Something magical happens when you carefully mix technology and art. Cirque du Soleil has a ‘lab’ where they create new theatre and art projects, and one of those latest projects is called Sparked. Using ten quadcopter drones and choreographing them to an actor’s movement, they’ve created theater out of these funny flying bots. No CG at all, these are actual flying robots. By far the most elegant use of drones to date, the clever use of lampshades hides the bare technology in a veil of pedestrian familiarity. Via LaughingSquid and Cirque Du Soleil.
The first shot fired in the smart watch war was either the Pebble or the pseudo-smart iPod Nano in a watch band. Since then, a number of companies have attempted some very interesting and lame entrants, few of which have caught on with any kind of vigor. Lately though, as rumors of a fully-fledged Apple iWatch heat up, the biggies of the tech world are starting to invest in their own ‘watches of the future.’ The latest, announced this week, is the Moto 360, utilizing the just-released Google Wear software. Unlike nearly all of the competition, the Moto 360 is elegant, thoughtful, and actually looks like a watch you want to strap on.
As a designer, I immediately gravitate toward the Moto 360’s form factor, which has been around for centuries, and looks classic on the wrist. Indeed, I imagine there are some designers at Apple this week that are pretty pissed that Motorola got here first. Understated, versus the chunky, often ghastly industrial design of those othersmart watches, the Moto 360 eschews things like cameras and visible sensors, which in 2014, takes some real restraint.
The watch is too new to be reviewed, but it relies heavily on Google Now, which is entirely voice-driven, similar to Siri. Part of me hates the idea of always barking commands at my wrist, but we’ll see how the watch operates, and how intuitive the software really is. I’m also very curious to know how a circular LCD is created. Nice work, Motorola. You deserve a slap on the wrist…
Via DesignBoom, an elegant and space-age illumination of the Sölvesborg Bridge in Sweden. Using color-changing LEDs and diffusion to minimize glare, the bridge does a wonderful job of coming alive at night. Considered the longest bicycle and pedestrian bridge in Europe, the Swedes again remind us that design matters. Check out the video for a look at the multi-colored light array in action.
Bot and Dolly produced this stunning projection mapping, and it’s hard to believe, but everything you see is taking place in camera, no post-production graphics. Watching it in HD, large, is a must. Via Colossal:
“Box” explores the synthesis of real and digital space through projection-mapping on moving surfaces. The short film documents a live performance, captured entirely in camera. Bot & Dolly produced this work to serve as both an artistic statement and technical demonstration. It is the culmination of multiple technologies, including large scale robotics, projection mapping, and software engineering. We believe this methodology has tremendous potential to radically transform theatrical presentations, and define new genres of expression.
It’s hard to think of America’s most scientific, technical and precise government organization having an art program that includes post modernism and collage. But it exists, and it’s been around for 50 years. Thank you, NASA. We love you.
The program is still around today, and has some amazing pieces in its collection. Founder and former NASA Administrator James Webb wrote: “It’s Important events can be interpreted by artists to give a unique insight into significant aspects of our history-making advances into space. An artistic record of this nation’s program of space exploration will have great value for future generations and may make a significant contribution to the history of American art.”
Artist include Norman Rockwell, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Annie Leibovitz. Via The Scout and NASA’s website.
There’s something wonderfully crisp and tight about these xray images of vintage NASA space gear, and the see-through vision gives light to some of the technical aspects of these suits. Some of the metal housing and joints make the suits look like they’re made from slinkies, and the fact that these 60s-era suits look pretty much like today’s shows how advanced they were for the day.
Space.com has a collection of awesome and highly optimistic renderings of space colonies, as seen from the 1970s. Can you imagine a fully-fledged farm in space? Now, this was post moon landing, and the sense of conquering space seemed more plausible than it does today. Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium features a floating space colony, called a Stanford Torus, circa 2154.
Here’s a visual history of the last twenty years of cell phone design. Now this only shows a smattering of the thousands of phone designs of the last two decades, but it’s striking how designs have shifted over the years. Long gone is the antenna, and nowadays the design of phones seems to be a simple rectangular slab.
Keep in mind that if you’re happy with your current device you can always just switch out the SIM card and change plans. This way you can keep your current phone that you do like and save some money.
Japanese communications company NTT docomo celebrates its 20th anniversary with an exhibition showcasing the evolution of mobile phone culture starting from 1987 to the present day. The extensive chronological display of cell phones on view at tokyo designers’ week, offered a visual documentation of the progress made in terms of size, shape, form, color and materials used in the design of today’s mobile devices.
1987 – 1997
Timeline of cell phones from the exhibition edited by DesignBoom
1997 – 2000
Timeline of cell phones from the exhibition edited by DesignBoom
2000 – 2003
Timeline of cell phones from the exhibition edited by DesignBoom
2003 – 2005
Timeline of cell phones from the exhibition edited by DesignBoom
2005 – 2007
Timeline of cell phones from the exhibition edited by DesignBoom
2007 – 2010
Timeline of cell phones from the exhibition edited by DesignBoom
2010 – 2012
Timeline of cell phones from the exhibition edited by DesignBoom
Swiss company micasa lab has conceived the ‘cocoon 1’ – a self-sufficient living pod deconstructing the notion of a sanctuary.
