While we’ve seen concept designs recently really focus on helping the environment in one fashion or another, we haven’t seen many that actually focus on two separate causes at once, and aim to fix both of them with one device. The Biolamp concept design is meant to not only clean the air, but also fuel eco cars. The design implements solar energy, as well as the usage of a specialized liquid to make the magic happen.
The Biolamp is designed to convert carbon dioxide into fuel. This fuel is meant to power the street lamps at night, as well as eco-friendly vehicles. It features a pump that literally sucks the smog and other contaminants out of the air. Inside, there’s a liquid made from alga and mixed with water. During the day, the Biolamp pulls the smog into the spiral system where the water and CO2 are used to transform the alga into a biomass. Some of it is deposited into the lamp itself to power it during the night.
The rest of the biomass is then filtered through a pipe system underground to a facility that will transform it into usable fuel for eco cars. Seems like a lot of work, especially with the underground tubes to transport the biomass, but the Biolamp’s ability to clean the air, as well as provide a seemingly limitless amount of biomass to change into biofuel makes it a unique enough design.
François Vogel is a visual artist that hates 3D. And while the debate about 3D being the next step of entertainment is still a hotly-debated topic, the consensus that most people don’t want to wear 3D glasses to watch 3D entertainment seems pretty straight forward: they don’t want to wear them. Vogel doesn’t want to wear them, either, and so he’s created a gadget that gets around the glasses by actually syncing your blinks to a monitor. The device attaches to the sides of your eyes, and then makes you blink when necessary.
According to Vogel, the gadget is meant to simulate 3D active shutter glasses. He points out that the technology will only work on a monitor or display that features a 120Hz refresh rate. As for information regarding the gadget and technology behind it (other than making you blink a lot, and quickly), Vogel is holding back. He plans on showing it all off at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2012.
You can watch Vogel talk about the device in the video below, and then you can discuss in the comments below whether or not this is something you’d ever consider buying. Other than the fact that it may not be the best for your eyelids, how do you think something like this would be accepted, or rejected, in the general market?
Combining devices, gadgets, or ideas into one useful object is something that more companies should try and implement. Of course, getting the idea out of the concept stage is tough, especially if you’re a designer that hasn’t been picked up by a huge company. For Wonchul Hwang, the concept design for the AA USB is something that many people would probably find some use in.
The AA USB, which as you might have guessed from the name is a combination of a AA battery and USB drive, is meant to function as a standard USB stick, but then be installed into a battery-powered device when necessary. When the device is plugged into your computer, it will recharge itself, while able to store your necessary data. Unplugging it, you’ll be able to put it into a flashlight, radio, or other device that uses AA batteries, just like a “normal” battery.
Transitioning the device from a USB drive to the AA battery is as simple as a twist. There will be LED indicators on the side of the USB AA which will show how much energy is left in the small battery, letting you know how much energy is left. Anyone think this could be something they’d use every day?
We have seen some cool stuff hit Kickstarter before to try and get the money the maker needs from people that think the product is a good idea. One of the latest things to hit Kickstarter is a line of custom 3D cases for the iPad. The cases can be designed by the buyer to whatever style they want.
The person designing the case can take whatever message they want that is integrated right into the design of the case. The case designs are cool and some have fold out stands to hold the case at an angle for comfortable viewing.
If you pledge $37 or more you get a custom iPad stand that, you can put text on. Pledge $77 and you get a custom iPad case with the message you want on it. A $97 commitment gets you a custom case with a stand, and $137 gets you a custom case and a leather carry bag. Pony up $497 and you can design your own case along with designers from Freedom of Creation. The project seeks $20,000 and has $848 pledged so far and will end on February 27.
New York City is holding a contest to have taxi’s of the future designed that will assumingly save money and make for a faster and safer commute. One of the designs that was submitted to the contest looks like some sort of killing contraption from Saw.
It’s a split bus style taxi with a pair of seats on each side that exit into a central tunnel. That central tunnel is there to allow people that ride bikes around the city to pass in the middle of the taxi without having to change lanes.
The natural problem is that if the driver of the taxi changes lanes with a bike in the tunnel the folks sitting in the seats are going to get a firsthand look at some gore. The taxi is an interesting design that is never going to happen.
Yachts are generally a good way for a concept to become reality. There’s generally enough money being tossed around at any given moment on a yacht that, say, including an iPad-controlled thermostat (and many other functions) just seems logical, and not superfluous. But, there’s a line where you have to look at a design, especially for something like a yacht, and just shake your head. Perhaps even roll up the plans, and start working on something else. For designer Phil Pauley, having a dream is one thing — but making it a reality is something entirely different.
