it is true, this wall paper emits light! Jonas Samson has taken the technology that allows a flat surface to emit light and integrated it into wall paper. When it is switched off it is just wallpaper but when a guest enters the room you can switch it on like a like light and blow them away!
I love the sequence of change shown in these images. The effect can grow from subtle to intense. I imagine that this could easily alter a bad mood. Or perhaps create a little rage with the right color and intensity. I want a small sitting room with this paper.
The star that you see floating above that guys head is not some phenomenal occurrence, it is Francisco Guerra’s “Flogo”. This Alabama based entrepreneur developed a machine that turns tiny bubbles filled with air and helium into shaped clouds. He can make almost any logo and send it soaring above our heads. Disney plans to float some mickey mouse ears next month. I don’t really know what to think of this idea but I think I agree with the majority of the comments: marketing overload, its the sky people!!! Although ask me how i would have felt about it 20 years ago and I would have been on board; this one is for the kids.
Cars these days give pedestrians no respect. I am always getting honked at and curb cuts are always blocked by people turning right. Well, you can’t cross a virtual wall . . .
The virtual barrier is made up of plasma ans laser beams that depict pedestrians crossing. Another attempt to force drivers to stop. If only it could punish the driver that did not obey its warning (maybe I am slightly bitter!)
As people are finding more and more inventive ways to use the micro-blogging platform Twitter, the service is becoming not only a means of instant social interaction, but a life-hacking tool. The best example I’ve seen to date is Andy Stanford-Clarks hacked home automation system to tweet updates on water and power usage, telecommunications, indoor temperatures, and the state of lighting and security systems.
Not too long ago I blogged about a nifty device that quantified your homes’ power consumption to help you change your energy consuming habits by giving a form of real-time data. Andy’s idea is similar but much farther reaching. While I think that keeping an Orwellian eye on every little system change in your wired home is a bit over-kill and exhausting, the implications are very intriguing. With further advancement this would be more helpful as an alert system for abnormalities in everyday usage. Combine this with an online automation system and the possibilities begin to get really exciting. Imagine being at work and receiving a tweet that your bedroom and kitchen lights have been left on and then signing-in and shutting them off remotely. Or how about being alerted that you’ve used 20% more water for three days straight indicating a leak well before you get your monthly water bill. Whatever the application, used correctly, an interacting/intelligent home can help save resources and money.
The book’s future as we know it is certainly at a crossroads. With the proliferation of portable readers by Sony and Amazon, our ever-increasing appetite for “on-demand” products, and pressure for a more sustainable solution, the digitizing of books has been a natural progression. But what’s at stake in upgrading our most primitive pastime? For designer Kyle Bean, it’s the hard-to-describe tactile qualities.
The Future of Books appeals to a left-brain, right-brain discussion of what we really need: a digital device that isn’t cold and lifeless. Books have a weight, a texture, a smell, and even a sound; these unique qualities evolve over time and affect our experience of each book. But a digital reader is just a shell whose content changes with demand. There’s simply nothing for the other four senses; and isn’t this the real loss in a more ubiquitous digital world?
Keep your home’s energy consumption in check and grow a flower; become wasteful and watch it wither away.
Flowerpod, by Designord, is a playful attempt at measuring your homes’ real time energy consumption - a vital ingredient to a sustainable future. Most of us know we need to reduce our carbon footprint - and with key educational initiatives (and growing energy prices) many more find out it’s importance every day. But the problem remains: how to effectively manage your consuming on a daily, even hourly basis? Checking your energy bill every month is one method, albeit, an ineffective one as it’s after the fact and it doesn’t provide any real understanding of your using habits. Flowerpod can change that.
What is the future of personal identification? We all know that picture ID’s won’t be around forever. I mean (sarcastically) haven’t we advanced enough that simple visual confirmation is too mundane- too last century. We’ve seen the advent of the “smart” national ID, fingerprint-face- eye scanners, and, of course, the possibility of embedded RFID chips - all in the name of personal security. But why stop there? Why not move to the molecular level and use the very hereditary information encoded in your DNA? Commissioned by SEED magazine, Daniel Gross and Joris Maltha of Catalogtree have laid the blueprint for that with the Genome Card.
Here’s an explanation from the designers:
The front of the card bears a unique visual pattern derived from the 13 chromosomal loci, or chromosomal positions, used in genetic profiling. The profiling process exploits short tandem repeats — variations in the number of times a short sequence of base pairs is repeated in a person’s DNA. Two unrelated humans usually have a different number of repeats at a given locus. This structure is translated to a series of circles; different diameters are used for different bases. The circles are dropped into a container, and a line is drawn through their centers, creating an individualized drawing on every card.
To use Catalogtree’s card, the bearer would speak into a small microphone and ask a yes-or-no question. The card would analyze the remotely stored genome to come up with an answer. It would then change color: Red signifies a pure “yes,” yellow means “no,” and colors in between show varying levels of uncertainty. As we get better at interpreting the human genome, Catalogtree notes, more questions will be answered with a higher degree of confidence.
Finally, the perfect accessory for your modern kitchen. The Kitchen Sync plugs seamlessly into your home wireless ecosystem. And with a touch screen that’s also washable, it becomes the perfect durable peripheral for the kitchens’ harsh environment. It’s many functions include searching and downloading recipes, streaming music and videos, converting recipe’s into and printing grocery lists, and managing a family’s weekly meal schedule.
Designed by Portland native, Noah Balmer, the polycarbonate book shell connects magnetically to a dock and charges through induction. It’s the dock that also houses the motherboard, network adapter and wireless antenna. The entire system fits neatly onto a bookshelf and integrates easily into your existing collection.
It looks like Electrolux’s Inspiro Oven takes the brain work out of cooking. It’s ability to sense just the right amount of energy to cook your food is a pretty cool idea. It measures the weight of the food and adjusts the temperature accordingly. I am guessing that you have to manually enter the type of food and how well you would like it cooked. I know that I never really took to presets for the microwave such as the potato, popcorn, or pizza setting. My microwaves never got it right and typing in the amount was always tricky. Before I knew it, I would have it set long enough to defrost 10 lbs of meat. The Inspiro’s weight sensor probably takes care of this but I am curious to try the interface and see all the menus involved.
Safety first. Leah Buechley designed this using LED’s and her self-developed wearable e-textile technology, LilyPad Arduino. The controls are located on the wrist. I know I’d feel much safer street riding.
Auburn University's Rural Studio 
