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Design
Create the Future Design Contest: re-thinking the wheel
22:09 September 18, 2008 PDT
The NASA Tech Briefs Create the Future Design Contest began in 2002 as a platform for encouraging innovation in product design among engineers, entrepreneurs, and students around the globe. The 2008 competition is open until October 17, but already this year's entries have produced some very thought provoking product ideas and we'll be exploring some of the standouts in detail over coming weeks. The first cab off the rank is an attempt, in fact two attempts, to do what else but reinvent the wheel. German student Caspar Schmitz has designed a castor with an additional axis that could see your shopping trolleys glide over bumps instead of grinding to an abrupt halt. Also in Caspar's portfolio is the transformable wheel chair, an application of "the transformable wheel", a concept which allows a wheel made of flexible plastic to take on an ellipsoid shape when circumstances require a lower center-of-gravity. Read More
Harman Kardon's diamond-like GLA-55 speakers
By Kyle Sherer
20:45 September 16, 2008 PDT
Sound quality is always the key consideration when it comes to speaker systems, but if you are looking to combine this with some serious visual impact, Harman Kardon's GLA-55 two-piece speaker set for computers, laptops and portable media players could well be an option. Read More
Northrop Grumman to build first new aircraft carrier class in 40 years
By Kyle Sherer
20:16 September 16, 2008 PDT
The Gerald R. Ford CVN 78 is the first ship in the first new aircraft carrier class in over 40 years and Northrop Grumman has received a $5.1 billion, seven-year contract for its construction, which is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2015. Read More
Solar trees take root at the University of California
By Emily Clark
23:24 September 8, 2008 PDT
The University of California in San Diego (UCSD) is undertaking an unusual forestry project on the roof of two of its parking garages. The “Solar Trees” being constructed on the roofs will comprise steel components fitted with a canopy of Kyocera photovoltaic modules to provide solar energy for the university. Read More
Honda's all-new 2009 CRF450R Motocrosser gets fuel injection
By Loz Blain
17:29 September 8, 2008 PDT
Honda's CRF450R motocross bike has been hugely successful since its launch in 2002 - and although the bike is already recognized as the class leader, it's receiving a kitchen-sink included upgrade for 2009. Lighter, quicker, more powerful and with even tighter mass centralization for quick handling, the 2009 CRF450R also sports a Honda first - battery-free, programmable fuel injection that raises output power and control while dramatically reducing fuel consumption. Out of the box, Honda says it's two seconds faster around a supercross track than this year's bike. Read More
IRiver's SPINN MP4 Player
By Kyle Sherer
17:22 September 8, 2008 PDT
Headlining iRiver’s 2008 lineup of personal electronics are the SPINN MP4 Player and the P20 portable multimedia player, stylish gadgets characterized by their high-quality Active-matrix OLED screens and analog toggle wheels. The SPINN MP4 Player can play and record digital music, images, video (in MPEG-4 and WMV9 format), and supports Flash Games 2.0, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 and Text Viewer. Read More
Bike-pack: the bicycle that folds into a backpack
By Loz Blain
18:03 July 9, 2008 PDT
This entry from Taiwan's International Bike Design Competition tickled our fancy; it's a smooth looking city bike that tucks and folds itself into a 5.5kg backpack or a nifty hand trolley so you don't have to leave it locked up anywhere. Read More
BMW's GINA concept car features a flexible skin instead of solid body panels
By Loz Blain
04:35 June 17, 2008 PDT
What if the exterior of a car wasn't made of heavy, rigid metal? What if it was made from flexible fabric stretched over a moveable structural subframe? Based on a 2-seater roadster platform, BMW's future-focused GINA (Geometry and Functions in 'N' Adaptations) Light Visionary concept explores the design possibilities opened up when the traditional body panel approach is dropped to make a car's exterior completely flexible - from variable lines to hingeless doors to eyelid headlights. It's one of the most fascinating design studies we've seen in years. Read More
Expandable dining in perfect symmetry
21:36 April 29, 2008 PDT
April 30, 2008 The benefits of dual-mode dining tables are well established - a compact unit that saves space for everyday use becomes an entertaining centerpiece when guests arrive. But when it comes to round tables, most expandable designs introduce a square extension into the centre, meaning the symmetry of your circular dining experience goes out the window. Not so with this unique fold-out table created by French designer Philippe Braun which uses a patented mechanism to keep the table circular in its expanded form via extension leafs on every side that integrate into the tray of the table when not in use. Read More
The Scroll: left-of-center hand-held electronics design
