Silver

Silver by Iranian Designer Hadi Teherani and his words on this design:

“I was keen to make technical complexity invisible and achieve the poetic level of perfect seating. A chair that is only used in an office and can always only express the word “office” was not enough for me. In particular I did not want an orthopaedic design with visible gears. Without complexity and depth of development design can outdate very quickly. Aesthetics without ethics tend to be deceiving.”

HAL

HAL - Hybrid Assistive Limb- by Japanese(no wonder) Cyberdyne , is the world's first cyborg-type robot controlled by unique Hybrid System, i.e. integrated autonomous and robotic control system that provides human-like movement. It detects movement in advance via sensing biosignals on the surface of the skin. Though it adds 23 kg to your weight!(if we call it a bug) but is aimed at different environments - disaster sites - and could be applied for the people with disabilities. That's a big change in robotic development. Don't miss HAL in action.

Design for Poverty

Yes We Can Change and I am sure that Design plays a big major role in this change, and I would say all designers are responsible for the Design which could help poverty in the world in any way ...

IDea Selection

InnovationTools reviews how firms could be able to discover new ideas to reach innovation, exemplifying Disney "Gong Show" method and Google idea management system! Most of Disney famous cartoons and Google lovely applications came out of intimate and fair meetings, discussing different ideas of employees, expressed freely and heard unbiasedly. So if there is right people in the selection team - those broad-minded people in touch with markets and customer needs - with well-conceived criteria, it would guarantee those 2 or 3 brilliant breakthrough ideas. There is," no wonder idea selection is fast becoming an established and essential best practice of firms seeking to imbed innovation into their cultures."

VIA [ InnovationTools ]

People's Airbag

Tokyo-based company - Prop - presents a new kind of safety gadget for the people who are prone to get injured - being old or have some disability or special kind of disorder like epilepsy - at H.C.R Exhibition in Japan. The device is strapped around the body - with 2 pockets of airbags behind the head and hips - and inflates in less than a second if it detects accelaration towards ground. Due to large elderly population in Japan, this new designed airbag could provide more physical independent and secure life for such people and that would be a kind of relief for their relatives. But it doesn't support old if falling forward, and that is a big problem. And the question that comes to my mind is that, what if preventing falling down and keeping old (wo)man standing straight?!

VIA [ bbcNews ]

Tongue Drive

Recently I saw on TV some special eye-mouse that people with disabilities could click when wink. I truly believe that IDesign can and must be helpful for people with any kind of disability - in collaboration with scholars from other fields of sciences; add to this my personal interest, eager and desire to think of new ways of aiding disabled people thru Design. This Tongue Drive , developed by Maysam Ghovanloo at Georgia Tech, is on the same way. Attaching a magnet the size of a grain of rice to an individual tongue lets tongue motion direct the movement - of a cursor or a wheelchair. Magnetic-field sensors mounted on a headset outside the mouth detect movement of magnetic tracer. Sensor-output signals are then transmitted to the computer to be processed. Tongue Drive in action(film): moving wheelchair ; and Maysam speaks on the Tongue Drive system

VIA [ MedicalDesign ]

BackTpack

I always keep nagging when I just carry this Lowepro backpack for cameras, because of instant and frequent access I need and it doesn't provide. So it is so helpful for the back if loads are devided into sides instead of back. BackTpack promises to improve posture and strength. besides all the benefits of Tpack, there are some points to take more serious: what if right bag is more loaded? and also I dont see free hands when I am carrying Tpack. It seems a bit more functional. Since back no more plays role in carrying the bag, I guess it should have been called "Sidepack"!

First all-electric sports car

Presented at British Int'l Motor Show, it is to be the first all-electric sports car. Lightning GT, the car with a carbon-fibre and aluminium chassis, gets its power from a bank of batteries that can be 'quick-charged' in just 10 minutes for a range of between 180 and 200 miles. Due to be delivered in 2010, there is some underlying concept behind Lightning design, and that is:" if you really want motorists to switch to green, electric motoring, you have to make it exciting." But guess what their major hurdle: the car is too quiet!. So they are about to add some noise to the lightning, maybe some sound of thunder, just to keep people away from it!

microNeedle

We have all suffered from pains of injection in different ways, but it is about to become more encouraging that you would head to the clinic to have lovely injection! Mimicing how mosquitos suck blood(only females bite, I mean moquitos!), providing microelectromechanical pump!, some people from India and Japan, have created microneedle, for easy, painless injections. It's got the size of 25 microns* (inner diameter) and 60 microns(outer diameter) as big as mosquito's mouth! It is made of strong Titanium. I wish it had been designed in my childhood! more we get closer to natural practical solutions of nature, more we get powerful.

