Орчин үеийн Дизайны урлаг (Modern Design Art)

Smokey The Bear Approved

The Shooter fire extinguisher makes all those years of Nerf gun practice worth while. Simply put it’s a light weight gun loaded with CO2 cartridges. There’s a laser guidance system to help you aim and an alarm button to let others know there’s a fire-a-comin! This has a coolness factor of 10 but how much do you wanna bet people would shoot these off just because it’s sadistically fun?

Designer: Eunjung Kim, Yangwoo Kim & Junyi Heo

Mobile Projector Phone, Do We Need One?

Here’s another mobile projector phone concept but this one is a bit more thought out, tho not without its problems. It offers portability and the communications functions of a mobile phone with a projector to support a new lifestyle.

As you’ve probably guessed, anything on screen can be projected onto a wall. There’s support for real time conferencing tho the camera faces the ceiling when in projector mode so I guess you’ll look like some floating head from the viewer’s perspective.

Perhaps the only reasonable utility is the ability to watch stored movies on a large screen, possibly HD since storage capacities have ramped up exponentially. Users can enjoy an array of multimedia this way, everything from videos, maybe video games, and TV.

Now to the obvious problems. Projectors produce a lot of light to get sharp saturated images. Surely a phone’s battery would run dry within minutes if tasked with such a job. Not so according to the designer. The projection system is part of a newer generation of miniaturized video components. That combined with advancements in battery technologies provide for an acceptable viewing experience.

Made of polycarbonate that is highly durable, insulating and energy saving with a graphite sheet to increase heat conductivity to dissipate heat. The edge is made of aluminum to enhance heat radiation away from the projector module and function keys. In another words, this thing would get hot!

Designer: Eun-Young Kim

Grape Vines Goes Green

That green bandwagon is speeding down the global highway at break neck speeds and corporations are rushing to hop on. That’s the good news… the other good news is that electronics giant Siemens is looking for ways to make bold and beautiful green statements with these cordless telephone designs. Siemens Home and Office Communication division commissioned design firm Formwelt with guidance from Hans-Henning Brabänder to dream up these ultimate green phones for the home or office. The “Gigaset Eco Visions” “Leaf” and “Solar” are made of recyclable raw materials, such as eco-plastic and liquid wood. Sun-light is used as a natural energy source for handsets. An eco-index provides the “nutritional facts” regarding the environmental-friendliness of each phone. This includes the percentage of organic materials and number of components used at disassembly, the energy consumption and emissions in use and production as well as the how recyclable each product is. So much more relevant info on all the ways this design is innovative below.

Designer: Formwelt Studio

Leaf has a unique natural design reminiscent of a leaf in spring. The eco plastics provide sensational haptics and substantial convenience. The invisible OLED display is embedded in a translucent lens encasement, giving the phone a futuristic touch.

Solar, the high-end phone in this series uses all-over solar cells for a self-sustaining energy supply. It recharges naturally in the sun. The eco-index indicates the renewable energy use. Made of pure, separable materials (metal, eco-plastics, glass) the Gigaset Solar is truly state of the art high-tech inside and out. OLED touchpad technology allows a function-depending key indication on the Solar’s transparent display.

The Third Space

If you thought China’s opening ceremony was impressive for its scale and teamwork then spare a thought for the 52 German design students who were handed the knee weakening task of creating a temporary 200sqm world that tries to translate sociological terms like self-portrayal, community and retreat into tangible spatial situations. As impressive as it is, the real treat is in the details. The entire space was created by lashing together almost 1.3 million cable ties. The result is nothing short of amazing. Visitors are invited to explore the surreal landscape of cocoons, webs and light called “The Third Space” that took a staggering 16,870 hours to complete.

Design: Academy of Fine Arts in Munich

Photographs by Martin.

Silky Snappy Snake

We are always in need of a USB cable to charge up a phone, an i-pod or load up digital photos from our camera, yet carrying around a USB cable can be quite bothersome and frustrating when we can’t find it. With the Lisco USB Snake by Laurent Hongisto, just slap the USB snake on your wrist and not only will you look fashionable, but you will also never have to go searching for your USB cable again. Resembling the ever stylish slap bracelet of the 90s, this USB snake is covered in a silky and soft polyurethane material making the cable stylish and comfortable enough to wear on your wrist.

Designer: Laurent Hongisto

Electric Slide Mobile Get Bent!

Why bother with one screen when you can have two for probably double the price? Designer Andy Kurovets presents his “Bend Mobile” concept. He thinks turning on a device and having it grow to nearly double its size will really be attractive to some people. He may be right but where is the proof? Oh right, he is also including a high capacity digital camera that also pops out to larger than expected proportions. All that and it’s curved, for easy sliding in and out of your pants. Niiice.

Designer: Andy Kurovets

Check Me Out

The Motorola Sparrow was conceived to provide retail stores with a mobile point of sale device to solve increased service demands from consumers while decentralizing the check out point, i.e. pay for it and get out as fast as you can. It combines a scanner, point of sale (POS) system, RFID, communication and credit card reading capabilities into one mobile device.

