Magnifi case connects iPhone to binoculars, microscopes and telescopes

The list of add-ons that let you to tinker with the photo taking capabilities of your iPhone is about to get even bigger with the launch of Magnifi. Rather than tacking azoom or fish-eye lens onto the smartphone, Magnifi integrates an adapter into the case so that your phone can be hooked-up to most optical instruments with an eye-piece such as binoculars, microscopes or telescopes.  Using a similar approach to iPhone adapters for digital SLRs, Magnifi aligns the camera on your iPhone 4 / 4S to the eyepiece - something that's virtually impossible to do by hand.

The device comes in two parts - the case itself and a detachable bayonet mount designed to precisely align the iPhone’s camera with the optical axis of the eyepiece by means of a latch that locks it in place.

The detachable bayonet means that the case itself remains slimline enough for everyday use while also aiming to make the system (partially) usable with not-yet-released iPhone designs.

Posted by Tom Clark

Earthquake-proof school desk provides cover for natural disasters

Anyone who has been through earthquake drills in school knows the standard defense against falling debris is for students to crawl under their desks. Unfortunately, while this might block a few pieces of stray drywall and glass, a wooden desk isn't going to withstand the crushing weight from large chunks of concrete or steel. In fact, people hiding under their desks could very likely become trapped with no way out. That's why two designers have developed an "earthquake-proof" desk that can absorb the impact of up to a ton of weight and even provide emergency routes for rescue crews to reach trapped students.

Posted by Tom Clark

Batman-inspired wall-scaling system built by engineering students

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory wants to find a better way for airmen to scale tall structures or rock faces, so it did what just about anyone seeking new ideas does these days – it held a contest. Its 2012 Service Academy and University Engineering Challenge saw teams from 17 universities and three service academies showing off their wall-scaling systems, earlier this month at Wright State University’s Calamityville tactical laboratory in Fairborn, Ohio. One of the teams, from Utah’s Brigham Young University, devised an impressive system that was inspired directly by Batman’s grappling hook-shooting, power winch-equipped gun.


Posted by Tom Clark

Grand plans for asteroid mining unveiled by Planetary Resources

“I’m Chris Lewicki, and I’m an asteroid miner!” These were the opening words spoken by the President and Chief Engineer of Planetary Resources Inc., as the asteroid mining company emerged from three years of silent running to outline its plans to mine Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) within the decade. Asteroid mining has been a standard of science fiction since E.E. Smith’s Lensmanseries was published in the 1930s. Planetary Resources (PRI - previously known as Arkyd Astronautics), a start-up company with high-profile backers and strong technical depth, announced its space mining plans at a press conference on Tuesday. Its goal, as expressed by co-founder and co-chairman Peter Diamandis, is to "make the resources of space available to humanity."


Posted by Tom Clark

Anatomy of a Chair

http://www.architonic.com/ntsht/anatomy-of-a-chair/7000455

The uncanny. Freud used the term to describe the unsettling instance where something can be perceived simultaneously as familiar and somewhat strange or alien. (The original German term for uncanny is 'unheimlich', literally meaning 'unhomely'.) There's more than a little sense of the uncanny about Italian product designer Luca Nichetto's new chair design, 'Robo', which displays something approaching an archetypal chair form, but at the same time subverts this very form though its insect-like, disjointed aesthetic. This is a piece of furniture that invites and unnerves in equal measure.

posted by: Rob Alek

12 Norman Bel Geddes creations

http://www.oobject.com/category/12-norman-bel-geddes-creations/

Bel Geddes is the industrial designer most associated with the streamline style, an aerodynamic form than was as much about aesthetics as wind resistance. These designs actually look better than more aerodynamic forms and as such were used by Geddes for things that didn’t have to move at all, such as his streamlined school desk. Geddes started out as a theatrical designer then made a series of model cars and prototypes for trains and planes, including the incredible airliner number 4 - a 1929 proposal for a transatlantic boat plane carrying 450 passengers and an army of staff including a musicians and entertainers. But the other thing that Geddes created was his daughter, who was Miss Ellie in the TV series, Dallas

posted by: Rob Alek

Desperately Seeking Talent: Where to Find Great Designers for Your Team

http://www.wired.com/design/2012/04/where-to-recruit-designers/?pid=159&viewall=true

Whether you're starting a company, launching a product, or just trying to lure people to your website, design can make or break your company.
You don't have to look far for proof: Apple has set a toweringly high bar for product design. Facebook has spent billions on acquiring companies that kill it on UI design. And companies that were built with an arty eye from the get-go (like AirBnB, whose founding team are RISD grads) are raising rounds with billion-dollar valuations.

