Top Stories
Navy launches U.S.S. Independence, first of new class of weapons-bristling speedster trimarans
World’s tallest LEGO tower built in England
Redesigned NES is maybe 15 years too late
Sections
Archive
Art & Design
What if you could control everything in your home with a little handheld gadget? That's what this universal remote by David Chacon got us thinking about, with its roomy screen — a nerve center right in your pocket. Simply...
POSTED Friday, May 9, 2008
There's certainly no shortage of odd, annoying, beautiful and unusual places to store books, but we’re betting you never thought a bookshelf could also function as a internet-connected, live-updated display. Prepare for enlightenment, because WaSnake has four panels on...
POSTED Thursday, May 8, 2008
This Multimedia Coffee Table reminds me of that spoof video mocking Microsoft Surface, the table-size PC you can now find at AT&T stores. In that vid, a narrator describes how amazing it would be to look at maps —...
POSTED Thursday, May 8, 2008
Though it's called the Egg phone, this design concept better resembles the fried variety than a shell-covered ovoid. Designer Roman Tubl set out to conceive a cellphone that's easy to use and a pleasure to hold. Throw in a...
POSTED Wednesday, May 7, 2008
We already showed you how to stay fashionable in urban combat situations. Along the same lines, Peter Gronquist has jazzed up retired rifles, chainsaws, machine guns and artillery shells and slapped big names on them: Louis Vuitton, Coach, Gucci...
POSTED Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The Brits are once more taking Singapore by storm, but this time with their snazzy, sustainable architecture. Firm Foster + Partners has plans for an over-1,600,000-square-foot (filling an entire city block), mixed-use structure that's completely decked out with green-friendly...
POSTED Monday, May 5, 2008
Typically, a Do Not Enter sign or symbol is enough to deter folks from trying to enter a room. But what about people who don’t read English? Or who grew up in the wilds of Alaska and don't understand...
POSTED Monday, May 5, 2008
Outdoor showers are just better than indoor ones. Of course, the best kinds are attached to your house so that they can provide heated water. But that doesn't work for everyone, especially if you're not going to use it...
POSTED Monday, May 5, 2008
The BBC commissioned this novel idea that combines social networking with a digital radio, and the result is Olinda. It’s a normal digital radio until you remove its translucent orange cap, exposing a plug-in interface. You can add modules...
POSTED Monday, May 5, 2008
The latest creation from steampunk artisan par excellence Jake von Slatt, is this combination PC and monitor designed to recreate the look of a Victorian era theater stage. Using a genuine Victorian knick-knack shelf as a frame, Jake managed...
POSTED Friday, May 2, 2008
Would you trust a robot to do the dishes? Is a dishwasher technically already a robot? Would artificial intelligence make it better at its job, or just annoying? While these questions aren't addressed in Battlestar Galactica, the show, they...
POSTED Friday, May 2, 2008
We like the Orbit clock. By using circular hands, it emphasizes that time isn't just a linear progression of events — more of a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, a point of view shared by our favorite Time...
POSTED Friday, May 2, 2008
Music and sculpture are rarely blended so beautifully, as with this boombox built into the body of a double bass by artist David Ellis. Incorporating a four-way stereo speaker system, two vaccum tube preamps, a Crown power amp, and...
POSTED Thursday, May 1, 2008
With its functional and utilitarian design, most people banish their exercise equipment to the garage or basement. I myself have a rowing machine that I need to hide away somewhere whenever I'm expecting company. If all exercise equipment were...
POSTED Wednesday, April 30, 2008
With most lamps, we try to hide the cabling away somewhere out of sight to let the design of the lamp be the center of attention. But what if the cabling is the lamp? What then, smart guy? That's just...
POSTED Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Coffin Couches is a California-based company that sells sofas made out of "used" coffins. From the website, it would seem that the company doesn't get its coffins by disinterring grandmothers, but from coffins that are discovered to be slightly...
POSTED Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Not enough music in your life? Specifically, piano? Then you'll love Yamaha's design exhibition in Milan, "Key for You." The company was showing off some concept designs integrating piano keyboards into objects you wouldn't expect — from countertops to...
POSTED Wednesday, April 30, 2008
What better way to decorate your arty abode during wartime than hanging up this Cuckoo Bunker Wall Clock by Joseph Barakat for Diamantini Domeniconi? That little bird out front is one brave soldier, wearing only the flimsiest of helmets...
POSTED Wednesday, April 30, 2008
We got a kick out of this crazy-looking machine when we saw it recently at a street fair in Providence, RI. RISD Industrial Design student Mike Hahn has created what he calls a Re-Blowmolding machine. The name refers to...
POSTED Monday, April 28, 2008
Looking stylish would probably be the least of your worries during a terrorist attack, but then again you're not Paris Hilton. Trendsetters like her might eschew duct tape and Cipro for the Urban Security Suit. Designed by Tim Smit,...
POSTED Monday, April 28, 2008
Designer Alex Naboko of Minsk, Belarus is on the right track to bringing back the glory of air travel. It's easy to imagine crisply uniformed attendants wandering the spacious aisles, serving better-than-expected trays of food on the large tables...
POSTED Friday, April 25, 2008
The New York no-parking space in this picture has been re-purposed by artist Natalie Jeremijenko into a "NoPark," a mini-public green space in the middle of the city. Most of the concrete in the space has been ripped up...
POSTED Thursday, April 24, 2008
With this being Earth Week and all, Dell decided to get in on all the eco-fun with its smallest PC yet. This one’s wrapped up in a renewable bamboo case that looks stylish, rounded, and smooth. Its innards are...
POSTED Wednesday, April 23, 2008
This vortex-like sun canopy is more than just an eye-catching piece of design. Composed of several polypropylene elements that are photoreactive, the canopy changes color based on the ambient light. If it's sunlight, the elements turn blue-green; if it's...
POSTED Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Does your air freshener look too conventional? Just sitting there on the wall, slowly dispensing its fragrance, never getting noticed? That's not what a fun-loving rebel like you wants. No, you want Noseroma "exhaler" — a powerful wall-mounted scent emitter...
