Transformer Chair; More Than Meets The Eye…

When is a chair not a chair? When it’s a sofa, or a chaise of course. Well that is the idea behind this three-in-one design from newcomer Roel Verhagen-Kaptein. Roel’s take on modern seating just might have been inspired by those lovable, petrol blooded Cybertrons. With the same utilitarian notion built into Optimus Prime, you too can simply rearrange the pieces of this seating concept to transform into a chair, a three person sofa, or a chaise lounger for those nights spent drawing Kate Winslet in the nude. However you look at it, this design has your ass covered. (Golf clap)

Designer: Roel Verhagen Kaptein

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

The Future of Work - Transparent Monitors & Pocket Library

Pocket Library - Flexible e-ink screens, as easy on the eyes as newsprint, will wirelessly grab the documents you need when you enter a meeting. You can then unfurl them on the train or switch over to the newspaper. Researchers at Dutch company Polymer Vision have created flexible circuitry that bonds to displays at low temperatures so that screens can bend without melting or breaking. Now they’re working on circuits for high-resolution 8-by-11-inch displays.

Transparent Monitors - Go ahead, stare out the windowit’s also your monitor. Displays can already be 75 percent transparent when turned off, thanks to thin electroluminescent films called organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. Universal Display Corporation in New Jersey and others are developing see-through conductive materials to replace the last visible part: the grid of circuits that delivers power to pixels.

Source: Popular Science

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

DND Casa a Korean design company has developed an amazing line of television equipped mirrors using Ad Notam mirror image technology. The possibilities are limitless with where you can watch TV. Staying true to their “everything is imaginable and almost everything is possible” philosophy, DND Casa has applied this technology to other home and office objects as well, making anything multifunctional.

Designer: DND Casa

Touching My Image

The LUPE may look like another touchscreen camera but this concept is designed for ease of use and simplicity even tho technically it’s quite complex. Thru a series of transparent touchscreens and optical quality glass lenses, the LUPE magnifies images near and far for almost macro like quality. The focusing mechanism is quite ingenious. Just touch what you want in focus and the camera handles everything else.

Although there’s no mention of traditional mechanisms like shutters and apertures, the LUPE was designed to work without having to think about it. As if looking thru a window you make with your hands, you just focus in on what you want and a snapshot is taken. Simple as that.

Designer: Seoghwan Choi

Texts from the designer regards to the idea:

The understanding of photograph has been changed from a visual-based recording tool for a special moment to an every day life good as its technology has been progressed from the film-based to the digital image-based. As we have been doing so in our every day life, how about taking a picture like observing my daily life with a magnifying glass? The magnifying glass is my metaphoric approach in designing new digital camera. It can be used like the magnifying glass; your observing activities towards things with the magnifier becomes new way of taking photographs in this digital era.

Mirror Polished Sorapot, Because We Like Reflections

You may have seen the Sorapot mentioned in other publications some time ago. Its architectural shape and simple functionality brings tea’s quiet beauty into sharp focus. Made from 304 stainless steel, borosilicate glass (Pyrex), and food-grade silicone, it articulates the ritual of tea making in a thoroughly modern way.

A new mirrored finish is available for purchase. With reflectivity that rivals chrome, this finish is achieved only through intense hand-polishing. No artificial surface treatments touch the stainless steel. These striking Sorapots come alive with dark teas and natural light.

We’re excited to soon review the Sorapot so keep your eyes open!

Designer: Joey Roth [ Product Page ]

Eclipse Intuit Phone Love Sun

Check out the Eclipse Intuit Phone by Eddie Goh. It’s got all the basic stuff we’ve come to expect from our mobiles; powerful 5 megapixel camera with built-in software for editing and uploading to a photo album, slide-out touch keyboard with tactile feedback, and a nice big touchscreen front and center. What makes this concept unique is parts of the phone are made from a chemically based thin solar skin to charge the battery when exposed to any kind of light. We’ve recently seen patents from companies like Apple detailing this exact thing. It would seem the technology is viable and Eddie Goh isn’t too far off.

Designer: Eddie Goh

Lights, Camera, Glass…Action!

