Skip to Content

Win a free GPS from Gadling!
AOL Tech

Posts with tag design

Project: Alien Mouse gets your arm into it

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 25th 2008 at 2:51PM


Mizanur Rahman is clearly sick and tired of traditional mousing devices. So sick and tired, in fact, that he's kicked out a rendering of the Project: Alien Mouse. In short, this decidedly gigantic mouse shoots for ergonomics by providing a place for your wrist, lower arm and maybe your elbow if you're a small enough person. We'll be honest, all those gel cushions sure look comfy from here, but the amount of brain energy that would be required to use it kind of puts a damper on the whole deal.

[Via Wired]

Conceptual baton phone does the twist

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 22nd 2008 at 8:36AM


The tried-and-true Hamburger phone is still our fav (what, there a problem with that?), but Marc Schömann's baton-styled concept phone is very worthy of a look. Laden with LEDs and ready to be turned, users can dial up friends and family in painstakingly long procedures that involve all sorts of inefficient rotating maneuvers. Still, we can't help but adore the hat tip to yesteryear's rotary phones, though we have no doubts that this will never, ever see a retail shelf. Please, someone, prove us wrong.

[Via PhoneMag]

Parrot offers up $450 Andrée Putman-designed digiframe

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 16th 2008 at 12:42PM


Remember that Andrée Putman-designed digital photo frame that was showcased in the UK earlier this year? Even if not, Parrot would like to remind you of this apparently exquisite device, which features commonplace luxuries like a 7-inch 720 x 480 resolution display, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, an SD / MMC card slot, an undisclosed amount of internal memory and USB connectivity. Oh, and did we mention the $449.99 price? Yeah, there's that, too. Heard enough, haven't you? (Psst... it ships on July 28th in the US.)

[Via Digital Picture Frame Review]

3,000 LEDs used to build glitzy SMS-controlled UFO

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 13th 2008 at 9:08PM


Hey France, we've got one more for your sophisticated UFO archive. Dreamed up by artist Peter Coffin and crafted in conjunction with London-based Cinimod Studio, this 7-meter structure was built from aluminum and covered with 3,000 shockingly bright programmable LEDs. Furthermore, there's an on board 6kW generator to provide power, and the overall UFO can be remotely controlled via SMS. There are even assertions that this thing flew along the coast of Sopot, Poland on July 4th (and even a video to "prove it," posted after the jump), but we all know how dubious such proclamations can be.

[Via Hack N Mod]

Continue reading 3,000 LEDs used to build glitzy SMS-controlled UFO

V12 Designs' dual-screen laptop coming in two years?

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 4:32PM


No, not that dual-screen, silly. Or that one. Or that one! The dual-screen lappie we're talking about actually has two LCD panels, one of which takes the place of a traditional keyboard / trackpad. Reportedly, V12 Designs -- which takes credit for dreaming up the design some four years ago -- is working with an undisclosed US firm in order to bring said concept to market. We're told that the keyboard display will likely support haptic feedback so users can feel when a keystroke is registered, and of course, voice recognition will also play a large role. It's not that we don't think these are coming, but V12's Valerio Cometti is suggesting that they'll be ready for consumption in a mere 16 months. Don't hate us for being skeptical, but... we're skeptical.

LED Alarm Clock Blocks are too pretty to smash

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 9th 2008 at 8:53AM


If you're a habitual destroyer of snooze buttons, there's at least a smidgen of a possibility that picking one of these up could stop that habit. Seiji's stylish LED Alarm Clock Blocks (¥8,190; $76) rely on a trio of LED-filled boxes to convey the time (right down to the second), and best of all, the trifecta can be arranged however you'd like (horizontally, vertically, etc.) in order to please your fuzzy eyes in the AM. Unfortunately, you'll still have to use that spare travel clock while this thing gets imported from Japan, but you know what they say about the early bird...

[Via technabob]

Wizard escape pack: too late for MacGyver, too conceptual for Bauer

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 9:46AM


Nah, the Wizard isn't a reality just yet, but we can certainly envision this taking up its fair share of shelf space in the not-too-distant future. Dreamed up by the vivid imaginations at HJC Design, this emergency parachute pack would theoretically provide an "automated public safety solution with up to 250-meters of reciprocating lifeline technology." Beyond that, it seems like a pretty invigorating method of avoiding the elevator lines come quittin' time.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

22-foot tall robot crafted entirely from excess styrofoam

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 3rd 2008 at 11:29PM


Building a big robot is nothing to congratulate yourself on, but doing it in this manner is certainly worthy of a little self-indulgence. The creature you see standing before you is a 22-foot tall Styrobot constructed entirely from spare polystyrene packing materials, and no, each piece didn't just show up that way. Michael Salter managed to whittle away on this beast until its completion, and now we're hearing that it'll be going on a short demonstration tour before being "decommissioned." We say throw a brain in there and see what happens when you cut it loose.

