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Concept
Caravan overhaul: Rob Millington's retro take on trailer design
By Paul Ridden
22:10 July 15, 2009 PDT
If the mere mention of the word caravan gives you terrifying visions of formica fold-out tables, thermos flasks full of weak tea or being forced to play bridge with a bunch of sensible beige trouser-wearing accountants then fear not, there are those who are trying to leave such stale, cliched images behind and inject some modern thinking into the world of mobile holidaying. One person trying to bring some much needed cool to the world of the caravan is Rob Millington, who sought to create "something that had quality to rival that of a luxury yacht" with this gorgeous concept design. Read More
Camless combustion engine may improve ICE efficiency
By Paul Evans
19:44 July 12, 2009 PDT
A petrol powered Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is approx 25-30% energy efficient at the flywheel and around 15% energy efficient at the wheels. There are many losses within the engine itself including friction and waste heat from the combustion process, but Sweden's Cargine Engineering thinks that eliminating the parasitic losses of the camshaft by building a camless engine may help improve energy efficiency. Using pneumatically driven actuators to shoot the valve open the camless engine concept can provide fully variable valve lift and fully variable lift duration without a camshaft in sight. Read More
Anti-paparazzi clutch bag gives pushy shutterbugs a taste of their own medicine
By Darren Quick
04:43 July 8, 2009 PDT
Celebrities looking for a way to combat those pesky paparazzi that doesn’t involve fisticuffs and a less than flattering mug shot will want to hope this new "anti-paparazzi device" makes the jump from concept to commercial availability. The concept is basically an LED flash built into a clutch purse that emits a photo ruining flash of its own when it detects the flash from a camera. Read More
Shipping container to solar powered restaurant in 90 seconds? Meet the Muvbox portable restaurant
By Mick Webb
05:29 July 7, 2009 PDT
We have already seen the humble shipping container take on many guises ranging from pop-up hotel rooms to relocatable homes. Here to “cater” for the entrepreneur on the move is the Müvbox portable restaurant. This compact and mobile unit uncovers a fully operational kitchen in around 90 seconds at the touch of a button, and brings an eco-friendly ethos to the table to boot. Read More
'Nike' Hindsight concept glasses increase peripheral vision
By Darren Quick
21:58 July 5, 2009 PDT
Cyclists aren’t always very visible to motorists, which is one of the reasons they need to be super vigilant when dealing with city traffic. As the saying goes, you need "eyes in the back of your head". To that end designer Billy May has come up with a concept design for cycling glasses that extend a rider’s peripheral vision by up to 25 percent on each side. Read More
Void player puts a whole new spin on playing your old LPs
By Paul Ridden
16:18 July 2, 2009 PDT
Korean designer Rhea Jeong says she's been astounded by the amount of interest in her conceptual Void LP record player. One look at the design and you can see why it's made so much noise without even uttering a sound. Close your eyes and imagine a little red globe spinning around on top of a vinyl record emitting sound from speakers inside it. The record itself is suspended in mid-air above a simple black base unit - no strings attached, no wires holding it up and definitely no safety net. The imagery is quite simply jaw-dropping. But can such a thing really work? Read More
Future festival goers in for solar tenting treat
By Paul Ridden
18:21 June 24, 2009 PDT
The future of music festival tenting has arrived. Well, not actually arrived as such. Let me start again. The concept of music festival tenting for the future has arrived. Following on from the foot pump powered mobile phone charger announced earlier this month, telecommunications giant Orange is using its regular slot at the UK's most talked about music festival to announce its vision of ultra-comfortable camping for lovers of all things live and musical... and solar power is just the beginning. Read More
Riversimple hydrogen-powered urban car provides fuel for thought
00:16 June 19, 2009 PDT
The Riversimple Urban Car, a hydrogen-powered two-seater capable of speeds up to 50mph and of traveling more than 200 miles without refueling, was unveiled in London this week. While the prototype car is itself a welcome development in sustainable travel, the aim of the company behind it is even more ambitious: to completely eliminate the environmental impact of personal transport. Read More
Husqvarna's electric Panthera Leo concept ride-on mower
By Loz Blain
16:17 June 18, 2009 PDT
Just when you thought that wildly overdone, highfalutin concept vehicles were the sole preserve of the automotive market, Husqvarna has dropped a lawnmowing bomb with its majestically named Panthera Leo concept ride-on mower. Using five inbuilt electric engines, it lets you quietly go about your lawn maintenance in the knowledge that you've brought a Gatling gun to a knife fight. Three individually suspended cutting heads can be spaced to your liking, there's an LCD dashboard with speed, cutting height, width and battery maintenance readouts and an object collision avoidance system - and it can rotate completely on the spot for total mowing precision. Read More
GTbyCitroen to star at Goodwood Festival of Speed
04:48 June 17, 2009 PDT