POSTED Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Bigshot Toyworks, a design studio known for its ridiculously high quality action figures, is giving one of Ashley Wood's distinct robots a real world presence. Meet Bertie, one of Wood's pipebomb 'bots from his upcoming World War Robot comic...
POSTED Tuesday, April 22, 2008
If you’ve spent the past decades pruning and cultivating those spectacularly small bonsai trees, here’s the perfect finishing touch: CrashBonsai, a tiny smashed car, wrapped around that tree, just like in real life! Artist John Rooney painstakingly crushes, melts...
POSTED Friday, April 18, 2008
Who's the target customer for the Abyss Light? I'm guessing anyone obsessed with pearls, seeing as the circular strip of LEDs looks just like a strand of 'em. And fans of sculpting might get a thrill out of the...
POSTED Friday, April 18, 2008
Remember the glory days of the scientific calculator wristwatch? Dave Jones does: "Back in 1987 or so I got a Casio CFX-400 scientific calculator watch, and I wore that watch to death for 10 years until the band support...
POSTED Friday, April 18, 2008
We the Brits were crazy about tea, but some French aficionados are giving them a run for their money. Two young French designers have created a self-stirring teacup. It's a glass, actually, and it has a ceramic ball at...
POSTED Thursday, April 17, 2008
If you like glowing outdoor decorations but can't quite afford these balls, consider the Glowpot. It's a white plastic pot with a light inside it that runs on triple-A batteries. When you turn it on, the pot doesn't just...
POSTED Thursday, April 17, 2008
Viso is an interactive art installation by the Bartproject design bureau centering around a computerized woman's face. Lean in, and Viso will lean in, too; her eyes will follow your movements around the room. Poke her in the eye...
POSTED Wednesday, April 16, 2008
As anyone who sits at a desk all day knows, keeping good posture can be a challenge. Short of getting your mom to stand by your desk and yell at you to "Sit up!" all day, you could instead put...
POSTED Wednesday, April 16, 2008
There’s something appealing about seeing objects from your operating system's desktop appearing here in the real world. Take advantage of that two-worlds-collide irony with the Icon Clock, a 3.5-inch wall clock made of plastic resin and available in the...
POSTED Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Who knew a New York City “Walk/Don’t Walk” sign could function as a chair in your living room? Like some other chairs we’ve seen lately, this one doesn’t look too comfortable, but it’s unquestionably unique. Its stern lit-up admonitions...
POSTED Tuesday, April 15, 2008
This chair, by Brazilian artists Fernando and Humberto Campana, is pretty much the opposite of the Outlaw Chair. It's cute as can be and looks like one of those DIY projects that you probably wouldn't want to bother making...
POSTED Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Are you a badass? A real badass? Then you probably have no need for the Outlaw chair. I mean, anyone who would get himself a Victorian chair tricked out with jewels, studded leather, and what looks like a puma skull...
POSTED Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Now this is just weird. The “How High the Moon” chair, named after that classic Duke Ellington song, is made of expanded nickel-plated steel mesh and covered with epoxy (hopefully to make it more comfy than it looks). The...
POSTED Monday, April 14, 2008
Moonlight is a German company that makes these beautiful glowing orbs. The polyethylene spheres range from 13-30 inches across and can survive in temperatures from -40 to 170 Fahrenheit. Though they've been around in Europe for a while (they...
POSTED Friday, April 11, 2008
Is this an extra long coffin? No! It's a SofaBOX— unlock the metal crate and open its latches to reveal a full-sized comfortable couch. It's a brand-new invention by Swiss designer John Hofgartner. No word on pricing, but sturdy...
POSTED Friday, April 11, 2008
The Guggenheim Museum has established a tradition of building structures to house and display art that are themselves works of art. Following the lead of the original Guggenheim in New York designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the stunning...
POSTED Friday, April 11, 2008
Ever wanted to see how it feels to go through one of those transporters on Star Trek? Stepping into the Illumination Shower might be as close as you can get right now. With a doughnut-shaped light above you emitting...
POSTED Friday, April 11, 2008
If you’ve ever had an aquarium in your bedroom, you know there must be some truth to the research that shows your blood pressure is lowered by the sight of fish swimming by. The $199 Sega Private Ocean Interactive...
POSTED Thursday, April 10, 2008
Ikea is converting the Kobe Portliner Monorail in Japan into an innovative showroom in preparation for the launch of its store location at Port Island. Lucky for the display, it's beauty will be fleeting - Ikea will only run...
POSTED Thursday, April 10, 2008
Whenever David Bue Pedersen looks over at the pictures of his loved ones, he'll know exactly which of them are online. That's because his picture frame is no ordinary frame. Known as the "DIY instant messenger online contact signalizer...
POSTED Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Rainpod, by designer David L'Hôte of France, takes a cue from ol' Momma Nature on how to water lawns: with rainwater. Working like a rain barrel, the conceptual Rainpod collects water in a large tank and, standing taller...
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
In Mad Max, Lord Humongous and his men rolled around wearing whatever they could find, from paintball masks to leather jackets and next to nothing. We won't have to worry about scavenging when the mushroom clouds start blooming —...
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Those kooky scientists at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have gone overboard with this programmable tattoo concept. It uses hair-sized nanotubes embedded in the skin to display an image of your choice, which persists even after you turn off the...
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Symposium RFID wine reader is a conceptual design by Giuseppe Russo that brings a bit of technology to the age-old task of wine drinking. The Symposium Wine Reader is both an RFID wine reader and a temperature regulator....
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
When I stumbled upon the Revolve Water Timer — a garden-watering timer that's solar powered — I thought it was a cool idea. I naturally expected the solar panels to detect sunlight and therefore not water the garden there...
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The I/O Brush is a conceptual design brewed up from the students at the MIT Media Lab. The idea behind the I/O brush is to turn the world into a palette. You can use the brush to pick up...