* 1 micron= 0.001 mm

DesignMind

Frog has discussed "collective instinct" in us for making collection of things and thoughts. Understanding this collective mind of users and related underlying "meaningful stories" of ordering ideas and information is definitely helpful for designers because "we are responsible for understanding users’ extant relationships to information and ideas". In the end of the article it is concluded that the act of collecting is "an unspoken language that narrates one person’s unique relation to the world". I guess it is one of the best and practical ways to design user-centredly.

WIDD in IRAN

at the entrance of conference hall

lit-up WIDD candles together reads DESIGN

last pic of all the participants of WIDD gathering in Tehran, Iran

WIDD

Happy WIDD

VerticalMouse

At least it is a different perspective on mouse. WOW-PEN joy is claimed to be more ergonomic PC mouse since it provides position of hand-shaking; but I guess if you have to keep your wrist in some upright position, in comparison to the traditional flat hand, then may be you would put more energy to keep it that way. Especially when your hands are idle, still you have to maintain the upright position. there are some other upright PC mice. May be if there could be less material to grip (flat or vertical), then less energy would be consumed; I am talking about the future PC mice.

PHilips gaze-tracking shop windows

Well it would be a practical way to predict everything at the point of purchase instead of doing lots of field studies and psycho-analytical researches to see what drags buyers to the shops. so

this gaze-tracking shop windows system by PHilips works well to convince buyers to have a look inside the shop. it is based on gaze durations on different products in the shop window. having calculated the most looked at product, relevant information - audio/visual - would get appeared on special shop window display, just let you know more of the attractive product to your eyes. If it helps to boost sales and profits - having tested gaze-tracking system in practice - then it could be a good startng point to consider market trends and buyer impulses to buy. PHilips says it could also be applied in mueums and art galleries.

LifeSaver

It removes out 99.99999 % bacteria from all sources of water and also other over 99 % percent of other microbes, and this is all done by LifeSaver, the world’s first all in one ultra filtration water bottle. 750 cc of pure clean water out of LifeSaver is not too much but helps you not to be thirsty while you need clean water in unexpected situations or distant places(though if you find any source of water!). Michael Prichard (again British) video describes his invention and design. He is interested in aid market and he has made a great step toward that, but the price of 230/195 £ is too much expensive for third world countries or charities, since they are target people who are in need of clean cheap water!

Lightest Wheelchair

Again britons are making history in the world of product design with presentation of the lightest wheelchair . Free Spirit weighs 6.3kg and is made of carbon fiber composite which has made it the lightest, yet stiff and strong. Except from its high price (₤2595), that would bring comfortable, easy experience for those who are moving around with wheelchairs.

Morph

Morph is a mobile concept by NRC(Nokia Research Centre) and Cambridge Nanoscience Centre. Concept prepared and presented in the MOMA "Design and The Elastic Mind" Exhibition. This new concept by NOKIA makes benefit of Nan-Science advantages, which has resulted in Nano-grass structures to get solar power, or Nano-flowers to repel water and dirt. Morph is high-tech, yet green thanks to its magical materials. I highly recommend, never ever miss this descriptive informative video.

PHysical Interface + Virtualization

1. During the OnlyPlanet Project by NOKIA and within Ideation Discussion sessions with Nokia Designers, I remember once one of them suggested some physical bending device for gaming! At that time, that was totally revolutionary idea to me. So now its nice to see that Microsoft is working on PHysical Interface .

2. Big electronic companies are researching and evaluating the idea of putting different features of a mobile in a single device. VirtualLogix wants to help build phone using a kind of software known as virtualization. virtualization software would enable a mobile-phone maker to add features regardless of the operating system. This way is greatly time-saving. Virtualization also helps a phone run with fewer chips. So this way, cost-effective.

ZIBA

Just think of "Emotional Innovation" instead of "Technological" one! its a key factor to be able to stand strong in the 21th century market. Sohrab Vossoughi calls it 360-degree experience. he's been great at ZIBA and it is why his company is one of the first names in ID. Vossoughi admires Nau strategy to compete and to be successful. In the future designers would try to design "experiences" instead of products, actually it could be designer's expertise. ("Ziba" means "Beautiful" in persian language and Vossoughi is one of the many successful Iranians)

Zeemote

Why should we play mobile games with mobile keyboard and by the phone itself? why not to test some separate game controller? So Zeemote has designed some thumbstick game controller that is designed specially for mobile devices and it is 95 x 35 x 20 mm and 47g and fits in the palm of the hand. Well, let me say Mobile Gaming could be a potential field of design. Have a look, and zeemote in action. Some Hint: what if Zeemote could be integrated into the body of the mobile device and while needed get removed to be used! because it is importat to be easily carried!