Pauley calls it the Fly Cruiser, and as you can see from the image above, it’s supposed to be a yacht that has a pretty cool “extra feature.” The point of this yacht isn’t the technology inside, but instead on the outside. Designed to feature a pair of wings that extend from the side of the ship, with just the touch of a button, that have jet engines on them, your trip will suddenly be transformed from a scenic trip on the water, to a speedy hydroplaning adventure.
Turning on the engines will set the ship on its way, all the way up to 100 knots, where the yacht will be slicing across the water on a stability board. Once the nominal speed has been reached, the board will rise up back into the yacht, and you’ll be flying along to your next destination. You can watch the concept in action in the video below.
With technology becoming more advanced every day, and even the way we build our vehicles getting better at a rapid rate, it’s no surprise to see some of the designs for what the future of airplanes may look like. NASA issued a request to Boeing, Northrop Gurmman, and Lockheed Martin to design what the airplanes of 2025 may look like, and all of the manufacturers came back with their own take on what the future of flight may look like.
The one you see above is the design that was issued by Lockheed Martin. The second one is from Boeing, with the final design from Northrop Gurmman. All of these new concept pieces utilize the stringent guidelines that NASA issued in the development process. NASA has requested that these planes of the future be able to travel up to 85 percent of the speed of sound, along with being able to cover a range of about 7,000 miles in a single flight.
These aircraft should also be able to carry anywhere between 50,000 and 100,000 pounds of payload, whether that be passengers or cargo. Great ideas on paper, but we’ll have to wait and see if these designs can become a reality by the intended year.
Engineering students at Keio University’s Yasuaki Kakehi Laboratory in Japan have set their sights on candy. Using a sort of augmented reality, based on sound and sensors, the students have created a new way for people to eat, and enjoy, candy. With a demonstration on video, the students have high hopes for their device, which can give you the sensation of biting into an apple the next time you put a sucker in your mouth.
The device isn’t the smallest. The students are calling it the TagCandy system, and it works by sticking an actual sucker into the device. Once it is there, the sensors work together with the speakers to bring a whole new experience. As soon as the candy touches your tongue, the system will then kick in, and a vibration speaker will start the sensation of your choice. For example, other than the apple mentioned above, the system can give you the sensation of drinking a carbonated drink, or even fireworks going off in your mouth.
When you bite into the sucker, bone conduction technology will give you other, unique sounds as well. The students aren’t finished aiming high, though. Their next trick is to make a sucker that doesn’t normally taste like anything, taste like whatever you want it to, based on the same technology. They envision people sharing their flavors online, too. Check out the video below to see the system in action.
There’s been gadgets in the past, that have allowed for an object to be controlled with our “thoughts,” thanks to a certain type of headband that we put on. And this new idea from InteraXon isn’t the first we’ve seen in the “mind-control” department for iOS-based devices. But, this isn’t the Canadian-based company’s first foray into the idea of thought-based actions making our every day usage of devices all that better, either. They first showed off their in-flight entertainment system, controlled merely by thought, last year. And now they’re setting their sites on the iPad.
InteraXon took some time at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to show off their latest concept design. The idea is that, by connecting a simple headband/headset to a person’s cranium, they’ll be able to control applications, and games, on their iPhone and iPad. The headset is a customized EEG headband, and the game that’s being shown off is a customized version of Zen Bound 2. The underlying “thought-controlling framework” makes it possible for someone to use their brainwaves to control the game.
Like 3D in its current state, to really use the technology we’ll need to be wearing an accessory that, over time or in the process of doing something else, may not be the best bet. However, if you’re someone who’s been waiting to control things with their mind, this is the way to do it. Unfortunately, InteraXon’s idea is just a concept right now, but the company hopes to have it out to the masses before too long.
Immersion is part of what makes movies, and some of the best videogames, so enjoyable. For however long, the audience is taken away from the normal, every day world, and transported somewhere else where, perhaps, anything is possible. That’s why some enjoy 3D so much, because it adds another level of that immersive element. But, 3D can only get you so far. If you really want to get yourself into a movie or videogame, then you’ve got to be able to smell the world around you. That’s where the Scentscape comes in.
The ScentScape is a simple unit that features a Plug-N-Play design from ScentSciences. The machine, coupled with the ScentEditor, will let you synchronize smells to your favorite movies, or your favorite videogames. You just store the scents in cartridges of 20, and you’ll be able to really enjoy your next movie or game. The cartridges are said to be able to last up to 200 hours. ScentSciences will even customize smells for you, as the company does personalized smells as well.
There’s a rocker on the device that will let you increase, or decrease, the level of scent, too.
ScentSciences has given the ScentScape device a $70 price tag, and the ScentEditor editing software is tagged at $20. The device is only compatible with Windows-based PCs: Windows 98, XP or 7, to be exact. If you head over to ScentSciences’ website, you’ll be able to get more detailed information about the device, and even put yourself on a “priority list,” where you’ll be considered more quickly than other folks to get your hands on the newest way to enjoy your movies and videogames.