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Think your dog is happy when he comes up to you and wags his tail? Think again. He could be beseeching you for love, or asking for some nosh or to get out of the house. You'd know what...
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Half Johnny Appleseed, half doomsday machine, the colorful CV08 "suburb eating" robot is a massive hexapod that'll crawl across the urban landscape, destroying the houses and everything within them in order to replant trees. Each leg fulfills different functions,...
POSTED Monday, April 7, 2008
Parasols are good for more than just decorating those fruity tropical cocktails. For example, Parasolar, a design concept by Oded Shorer, has an easily carried case that opens up to reveal a cloth canopy with integrated photovoltaic panels. Neat....
POSTED Monday, April 7, 2008
Of all the ways to pay homage to Earth's savior in Bungie's Halo series, turning the Master Chief into a pony is by far one of the oddest. Cobbled together by a lass known as AnimeAmy, the Chief won...
POSTED Monday, April 7, 2008
Ever wish you could live in the world presented by a good book? With the Space Book by designer Jin-Hui Kim, you could. Each page of the oversized pop-up book is a different room of a make believe house,...
POSTED Monday, April 7, 2008
There's nothing quite like taking a beautifully simple piece of technology and making it incredibly complicated, and few devices are quite as simple as a sundial. The problem is that sundials only work when it's sunny out, and their...
POSTED Saturday, April 5, 2008
The NE apartment building is a stylish approach to a motorcycle-centric living solution by Japanese architects Yuji Nakae, Akiyoshi Takagi and Hirofumi Ohno. It features eight apartments separated by seven concrete walls, all of which are accessed by adjacent...
POSTED Friday, April 4, 2008
No, this is not some new supersonic aircraft or UFO. It’s a house designed by Jérôme Olivet, who learned his stuff from the great Philippe Starck. Jet House is designed to look like it’s moving fast even though its...
POSTED Friday, April 4, 2008
How tall is too tall? I guess we'll know once one of these crazy building concepts ends up getting built — if it subsequently falls down, that is. The Ultima Tower is a conceptualization by designer Eugene Tsui and...
POSTED Thursday, April 3, 2008
Finally, somebody designs a coffee cup that takes into account that human beings will actually be drinking from it. Most mugs have a rim that’s so fat, even a horse’s lips couldn’t keep the coffee from spilling, but designer...
POSTED Thursday, April 3, 2008
Putting a twist on the conventional drawbridge, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge over the River Tyne in England tilts to let ships pass under it instead of parting at the middle. The bridge's crazy design is the result of a...
POSTED Thursday, April 3, 2008
Try as it may, it seems the Zune just can't match up to the iPod. Why not? Well, A.J. Kandy, creative director and prez of King Marketing, posits that Microsoft needs to stop simply following in Apple's footsteps with...
POSTED Thursday, April 3, 2008
NASA posted up some harrowing news to go along with their daily photo: In a surprising and potentially troubling request, the new space station robot known as Dextre demanded that astronauts refer to it in the future as "Dextre...
POSTED Tuesday, April 1, 2008
I know the feeling — you're taking a shower and you feel the need to whip up some stir-fry. Or you're watering the plants outside and you suddenly get the craving for an omelet. How about when you're vacuuming...
POSTED Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Having more than one monitor is undoubtedly cool, but, if you play video games or watch movies, then you know that the gap between displays — formed by the casing that borders each monitor — can really take you out...
POSTED Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Siafu (curiously named after terrifying army ants) is a concept laptop by designer Jonathan Lucas of Long Beach, California that would give people with impaired vision the tactile input they need to fully use a computer — from writing...
POSTED Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Reactive Sparks art installation is a display by designer Markus Lerner that reacts to the volume of passing vehicles, turning those readings into wave-like visualizations that undulate across the face of the towers. It's positioned outside of light manufacturer...
POSTED Tuesday, April 1, 2008
We’ve heard of MotionPortrait before, that software that animates still photos, turning them into moving, smiling and talking 3D models. But we haven’t seen an example of it used like this, where a nearly lifelike model is animated in...
POSTED Monday, March 31, 2008
The PowerCube 6000 is a standalone power generator powerful enough to offset your home's power needs with green energy. It's also portable enough to keep things running like food carts or temporary kiosks — provided you've got a forklift...
POSTED Monday, March 31, 2008
Have a seat on the Pixel Couch, the perfect place to plant your posterior if you’re wearing a pixel tie. Decorate your walls in a pixel pattern using a few Post-it notes, get yourself a suit to match and...
POSTED Monday, March 31, 2008
Despite being inspired by a snail, this keyboard concept, named the Caracol, would be great for amputees and just regular keyboarders alike. It looks a bit like a snail and uses a rotating keywheel. The keywheel has a 5:1...
POSTED Monday, March 31, 2008
Pantech, maker of some pretty innovative phones, recently challenged students at a variety of universities across Korea to design a phone for 2010. Pantech asked and they received, but some of the winning designs look like phones better suited...
POSTED Monday, March 31, 2008
Touch The Light is an interactive work of art in Osaka, Japan. At the top of the KEPCO building is a large circular lighting fixture. Stationed one kilometer away is a 1/100 scale model of the KEPCO lighting fixture....
POSTED Friday, March 28, 2008
This funny-looking machine is a small battery powered vehicle that motors its way around a New York art gallery. Its course is directed and steered entirely by flies. Yes, that plastic bubble is filled with large houseflies, along with...
POSTED Friday, March 28, 2008
This Luna Watch design concept by John Pszeniczny is as luminous as it is beautiful. As the story goes, such a bauble would be somehow made of Spessartite Garnet with stainless steel and crystal in there somewhere. Embedded within...
POSTED Friday, March 28, 2008
Here’s a design concept that old-school artists who wear berets and paint with palettes will like. The gorgeous Palette-Digital Artist is an entry into the Microsoft NextGen PC Design Competition for 2008. It's a handheld touchscreen PC, and looky...