3D World

It's been always my dream to make 3D models of my ideas and sketches as easy and fast as possible. and I am happy that I'm living in an era that every dream becomes true. Z Corp. suggests lots of solutions for 3D modeling, and it's great to see smaller and more compact modellers that could be used at home!(although prices are still the problem, but not for big companies). even you can have 3D figure of your imaginary character! along all these, again Stanford-ians, have converted 2D pictures into 3D models. all these achievements are speaking of second virtual life. What if I can have 3D model of . . . ?!

Aquaduct

Aquaduct is a concept of tricycle that purifies water as the rider pedals. What this vehicle decided to do: sanitation and transportation in developing world. IDEO says:" The Aquaduct is designed to allow a person to sanitize and transport water simultaneously." see how it works. meanwhile there are some caring people who spread peace and better life: Potters for Peace. healthier lives thru Design.

USBCELL

Simple Re-usable Energy, this is the main title goes for USBCELL. When you save 15 billion Alkaline batteries made and thrown away each year, then you are deserved to get CeBIT-iF award in product design. This new Cell definitely helps reduce global energy and resource waste in the short-term. USBCELL functions are so varied and totally practical and useful. Great Design come out of minimal acts, like beheading battery to make it potential to be used as USB!! its like discovering multiple potentials of our surroundings, even those simple batteries!!

Apple vs Braun

Some design enthusiasts criticize Apple that it wasn't fair Jonathan Ive linger to admit his inspiration from Braun and Dieter Rams. Though, its clear that this is tribute here. but what about other similarities between these two. Sometimes that is taking from some general philosophy but, here it is duplication, isn't it? And why doesn't Braun sue apple on this? Is it some gift or there is some theif. Maybe they have paid Braun for borrowing design. but this is Ive who cares about simplicity, and dares to embrace this thinking, and then? well, we all know the outcome.

Ultimate Aero

Ultimate Aero from SSC holds the title of " World's Fastest Car" and you see the early sketch inspired from napkin drawing of Jerod Shelby, founder. Aero Design is under influence of the Gordon Murray-designed McLaren F1. Although Bugatti now is behind to hold the record of the fastest, but its design seems more sophisticated to me; Curves and colors are more pleasant to eyes aesthetically and the car convinces you to be fast designly. Although technically, Aero is mid-engine, rear-drive with no traction control and also cheaper compared to Bugatti. See Aero in action!

Beijing Olympic Torch

It's been always amazing for me to see how and why olympic torches are designed. Well, the upcoming Beijing olympic torch was designed by Lenovo (PC company!!) chosen among 300 competitor themes under the title of "Cloud of Promise", Resembling an ancient scroll and featuring "lucky cloud", and it took Lenovo 10 months to design it. It's made of polished aluminum-magnesium alloy. Material plays major role in this torch, esp. coated rubber-based paint of the handle to emulate sensation of one hand holding another. Each Olympic Torch keeps stories, history, traditions of its time and host, manifested in forms, colors, symbols and materials.

Thinnovation

Every Design by Apple is a unique phenomenon to be considered. MacBook air is one of the Apple masterpieces. this "i-" added culture of Apple (pay close attention to "Built-in iSight camera" in MacBook Air, which is really smart) is really innovative and thoughtful. I believe that people in Apple largely stick to their promise to Think Different and this is why a mobile phone is born like "iPhone" and this new laptop computer is launched like non of its predecessors. even the way they wear those simple black t-shirts, this all means, Corporate Identity.

Tribute to Sottsass

Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) was one of the first names I heard when started getting familiar with IDesign. He was like a grandfather for ID and would always keep his own room in the world of Design as long as Aesthetics and struggle for spreading beauty do matter. Olivetti typewriter and Memphis Group respectively pushed Product Design and Design Thinking one step further. He says:" If today somebody comes to me for a new lighting fixture, we will work on it for at least 2-3 months, there was a time when I would have known at once, what this fixture should look like ... today I am not sure I know what to do and in which style to work ... the relationship with the public which is going to use the product has grown so complex ... that I simply don't know how to touch people I am not familiar with ... "

Feng Shui

Feng Shui (Wind Water), ancient Chinese metaphysical discipline that studies how mankind is affected, for better or for worst, by the environment. it is the art of achieving harmony through your surroundings. See it if you can learn Feng Shui? and check out one of the heroes of this art. if it deals with emotion, then it would be appealing. These are five elements in Feng Shui. and if you want to consider Feng Shui practically in design, have a look at these great beautiful architectures. Its a nice oriental philosophy to put in design thinking and solutions.