent tracks that have been on heavy rotation in the CH offices recently, consider this your guide to total listening pleasure.
Corner Office
Ideal for workaholics, the wireless Sennheiser RS170 means you'll never miss a beat of your favorite song—whether typing at your desk or grabbing the twentieth coffee of the day. Features include bass and surround-sound on/off options, incredible acoustics, 260-feet of free range mobility and impeccable comfort. Absolutely worth the $280 price tag, pick up a pair from Adorama.
Listen: "House of Balloons - Glass Table Girls" by The Weeknd
Grinding
Sony brings pristine audio and clear tones to the table with their MDR-ZX700s. An extremely lightweight design fits over the entire ear, relieves the typical ear pressure and isolates the outstanding acoustics. Long the brand of choice for video and audio production both in the field and studio, these will stand up to hours of recording and editing. At $120 (available from Sony), there's good value for the dough here too.
Listen: "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele
On the Bus
Urbanears' Plattan, a full-sized, not-too-bulky headphone, is ideal for hitting the road. With a fabric cord at just about waist-length, the mobile-friendly design helps avoid tangles on the go. And with their "zound plug," your new best friend sitting next to you can plug directly into your 'phones to share the sweet tunes. Available in tons of on-trend colors and running $60 a pop (from Urbanears), they're a good one for parents to gift to college-age kids.
Listen: "County Line" by Cass McCombs
Getting Action
For the record, we never, ever encourage wearing headphones while snowboarding, skating, biking or any other activity requiring a full set of senses. But our homies over at Frends sure do. Enter the Alli, designed by snowboarders for snowboarding. These small, over-ear headphones sound great even if it feels like you're going Mach 10. Hit the smartphone-compatible pause button to chat with buddies, then hit play to drown out the chatty weekend warrior next to you on the lift. Plus, at $35 (from Frends), they're cheap enough to be replaced after a nice biff.
Listen: "Standing at the Station" by Ty Segall
Commute
Long flights, missed trains, loud engines and babies crying equals no fun. Add the Phiaton PS 20 NC and enjoy your music without the distractions. The superior noise-canceling technology and comfortable in-ear design allow for amazing acoustics that make any song sound better. No more listening to your fellow subway rider's less tasteful music, keep yours at a comfortable level while blocking out the world. Well worth the retail price of $130, they sell from Ritz Camera.
Listen: "Battery Kinzie" by Fleet Foxes
Work It
Small, sleek and solid, Moshi Audio's Vortex stays in tune while you literally run around. Dial in the superb bass to get through your workout and rely on the braided cord to avoid tangles. Amazingly enough to actually stay in your ear during fast-paced activity, $80 gets you great sound and beautiful design—from Moshi's online store.
Listen: "Boom" by jj
Contributions from: Karen Day, Graham Hiemstra, Ami Kealoha, Evan Orensten and Tim Yu
Bike-powered sewing machines, the secret iPhone tracker and eggshell carvings in this week's look at the web
1. The Bicycle Cap by peSeta for the New Museum
Spanish bike accessories brand PeSeta tells the charming story of how their clever bike-powered sewing machine came to be, as well as all the details of the biking hat for the New Museum that they made using it.
2. The California Deck
An homage to the Golden State of skateboarding, the California Deck is a handcrafted board made of 100% Canadian maple in the shape of the state.
3. Symmetry
This fantastic video, a sister piece to Radiolab's recent podcast, explores symmetry in a series of split-screen images that just might make you think.
4. A Tiny Day in the Jackson Hole Backcountry
Impressive for its length and accuracy, Tristan Greszko's tilt-shift film is the culmination of Photoshop, After Effects and Final Cut Express skills. Set to Pink Floyd's classic Dark Side song "Time" (the Pretty Lights Remix), "A Tiny Day in the Jackson Hole Backcountry." really captures just how epic skiing a massive mountain can be.
5. Audi A7 Papercraft Model
This video documents graphic artist Taras Lesko making the Audi-commissioned model of the A7 (the brand's new "first grown-up car" model) using 285 sheets of paper.
6. Par Avion
Sherwood Forlee and Mihoko Ouchi, who form the design team The., apply the stylings of a classic airmail envelope to a ringspun tee for an entirely new way to "go postal."