This year’s Festival of Speed is almost upon us and as usual, a stellar array of go-fast-gear will assemble to take on the famous 1.16-mile Goodwood Hill. Among the highlights will be the GTbyCitroën, an outlandish concept car designed for the virtual world of Gran Turismo 5 that first appeared in its real world guise at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Read More
PC-in-a-vase does compute
By Darren Quick
02:40 June 4, 2009 PDT
Here at Gizmag we've covered some unusual gadgets over the years, but a computer hidden in a vase? What at first might sound like a joke, actually makes sense when you consider the once-humble PC is arguably more at home in the living room than the study as digital content and media have grown. Computer manufacturers have obliged by producing PCs designed to blend tastefully with the décor – but none of them blend as seamlessly as the PC-in–a-vase from Taiwanese manufacturer ECS. Read More
Electrolux Rendez-Vous: the kitchen table becomes the table kitchen
06:12 May 27, 2009 PDT
Sharing food with family and friends around the dining table is a universal recipe for a good time, unless of course you're stuck in the kitchen cooking. Electrolux Global Design has come up with a way for everyone to be included in the celebrations with the Rendez-Vous - a concept interactive table with a very high-tech kitchen built-in, and it will even charge your mobile phone. Read More
Solar-powered Bluetooth headphones sound like a top idea
By Darren Quick
00:53 May 21, 2009 PDT
When it comes to wearable devices that harness the power of the sun, it would seem to make sense that the obvious place for solar panels would be the place that generally gets the most sunlight – namely the top of the head. That might not be desirable for items such as backpacks, jackets or sunglasses, but it’s such a perfect fit for headphones that you wonder why no one has thought of it before. Engineering student Shepeleff Stephen has hit on the obvious with his concept for Bluetooth-enabled headphones that incorporate solar panels into the headband. Read More
Concept bra to help Japanese women on the hubbie hunt
By Darren Quick
02:27 May 19, 2009 PDT
“Concept” and “bra” aren’t two words you’d typically expect to go together too often. After all, a bra is the epitome of simplicity. As Seinfeld's George Costanza once remarked, “Two cups in the front, two loops in the back. How do they do it?” Well, Japanese lingerie maker Triumph International has complicated the humble undergarment with its concept “Konkatsu bra” – a bra that is designed to help Japanese women search for husbands by proudly declaring they're on the hunt. Read More
The Mosquito single seater lightweight helicopter
By Paul Evans
17:33 May 12, 2009 PDT
The "Muecke" (mosquito) is a single seater lightweight sport helicopter concept that combines low weight and corresponding low flying costs in an easily transportable design which would make this flying machine the ultimate in personal aviation. The mini chopper is intended to be powered by a shaft driven turbine and features counter rotating blades. This means it does not require a tail rotor, instead utilizing movable paddles at the tip of the rotor blades which act like a kind of thrust vectoring of the turbine exhaust to help make course corrections in forward flight as well as in hover. Read More
Golden-i Bluetooth headset with virtual PC display
By Darren Quick
23:04 May 11, 2009 PDT
Mobile phones and laptop computers have made traditional 9-to-5 workdays a thing of the past for many workers. That ability to work from any location, however, can be a double-edged sword. The flexibility to be freed from the office also means that work is increasingly encroaching on people’s recreation time, as they find they are never really off the clock. That situation looks set to worsen, or improve, depending on your perspective, with the introduction of the Golden-i from Kopin Corporation. The Golden-i is a Bluetooth headset that provides a 15-inch virtual display with a hands-free, natural-speech-recognition interface for wireless remote control over a range of devices including mobile phones, PCs, company networks and wireless systems. Read More
Sideways on a tilting 4-wheeler: the next generation of fun machines
By Loz Blain
05:13 May 7, 2009 PDT
If the fun we had aboard Piaggio's MP3 is any indication, motorcycles with more than two wheels have a big future ahead of them. The additional stability and traction you get from a tilting three-wheeler is quite an eye-opener, and they're still exceptionally fun to ride. If you want to take the concept one step further, though, an extra wheel at the back as well can actually make the entire bike narrower while delivering the sort of stability that can let you safely powerslide and drift all four wheels on an oily skidpan. Remember Yamaha's wild and wonderful Tesseract concept from 2007? The company is keen to get one into production, but as it turns out, Yamaha has run into trouble with patents held by an ex-courier and motorcycle safety advocate from the UK who has been working on a road-ready tilting 4-wheeler for more than 20 years. Read More
Panasonic climbs aboard Hollywood's 3D roller coaster
By Darren Quick
01:21 April 29, 2009 PDT
While the popularity of 3D movies has had more ups and downs than a roller coaster, the technology is experiencing a resurgence in popularity with Hollywood scrambling to generate more 3D content. The latest manufacturer taking the ride up is Panasonic. The electronics giant has announced it will start developing a professional 3D Full HD production system consisting of a twin-lens P2 professional camera recorder and a 3D-compatible High Definition Plasma display. Read More