Glass surface inputting is the new hotness for almost every gadget maker today. From from the iPhone to Microsoft’s Surface technology, flat is where it’s at. Introducing the flattest full size QWERTY keyboard to date, “No-key Keyboard” by Kong Fanwen. Consisting of just a glass surface, camera and lighting, this alternative keyboard concept will use the latest motion capture technology to watch your fingers nervously select just the perfect smiley for your online bantering.

Designer: Kong Fanwen

Water + Wind = Fun

What could be more fun than flying a kite or riding a Waverunner? Try both at the same time! That’s the basic idea behind the “Nereus” water craft by designer Mathias Koehler. Powered by none other than Mother Nature herself, this water craft can deliver hours of fuel free fun above and below the water. Steering is managed via foot pedals and the diving function is handled vie the hand grips controlling the pivoting fins at the base. Sailing into the wind is a simple as traditional zig zag tacking. I am still looking for the way to stop that does not include scissors or the wind to die down.

Designer: Mathias Koehler

Spherical Mobile Office

Michiel van der Kley, has been producing designs since 1987. His latest design, Globus shows van der Kley’s creativity and imagination. Globus is a multi-functional mobile office with a twist, or sphere more like it. Closed, Globus will attract the most curious of spectators, and open, it reveals its’ real, creative function. Half of Globus is a comfortable swivel, seat, while the other half is a usable, adjustable table which can be used for a laptop or whatever the need may be. With hidden wheels to make Globus mobile, once opened up, the wheels are locked into place. Globus is available in a variety of shades and colors.

Designer: Michiel van der Kley [ Manufacturer: Artifort & Gispen ]

Sustainable Flash Memory Card Holder

We all know there are way too many flash memory card formats out there. At last I count I believe there are at least 9 of them. Normally I try to stick with SD or Micro SD cards but sometimes that’s not possible so what’s one to do when transporting all those easily lost cards? Get a memory card holder.

Designer Tom Kenworthy envisages a sustainable 3 tier sliding holder made from recycled vending cups. It only takes 7 plastic cups to make one holder. It’s lightweight, small, and can be colored to your heart’s desire. You might not need to carry your memory cards everywhere but at the very least this is a great way to keep them all in one place.

Designer: Tom Kenworthy

Live 22 Lets You Call Objects Too

Currently mobile phones only enable you to call people but what if you could call objects too? What if you could call a place and fill every device in that place with your messages?

The Live 22 concept has 3 modes. Call mode operates like a regular mobile phone - call 1 or conference with multiple people. The Contextual Text Mode allows you to send text messages to every device in an environment, be it a computer or TV. Think of it as a massive twitter-like messaging board. The third mode called Glance lets you remotely observe the environment - see who’s there and what’s going on.

The device itself is a touchscreen based pad you can take anywhere. The ability to send message to not only people, but objects creates virtual spacial environments that compliment real locations.

Designer: Krishna Prasad

Treo meets iPhone

There is soon to be a flood of new mobile phones to hit the street using Google’s new open source Android OS platform. RKS design consultants of southern California have just introduced their entry into this soon-to-be-ubiquitous mobile platform with this “Mimique” design. Touting its ability to be easily customizable, and looking very much like a Treo with an iPhone touch surface, this phone concept deserves some attention, but I can’t help feel that they really failed to find a unique aspect. What do you think?

Designer: RKS Design

Tablet PC Made Of Wood

Since notebooks tend to go for sleek and shiny, here’s an alternative for all you traditionalists out there. The S-series notebook concept is made of wood. Yes that’s right, WOOD. Nevermind the weight and horrible heat insulation characteristics of the material, it’s supposed to look refined and sexy, at which it does.

The notebook sports one of those ultra-thin 4mm thick LCD screens, and at 17″ wide, there’s plenty of viewing room. The screen itself is backed by black acrylic, you know, to compliment that wood base. Catering to business users, the S-series is a tablet PC powered by Windows Vista.

Designer: Simon Enever

Purity Notebook But A Litte Like A Mac

Right now the in thing with notebook computers are clean lines, and minimal design features. The Purity Notebook takes that to the extreme but manages to throw in a few of its own unique touches like the high lacquer finish. Nevermind the very Macbook Pro-like keyboard, it’s for the Windows crowd.

Designer: Lim Sze Tat