7. Keith Haring at MOCA "Art in the Streets"
Of all the reasons to check out Deitch's mega-show, the extensive collection of works by Keith Haring (including a car covered in his trademark squiggles) may be the most appealing.
8. iPhone Tracker
When two app developers stumbled across a secret iPhone log containing its complete location history, they released this free app to let you view and track the data—not that there's any purpose for it...yet.
9. Eggshell Carvings
Instructable user Bbstudio decided to discover the limitations of nature's greatest design, the eggshell. After experimenting with how much shell could be carved away while still retaining the egg's shape, the resulting visually stunning sculptures seem to defy gravity.
10. Ziiiro Watches
With an inner swirl that tells the hour and an outer swirl to tell minutes, Ziiiro watches poetically tell time in either turquoise or fuschia.
11. Spiral Ballpoint Pen
Designers Han Chi-hoon, Kim Yeon-soo, Park Byong-gon and Kim Sung-geun collaborated on a new ballpoint ink cartridge in a spiral form, an innovation that holds twice as much ink as a traditional pen.
12. WeFund
Like a Kickstarter specific to the artistic community, WeFund, a new web-based program, links creative projects with potential funders in exchange for non-monetary incentives.
Pot-infused pop, Ferrari's four-wheel drive, in-eye 3D displays and more in this week's online round-up
1. A Capsule Summary
From Riviera Club's grown-up surfer wear to Fair Isle and stripes by Norse Projects, The Moment styles a shoot with menswear picks from the recent Capsule show held in NYC.
2. Two Men, 25,000 Ping Pong Balls, and a Rabbit
Snarkitecture shows off their 2,500-square-foot live-work space, which the duo converted from a former sheet-metal factory in Greenpoint.
3. Kafka Redesign
Combining a deft use of color, a font based on Kafka's own handwriting and graphic eyes, art director Peter Mendelsund plays around with the author's covers.
4. Oak Street Bootmakers
This new shoe brand, launched last year and now available for pre-order, draws on the talents of experienced cobblers to handcraft subtly updated classics in the U.S. using premium Horween leather.
5. Drinkable Marijuana
The medical marijuana business expands to include a range of drinks that pack a serious punch, with a 12-ounce bottle containing 2.5 grams of bud.
6. Ferrari FF: Four Wheel Drive, Four Seats, One Fantastic Rear End
Ferrari launches their first four wheel drive, powered by a 12-cylinder engine and with room for four.
7. Hair Clip on Hair
Limited to an edition of 50, this hair clip by Stockholm-based design studio Humans Since 1982 makes a set of pretty eyes into an accessory and runs $90.
8. Smart Contact Lenses for Health and Head-Up Displays
New advances in tech-enabled contact lenses have big implications for applications like treating glaucoma and diabetes, as well as for creating in-eye displays.
Get more out of your gadgets with these tech add-ons
If there's any theme to the newsworthy items found at CES this year, it's the concept of the add-on gadget. From tweeting from a camera to printing mobile pictures and avoiding speeding tickets with phones, here are a few new things you can do when devices start talking to each other.
Polaroid Grey Label Printer
The lesser-hyped product from Polaroid's new Gaga designed line, the GL10Grey Label printer uses a new Zink (zero ink) printing technology to print quality 3"x4" shots sent to the device via Bluetooth from a Blackberry or Android app. It gives the option of printing border-less or with an old-school white frame, and offers a variety of special effects. With its chic leather carrying case, it makes a great accessory for taking out to a party. Due out this May, the printer will run $150.
Olympus PP1 Penpal
To trick out their new E-PL2 micro four-thirds camera, Olympus' PP1 Penpal fits into the flash hotshoe. When in place, a "share" option appears on the playback screen to transfer that picture to Blackberry or Android devices via Bluetooth. The pic lands in your photo library so it can be easily posted to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr or anywhere else you share photos from your phone. It's available from Olympus retailers now for $80.
Surc Univeral Remote iPhone Case
Not the first but potentially the most powerful, this iPhone case and accompanying software turns phones into universal remotes. You can easily add devices and rooms to be able to use it anywhere in your home, or launch a "Surc attack" in your favorite bar and change the TV station so that you never miss an episode of Real Housewives. It comes out this spring and will retail for $70 from Surc.
