Mar 16
Apple, at least under Jobs’ regime, almost never or only so rarely grants interviews, so when it gave Sunday Times the probably once in a lifetime chance to talk to … Continue reading
Mar 16
London Underground Radio
Posted in: Today's ChiliI’ll be perfectly honest – I haven’t listened to broadcast radio in a number of years. Between iTunes, Pandora, and SiriusXM, I have enough choices already. That said, I would actually listen to the radio again if I could have one that looked like this.
Created by sound artist/designer Yuri Suzuki, the Tube Map Radio is a printed circuit board designed in the image of London’s underground subway map. But instead of just telling you how to get from the Tower Bridge to King’s Cross, it actually works as a radio.
Certain locations on the map form a radio circuit, and assuming you place all the resistors, capacitors, and other electronics in the right places, it will form a functional radio.
Unfortunately, I don’t think you can buy the radio at this point, but I think Yuri should consider making a series of these for different cities and selling them in kit form.
[via MoCo LoCo]
Mar 16
Steam Controller Touchscreen Replaced with Buttons: Button Diamonds are Forever
Posted in: Today's ChiliWhen Valve unveiled its Steam Controller last year, I was quite skeptical about the value of its built-in touchscreen. It turns out many of Valve’s testers had the same opinion. This January, at the 2014 Steam Dev Days conference, the company announced that it was ditching the touchscreen for a more conventional button configuration.
In the video below, you’ll see Valve’s Eric Hope and John McCaskey talk about the evolution of the Steam Controller at Steam Dev Days. At around 23:35 into the video, Eric talks about the point when they realized that the touchscreen was not really that useful. See, Valve added a “ghost mode” that displayed an onscreen prompt showing you what part of the touchscreen you’re touching as soon as you touch it.
Ghost mode was a great feature. So great that Valve realized it rendered the controller’s screen – which Eric said was the most expensive part of the controller – pointless. Removing the touchscreen also allowed Valve to ditch the built-in rechargeable battery and switch to AA batteries, further driving the cost of the controller down.
Then at around 25:39 in the video Eric discusses why the ABXY corner buttons on the previous prototype also had to be scrapped. Valve labeled the face buttons A, B, X and Y to make them familiar to gamers, only to arrange the buttons in an unfamiliar layout. The result was a jarring experience for testers, who had a particularly hard time accepting the fact that the four ol’ buddies were split into two groups.
As Eric said in the video, the controller is still undergoing internal testing and is nowhere near its final form. They could bring the touchscreen back. They could also place the buttons a bit farther apart. You know what they say about people with big thumbs: they have trouble with cramped controllers.
[via Valve via Ars Technica, Gamasutra & Gamesblog]
Mar 16
Isaac Hannaford’s does amazing concept work for games like Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Destiny. His designs feel really solid and so elegant. My brain can buy into them. I can imagine and believe a future like this.
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Mar 15
Concept designer Al Crutchley has a lot of cool machine in his mind, from ekranoplanes and mechs to flying infantry and missile batteries orbiting in the Asteroid Belt. Would we ever see a world in which such machines are real? It’s something like Titanfall coming to the future of Humanity?
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Mar 14
I never get tired of Daniel Simon’s design work, the man behind the vehicle design in Tron Legacy, Oblivion, the Lotus C-01 motorbike. His classic Cosmic Motors series are amazing.
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Mar 14
A beautiful 1960s New York guidebook, crazy scans of amazing insects, and so much more. Welcome, and let us wow you with some of our favorite finds from the worlds of art, architecture, and design from the past week:
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Mar 14
British artist Luke Jerram wants to take over a Bristol high street for an afternoon to set up a massive, 90-meter-long wet and wild joyride. Would you give it a try?
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Mar 14
When you’re boiling water or steaming vegetables, the water vapor usually stays inside the pot. But if you’re looking for a vented pot lid to let off some steam, literally, then this is the one you must seek out.
This microwave-safe silicone pot lid has a tiny steamship sitting atop it, which funnels your steam out of its exhaust stacks. It’s even cruising through a bright blue ocean as it sits atop your piping hot pot or steamer.
The Steam Ship is coming soon from our friends at Fred & Friends, and will be available from Perpetual Kid for $13.49(USD).
[via Gizmodo Japan]
Mar 14
Most of the clocks we see hanging on the walls of homes and offices today are battery powered. There are a few that might be powered by a spring or wired into the room’s electricity. However, battery or electric power aren’t the only ways to operate a clock.
A company called Bedol has a whole range of clocks that are powered by water. The latest clock from the company is a wall clock that is powered by H2O. The clock is shaped like a drop of water and has a translucent tank in the back. The water put into the clock interacts with metal plates in the tank to produce electricity.
One tank full of water will power the clock for six months to a year according to its maker. The clock then needs to be refilled and it will continue telling time. The Water Wall Clock comes in several colors, and sells for $89(USD). It will start shipping this April.
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