Cool, and a little nauseating, bar venue by 3GATTI Architecture Studio in Shangha.
Very low budget. Shows money isn't everything.
-Aaron Venturini
31.3.11
Interesting Year
Just some interesting math...
This year we' re going to experience four unusual dates.
1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 and that's not all...
Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born - now add the age you will be this year,
The results will be 111 for everyone in whole world.
This year October will have 5 Saturdays, 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays.
This happens every 823 years.... These particular years are known as " Money Bags"
-Aaron Venturini
SUCK UK’s reflective gloves and socks
The socks feature a reflective patch on the back, which, once you’ve tucked your trousers into them (to prevent the chain jamming) adds to making you as visible as possible on the road, and the gloves have a reflective arrow patch on each side, so you can signal before you turn with added visibility. Pack of two socks, or two gloves - one size and unisex, with sewn on reflective patches.
-Aaron Venturini
30.3.11
IKEA sustainability report 2010
Since IKEA Denver store will be opening in Centennial area this fall we should know how much they are aware of the sustainable design before we devote all our money. :-)
click the title of this post to see the full report
Ted
29.3.11
Quick sketching!!!
Check out this Quick way to show your concept ideas using sketchbook pro and photoshop.
Joe Walger
Joe Walger
Quick sketching!!!
Check out this quick way to sketch and render your concepts using sketchbook pro and photoshop-
28.3.11
27.3.11
Random Acts Of Kindness?
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS | For consumers long used to (and annoyed by) distant, inflexible and self-serving corporations, any acts of kindness by brands will be gratefully received. For brands, increasingly open communications both with and between consumers (especially online), means that it's never been easier to surprise and delight audiences with R.A.K.: whether sending gifts, responding to publicly expressed moods or just showing that they care*.
Posted by Dennis
Posted by Dennis
Real transforming bike
What began as a high school science fair project has quickly turned into an international sensation.
Four years ago, a then 17-year-old Benjamin Gulak traveled to China with his father on a business trip. When he saw the incredible pollution in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, much of it produced by smoky two-stroke scooters and motorcycles, he knew that electrics would make ideal substitutes—if they were cool. He set out to create a practical, non-polluting vehicle with style.
Working with an inherited set of tools from his grandfather, he built an angle-iron frame, attached wheelchair motors, batteries and gyroscopes and arrived at the moment of truth – the test ride.
Since then, the now named Uno has accelerated at an incredible rate. After winning a Grand Award at the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the Uno was awarded one of the Top 10 Inventions of the Year by Popular Science magazine. Gulak’s Uno started to appear in newspapers and magazines around the world – leading to the start of BPG Motors.
-from company website
http://bpg-motors.com/
Ted Shin
Construction Quilt
This is a blanket that can double as a fort, or a table, or....
oh and from the same company - a sweet kitchen.
posted by ginni
AT&T predicts the future
Amazingly accurate predictions - but did AT&T bring them to us?
posted by ginni
25.3.11
It's Springtime!
Earthbox makes it easy to grow flowers and vegetables almost anywhere with its system of above ground containers. This is the mini-garden which can hang on a balcony or garden wall. earthbox.comPosted by Dennis Volz
21.3.11
Hwang's Law
Korea hones in on growth engines
March 22, 2011
The government and private sector is planning to invest 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) to secure new growth businesses in such areas as transparent flexible displays.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced six high-potential business areas it will invest in over the next five to seven years.
The list includes transparent flexible displays and related application products; neuro tools, which converge information and technology with neurology and nerve medical services; compact multipurpose module nuclear reactors; offshore plants to industrialize deep-sea resources; super-fine print electronics manufacturing systems designed to make flexible circuit boards for solar cells and multifunctional graphene materials; and components used in next-generation semiconductors and display panels.
The Economy Ministry said it expects 380 trillion won ($338 billion) in revenue to be generated from the fields in 2025. This is nearly equivalent to one third of Korea’s 2010 GDP.
Additionally, the government hopes development of such cutting-edge technology leads to the creation of 400,000 jobs and exports worth $240 billion, which is nearly half of last year’s exports.
Choi Joong-kyung, Knowledge Economy minister, said that now is an important time to make consistent efforts to produce practical results.
“To create jobs, improve people’s quality of life - including safety, health and countering the energy crisis - research and development in the knowledge economy, which has a close connection to the public’s life, should be approached preemptively and aggressively,” Choi said.
The minister added that stronger cooperation between conglomerates and small companies was part of the selection process.
“Between 1992 and 2002, the Korean government led a project to become one of the top seven countries in technology,” said Hwang Chang-gyu, who leads the Economy Ministry’s strategy and planning team, which launched in March 2010.
“As a result, five areas, including memory chips, now rank first in the global market.”
Hwang said the government now hopes to become one of the top five countries in cutting-edge technology.
The government a year ago recruited Hwang, former Samsung Electronics president and chief technical officer, to head its strategy planning team to enhance government-led research in cutting-edge technology fields.
This was the first time the strategy and planning team and the ministry held such a meeting.
Hwang's Law: The density of the top-of-the-line flash memory chips will double every 12 months.
Ted
14.3.11
Shape-Shifting Kitchens
ELECTROLUX H20
Péter Várdai has created perhaps the most futuristic kitchen ever in the Electrolux H20. The Electrolux H20 is a kitchen designed to change its shape based upon the whims of its owner.