Cobra iRadar
With Cobra iRadar a simple radar detector becomes more powerful by pairing with your iPhone. The app tracks driving information, avoids red light cameras and notes speed traps. It's available from several retailers now for $130.
Parrot Astroid
The Parrot Astroid is a single-plug in-dash receiver with a simple interface and a high-res color screen featuring web apps, voice recognition, music playback and hands-free telephony—all by communicating with your mobile phone over Bluetooth.
Self-washing fabric, underground NYC (literally) and recycled-magazine Nikes round out this week's look at the web
1. Boardwalk Empire VFX Breakdowns of Season 1
The graphics effects team from Boardwalk Empire has given the public a glimpse of their amazing compositing skills. In this video you can see how the editors create the classic Atlantic City landscape and create a simulated war injury.
2. Inside Ralph’s Garage
Ralph Lauren recently moved his legendary car collection—perhaps the most beautiful and valuable in the world—to a garage that he converted into a museum-like environment. Vanity Fair ran a recent exclusive with images of to-die-for models like the 1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa, 1938 Alfa Romeo Mille Miglia Spyder, 2010 Lamborghini Murciélago Super Veloce and many more dream cars.
3. Nike Makes Shoes From Shredded Magazines
Hackneyed commentary about the death of print and creative re-use aside, Nike's new sneakers win not just for the unexpected use of castoff magazines but for how they incorporate the material. The clean, rational lines make for a Matrix-like effect, which nicely contrasts with the chaos of the one-of-a-kind patterns.
4. Francis Ford Coppola: On Risk, Money, Craft and Collaboration
Behance spends some time with the living cinema legend to learn what they can about creative productivity from his 45 years of experience.
5. Dream of the '90s
This video teaser for the upcoming comedy series "Portlandia" gets a lot about the city hilariously right. With SNL's Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, we're looking forward to the show's debut 21 January 2011 on IFC.
6. The Wilderness Below Your Feet
Writer Alan Feuer takes on the endlessly-fascinating world of underground NYC by spending a few days adventuring through the city's sewers and transit tunnels and chronicling the experience for the New York Times.
7. Pulp-Based Computing
By incorporating "electrically active inks, conductive threads, and smart materials" into paper, this new material developed by MIT's Media lab has all sorts of potential applications.
8. The Man-Made Rainbow Machine
Professor and artist Michael Jones Mckean designed a machine comprised of commercial jet pumps and custom-designed nozzles that creates gigantic, man made rainbows.
9. Nanotube Yarns Let Smart Clothing Survive the Laundry
New developments in the treatment of carbon nanotube fibers show potential for more widespread use in the garment industry. Researchers at the Univeristy of Texas in Dallas are working on using this tech to produce self-washing clothing.
10. Lade Gaga for Polaroid
Polaroid's Lady Gaga-designed camera glasses (consisting of a built-in camera and dual LCD screens), along with a digital camera and printer, debuted this week at CES, though the whole being able to see through the glasses thing hasn't quite been figured out yet.
LED eyelashes, wearable displays and biofeedback accessories in Dr. Sabine Seymour's latest book
Featuring a woven fabric cover embossed with a scannable QR code, Sabine Seymour's new book "Functional Aesthetics: Visions In Fashionable Technology" immediately offers a simple proof that textile can be interface. In Seymour's second book on the subject, the professor and innovator defines fashionable wearables as "designed garments, accessories or jewelry that combine aesthetics and style with functional technology."
Seymour takes a more analog approach to the discussion on fashionable technology with eight chapters that break down the various forms of functional aesthetics and major examples of each, spanning Soomi Park's LED Eyelashes (filed under The "Garment as Amplifier of Fantasy") to CuteCircuit's Galaxy Dress ("The Epidermis as Metaphor"). The chapter "Woven Interface" shows how innovations in textiles and the weaving process enable new practices or an extra layer of personalization, while "Scientific Couture" demonstrates how biological advances can lead to a more sustainable world.
From current fashions to exploratory prototypes, "Functional Aesthetics" covers every aspect of the subject in an easily digestible format. Additionally, Seymour offers the section "Kits & DIY" for those looking to experiment as well as "Inspirations"—a list of websites, blogs, books and creatives that best tackle the fashionable technology topic.
"Functional Aesthetics: Visions In Fashionable Technology" sells online from Amazon.
Ads
