Oct 22
Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde has designed everything from smart highways for the United Kingdom
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Oct 21
Observe, citizens, as this delightfully talented and probably unhinged gentleman recreates the iOS 7 from scratch using only the tools in Microsoft Word. There is no good explanation for this, but I still can’t tear my eyes away from it.
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Oct 20
Over the years we’ve seen a variety of concepts for portable augmented reality devices, but it seems as if Google Glass opened the floodgates for AR devices that are worn like eyeglasses. Case in point, the Japanese telecommunications company NTT Docomo, which recently showed off not one but four ideas for glasses with an AR interface.
The first interface that NTT Docomo showed off was a projector that mirrored the display of a connected mobile device. The player appears to float in front of you and you can still see what’s in front of you in the background of the window. That in itself isn’t particularly revolutionary or practical, but when paired with sensors it turns into a really neat product. For instance, Docomo imagines a combination of a head-mounted camera and a face recognition app that shows you information about the people you meet.
The other two concepts were more exciting: the real-time translator that I talked about a couple of weeks ago and an external projector that can detect the size of the object that you’re using as a display surface. When used with a ring-shaped accessory, the glasses will also be able to detect your hand, allowing you to manipulate the projection as if it were a touchscreen.
There you have it, another exciting look at the future of augmented reality, and perhaps fashion as well. Out of all the concepts I’ve seen, the one I really want to own would still be the Sixthsense concept from back in 2009. I wouldn’t mind looking like a dork for that.
[via DigInfo TV via BitRebels]
Oct 19
If you find yourself in Japan sometime, you might want to check out the Seven Stars train. It will spoil you from other trains, bullet or otherwise, because this train is elegant style on the outside with a creamy luxury inside.
The train’s is a spacious 226-square meter room with a five-foot panoramic window that gives you a gorgeous view of Kyushu from the back of the train. The cabins all have intricate wood decorations and high paneled ceilings. It is basically the best train you could ever sleep on. For a four-day/three-night trip, this penthouse on wheels goes for an “introductory rate” of $5,750 per person per night, double occupancy. The price is expected to go up to $7,835 per person starting next July.
Photo: Japan Times
There is also a lounge car where passengers can unwind and socialize, while talking about how much money they spent. The train has been open since October 15th, and is so popular that it is booked through through June of next year. All aboard!
Oct 19
Darth Vader and Boba Fett Character Curtains: The Dark Side of Your Windows
Posted in: Today's ChiliNow that you have seen these cool Darth Vader and Boba Fett character curtains, it will be curtains… for your old curtains. Does that make sense? These unusual curtains are designed for kids and geeks who are sick of looking at boring window treatments in their room. Seeing a Star Wars bad guy in the window is much cooler than some crappy plastic vertical blinds.
They could be kind of scary to some kids I guess, but they look pretty sweet to me. Vader looks super ominous backlit in sunlight, while Boba Fett just looks like business as usual, showing up to collect a bounty.
These neat curtains come from Etsy artist CanCreate who will sell you the pair for $100(USD). Hopefully they won’t be too scary staring down at you at night.
Oct 18
How can a thousand photos turn into a single timelapse? And what’s it like inside an artificial cave 200 feet below Manhattan? The answer to both of these questions and more lie in the most beautiful items of the week.
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Oct 18
They don’t need gas, they can weave in and out of traffic, and you don’t even need a licence to ride one. But unless you tack on a set of panniers or a basket, bikes are notoriously lacking in storage space; a problem that Industrial Designer David Hotard might have eliminated with his novel Transport bike, which features trunk space inside the bike’s front wheel.
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Oct 18
A couple of weeks ago we saw a car that changes color when it’s wet, thanks to a coating of thermochromic paint. Icelandic designer Thorunn Arnadottir used the same kind of paint to make a radiator that, together with its twisting tubes, makes it appear organic. She calls it Blush, and it’s easy to see why.
Blush clearly mimics the appearance of a capillary, the smallest type of blood vessels. They facilitate the exchange of nutrients as well as waste materials and are often depicted in illustrations as having blue and red halves. Thorunn said, “Blush is a very important organ of the house. Regulates the temperature and keeps it warm and alive.”
I’d love to see more appliances that change color depending on their state. Perhaps a fridge that turns gray when there’s spoiled food inside. Or a bathroom door that turns brown to tell you that someone just dropped bombs inside.
[via Street Anatomy via Laughing Squid]
Oct 18
How do you hide a building? It sounds like a rhetorical question, but it was the very real dilemma confronting the architects charged with building a new Maritime Museum of Denmark a few years ago. The museum, you see, is located a few hundred yards away from Kronborg Castle—which serves as the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet and is protected by law.
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Oct 18
With millions of people around the world lacking access to a consistent, reliable source of water, contaminated jerry cans and buckets have become the unfortunate go-to method of transporting water in the developing world. The PackH20, which just won the 2013 People’s Design Award at the National Design Awards gala, plans to change that.
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