There are a few devices that offer MPOS (mobile point of sale) in the marketplace but none are consumer facing nor appropriate for front-end retail environments. Existing products are often rugged and obtrusive. If you’ve ever been to an Apple store, you know what I’m talking about. They often take away from the environment and make the entire retail experience unpleasant.

Both the front and back of the Sparrow are equipped with touch sensitive areas, supposedly making it easier to navigate and use. The entire unit can hang from a lanyard.

This isn’t a new idea but definitely a huge improvement. Many high-tech electronic stores now equip their employees with mobile point of sale devices but design studio Aruliden definitely has an eye for form and function. I’d love to see it integrated into retail environments.

Designer: Aruliden Studio

Is Your Ear Asking a Question?

Actually the unique shape serves several purposes. It fits snug in your ear, easily loops together around your neck when not in use, and somehow prevents bacterial growth which is 700 times more concentrated in regular ear buds. If it weren’t just a concept, would you buy one?

Designer: Yoonsang Kim

A Silent Alarm Clock

Alarm clocks usually jolt us awake leading us to reach for the almighty snooze button. Silence is a conceptual alarm clock that allows you to program multiple alarms and wakes you without any sound. Each person wears a wireless rubber ring with an integrated vibration device that generates a tactile alarm. The snooze function is engaged by shaking your hand. However, each successive time you want to snooze, more movement is required, making sure you get to work on time.

Designer: Johan Brengesjo

This camera is Outta Sight!

I will admit, upon first reading and laying eyes on this design I almost laughed out loud. Not because of the design, but for its intended purpose. Designer Chueh Lee over at Samsung China has designed what may be the worlds first camera for the blind, the “Touch Sight”. Yup, you read me right…a camera for the blind. Chueh actually makes a good argument for such a design. Chueh notes:

“Touch Sight is a revolutionary digital camera designed for visually impaired people. Simple features make it easy to use, including a unique feature which records sound for three seconds after pressing the shutter button. The user can then use the sound as reference when reviewing and managing the photos. Touch Sight does not have an LCD but instead has a lightweight, flexible Braille display sheet which displays a 3D image by embossing the surface, allowing the user to touch their photo. The sound file and picture document combine to become a touchable photo that is saved in the device and can be uploaded to share with others–and downloaded to other Touch Sight cameras.”

One interesting aspect discovered by Chueh in his research is that holding the camera to the forehead is the optimal position for this device. He discovered that “at the Beit Ha’iver (Center for the Blind) in Herzliya, Israel, the instructor who teaches a photography course for the visually impaired discovered that holding the camera to the forehead, like a third eye, is the best way for them to stabilize and aim the camera. The instructor also found the visually impaired have no problems estimating distances, since their sense of hearing is especially sharp. Every rustle of wind in the trees catches their attention and can be used to judge distances. Other senses come into play as well. The heat of the sun or a lamp in a living room, for example, signals a direct source of light. They regularly use their non-visual senses to feel the world and manifest it into a mental photograph.”

This is simply a wonderful idea and I hope it actually makes it to market, not only for the blind of the world but I personally can’t wait to try this out with my girlfriend and literally feel our private photo sessions. Yup, I am a perv deal with it.

Designer: Chueh Lee, Liqing Zou, Ning Xu, Saiyou Ma, Dan Hu, Fengshun Jiang & Zhenhui Sun

Grass Balls. No You Cannot Smoke it

Grass cutting is a bore, but even the most monotonous chores can be remedied if you make it fun. The Muwi concept is an automated mower barreled shape to compact grass cuttings into balls and disks for, get this. . . to play with. Of course if you’re the type that hates grass stains, these balls and disks are also perfect as compost fertilizer.

Designer: Yuli Sung

Texts from the designer:

‘Muwi’ first acknowledges the entire size of the land and automatically cuts the grass. The cut grass, which is created upon cutting the grass, is stored inside. As the cut grass begins to accumulate inside the machine, ‘Muwi’ constructs and compresses the cut grass into two types of blocks.

Then this cut grass is no longer a remainder that needs extra efforts to be thrown out or cleaned up. It rather becomes balls for children to play with or a chair to sit on or any other opportunity.

A Futuristic Ferrari. Speed is a Given but Automated

Designer Iman Maghsoudi believes driving cars in the future will be akin to operating a PC while traveling 200 km/h. Humans lacks the concentration and dexterity required to handle such a task but the inevitably of hyper-computerized vehicles is a truth we can’t avoid. Monza is built for speed but smart enough to drive itself.

At slower speeds, the “pilot” sits in a cockpit similar to straddling your office chair like a motorcycle and has full control. Once you exceed a specified speed limit, the computer takes over. The vehicle changes shape resembling an airfoil for maximum aerodynamics. The design creates lift to reduce friction and strong ground effects keep you from taking off. The 2 manta ray like fins adjust to channel air smoothly across the vehicle while also serving to make you look totally bad ass!

I’ll take 2 thanks.

Designer: Iman Maghsoudi