POSTED Thursday, March 27, 2008
The HDTV is usually the center of attention in a home theater, but a speaker set like Paul Scarfe's Aura could upstage it. Aura is cone speaker made with molded glass that produces exceptional sound. The glass is supposed...
POSTED Thursday, March 27, 2008
Your surge protector is probably tucked behind the sofa. You know, out of the way. But what if your surge protector were instead ten times larger, red, and in the center of the room? You'd never be able to...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
There's no doubt why this design concept for a garish USB hub is called “Asterisko,” is there? The asterisk-shaped peripheral keeps that spaghetti-bowl of wires separated while making itself useful, offering a male USB plug along with its four...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The green building movement has come a long way in the last few years, with features such as solar panels, green roofs, and wind turbines being integrated into residential and commercial building designs. But Daekwon Park apparently thinks it's time...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
We’re sold on cardboard. We’ve seen it used to build sturdy cribs, an iPod boombox amplifier, and someone even made cardboard blocks that look like building materials for a castle. We just never envisioned a future where we’d all...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Footlume is a new idea that looks to revolutionize floor fashion from a team at London's South Bank University. I didn't think floor fashion needed to be changed, but this isn't a bad idea. Footlume is electroluminescent flooring that...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Korean phone purveyor Pantech (also known as Sky Premium) is teaming up with universities there to design the "Phone of 2010." We dig it, and what they came up with so far look mostly like units for the home, though...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
If you're looking to show off your amazing brain power to anyone who comes into your apartment, you should follow the lead of designer Alexander Lervik. He went and made his brain into a lamp. Yep, the MYBrain lamp is...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Sure, we're all about the futuristic designs around these parts, but the Cup PC concept take futuristic design to a completely new level. This idea takes the average PC and tries to make it as simple as drinking a...
POSTED Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The pedal boat is a staple of any lake outing. Whether it be with your class or as a company picnic, the pedal boat is a great way to get out on the lake, and for cheap. Now a...
POSTED Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Some design projects make you think, "Who would want that?" while others get you to shout "Me!" if someone would dare ask that question. The Do Swing is one of the latter. Combining a light fixture with a swing,...
POSTED Tuesday, March 25, 2008
This is what the future looked like in 1973. Funny thing is, this LIP Mach 2000 Dark Master watch is still eye-catching today, with its primary-colored controls and intricately detailed face. The design stays nearly true to the original,...
POSTED Monday, March 24, 2008
In the name of Fine Art, we present to you a stairway to nowhere. Start walking up this winding, twisting stainless steel staircase and you end up right back where you started. Sculptor Olafur Eliasson thought this artwork, which...
POSTED Monday, March 24, 2008
The Transformer phone is a new concept that won a Tancher Design Award. This phone has nothing to do with Optimus Prime and his crew, but is capable of performing a whole bunch of different tasks. This phone can...
POSTED Monday, March 24, 2008
Here’s the kind of crazy kitchen range that finds itself on the Short List of the Australian International Design Awards: The Fisher & Paykel Izona CookSurface lines up three spooky-looking burners in a row, eliminating that back burner that...
POSTED Friday, March 21, 2008
Jeez, we use a lot of energy we’re not even aware of. Here’s a design concept by Shane Ellis and Terry Brown that’ll lay on the guilt, glowing red when those wall warts are sucking power. The more energy...
POSTED Friday, March 21, 2008
The Power Cart, designed by Mouna Andraos, is an energy generator on wheels. Little more than a few boxes lashed together and strapped to a handcart, the Power Cart has a battery pack on the inside of it which is...
POSTED Friday, March 21, 2008
The AIR, or the Area's Immediate Reading, is designed by Preemptive Media and is on display at Eyebeam's exhibition space in New York City. It's a GPS-equipped handheld device that'll let you know everything you didn't want to about where...
POSTED Friday, March 21, 2008
The Pufferfish PufferSphere is a digital display that offers a 360° surface for anything to be projected on, and its inflatable nature makes it easy to set up anywhere at all. The PufferSphere is designed to be viewable at a...
POSTED Friday, March 21, 2008
Planning a road trip? The Microjoule can make the journey between New York and Los Angeles over three times on just one gallon of gas. Amazingly the Microjoule doesn't have any fancy tricks — it's just an aerodynamic, lightweight one-seater...
POSTED Thursday, March 20, 2008
Look, I'm all for crazy conceptual products that are relatively high-minded, but I feel like designers need to make sure their products stay functional above all else. If their idea trumps the actual functionality of it, no one will want...
POSTED Thursday, March 20, 2008
This Beautiful Times clock is unique for two reasons. First of all, it's got a pretty cool design, what with the faux-LCD numbers floating above a wooden block. It certainly stands out from other timepieces, tipping its hat to...
POSTED Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Designer Jean Hong has a vision for the Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC), and it’s taken the form of Pix-L, a device that serves as both alarm clock and bedside browser. Notice how you can prop up the mini-screen for reclined...
POSTED Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Suzuki S-Ride features the kind of seating arrangement you'd see in a fighter jet: one person up front, one person in back. Who knows if this concept will ever be a reality, but the S-Ride is aimed at...
POSTED Tuesday, March 18, 2008
While some lights are designed to help you read a book, this Butterfly Lamp by Japanese design studio Vinta takes a page from a book's shape instead. It easily allows you to adjust how much light is in an area...
POSTED Monday, March 17, 2008
Imagine looking at an entire wall built of these LED Glass Bricks, with the square shapes of LED light stretching into infinity and colors changing in countless computerized configurations and patterns. The possibilities are mind-boggling. The Red Dot Design...
POSTED Monday, March 17, 2008
There’s something powerfully appealing about a wall-mounted fireplace, and this one has a subtlety we haven’t seen before. The Safretti Gaya fireplace places a billowing torch-like flame on your wall, adding a dramatic decorative flourish to your pad while...