How can you compete with the high-rollers? You can't. But don't sit the game out on the bench. There's tons of young, hungry design talent out there in undiscovered corners. You just have to know where to look.

Or looking to get your name out!

posted by: Rob Alek

Rapid Prototyping Turned Jewelry

ODYSSEE RING COLLECTION BY MONOMER

"'monomer' is the ancient Greek word for single component. However, the term is also used in the chemistry for a molecule that may react chemically to another molecule of the same type to form a larger molecule." 

"monomer is now crossing these limitations by using the newest technologies. High-tech normally used for prototype production, special tool manufacturing or for medical implants for example is used by monomer to create jewellery 'in' the computer using CAD Software.

Posted by Melissa LeMieux

Objet-O

OBJET-O CHAIR BY SONG SEUNG-YONG
Says Seung-Yong, "This is not a study of shape and function system, but a process of study which can draw out the communication between objects and human beings." Oversized lampshade above the chair, made of traditional Korean paper, creates "your own space where you can feel the coziness like a bird's nest."

Posted by Melissa LeMieux

Design: Werner Aisslinger

Presented: Salone del Mobile 2012, Milan

01 product description

Moroso Hemp Chair

Product description

Lightweight, strong and environmentally friendly, Hemp Chair is the first stackable single-shell small armchair devised and designed for the use of a new industrial material based on natural fibres. A sheet, with over 75% of its composition made up of hemp, is heat-formed via a production process with low environmental impact borrowed from the car-making industry. This technique ensures extreme ease of modelling which enables the softness of the shapes to be exaggerated to such an extent that they achieve an almost 3D effect. The Hemp Chair project is backed by the German chemicals company BASF and with its gemstone-shaped structure represents a new approach to this complex type of seat.

Posted by Melissa LeMieux

I mean, who wouldn't want one?

DUTCH TUB

With the Dutchtub you can explore and enjoy the essence of outdoor bathing. This award-winning hot tub is a pure luxury and works surprisingly simple: Wood fired and with a natural circulation. With this smart construction and the sturdy, long-lasting materials you can use the Dutchtub anytime, anywhere...

Behind the Scenes at Dutch Tub

Posted by Melissa LeMieux

Anyone for foosball??

11 The Game

11 | THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

11 is a luxury football table for discerning lovers of the world’s favourite game. After a full year of careful planning and development it has now gone into limited production. 

11’s sweeping curves reflect the beauty and grandeur of today’s modern stadiums, while its atmospheric lighting and chromed metal players capture the excitement and drama of a classic sporting encounter. 

Each individually numbered table is meticulously hand-finished to the very highest standards by skilled European craftsmen. 

This award-winning design was first showcased at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2008. After attracting much critical and public acclaim, it has now been developed for limited production.


www.11thegame.com

Posted by Melissa LeMieux

Venus of Cupertino

Ancient art meets modern technology.  Beautifully done by artist, Scott Eaton.

In addition to looking stylish, she will charge and sync your iPad (first, second and third generation) from an inconspicuous charger located in her midriff. And when your iPad is out-and-about, a translucent slate will slot in to complete the piece.


Posted by Melissa LeMieux

cameron brown

southeast of the city of puebla, mexico
, the 'casa dauz' residence by mexican practice volta arquitectos addresses
its main boulevard location by turning it views inward upon itself. three volumes form the exterior, one facing the street,
another containing private spaces and the last to connect these opposing wings with common areas. concrete facades
showing the horizontal bands unify the composition while select elevations of wooden planks and green glass panes
doubling as internal partitions, permeating color into the interior