The Electrolux H20 can be made to change into a variety of different forms thanks to its claytronic atoms. Once the atoms receive a signal to change shape, they get to work, quickly and easily altering the structure of the Electrolux H20 until it reaches it desired state.
The Electrolux H20 has also been designed to grow small vegetables and herbs, making the home greener and a need for planters nonexistent.
posted by Levi Smidt
Ultra Eco Finned Housing
KOMB HOME
Karim Rashid’s Komb home offers up a slice of the future in the here and now. Its fluid shape and dynamic lighting is achieved by a series of offset fins made of reclaimed wood that filter natural light while creating dimension from the fins’ shapes and shadows. The Komb home is eco-friendly and features rainwater harvesting, radiant heat flooring, greywater recycling and LED lighting. But the eco-factor doesn’t keep it from being luxurious: Above the center plunge pool, kinetic art collects power from the wind and a skylight lets plungers contemplate a future earth in natural balance
posted by Levi Smidt
Assisted walking
Assisted walking courtesy of Honda’s new robotic technology
Honda unveils new wearable assisted-walking technology.
Posted by Levi Smidt
13.3.11
Playground Fence
"Not only are the protrusions and recessions of the fence eye-catching, but they allow for a more active interaction between those on either sides of the fence, providing seats, benches, nooks and playspaces for children."
Jason Browning
Car Battery
New material could turn your car’s body into a giant battery: researchers have patented a mixture of carbon fiber and polymer that can store and discharge electricity.
Jason Browning
Metal Foam
"A "metal foam" that has a similar elasticity to bone could mean a new generation of biomedical implants that would avoid bone rejection that often results from more rigid implant materials, such as titanium."
Jason Browning
10.3.11
Concept Art Blog
http://conceptships.blogspot.com/
Some cool concept art and vehicle designs. A lot of different styles. I know some of us are doing a solidworks vehicle concept in Jon's class, thought this was a relevant resource.
-Aaron Venturini
9.3.11
8.3.11
New use for material
The UNFOLD pendant lamp offers a new take on an industrial design classic. Crafted from soft but strong silicone rubber, Unfold projects a modern and warm personality. The soft material also allows the lamp to be folded into a neat package. – Just open and unfold your new lamp.Dennis Volz
7.3.11
5.3.11
Wannabe Snuggie Towel
"The Wearable Towel($19) has three arm openings placed along the side and does not employ the use of any fastener. The Wearable Towel is unisex and can be worn in either a tunic style or a toga style."Jason Browning
Design School in NL
http://www.designacademy.nl/
Once in a while, I check out other design schools. This is one of the top design schools in the Netherlands.
posted by ginni
Club Workshop
Club Workshop offers do-it-yourselfers space and tools to play and creat
Read more:Club Workshop offers do-it-yourselfers space and tools to play and create - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_16312606#ixzz1Fjsecgqy
Read more:Club Workshop offers do-it-yourselfers space and tools to play and create - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_16312606#ixzz1Fjsecgqy
posted by ginni
3.3.11
VW Microbus
VW unveils new model of microbus loved by hippies
Volkswagen's Bulli concept car is presented during the press day of the 81st International Motor show in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, March 1, 2011
posted by Levi Smidt
Stools from burned logs
Called Ausgebrannt (German for ‘burnt out’), the project involves stripping bark from the logs then burning away certain sections to create legs.
Posted by Levi Smidt
Posted by Levi Smidt
Cricket Laptop / iPad Stand
Portable, lightweight (400 g) and flexible, Cricket™ is a height-adjustable stand that elevates your laptop or iPad screen to an ergonomic viewing height for cool computing and comfortable viewing. Add a full-size keyboard and mouse to recreate the comfort and productivity of a desktop computer, or use Cricket™ to share your screen for presentations and meetings.
Posted by Levi Smidt
Posted by Levi Smidt2.3.11
1.3.11
Skin upgrade
Zhenan Bao's Stretchable, Solar-Powered Robot Skin Stanford University
Robots keep surpassing us in domains considered distinctly human (game shows come to mind). Our ability to sense things with our skin once separated man from machine. Now artificial skin is not only flexible and touch sensitive, but solar-powered.
Stanford researcher Zhenan Bao’s solar-powered system is made up of polymer solar cells that can be stretched up to 30 percent without losing power or sustaining damage. It’s an important distinction that the skin is stretchable, not just flexible, as a flexible skin would still crack if covering body parts such as elbows that extend when they move.
The faux-skin’s base is a flexible elastic organic transistor that contains a touch-sensitive rubber layer. Pyramid shapes in the layer compress when touched, changing the current flow through the transistor. The most sensitive incarnations can feel the minute pressure of a fly's landing.
Adding the solar cell layer allows the skin to be stretched to cover any joint. Even when distorted by the bending, it can still generate the power needed to run its sensors--the solar array is patched into a circuit with a liquid metal electrode that changes shape along with the solar cells.
The skin can also be modified to detect biological or chemical materials. Coating the transistor with a nanometer-thick layer of another molecule that will bind to the substance being sought allows the skin to register when it comes in contact with it. Bao and her team have successfully detected a certain kind of DNA through this process and are now working on using it to detect proteins, which could be useful for medical diagnosis.
The benefits of a solar-powered, stretchable skin extend beyond robotics. If it could be wired to human nerves, it could allow patients with prosthetics to gain back feeling in their missing limbs. It could also one day coat cars, or be worked into clothing such as soldiers’ uniforms, working simultaneously as a biosensor and solar power generator.
Bryce Fesing
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