POSTED Monday, March 17, 2008
The latest idea to come from the big-brains at MIT is Siftables, a modular interactive computing system. Each Siftable is a 20MHz computer that includes a full-color OLED screen, infrared, 3-axis accelerometer, Bluetooth, flash memory, rechargeable battery and more....
POSTED Monday, March 17, 2008
"Could I have some artwork with that cappuccino?" Not exactly something you hear at Starbucks a lot, but if this coffee-printer technology goes mainstream, who knows? Wait, a coffee printer? Yep, Oleskiy Pikalo woke up one day with a...
POSTED Monday, March 17, 2008
The Maplemap is a particularly snazzy lamp that was created by Frederic Guibrunet. Guibrunet doesn't sound like a Canadian name, but there is a good chance he is from the northern tundra as his lamp is constructed of maple...
POSTED Friday, March 14, 2008
Okay, gentlemen, this USB flash data storage device designed by Joel Escalona is for your desktop, not your suitcase. Our Transportation Safety Administration officers won’t think this iconic trinket is very funny, no matter how many “all your base”...
POSTED Friday, March 14, 2008
This Motorola cellphone concept is the work of Lysandre Follet, a designer from Paris. At first look the cellphone is pretty standard and it includes a multimedia player, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc., but after further investigation it's revealed that the...
POSTED Friday, March 14, 2008
What will San Francisco be like 100 years from now? The History Channel sponsored a City of the Future contest for architects to show us their vision of Utopian metropolises from 2108, and the winner for the San Francisco...
POSTED Friday, March 14, 2008
Keep this Thomson Symbio phone next to your bed, and it’ll play you music and wake you up in addition to making Internet phone calls. The VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone wirelessly connects to a service such as...
POSTED Friday, March 14, 2008
While we're usually the first to point out how dorky it is the wear clothes that light up, this LED jacket, designed by Leah Buechley, qualifies as the exception. The lights on the back of it are arranged in...
POSTED Friday, March 14, 2008
Designer Alvin Aronson, a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, created a unique clock that we’d really like to see right here in our own abode. Made of wood and Dupont Corian (a material usually used for...
POSTED Thursday, March 13, 2008
The DNA personal computer is one of those concepts that, like the almighty Voltron, becomes more powerful the more pieces of it you connect together. It starts out as a bare-bones computer-in-a-cube, with a low-powered processor and graphics card for...
POSTED Wednesday, March 12, 2008
So you have a fancy HDTV, killer speaker system and plenty of game consoles? Think your home-entertainment center is pretty top-notch? Well, then there's not much left to do but slap a big, beautiful frame around your gear to...
POSTED Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Is your closet looking a little… static? Your clothes just hanging there, never moving, no excitement? The Plane Hanger adds a taste of motion to your storage. Shaped like a silhouette of a 747, the black-painted wood hanger shows...
POSTED Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Shoe purveyor Nike dipping into the auto industry may sound disastrous, but the Nike ONE is an undeniably sexy single seater. The Nike ONE design team was led by legendary car designer Phil Frank, who designed classics such as the...
POSTED Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The same firm that brought us the Waxpod has another, perhaps more practical design, the Façade vase. The designers ask of consumers: "Do we really need a beautiful vase, or do we only need a beautiful facade for the...
POSTED Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Meet the Waxpod, a new concept design from an exhibit called "UseLess" that encourages people to do just that. It's a hair wax container that comes with "refill pods." Additionally, it has room at the bottom to hold refillable...
POSTED Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The age-old conundrum of deciding between something that's highly functional or highly stylish is back again, but this time it's in the speaker department. This is kind of like deciding between the classic supercar and something a little more...
POSTED Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Single Person Cooker is is portable kitchen — everything about its design helps you cook on the go or in a tight space. It's lid is actually a cutting board, and the unit has a space for cooking...
POSTED Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Okids Phone is a conceptual phone that will truly show your kids how much you love them. How do I know that? It's obvious—the phone can be turned into a heart and everyone knows hearts mean love, or...
POSTED Monday, March 10, 2008
Microsoft knows art. It also knows that humans are weak creatures that need machines to create perfect things. So its new MySong software only makes sense: it takes the human error out of making art. How's it work, you...
POSTED Monday, March 10, 2008
Finally, here’s an alarm clock smart enough to sense your reaction to its plaintive and intrusive morning cry. Designer Joel Escalona put together Seven, a concept deemed clever enough to win a Volvo for Life Design Award. It wakes...
POSTED Monday, March 10, 2008
Here's a novel idea that we don't quite understand: a nightlight that holds your glasses, bedside reading, and cell phone. It even has a hole in back so that you can wire your cell phone or iPod charger right...
POSTED Monday, March 10, 2008
One of best parts of Will Smith's first slapstick-sci-fi "Men In Black" film is the part when an entire galaxy is found living inside a tiny marble. The scene was a mind-blowing moment in sci-fi history and now you can...
POSTED Saturday, March 8, 2008
Let’s get away to the lake house for the weekend. If you don’t mind a long plane flight, imagine taking off to your own 2153-square-foot villa at the Hingarae Residences and Resort on Lake Taupo in northern New Zealand,...
POSTED Friday, March 7, 2008
Here’s a design concept that uses nanotech teamed up with photovoltaics to make windows that light the night using organic LEDs (OLED). Winner of a Dyson Student Award, Lightway uses panels shaped in a style that harkens back to...
POSTED Friday, March 7, 2008
There's about a hundred different options when it comes to finding a nice, touchscreen-style smartphone and the Mooon+ concept may appear just like another one. Don't look away yet, there is one shining feature about the Mooon+ that makes...
POSTED Friday, March 7, 2008
The But-On Koncept is the microwave design of the future. It's an overly simple and colorful microwave. The entire design come from fancy artist talk about simplicity, but in all reality I just like how the microwave is top-loading....
POSTED Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Kinetic Energy concept is a stylish, yet efficient way to always ensure that your gadgets are always juiced up. It's a small device worn on the ankle that will generate energy by your movement. Think of it as...
