Skinput Interface
Chris Harrison’s concept uses the body as a sort of echo chamber. Which is to say, when the user taps a particular part of their body, a sensor worn around the upper arm can tell if the tap-point was at a particular spot on the forearm or on one of the individual fingertips, by assessing the vibrations sent throughout the body by the tap.
Watch the video on youtube.
(via core77)
Grasswork at the Aram Gallery
Grassworks are a series of experiments in self-assembly furniture – a range that is designed to be simple, space-saving and wholly sustainable.
Read more…
(via designboom)
Wood, for Gärsnäs
77 year old Swedish designer Ake Axelsson exhibited «Wood» – an elegant lightweight chair he produced for Gärsnäs – at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2010. The components are made with a traditional steaming technique that uses a minimal amount of wood.
Traditional technique, minimal amount of wood and all by a 77 year old designer – let’s ask the old hand!
(image source: designboom)
Scientists say paper battery could be in the works
Ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by e-mail, e-books and online news.
Scientists at Stanford University in California reported on Monday they have successfully turned paper coated with ink made of silver and carbon nanomaterials into a “paper battery” that holds promise for new types of lightweight, high-performance energy storage.
Beyond Prototyping by Vandasye
The ongoing collection „Our New Apartment“ is a radical assemblage of prefabricated components and selective laser sintered Polyamide parts. The self-engineered Polyamide parts and the semi-finished materials enhance a clarity of purpose wholly dedicated to usage.
The Investigation of Selective Laser Sintering on ordinary objects should draw conclusions of the visual and technical qualities of this undeveloped material.
Don’t forget to check out their amazing selection of inspirational pictures at their website.
(via designboom)
Open Structures by Thomas Lommée
The OS (OpenStructures) project explores the possibility of a modular construction model where everyone designs for everyone on the basis of one shared geometrical grid. It initiates a kind of collaborative Meccano to which everybody can contribute parts, components and structures.
Shared grid:
Example of a structure:
(via dezeen)
Craftmanship
Industrial design looks sideways towards the art of the craftsman. Design has become fascinated by the process by which hand-made objects come into being, because that process can absorb every tiny fraction of aesthetic quality and incorporate it. With every detail it gives meaning to things and magically creates a history for the resultant whole. For users, however, it offers the chance to be aware of the authenticity of things.
- Trendboard of imm cologne 2010 (Johanna Grawunder, Cecilie Manz, Marcus Fairs, Bertjan Pot and Giulio Ridolfo)
Folklore Farm
The imaginary farm becomes an ideal playground for designers. It demonstrates that authenticity can look refreshingly different from the well-trodden paths of Bauhaus. Through the interplay of a more intense awareness of the physical properties of materials, hand decoration and rustic forms, objects emerge with a dramatic quality that is hitherto unknown. With their narrative qualities, they go far beyond the poverty of expression exhibited by products cast in the die of industrial manufacture.
- Trendboard of imm cologne 2010 (Johanna Grawunder, Cecilie Manz, Marcus Fairs, Bertjan Pot and Giulio Ridolfo)
Hobby Bricolage
Putting a piece of furniture together has, up to now, given the consumer a chance of a little physical self-awareness in an increasingly incorporeal world. Now the page has turned: the forms and materials that inhabit the world of the hobbyist DIY enthusiast have become the paradigm for the professionals. With simple, yet intelligent creations, designers are breaking the bonds imposed by the modular furniture systems that we have come to know so well up until now.
- Trendboard of imm cologne 2010 (Johanna Grawunder, Cecilie Manz, Marcus Fairs, Bertjan Pot and Giulio Ridolfo)