[Via TechDigest]

Tyrant alarm clock dials your contacts if you refuse to wake

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 2nd 2008 at 11:35AM

We've seen alarm clocks institute some fairly unorthodox methods of waking users up, but this is exceptionally high on the list of "oh, no they didn'ts." Alice Wang's Tyrant, which we can only assume is a concept, actually dials a random number in one's mobile contact list for every three minutes that the sleeper doesn't address the obnoxiously loud ringing. In other words, unless you pick yourself up out of bed within ten minutes of the alarm going off, you'll have three angry friends wondering why they're getting phone calls from you everyday at O-five-hundred hours. Brilliant. Pure, sadistic, barbarous brilliance.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

Sweety stress reliever hears you out, won't complain if you batter it

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 27th 2008 at 12:28PM


We'll go ahead and squash your welling excitement: from what we can glean, Sweety is nothing more than a concept, but for enough cash, designer Haishu Zhang may be willing to make your dreams a reality. Nevertheless, this highly sophisticated stress reliever somehow hears you out and can determine the root cause of the tension in your life. He'll also invite you to play interactive games to keep your mind on more peaceful endeavors, but if the world just tosses too much in your way, he isn't opposed to being maltreated if it steers you clear of the roof.

John Lewis' Ultimate kitchen combo includes obligatory LCD TV

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 23rd 2008 at 10:30PM


While those of us here in America puff our chests out each time we waltz by that LCD-equipped centralpark Connection refrigerator, folks in the UK can get extra prideful courtesy of John Lewis. Although the integrated coffee machine, electric oven, steam oven and 19-inch HD-ready LCD TV can all be purchased separately, they're being (smartly) marketed together to create the "ultimate kitchen combo." The whole shebang will run you £2,246 ($4,363), and not surprisingly, it's the £699 ($1,358) tele that's likely to bring in the most profit. Meat-heads will agree to anything with pixels though, right?

[Via CNET]

Kazuharu Sakura's leather keyboard: only touch typists need apply

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 8:32AM


Alright, so we suppose a labeled version could be created upon request, but the beauty of Kazuharu Sakura's handmade leather keyboard is really in its simplicity. Just imagine: your delicate fingertips frolicking endlessly on the soft, supple skin covering the abnormally large Enter / atypically small Space bar, not to mention every key in between. Our knees get weak just thinking about it.

ChauhanStudio's Jetsons-esque HAL LCD TV gets real

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 1:18PM


Alright, so we're not really any closer to determining whether or not ChauhanStudio's HAL LCD TV is headed for commercial production, but we do know this: at least one of these bad boys are real. Yep, the mockup we saw a few months back has somehow made it into reality, though we can't say for sure that there is anything more than rarefied air packed within the glossy white enclosure. Regrettably, specifications are still unknown, but you can peek a shot of the back in the read link below should you be so inclined.

[Via Unplggd]

Design student concocts eco-friendly modular PC

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 9th 2008 at 4:35PM


Certainly, we've seen compartmentalized computing concepts before, but the machine you see above is far beyond a few lines on paper. This modular PC was designed with Mother Earth in mind, and from our view, design graduate Ben Chase should be receiving a copious amount of hugs from trees all around. The sustainable PC runs Windows, consumes just 27-watts of power and has "upgradable components that slide out without the need for tools." According to Mr. Chase, he has crafted a 95% working prototype, and though we doubt any of the big boys have contacted this bloke about taking things mainstream, that probably wouldn't be a bad idea on their part.

SkinForm Project sees shape-shifting structure get its wiggle on

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 6th 2008 at 9:31AM


There's no shame in admitting that shape-shifting creatures are a touch frightening, but we'll go ahead and warn you -- those spooked by petite bots will be utterly terrified by this. The SkinForm Project has arisen from the University of Technology Sydney, and while there aren't any elaborate details available just yet, it's described as an "intelligent pneumatic structure that transforms dynamically in response to socio-physical context." Additionally, it seems to utilize a plethora of sensors and rely on a good bit of software programing in order to become the transforming architecture that it is. If all goes as planned, the initiative will be completed on June 12th, but you can take a look at a number of in-progress videos right down there in the read link below.
Play Pause



Weblogs, Inc. Network

AOL News

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

Joystiq
Download Squad
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
BloggingStocks
Xbox 360 Fanboy
Autoblog
Big Download Blog
Fanhouse Backporch