POSTED Thursday, March 6, 2008
If Big Brother had a chandelier, this would be it. "End of an Era" is an art project created by Ian Burns that attaches 16 small black-and-white TVs to a chandelier-ish frame. Each screen displays a live video feed...
POSTED Thursday, March 6, 2008
The C-Bot, by designer Niklas Galler, is a clever way to check a building's structural integrity and perform other vertical tasks. Taking a page from geckos and other wall-climbing lizards, the C-Bot's footpads are covered by tiny nano-hairs that act...
POSTED Thursday, March 6, 2008
You too can be an energy star with this illuminated concept designed by Efrain E. Velez for the Core 77 2008 Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Of course, as with any earth-saving measure, the Krank Lamp’s energy has to come...
POSTED Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Backpacker's Diary is meant to allow travelers an easy way to log and share their experiences, and takes the idea of a notebook-inspired personal computer to the next level. Portable just like a laptop, the Diary's functions change depending...
POSTED Wednesday, March 5, 2008
What is this woman doing? Why is her head half-submerged in a bubble filled with bees? The bubble is a prototype of an invention that The Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) is currently exhibiting called Design...
POSTED Tuesday, March 4, 2008
When fancy-pants champagne purveyor Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin ordered up an arty vase from the London Institute of Contemporary Art, creator Oscar Diaz took a roundabout route toward showing off the French company’s signature yellow color of its booze bottles....
POSTED Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The works of Kenji Yanobe are renowned in the Japanese art world for their nightmarish takes on the future. But peeling through Yanobe's portfolio of work reveals a particular obsession with man-meets-machine contraptions. From the fire breathing Giant Torayan (created...
POSTED Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Is your furniture pissing you off? Have an old couch that stands out too much? Some retro table that thinks it's the center of attention? Put all your furnishings in their place with the Brass Knuckle Chair. Nothing says,...
POSTED Monday, March 3, 2008
Despite what is going on in the minds of wacky designers, the fact of the matter is that dogs can't speak, period. Sure, they can bark and they can listen to your baby voice all day, but no viable...
POSTED Monday, March 3, 2008
OK, the Cyberdesk isn't really a desk — that's clear enough. The misleading name aside, it's a pretty wild piece of concept bling from the minds at Krohn Design, who asked, "Why not overlap the real and the virtual?" The...
POSTED Monday, March 3, 2008
You know those crazy flashing necklaces that people sometimes wear at raves or on the fourth of July? We're betting that you miss those necklaces, and that you've been waiting for a classier and more culturally acceptable version to...
POSTED Friday, February 29, 2008
You’ll be murmuring erstwhile hipster phrases such as “oh, wow” when you fire up your RelaxStyle Room Palette Effect lamp, projecting images of undulating waves onto your ceiling for your relaxation and entertainment. Harried stockbrokers might like the feeling...
POSTED Friday, February 29, 2008
Someday, when curved organic LEDs (OLED) are cheap enough, an arc-shaped iMac will actually be possible (to give you an idea, a 11-inch non-curved OLED screen costs $2500 today). Until then, we’ll have to settle for iView, a design...
POSTED Friday, February 29, 2008
No room for your big, beautiful Victorian floor lamp at home or work? No worries, now there is a solution for your studio apartment or tiny cubicle or office with the Tall & Tiny sticker. This isn't so much...
POSTED Friday, February 29, 2008
No, this isn't a set piece from J.J. Abrams upcoming Star Trek movie. It's actually a sculpture set deep in the woods by French artist Michel de Broin. Dubbed Superficial, it looks like a giant boulder covered in mirrors. Reflecting...
POSTED Friday, February 29, 2008
A while back we showed you an old water tower converted into a living space. Well, the residents of Thorpeness in Suffolk, England enjoy their own five bedroom, three bathroom home resting 70 feet above the ground as well. Known...
POSTED Thursday, February 28, 2008
We've seen some pretty spectacular alarm clocks around these parts, but the Minimal Dual Digital Analog Alarm Clock concept by Daniel Jarr has to take the cake. Sure, it may not tell you the weather or other goods, but...
POSTED Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sculptures don't get much creepier than these skull and robot hybrids created by artist Christopher Conte. And these aren't designed solely from the standpoint of an artist: Conte also works making artificial limbs for amputees, so he knows a thing...
POSTED Thursday, February 28, 2008
There's no question that we like to go fast. Even when we're just sitting still, we prefer to do it with some speed. Sound like a contradiction? Not if you have yourself an Accelerate sofa, crafted to mimic the...
POSTED Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Ex-Pò is a concept vacuum that designer Alice Rosignoli came up with back in 2005 and, in this day and age where some vacuums look like locomotives, we appreciate how compact it is. Looking a bit like a yo-yo,...
POSTED Thursday, February 28, 2008
We've seen some crazy high-tech clothes in our day. But the 3-D outfit above may be the weirdest and most creative we've seen, without the need for wires, LEDS, or Wi-Fi. Yes, to show the world that they are...
POSTED Thursday, February 28, 2008
Zu Zu's Petals is a collection of consumer electronics concepts by Bluemap Design that are meant to inject a little natural goodness into the unnaturally-shaped technology world. The various devices of Zu Zu's Petals are presented as if they are...
POSTED Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Q, the letter, confounds you in Scrabble. Q, the character, amuses you in James Bond. And Q, the subway line, frustrates you in Brooklyn. Now, Q, the fan, can keep you cool in the summer. Swiss designer Carlo Borer...
POSTED Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Designers appliances are a unique breed. Would you rather have something that looks better in your home or is more functional? This Wall Ceramic Heater design from Andrey Vostrikov tries to accomplish both form and function. Not only does...
POSTED Tuesday, February 26, 2008
We love vases that look like tanks and lamps that looks like potted plants. Why live in a household filled with ordinary-looking objects? That seems to be the question posed by Pylones, a store that sells everyday objects that...
POSTED Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Next time you find yourself with too many guests and too few chairs just combine the two. The Strap-On Chair by designer Annika Schmidt affixes easily to the human body by way of leather straps, and the two working models...
