Let’s say that you wanted to set up your living room so that everything looked like it was being subjected to a gale-force wind. Or one where everything looks like it’s trying to escape at high speed. This is the perfect vase for your absurd fantasies. More »
Games are meant to take your mind off reality. People play games to distract themselves from the million and one problems they’re currently having at work or in their business. However, the Urban Renewal board game probably won’t be much of a game for you if you work as a city councilor or developer. That’s because the game is all about challenging and sometimes exciting world of urban renewal.
While it doesn’t sound like as much fun as SimCity, visual artist Flavio Trevisan’s game allows players to “do all the things that are done in a modern city’s cut-throat planning office.”
The game requires each player to take on a certain role, ranging from city councilors and the man on the street (aka the bystander) to the developer and the skyscraper enthusiast. Players can choose to demolish the failed urban experiments in their block in order to rebuild it to become the ideal city.
However, this is one game that will never end. According to Trevisan: “Continue playing until all players have left the game in pursuit of other interests.”
The Game of Urban Renewal was one of the pieces exhibited at this year’s Museum of the Represented City, which is an exhibition of Trevisan’s work. The cool thing is that the ‘Special Regent Park Edition’ of the game is available for purchase at the exhibit’s gift shop.
[via Pop Up City]
Hey stop right there. We have a pletora of pretty things to show you. From an old water tank that has new life as a loft, to a carbon fiber core axe, here are your most beautiful items of the week. More »
A group of students in Japan is trying to develop a machine that lets you pluck guitar strings with your foot. The technology could one day help people who only have one arm play guitar. Some day we might have a world of Rick Allen-like guitar players. More »
Regardless of the severity of the damage, a city rarely stays destroyed—even Chernobyl will be resettled eventually. And if these 12 reconstructed urban landscapes are any example, when it does get rebuilt, you’ll want to double check the address. More »
I like to know the exact time, since most of the time I’m either running late or trying to get somewhere at a specific time. However, that doesn’t mean that I always need to know the time, right down to the millisecond. Despite its minimal display this futuristic watch will tell time in minute intervals, which should be enough for most of us.
The Sci-Fi Inspired concept watch was designed by a guy named Alan, and his concept is inspired specifically by two films: 2001: A Space Odyssey and TRON:Legacy. You can readily see both influences in the design.
The square LED face is set into a metal case and has segmented metal band to go with. The outer circle tells the time in 5 minute blocks while the middle circle represents the hours. If you need to get a more exact reading of the time, the middle blocks are each for 1-minute, so the watch can be precise when it needs to be.
For now, this watch is a concept, but head on over to Tokyflash to vote for it, if you like it. If it gets enough support, it just might get made by the Japanese studio.
Fab toy photographer Avanaut has made this beautiful poster made with his childhood old spaceships. They look beautiful: More »
Not content with turning inanimate objects into touch sensitive interfaces, Disney Research is now developing a noninvasive technology they call Botanicus Interacticus, which turns plants into touch sensitive input devices.
In simple terms, an electrode is buried into the soil where a plant has taken root. This allows Disney’s researchers to apply a weak current to the plant at multiple frequencies. The use of multiple frequencies helps the researchers identify not just when but also where the plant is being touched. These signals can then be used in a variety of ways – the demo below shows plants being used to play music and video.
Imagine having just a couple of plants inside your room instead of switches. Or perhaps you can make it so your door will only unlock when you touch a nearby plant in a certain way. That sounded wrong, but you get what I mean.
[via BuzzFeed]
Typically the first thing that goes through a dog’s head when he wakes up in the morning is “ugh, I have to trot all the way downstairs to eat my kibble on the same filthy steps as humans.” Architecture Firm 07Beach totally understands that sentiment, so it remodeled this home in Ho Chi Minh City to include a personal staircase just for Fido. More »
Love lounging around? Love burritos? Then you’ll most likely love the Blandito, or at least the thought that went behind it.
The Blandito is basically a giant pita-shaped sleeping mat that looks extremely cushy and comfortable. It’s convertible, too. Just twist it this way and that and tie it shut to wrap yourself (and your significant other) into a warm embrace.
The Blandito isn’t available for purchase yet, although you can bookmark its page on Behance and check back often for updates. This stop-motion video shows all the ways the Blandito can be folded, wrapped, and twisted into shape:
[via Behance via Bit Rebels]
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
