Hasta La Gadget!

We were lucky enough to meet with Vernon Kerswell at ExtremeFliers, a 20-something inventor with a passion for little flying things. His latest creation, the Microdrone 2.0, puts a surprisingly powerful brain inside a drone that is about as big as a baseball.

The Microdrone has built-in IR sensors as well as a six-axis gyroscope that stabilizes the copter immediately. Vernon was an effusive and effective presenter, running the drone through its paces as he described his trip to China to find the parts he needed to mass produce these little things.

Kerswell is the epitome of the start-up salesman and his excitement about his new product is palpable. I’m looking forward to trying it out in the harsh environment that is my home when it is launched in May for about $100.

We all remember Play-Doh, and the nifty little plastic Play-Doh fun factories that let you extrude spaghetti-like worms or star shaped snakes. I could sit for hours and play, reveling in the smell, the texture. My mom never allowed me to mix the colors though, (because I would ruin the dough) somehow this seriously stifled my creativity well into in adulthood, but thats another story, probably better told in another venue.

However, our friends over at ThinkGeek are stepping up the old fun factory experience and bringing us the 3D Play-Doh printer, forget about manually squeezing out a fake ice cream cone, you and your tablet or Smartphone can now dream up just about anything, and have it appear in full color (sorry mom) right before your eyes. Sounds cool, doesn’t it?

To use the Play-Doh 3D Printer you need only to insert three cans of your favorite color, load up the free app on your tablet of choice, and get your creative juices flowing. Once you are able to make the 3D model within the application, it seems pretty simple to create the solid 3D piece! Some may say a device like this would also stifle creativity, I say get your CAD skills in order and have at it!

Sure the printer is a toy, and your creations wont be nearly as sturdy as the stuff you make on a 3D printer that works with plastics, but hey… doesn’t this sound like a great idea? It really does, doesn’t it? Check out more info on the ThinkGeek website and tell me that you wouldn’t want one. Someday my friends…. someday.

[ 3D Play-Doh Printer – Modeling Magic? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Ikea’s furniture isn’t just cheap and easy to transport, it’s easy to hack too, with sites like Ikea Hackers showcasing some of the best modifications. But none can top this hack by Andreas Bhend and Samuel N. Bernier that converts a couple of Ikea Frosta stools into a pedal-less bike—or draisienne if you really want to get technical. More »

When was the last time you had plenty of fun around the office with your colleagues, or at home in your own backyard with the kids? Surely getting a set of NERF guns to play with would help lighten up the seriousness of a particular situation, and it is great at building bridges in a safe and healthy manner. Well, assuming you are the type who feel it is best to take the enemy “out” before he or she is able to reach you, then the $9.99 NERF Triad Elite 3-Dart Mini Blaster would seem to be the ideal weapon of choice.

After all, the NERF Triad Elite 3-Dart Mini Blaster is capable of firing three shots at a range of 75 feet away. 75 feet! That’s really far, and it shoots three darts, not simultaneously, but one at a time, from that great a distance. The smart technology involved here will let the NERF Triad Elite 3-Dart Mini Blaster know just which barrels are loaded, hence directing air to those barrels only without you going through the motions of a misfire. Surely it is never too early to prepare for a summer that is filled with fun, right?

[ NERF Triad Elite 3-Dart Mini Blaster copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Design Festa is a two-day biannual international art event held in Tokyo which showcases an enormous array of original artwork with over 10,000 artists exhibiting, buying and selling works created in multiple mediums. The 37th Design Festa will be held this year on May 18th and 19th (Sat-Sun). You can check out the highlights from last year’s events in the video bellow.

With the thousands of designers that will exhibit, attend and participate in the event we wanted to know what happens to them as a result of showcasing their designs and products. So we asked the organisers of Design Festa to share with us some success stories of past exhibitors.

TaroShooten are a pair of toy designers who first exhibited at Design Festa back in 1999 from which they launched into commercial success with their popular “Korejanai Robo” (Not This Robot, Robot) series which spoofs the fact that kids don’t always receive the right gift from their parents, elaborately constructed suicide buttons and other humorous products. Korejanai Robo has even entered into the pop culture sphere spawning its own merchandise such as USB sticks, costumes and cameras featuring character designs. The designers even created a funny backstory and orignal theme music for the series as well.

Shikano Takashi is another Japanese designer who enjoyed more recent success as a result of demonstrating his product at Design Festa in 2012. His “Shirt-ties” which are made of colourful felt can be fixed onto any shirt button are designed to be easily worn and fashionable and currently on sale at Tokyo iine.

Korean illustrator, artist and picture book author Seo Miji has boosted her career expontentially after showcasing her unique illustrations at Design Festa back in 2006. Having been interviewed and featured by mass media outlets including NHK and CNBC she is now invited to give regular talks and presentations at schools and colleges. Most of her artwork and stories are aimed at and about young children. You can check out her most recent artwork and contributions on her website.  The video bellow shows a live paint demo by Seo Miji at a the 33rd Design Festa.

Canadian

The artists above have shown that attending events such as Design Festa can significantly enhance exposure to one’s artwork and products, raise media attention and contribute to increasing commercial prospects.

To find out more about the next Design Festa event check out their homepage, facebook and twitter pages.