POSTED Monday, February 25, 2008
We've seen our fair share of steampunk around these parts. The light saber, laptop, eye glasses and scanner are all the same—a device decked out in wood, copper, pipes and other industrial bits to be given a steampunk look....
POSTED Monday, February 25, 2008
Despite the fact that mobile phones are carried by everyone at all times, designers like Chris Owens continue to push the limits of design with cellphones just begging to be broken. We saw the whole debacle as people began...
POSTED Monday, February 25, 2008
Those who love toast will probably be disappointed by the Toaster Phone. After all, if you want to express your reverence for baked bread through your telecommunications (and there's nothing weird about that, bro), then you'd probably want to...
POSTED Monday, February 25, 2008
The latest creation from Italian designers ITlab is the Drop lamp available from Andromeda Murano. Created to resemble falling drops of water caught in space, each bulb contains a tiny point light source, while the hand blown Venetian Murano...
POSTED Saturday, February 23, 2008
Any one of these couches from the Tête-à-tête (or "head-to-head") collection by Soma Sofa will have your company scratching their heads about just how to sit on them. Just take a look at the Flamenco above, which looks like someone...
POSTED Friday, February 22, 2008
Welcome to life on other planets, as designed by Romanian architects at A.A. Studio. This is how some lucky people live in Bucharest, in The Big White, a magnificent apartment that takes organic shapes and teams them up with...
POSTED Friday, February 22, 2008
Take one part MacBook Air, one part Microsoft Surface and some 3D "z-axis" interaction and you have the Zen PC concept. The Zen PC is being labeled a sandbox PC. The unique nature of the tablet-like PC allows for...
POSTED Friday, February 22, 2008
Kohler, the sink company that designs classy shower speakers, the perfect urinal, and incredible faucets, runs a program called Arts/Industry that lets artists tool around in its factory. The latest piece of art/innovation to come out of the program...
POSTED Friday, February 22, 2008
What's the matter with these chairs and that table? Designer Benjamin Hopf has somehow frozen them in time, falling apart before your very eyes. Not to worry — their construction is still sturdy enough to hold you up either...
POSTED Thursday, February 21, 2008
Would attractive design make you go green? Constructed to look like a flower, the Ravi solar generator has photovoltaic arrays attached to petal-like extensions. And, like a flower, it absorbs energy from the sun during the day, storing it in...
POSTED Thursday, February 21, 2008
Ross McBride calls his line of watches and clocks "normal," but we call them minimalist. We mean that in only the best way, because look at this thing! It's just so clean and simple, and it's tricky at the...
POSTED Thursday, February 21, 2008
Usually changing the shape of a bookshelf means getting out the hammer and plywood. Not so the Elastic Bookshelf — this simple idea loops a stretchable belt around two pegs, providing plenty of possible configurations. Pop in a piece...
POSTED Thursday, February 21, 2008
Attention Sudoku lovers. If you believe that there's nothing more beautiful than a correctly filled Sudoku grid, with its unique columns, rows, and squares, then how much better is the same concept executed with nine unique images instead of...
POSTED Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Those inventive Italians have dreamed up another unusual design, this time in illuminated flowerpots to light up your life. Biosfera is ready to accommodate any plant, and if you put cool-running compact fluorescent bulbs inside, your plants might like...
POSTED Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Designer Yuta Watanabe has a thing about pencils— his seem simpler and more complex than the ones we're used to. Above is the Peg Pencil, his take on the mechanical pencil. It's made from a modified spring-loaded clothespin. You...
POSTED Wednesday, February 20, 2008
After Arquitectura Organica's Javier Senosiain created his organically-inspired Nautilus House, he's done it again, this time with a wild design that looks like a serpent in repose. Quetzalcoatl Nest, named after the Aztec snake/bird god of learning and knowledge,...
POSTED Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Don't be confused by the artistic nature of the 2 Light, a design by Noel Zeller and Wei Young. It's really functional as a light and lamp. On one hand the 2 Light can operate as a standard flashlight,...
POSTED Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Are you constantly at war with time? Is keeping to a schedule for you not unlike a neverending struggle between mythical beasts, forever locked in combat over the passing moments? We have just the timepiece for your violent metaphors...
POSTED Monday, February 18, 2008
Not going to be able to get out to New York City's Toy Fair 2008 this year? Don't worry, DVICE has your back — whether you're browsing the Toy Fair halls for the first time or simply clicking back to...
POSTED Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Wireless Impact Guardian, or WIG, is a project by Brycen Spencer from UMass Amherst and it aims at taking the traditional motorcycle helmet one technological step further. Integrated into the helmet is a GPS receiver, accelerometer and communication...
POSTED Friday, February 15, 2008
You know how you whittle and whittle away at a bar of soap until it's so small it eventually slides out of your hands and down the drain? If you had a Soap Bank, you'd save all of those slivers...
POSTED Friday, February 15, 2008
Who cares what the neighbors think? Let's build a house that looks like a snail shell! That's just what a Mexico City couple did, with the help of the astonishing imagination of those wild and wooly architects at Senosiain...
POSTED Thursday, February 14, 2008
Yet again Dyson is involved in the process of integrating technology into a pre-existing process that seemed destined for retirement. Hanging clothes out to dry on a clothes line is an Al Gore-friendly way to dry clothes, but not...
POSTED Thursday, February 14, 2008
Like most weekend handymen know, the drill can be one hell of a device to master and it really all comes down to being able to drill straight. The conceptual SmartGuide is a small device that can turn that...
POSTED Thursday, February 14, 2008
Looking for a fine piece of art to class up your apartment or home? Are you also looking for a way to let all of your guests know that you're a pretty morbid person and quite proud of that fact?...
POSTED Thursday, February 14, 2008
The future will soon arrive. The House of the Future is coming back to Disneyland, and this time around, Microsoft, HP and LifeWare will be paying the bills instead of Monsanto, which originally sponsored the first House of the...
