Finger Power
From: Song Teaho & Hyejin Lee
If you've never been caught without a dead cell phone or iPod battery, chances are you don't actually own either one. And if this situation doesn't infuriate you to the ends of the Earth, then I'd like to ask you to check your pulse.
This concept by Teaho & Lee is, by no means, the first attempt by designers to solve the portable power (or lack thereof) conundrum. However, this one will really make those engineers out there hark back to the days of physics and Newtonian coordinates (centripetal forces, anyone?).
For the rest of you, just understand that (as the picture on the right suggests) the energy you're introducing into the battery by twirling it on your fingertip would be enough to get you some much-needed voice calling juice. Theoretically, you'd never be stranded with a dead battery.
The downside? Would you rather have your current cell phone battery, or one that gets 50% less juice but can be recharged indefinitely using some physical effort? The choice might not be as straightforward as you think to the average technology consumer.
Stay innovative.
-Nick (www.nickselman.com)
Transparentius
From: Art Lebedev via Engadget
Safety tends to take a prominent role in my blog, for several reasons. For one thing, I think safety in design sort of go hand-in-hand. You can't consider safety without considering such things as human factors, new technologies, or the economic feasibility of safety. However, I think there is just something beautiful about a unique take on safety. It is making something mundane, something we often take for granted, and making it into a desirable object or idea.
Now, if you'll let me bring it back to the concept at hand, we have Art Lebedev's Transparentius concept. It's a pretty simple concept: a semi truck, a camera, and some way to project a large image onto a flat surface. The camera would take live video of what was going on in front of the truck and communicate it to those in tow. The idea is that safety can be enhanced if you were able to see around the truck in front of you.
SWAY Studio
From: SWAY Studio
I'll be the first to admit: I've seen their stuff around and never even known it. Okay, your turn. Go ahead and fess up.
SWAY Studio's proprietary CG technology is ubiquitous on those pesky things you fast-forward your DVR through nowadays. They can mostly be found in just about every car commercial out there, but other clientele include a utilities company, Bon Jovi, and Kanye West/Complex Magazine.
Their work is so amazing that, most of the time, you don't know you're even watching it. I first started trying to figure out "who made this" when I saw this GMC Terrain commercial below. Not because it looked unrealistic, but because I really enjoyed the planar feature callouts. This is still one of my favorite commercials (even though I hate American cars), because of its simple and elegant design.
A couple more really neat ones below... A "making of" Bon Jovi video and (another) one of my favorite car commercials of all time (but mostly because of the classic video game reference).
Synapsis Fuse Concept
From: Synaptics
Synaptics dabbled in the mobile touchscreen market before the Apple iPhone ever came along. For an innovator with that type of reputation, the Fuse concept makes a logical next step. Believing that a new breakthrough in this design space is overdue, Synaptics assembled an all-star cast of technology leaders to collaborate on the Fuse.
The idea behind the Synpatics Fuse is to expand on the essentially one-dimensional interactivity of a normal touchscreen phone. The Fuse has a plethora of sensors at its disposal, which allows the user to squeeze, tilt, and otherwise interact with parts of the phone. The goal is to allow the user to perform complex tasks with one hand, and without looking at the device.
While I'm not sure that squeezing a mobile phone is the logical next step, the concept does raise many questions about interaction design and user interfaces. Are there simpler ways to perform mundane tasks on ever-more-capable smart phones? A 3.5" screen is an awfully small amount of screen real estate to control the kitchen sink of functions that a 16- or 32-GB phone can accomplish.
Plus, while the concept is innovative, it seems that our wonderful mobile hardware OEM manufacturers are still having a tough time just getting touchscreen correct. Thus, don't expect to see the Synaptics Fuse offered at a rebate through your mobile phone provider anytime soon.
Stay innovative.
-Nick (www.nickselman.com)
Thermahelm
From: Thermahelm
Good design improves lives, and this product is no exception. Designed with the most accident-prone motorists on the road in mind , this self-cooling helmet could prevent often-fatal brain injuries resulting from motorcycle accidents.
Fitted to an existing safety helmet, the device would envelope the head and, in the event of an impact, trigger an endothermic (i.e. absorbs heat) reaction that would cool the head. Like putting ice on a swollen knee or ankle injury, the Thermahelm could not only reduce swelling, but also keep potentially fatal temperatures within the helmet from rising.
Even before paramedics are notified of an accident, the wearer could be receiving valuable life-saving medical attention by Thermahelm.
Check out their website for a more in-depth look at the technology, and try to look past the hokey animations and flash videos at a technology that could become an industry standard one day.
Stay innovative.
-Nick (www.nickselman.com)
Touchtable – Music Mixing And Listening Device
From: Thomas Mascall
This nifty little concept builds on the new wave of products built to enhance music's interactivity. Whereas an iPod Touch lets you play with album artwork, Touchtable enables interactivity with the tunes themselves.
The iPod-esque touch-wheel, in combination with an array of buttons, lets users control volume, tempo, track and track position, cue, and loop... just to name a few. The user can create their own mixes, on-the-fly, with a few flicks of the thumb.
Two touchtables could be combined, creating a 1/8th scale DJ turntable; or one device could be connected to a computer loaded with appropriate software, turning the touchtable into a portable midi device.
Audiophiles, sound off! (pun intended)
Stay innovative.
-Nick (www.nickselman.com)
CES 2010 is going on right now!
The Consumer Electronics Showcase is going on right now, and if you aren't already following, you should be!
Here's a link to CNET's live coverage of all of the offerings. With any luck (meaning if I can put down Modern Warfare 2 for a while), I'll be posting a recap of the coolest tech offerings once CES concludes.
Stay innovative.
-Nick (www.nickselman.com)
Rambler Socket Built-in Wall Extension Cord
From: Meysam Movahedi
It doesn't take an avid fanboy of the design world to know that the myriad of proposed re-designs to the traditional wall socket contains many bad eggs. But here's one that wallows in equal parts simplicity and ingenuity. The idea hides a simple pull-to-unwind/pull-to-wind coil of extension cord in the wall behind the socket. A simple pinch of the buttons on the bezel releases the socket and adds 1.5 meters of portability to any household device that may command it.
Next step: developing one of those pull-to-wind contraptions that actually works, headache-free.
Stay innovative.
-Nick (www.nickselman.com)
Heated Roadways
From: University of Houston
While the concept of heated roads may not be new, a new technology and implementation, developed by Christiana Chang and her colleagues at the University of Houston, may be the most practical and feasible yet. Rather than embedding traditional heating elements in concrete, the team instead ran current through sheets of paper embedded with carbon nanofibers to heat the roadways. The results: heated roads that require a fraction of the energy (and cost) of traditional approaches.
Because plowing roads is costly, and salting them damages the environment and infrastructure (salt erodes metal bridges), the team estimates that this approach to keeping roads safe from snow and ice makes economic (and ecological) sense. Full study found here.
Stay innovative.
-Nick (www.nickselman.com)