The design is an outcome of ongoing research by the firm exploring the complex idea of human space and living. defined by a 180 cm diameter translucent shell, the ‘cocoon 1’ challenges the pre-conceived perceptions of a furniture piece, through sectioning the space by various colored modules -the confined area is divided into efficient and functional zones.
Through connecting various modules, the uses of the ‘cocoon 1’ can adapt to differing needs – for example connecting sleeping or storage units.
Every ‘cocoon 1′ comes with three basic parts know as the’ foundation 360′ and two ‘pillow 90’ modules recognizable through the vivid coloring.
The range of living elements extend beyond the assumed, there are even modules designed enabling basic cooking where batteries are used to operate the stove, wi-fi and the media component of the re-envisioned dwelling.
For outdoor use, specialized attachments can be installed – each one can be bought separately according to a user’s requirements.
The kitchen feature comes with a power pack which has enough power for 40 hours of light or 20 hours of light and 30 minutes of cooking and the water extension can be combined with ‘foundation 360’ which has a pipe for outflow.
Through connecting various modules, the uses of the ‘cocoon 1’ can adapt to differing needs.
The confined area is divided into efficient and functional zones.
The kitchen feature comes with a power pack which has enough power for 40 hours of light or 20 hours of light and 30 minutes of cooking.
The design is an outcome of ongoing research by the firm exploring the complex idea of human space and living.
Every ‘cocoon 1′ comes with three basic modules know as the’ foundation 360′ and two ‘pillow 90’ modules.
For outdoor use, specialized attachments can be installed – such as water and power.
Bridges are everywhere, and we speed over them daily without much notice. But bridges can be fascinating, and when they are, they become much more than just structures that get us from one place to another. Here are some very forward-looking bridges from around the world.
NASA did it. In a stunningly perfect landing, they did what the Russians have failed to do nineteen times in a row: land a craft on Mars. But no matter, the whole world gets to share in this endeavor. In what was surely the most complicated maneuver imagined for a planetary mission, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL, aka. Curiosity) stuck the landing with Olympic grace. It now has a few days to wake up, get the electronics working, and start puttering around the Red Planet. With an onboard plutonium battery, the Jeep-sized rover may be able to keep roving for the next decade or two. Excellent work, NASA.
1986. A year after Steve Jobs was kicked out of his own company, and a year when Apple was still riding the wave of the original Macintosh. Perhaps to supplement their computer offerings, perhaps just because they could, Apple offered something called The Apple Collection. It was a full catalog of goods, from backpacks and cases to thermoses, clothing and even an Apple-branded windsurfer. The catalog stands out for its sheer 80s personality; those colors, those poses, that hair! But also for some of the rather handsome design that still looks good today. I mean, no one has use for a 5 1/4 ” floppy disk drive case anymore, but it still looks cool! Do any of you own any of these items? Probably pretty valuable collector’s items by now!
Google seems to be bringing us one step closer to that Cyborg future…
We think technology should work for you—to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don’t.
A group of us from Google[x] started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment. We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input. So we took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do.
Please follow along as we share some of our ideas and stories. We’d love to hear yours, too. What would you like to see from Project Glass?
The moon may seem barren and boring, but each of those craters has a story, the story of an awesome space collision. Over its 4.5 billion year life, the moon has had an awful lot of those, turning it into the pockmarked celestial body we know and love today. Fortunately for you NASA’s Goddard Multimedia team has comprised this lovely little video that gives you the quick version. At a quick but impressive 2:42, it’s definitely worth a watch and sure beats staring at the sky, slack-jawed, for 4.5 billion years.
New System Uses Radar to Detect Bicyclists at Intersections
Intersections in Pleasanton, California, have been outfitted with radar that not only detect bicycle traffic to trigger green lights, but differentiate between bicycles and cars.
The devices, called Intersectors, have been installed at eight intersections across the city alongside bike lane and pavement projects. They use a combination of microwave and presence sensors to detect a vehicle, and offer enough precision to determine whether a vehicle has two, four or more wheels. Because it can detect what kind of vehicle is about to cross, it will adjust signal timing accordingly (as seen in the video).
“To the city of Pleasanton, this is the best of both worlds — providing additional green timing and green extension timing only when bicycles are present, while utilizing more efficient traffic signal timing more appropriate for vehicle traffic the remaining times,” Pleasanton’s senior transportation engineer Joshua Pack told the Intelligent Transportation Society of America.
ITS America liked the new intersections so much that they recognized the city’s bike detection project with a Smart Solution Spotlight award.
If existing intersections feature any accommodations for cyclists, it’s usually in the form of an induction coil beneath pavement and sometimes a digital camera trained on a certain spot. Colloquially known as a “bike box,” it’s usually marked with an icon or “wait here for green” sign, like the one shown above.
Normally, the induction coil detects a vehicle and triggers a light when it senses metal. Unfortunately, the latest, lightest bikes have very little metal in them and therefore cyclists can end up stranded or choose to run a light. Even when they work, a bike box usually triggers the same green cycle that a car would use.
Intersectors, which cost between $4,000 and $5,000 each, can be installed without digging up pavement and are relatively easily retrofitted to existing intersections. They’re unaffected by inclement weather. If the pilot project in Pleasanton is a success, the city’s traffic office expects similar detectors to appear at bike-friendly intersections across the country.
Video: City of Pleasanton, CA. Photo: benet2006/Flickr