Surf's up: The Mini Clubman Airstream trailer design concept
00:34 April 24, 2009 PDT
A collaboration between MINI, Airstream trailers and Danish furniture designers Republic of Fritz Hansen has resulted in this hip, beach-ready design study made up of a modified MINI Cooper S Clubman and a customized 6.8m long Airstream trailer. While largely retaining the familiar metallic look of the iconic Airstream trailer on the exterior, the inside of the trailer is kitted-out with wood panel flooring, ergonomic Egg chairs and, in keeping with the sun-loving vibe, neoprene lining and floral prints add to the interior trimming while a bisected surfboard provides the shelf space. But the killer app is an electrically operated fold-out side panel that incorporates an open air day bed where you can kick-back while waiting for the tide to turn. Traditionalist may disagree but, parking issues aside, we think the concept definitely points to a stylish advance on throwing your surfboard and a sleeping bag into the back of a Combi Van. Read More
World's largest aircraft from 1930: Giant Russian K-7 flying fortress
By Paul Evans
16:34 April 14, 2009 PDT
The Soviet aircraft industry really like building big. We recently reported on the Hotelicopter, a converted Soviet Mil V-12 Heavy Lift Helicopter, which proved to be an April Fools prank. The Russians can still claim the title of world's largest aircraft, though, with the Antonov AN-225 heavy lift transport, which has a larger wingspan than the Airbus A380. Both of these modern day wonders have still not eclipsed the Hughes H-4 Hercules or “Spruce Goose” for size and we have just unearthed pictures of something the Russians were working on in the 1930s that may have dwarfed even the Spruce Goose. Read More
Video: Standbike, the 140kmh, 250cc scooter you ride like a wakeboard
By Loz Blain
05:32 April 8, 2009 PDT
In today's peaceful, safe and buttoned-down Western world, people go to all sorts of lengths to get themselves the charge of adrenaline they crave so much - whether it's BASE jumping with a wingsuit instead of a parachute or strapping high-powered motors to things not normally associated with motors at all. We need to dice with death and danger, we say, in order to feel alive - and our creativity in coming up with new ways to scare and test ourselves is quite amazing. Take this odd contraption from Hungary - the Standbike SuperBikeBoard is a 250cc scooter with a custom-built rear section. It comes with a seat mounted on a pole, but that's entirely removable so you can take it to a tight track and ride it something like a motorized wakeboard, moving your body around the bike to balance, steer and stabilize it. You'd need thighs of steel to enjoy it for any length of time, because it looks like a very physical riding experience - and with a top speed over 140kmh, you'll want to keep your wits about you. Read More
Chariot: The wearable transportation device
By Darren Quick
23:31 April 7, 2009 PDT
Wheelchairs serve the important function of giving those who have difficulty walking their independence. They’re a tried and true technology whose design has remained largely unchanged for many years due to the effectiveness and simplicity of the design. For all their usefulness though wheelchairs do have a number of drawbacks - they force the users into a seated position, making interacting with a world designed for upright people frustrating as well as not being able to interact with those standing at their level. A new concept vehicle from Exmovere Holdings called the Chariot makes these problems a thing of the past by letting amputees and others who have difficulty standing move around in an upright position. Read More
The World's first flying hotel - The Hotelicopter
By Paul Evans
18:16 March 29, 2009 PDT
The double deck Airbus A380 has set new high standards for luxury accommodation in the air but, unless you can afford to deck out your own A380 as a private jet, the Hotelicopter concept aims to top this airborne opulence by equipping a four story converted heavy lift aircraft with 18 luxuriously-appointed room hotels. Modeled on the Soviet Mil V-12, the largest helicopter ever built, of which only two prototypes were built in the 1960s, the Hotelicopter company would like us to believe they purchased one of these prototypes in 2004 with the Hotelicopter now ready for its maiden flight in June 26th. We're not sure that we do, but we like the concept. Read More
Back to the Future: Mercedes-Benz F-CELL Roadster
By Paul Evans
20:17 March 25, 2009 PDT
Mercedes Benz has released pictures of an intriguing (if not practical) design study where century old tradition meets transport technologies of the future. The historical roots of the F-CELL Roadster are immediately recognizable in its large spoked wheels that hark back to the the first car developed by Karl Benz in 1886. Pair this with a modern-day hybrid drive system with a 1.2 kW (1.6 hp) electric motor powered by small fuel cell and you have one very modern roadster in a classic quadricycle package. Read More
Could changing the color of the sky to counter global warming backfire?
03:38 March 25, 2009 PDT
The concept of delaying global warming by adding particles into the upper atmosphere to cool the climate could unintentionally reduce peak electricity generated by large solar power plants by as much as one-fifth, according to a new study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Read More
John M
- November 25, 2009 @ 17:19 UTC
