Well, that took long enough. Designers Shay Shafranek and Oded Webman have cooked up an electronic ruler concept that doesn't do away with that classic wood aesthetic. On the outside, at least. It's actually a wooden sheath that covers the circuitry inside.

Metal teeth along the edge of the ruler act as contact points, and an LED display — visible through the wood — tells you how long whatever you're measuring is. The ruler can even remember what it's doing in case you're measuring something longer than it, or measure something using a unit set by you, done by touching two points on the teeth at once and hitting a button. Sure, you could just go get measuring tape — but that ain't as cool!

Check out some shots of the Electronic Ruler being made down below.

Shay Shafranek, via freshome, via Technabob, via Geekologie