concept-design
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Star Citizen explains its ship design pipeline
How does a ship for Star Citizen go from a vague concept to a functional design in the game? That's a great question! It's also one with a concrete answer, as a new official blog on the site explains the whole design pipeline process for new Star Citizen ships, starting with the highest level of concept and moving on to the level where the ship is ready for everyone to take into space. The process is a fairly straightforward one, moving from initial renders and tweaks during the concept stages to having a specific internal layout and then a map of damage areas on the final model. You can also check out the blog for a complete listing of all the ships currently in planning and moving through the concept process. It's not an easy path to go from the idea to a full, working version of the ship, so if you want to get a more detailed look, check out the full breakdown.
Faraday Porteur concept e-bike becomes a reality, launches pre-sale on Kickstarter (video)
Last time we saw the Faraday electric bike, it had just emerged victorious from the Oregon Manifest design competition. Designed by Ideo and built by Portland's Rock Lobster Cycles, the retro-styled ride was destined to rot in concept hell for all eternity -- that is until lead designer Adam Vollmer quit Ideo to press the bike into production under the Faraday Bicycles name. Now he's perfected the design, the company's launching a pre-sale on Kickstarter to, er, kickstart the first production run. Don't be fooled by its low-fi looks, parallel top tubes hold a series of lithium-ion batteries which power a front motor, good for between 10 and 15 miles of travel. The two front prongs are the basis of a modular racking system and contain a pair of LED headlamps that activate automatically in bad light. It charges in 45 minutes and weighs around 40 pounds. The bike will set you back $3,500, $300 less than when a second run is produced next year -- significantly cheaper than the current price for the $5,400 Grace One we rode around New York. If you've got some baller-style cash to throw around, you can spend $10,000 on a collectors edition hand-finished by Rock Lobster's Paul Sadoff. After the break we've got video and more details, but be warned -- you might find yourself opening your wallet a little too rapidly.
New satellite receiver design teases a glorious, dish-less future
Satellite dishes have come a long way in terms of design and size over the years, but Marcel van de Burgwal -- a grad student at the Netherlands' University of Twente -- has now invented a way to ditch the dish altogether. Channeling his inner Doc Brown, his invention revolves around an array of virtually flat antennas that receive satellite signals without the help of a concave backing. His design also conveniently eliminates the need to physically aim the receiver for reception -- much to the joy of actuaries everywhere. Instead, this task is performed by a network of small basic processors integrated into a single chip, which then bear the heavy calculation work of electronically aiming the receiver. The obvious impact of this design on consumer technology is that satellite receivers could soon make their way into all manner of handheld devices (read: smartphones). In fact, Marcel has already tested the chip's performance as a digital radio receiver for smartphones with successful results. That sounds like great news to us, but we understand if the branding folks at Dish Network are slightly less thrilled. For more details, hit the source link below.
Concept 'HTC 1' is the phone we wish HTC would make
Designer Andrew Kim has cooked up a concept smartphone for HTC dubbed the "1" that makes the company's current offerings look, well... last generation. The device, built from a brass housing (coated in silver) eschews the phone-maker's recent crop of fairly standard looking mobile devices for something decidedly more sophisticated -- and cans the familiar Sense interface in the process. Not only is the shell of the phone rethought, the new UI (Sense mono) takes a cleaner, more thoughtful, high-end approach as well, joining Synergy like functions (combined messaging) with a Helvetica heavy interface that looks streamlined and mature. Some notable features of the hardware include stereo speakers (located at the top and bottom of the phone), a kickstand which is actually the bottom portion of the casing, and the lofty concept of a built-in UV light which kills germs on the surface of the phone while you charge up. As far as concepts go, this is one of the finest we've seen, so hit the source link below and take a look at the full spread.
Fake car makes room for a fake ASIMO to be your fake driving companion
You know, we're realists, and we know deep down that cars in the future are going to drive themselves just fine without a humanoid robot to grab the controls and peer out of specially crafted front compartments. Even if a humanoid was doing the steering, he'd probably just jack into the car's full complement of cameras and sensors, merely using his CPU to plot a course from his comfy charging bay in the trunk. But we want to believe. Designer Derek Chik Kin Ng has come up with this Honda concept (one which we're guessing has no official collaboration with Honda) that packs a nice little front seat for your 8th gene ASIMO. The bot can hop out of the car and help you on your errands, make casual conversation as you drive, warn you of upcoming hazards, or take over controls when you're in the mood for some SpaceChess2000. Only thing he can't do? Actually exist.
Architects imagine a wall of iPads
I love concept designs – the images artists put together for films, architecture, automobiles, etc. – before making the actual product. Concept designs allow an artist to spur others imaginations to show them what might be possible. The guys at ClarkeHopkinsClarke architects in Australia have thrown together these nifty concept designs to show off how multiple iPads could be used to build a big multi-touch wall – in this case, one that would be used in a library. The biggest buzz surrounding the iPad might be its applications and features, but we have realised there are more use for this product. The iPad has paved way for affordable multi-touch screen-walls for building interiors. The size of the iPad (242.8mm x 189.7mm x 13.4 mm) and the weight (0.73kg) works very well for this purpose. With the built-in features of the iPad and customable applications, there is literally endless number of things we can do on the wall. Interchangeable wallpaper pattern & video is just the beginning, but imaging a giant jigsaw that you can play using multitouch, an interactive aquarium scene, digital graffiti, and of course, act as a life sized digital bookcase for your iBooks! (If you can't reach the top shelf, just drag it down with multi-touch!) Costly, you say? It's actually not as much as you would think. The architects note that in terms of price, some of the more expensive mosaic tiles in the market nowadays cost over US$250 each, thus, iPad's US$499 price point is only about twice that, but it contains state-of-the art technology that would allow much more functionality than the current line of tech tiles. It's been less than a day and already people are thinking of novel uses for the iPad. It'll be interesting to see the future uses people dream up for it!
Dell Froot desktop is a concept design that's less tasty than it sounds
Imagine the day when all-in-one desktops really mean it -- no keyboard, no mouse, and not even a screen panel. This is precisely Pauline Carlos' idea with her Froot concept -- supposedly an entry for a Dell sustainable design contest. Sure, the color options are rather odd if not unappetizing, but if it only takes a virtual keyboard, a projector (maybe an efficient pico), a biodegradable chassis and Windows XP to save the planet, then we're happy to oblige. Hey, there's even a slot-loading optical drive, but bamboo discs are hard to come by these days. Now add some touchscreen Light Touch magic and we might be tempted to buy it, otherwise that cursor isn't going to work without a mouse. One more pic after the break.
Kodak 1881 concept cam takes discreet snaps, is not discreet
Apparently designed so Flava Flav could secretly record his travels back in time, the "1881" concept designer Lindsey Pickett showed at a recent Kodak design exhibition is a bold new entry in the uber-competitive non-existent camera / locket space.The foldable cam takes snaps just by squeezing the case, or you can crack it open and line things up on the dual LCD screens. Pickett also tried to capture some of that old-school photo locket vibe by setting those the screens to auto-play the internal memory when opened, which'll keep you entertained during the frequent rest breaks you'll have to take while lugging this thing around on your neck. No specs to be had, since the 1881 is just a concept, but first Kodak and Pickett need to figure out how to build a camera smaller than a manhole cover.[Via Techie Diva]