POSTED Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Forget all those tacky TV stands you've seen at Best Buy. This simple and adjustable TV Easel by Swedish designer Axel Bjurström, on display at the Stockholm Furniture Fair last week, takes a familiar form and applies it to...
POSTED Wednesday, February 13, 2008
It may not be as fun as some of the mechanical dragonflies we've featured in the past, but the Anax Imperator Machina, or The Emperor Dragonfly Machine, is a heck of a lot prettier. This to-scale dragonfly includes hand-crafted...
POSTED Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Use-Thing is designed to make the presence of a crowd a little more easier to bear for the horribly anti-social, and we're betting it'll do just that one way or another. Its designer, Guido Mamczur of Germany, intended it...
POSTED Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The tin-can style submarines made famous in The Hunt for Red October just aren't aesthetically pleasing and designer Taizo Doi agrees. This futuristic submarine design is Doi's work and is inspired by the jellyfish. Doi said he wanted the...
POSTED Tuesday, February 12, 2008
These awesome Stirling "hot air" engines are crafted by a designer from the Netherlands who goes by the mob-worthy nickname "Jos the Finch." They run entirely off of the heat generated by waxinelichtjes, or squat tea light candles, and, depending...
POSTED Tuesday, February 12, 2008
This week may be Valentine's Day, but isn't it about time that you started planning for Mother's Day (May 11!)? And what better way can a husband and children show their love than through this collaborative purse? It's easy—...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
Artists Golan Levin and Greg Baltus decided to make a work of art that would "invert the condition of spectatorship." The result is the Opto-Isolator, a wall-mounted sculpture with one eyeball that interacts with the person standing in front...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
If you're worried that your cat is walking around with just too much dignity, perhaps its time to force it to wear some sure-to-be-uncomfortable armor to make it look like a medieval knight. Of course! These crazy cat armor suits...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
Vie is a conceptual design by Du Tran Nguyen at Monash University. It is a glove designed with the runner or athlete in mind. It turns your hand into a GPS receiver and displays the current location on an...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
Why do I know that these amazing lamps are not gadgets? It's because the creator, Maurizio Lamponi Leopardi, is so adamant about saying that they are not gadgets. The Lamponi lamps are constructed out of vintage materials. These lamps...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
Previously, digital photo frames were pretty happy-go-lucky gadgets. A digital photo frame is a framed LCD screen that can cycle images of birthday parties, vacations, kids, pets and more. The Telepresence Frame takes the happy nature of digital photo...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
Meet Bloom's Daylight "table lamp." Like this sun jar it collects energy during the day so that it can illuminate your room at night. In the morning the lamp looks like a potted plant— that flat "flower" on top...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
I enjoy a lot of the modern art I encounter, although I really can't claim that I understand it on a very deep level. To be honest, when I listen to some critic spewing away about the artist's motivation...
POSTED Saturday, February 9, 2008
I'll admit it: I just can't get enough of ridiculous fish tanks. There's just something about putting water and a bunch of fish where neither of those things were ever supposed to go that just fills my heart with glee....
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
You know those type of alarm clocks that displays the digital clock on a transparent and somehow conductive piece of glass? This concept takes that idea to the next level by taking it out of the bedroom and onto...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
What if New York City were totally trashed in a disaster? That was the premise for a design competition that spawned this Cloud City idea by Studio Lindfors. It was one the Selected Entries in the "What if New...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
Ever since gadgets became style statements, unsightly scratches went from annoying inconvenience to deal-breaker (remember the armored iPod nano?). The idea behind the Gon portable game console is to ensure your handheld's precious screen never gets defaced. No plastic...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
Remember that awesome dump truck we showed you? Well, here's the Chameleon Truck, once again by concept designer Haishan Deng. Like his Super Tipper Truck, the Chameleon Truck makes up for the shortcomings of its modern trucking cousins. Where you...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
Wouldn't it be a shame if climate change engulfed the Netherlands with rising sea levels? Where would we go to smoke legal dope? Fortunately the world's most humane nation is also one of the more ingenious ones. Architects there...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
Designer Fred De Garilhe was apparently thinking more about makeup packaging and jewelry than cell phones when he designed this Chanel Choco phone concept. The slim slider collapses into a square piece of shiny glass, festooned with a latticework...
POSTED Thursday, February 7, 2008
When I was a kid, the coolest toys on the block were Rock'em Sock'em Robots and Battleship. The toy scene has gotten a little more, uh, sophisticated since then, and look no further than the Kidsonroof Totem for proof....
POSTED Thursday, February 7, 2008
You can't get a lot simpler than the One line clamp lamp by Ora Ito unless you just hang a lightbulb by a string. Even the Inch Lamp is overly complicated compared to this design. The One Line clamp...
POSTED Thursday, February 7, 2008
Master craftsman and PC case builder Jeffrey Stephenson just rolled out his latest design called Pico Bayard, a combination mini PC and digital photo frame that mimics the art deco design of classic French Bayard clocks. The gorgeous design...
POSTED Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Florian Krautli's magnetic curtains design is something that makes interior designers queasy. The idea behind these curtains is to allow the owner to shape the curtains however desired, thus providing the perfect amount of light, separation and such. Then...
POSTED Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The TicketTime concept's purpose is to address the issue of time zones when flying, but more so I see this idea as just a downright convenience. Attached to the boarding pass is a digital watch that syncs with and...
POSTED Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Here's the desk you need if you're going for an aircraft theme in your fancy office: It's made from the front of an actual jet engine plucked from a Boeing 747. We had no idea that engine was so...
POSTED Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Ever think a dump truck could be sexy? Enter the Super Tipper Truck, designed by Haishan Deng. It's got eight wheels, an overhead cockpit and allows its driver more than one way to dump the payload. Typical dump trucks...
POSTED Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Remember your first hamster? I do—his name was bullet. He died, but that's a different story. He had this amazing modular hamster cage that allowed him to go all over the place for fun and entertainment. Now Octopus Studios,...
POSTED Friday, February 1, 2008
Are you looking for a way to see exactly how of