STATIC! project's whimsical energy-saving devices

Maybe it's the long winters, the presence of so many frustrated Ikea designers or the ready availability of so much Absolut, but there's definitely something that makes the researchers at STATIC! — a group at the Interactive Institute in Stockholm devoted to designing energy-efficient products — more creative than the average alt-energy workshop. One project, the Flower Lamp (pictured at right), changes shape based on household energy consumption (presumably it's triggered by ambient energy, rather than using extra juice to morph). Another lamp is heat sensitive, with its shape changing based on the heat of its light bulb (we hope it doesn't melt if you pop in a flood). Our favorite project,
though, has to be the one they call "Erratic Objects." The idea is that your gear will penalize you for using too much energy — one example is the erratic radio, which will start losing signals if it detects too much energy usage in the room. Sure, no one will ever make one of these, but wouldn't it be great to give one to your favorite clueless energy hog and watch him try to figure out what's going on?

[Via MetaEfficient]