DesignProject
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3D-printed, eye-tracking top reacts and contorts to creepy stares
The ultimate defense against the wandering eye: this 3D-printed design project reacts to anyone that's looking, thanks to a built-in camera and some facial tracking algorithms. Architect and designer Behnaz Farahi fashioned a top out of plastic, monochromatic spikes: these then undulate depending on what the camera picks up... and where you're looking. Yes, you. The project is the latest 3D-printed collaboration between Farahi, Pier 9 and Autodesk. As you'll see in the video after the break, there's a creepy degree of organic movement to the spikes — it looks like the clothing is almost breathing, ironically making you want to stare at it even more. Sorry.
Design project paints city's WiFi networks with light
We've seen WiFi detectors used for various DIY projects before, but none quite like this rather ambitious project cooked up by Norwegian designers Timo Armall, Jørn Knutsen, and Einar Sneve Martinussen. They built a four-meter long WiFi-detecting rod that boasts 80 LED bulbs and carried it around various neighborhoods in Oslo, picking up signals of various strengths from nearby WiFi networks all the way. That's only the half of it, though. The real kicker is that they also captured the whole thing with long-exposure photographs to effectively paint the "invisible terrain" of WiFi networks with light. Head on past the break for a video, and hit up the source links below for a closer look at the entire process. [Thanks, Christer]
KDDI's curious Ply goes from concept to reality in one years' time
This phone began life as a member of Japanese carrier KDDI au's ongoing Design Project series, a line of concepts geared at envisioning tomorrow's phones -- and a pretty impressive number of those concepts ultimately go on to become production phones. In checking out the Ply concept last year, we said "the phone itself is pretty stunningly beautiful, so we'd love to see it on the streets of Tokyo even if it meant nixing the printer," and indeed, that's what they've done; the original idea was for each "layer" of the phone to represent some wild function like printing or pico-projecting, but now, the layer tabs are nothing more than stylized buttons accessing totally pedestrian features like keylock and camera. Here's our take: when your phone looks this much like five pieces of wood sandwiched together, that's a totally acceptable sacrifice to make. It'll be available in three colors later this month as a member of KDDI's iida designer series, which means that if you're outside Japan, your odds of getting in on it are precisely zero.
KDDI au unveils iida sub-brand for high design
Japan's KDDI au has long been famous for its Design Project handsets -- some of which have made the leap from concept to production -- and the CDMA carrier is looking to ramp up its fashion street cred with the creation of an entire brand dedicated to those oh-so-special models. iida is launching with five models out of the gate: the G9 from Sony Ericsson and misora (neither of which are particularly Earth-shattering in their design) along with three stunners from celebrated Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. These are pretty... shall we say, "interesting" handsets, owing in no small part to their in-your-face polka dot design (Kusama's trademark, it seems) -- but what's more, one of the three docks to a sculpture of a dog and another is the shape of a miniature handbag for the ladies. Continuing with the bizarre theme, iida is selling a unique charger whose cord looks like an ivy vine -- must be an eco-friendly unit, otherwise the irony is overwhelming -- and a pico projector using TI's DLP tech that'll connect to your handset for that impromptu presentation on the go. Check out a gallery of some of iida's wares below. [Via Engadget Japanese]
KDDI's au Design Project yields four phones
Those crazy cats over at Japan's KDDI are back at it with another four concept handsets as part of their "au Design Project," a collaboration with various designers that's been carrying on for some time now to draw attention to their network. Coined the Infobar 2, Kaos, Cypres, and Vols (pictured), the phones aren't technically destined for production, but let's be honest: this stuff doesn't seem much more far out than garden variety Japanese mobile hardware.[Via and for the umpteenth time...]
