Hasta La Gadget!

Apparently, the hottest way to travel these days is via trampoline. Remember the trampoline bridge concept that made crossing the river fun again? Well, now you’re about to see a 170-foot-long trampoline pathway that makes commuting fun again.

It’s called Fast Track, and while it looks pretty exciting, the whole concept seems a bit outrageous. For one, I don’t know anyone who can manage to jump all the way across 170 feet of trampoline without falling off (or heaving) at least once or twice. Second, it’s going to multiply travel time by a couple of factors because it’ll obviously take longer to bounce erratically to your destination instead of just walking towards it.

Somehow, I get the feeling that getting people to where they want to go isn’t really the point of this trampoline anyhow, as you can see from this video clip:

“Fast Track” is an attempt to create intelligent infrastructure that is emotional and corresponds to the local context. It gives the user a different experience of moving and percieving the environment.

The Fast Track trampoline was on exhibit at the recent Archstoyanie festival in the forest of Nikola-Lenivets, Russia.

[via NOTCOT and KNSTRCT via Colossal Art+Design]

So you might have taken one look at the title and went, "LED lights? What does that have to do with me?" Well, if you’re well aware of what it can do and what people around you have been doing with it, then you’ll agree that it has a lot to do with you.

It wasn’t until recently that I realized that sleeping while hanging from the trees was a popular pastime. However, I guess that hanging tree tents not only give you a cool place to rest, but get you up off the ground and away from critters that can’t climb up and into your hovering outdoor domicile. The latest in the growing genre of tree tents is the Cocoon Tree.

This 3-meter (~9.84 feet) diameter, orb-shaped luxury tent is built from 24 curved aluminum rods which form the sphere, and then are covered with cloth to keep you sheltered from the elements and the insects.

The whole rig weighs about 132 pounds, plus the weight of its occupants. The tent is suspended from sturdy tree trunks using hefty polyester rope, designed to hold up to 1.6 tons each. Plus, there’s a security net that can be suspended beneath just in case anything happens to the tent. Inside the Cocoon is a large circular bed that’s got enough space to sleep two adults, or even a couple and two small children.

Once securely inside, roll-up mosquito netting keeps the bugs out, but lets light in. In addition to “in the tree” mounting, the Cocoon can be intalled on the ground, with lunar lander-like feet, floated on a platform, or even attached to a floating inner tube that lets you bob around the water.

Pricing and availability for the Cocoon Tree hasn’t been announced yet, but you can find out more about it over on the project’s website.

Also, if you get out the grey paint, you can make it look like a Death Star.

[via Likecool via HiConsumption]

On the day the National Snow And Ice Data Center (NSIDC) announced the
dreary news that the level of ice in the Arctic Sea is the lowest it has
been since such information was recorded, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) presented some positive news regarding
its goal to reduce the global warming potential (GWP) of the
refrigerants used in our homes and cars.

You don’t usually see much creativity in the design of rain gutters and downspouts. They all pretty much look the same to me (when the bums in the alley aren’t stealing them for scrap metal). But here’s a cool design that adds a touch of whimsy to the bottom of a downspout, taking the deluge of water that pours out and turning it into a little storm of its own.

I don’t really know much about it, other than that it’s awesome, was designed by Russian industrial designer Дмитрий Куляев, and probably isn’t going to be a product you can buy time soon – unless we can convince Art Lebedev studio to produce them. It seems like the type of thing that would be right up their alley, and they’re practically neighbors with the Russian designer anyhow. Here, I’ll even give them a Lebedev-esque name for it: Nimbostratus.

[via Meninos]