22:59 April 17, 2008 PDT
April 18, 2008 The last decade has seen a meteoric explosion in the shape, size and functionality of hand-held electronic devices with all sorts of innovations from sliding keyboards to touch screen interfaces thrown at the feet of the consumer. Proof that we haven't yet seen it all, The Scroll is a blue-sky design concept that takes a format used by medieval town criers, turns it sideways and shoe-horns it into the 21st century by incorporating a mobile phone, hand-held computer, camcorder and sliding LCD screen. Read More
A football table for the 21st century
19:04 April 9, 2008 PDT
April 10, 2008 Table football is a game for all ages and one which continues to stand the test of time despite the advent of complex computer graphics and increasingly sophisticated game-playing interfaces. Now a collaboration between GRO design and Tim modelmakers has resulted in an overhaul of the design that aims to inject new life into the game and transform the football table from a bulky eye-sore into an attractive object d' art that complements modern interior spaces. Known as "11- the beautiful game", the strongly sculpted table incorporates minimalist design, a subtle use of light an dazzling white and chrome materials on the playing surface contrasting the dark exterior in an effort to bring the dynamics and drama of the game to the fore. Read More
New design proposed for T-REX three-wheel street racer
20:36 April 8, 2008 PDT
Young industrial designer Johnathan Côté has proposed this slick re-design for the legendary T-REX 3-wheeler, retaining an updated variation of the distinctive recessed headlights and above seat air in-takes, dropping the exposed roll-bars and adding a heavily sculpted feel to the vehicle's low-slung aerodynamic profile. With the the first prototype released in 1994, the T-REX is a pioneer in the rapidly expanding world of modern 3-wheeled transport that has now spawned such exotic gems as the Can-Am Spyder, Brudeli's Three-Wheel Leanster, TriRod's F3 Adrenaline and the upcoming ZAP Alias highway electric car. Read More
OLED - the art of interior lighting
18:25 April 7, 2008 PDT
April 8, 2008 We've previously discussed the potential of OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology to transform the nature of interior lighting products - walls, furniture and even abstract art can now be vehicles for the introduction of these versatile and energy efficient light sources into the home. The striking “Early Future” table light from celebrated lighting designer Ingo Maurer is the latest example to cross our desk. Read More
Mercedes-Benz bionic car: automotive design meets modern art
23:55 February 24, 2008 PST
February 25, 2008 One of the stand-out automotive design concepts from back in 2005 has re-emerged in the guise of modern art. With a highly-aerodynamic design based on what at first seems an unlikely candidate - the tropical sea-dwelling boxfish - the Mercedes-Benz bionic concept car is appearing as part of the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Read More
RoboTrac: pre-programmable, semi-autonomous tractor concept
17:55 February 13, 2008 PST
February 14, 2008 Designed to perform a range of pre-programmed agricultural tasks in vineyards, coffee farms, orchards and nurseries, this futuristic driver-less tractor concept aims to boost efficiency, minimize crop damage and remove humans for hazardous environments using GPS and Internet to track its location. The Valtra RoboTrac from 25 year old Estonian industrial designer Hannes Seeberg - whose portfolio also includes an intriguing Skylift self-propelled boarding aircraft boarding system - combines an 85 hp engine diesel engine and rear-wheel steering in either a two or four wheel drive configuration with the remotely programmable computerized navigation system to enable anything from tilling and plowing to planting and spraying. Read More
Phillippe Starck designed Voxan Cafe Racer Super Naked
23:19 February 12, 2008 PST
February 13, 2008 French designer Phillippe Starck has created this striking minimalist Cafe Racer Super Naked around Voxan's 1200cc engine. Weighing in at 180kg and putting out 140hp, the Cafe Racer Super Naked prototype is just that at the moment - here's hoping it makes the showroom floor. Read More
Electrolux launches 2008 Design Lab competition
By Jude Garvey
21:53 February 11, 2008 PST
February 12, 2008, Electrolux have announced the opening of their annual design competition for 2008. Aimed at industrial design students from all over the world, this year's theme is “Designs for the Internet Generation” and the brief is to design an innovative, cutting-edge product that addresses food storage, cooking, and/or washing with a view 2 to 3 years into the future. Read More
Jaguar and Land Rover moving to virtual 3D vehicle prototyping
By Loz Blain
19:42 January 28, 2008 PST
January 29, 2008 Prototyping and modeling chew up a large amount of time in the automotive design process, which is why Jaguar and Land Rover have decided to invest US$4 million in a state-of-the-art, immersive 360-degree virtual reality 'CAVE' that will allow designers to present their CAD designs in full 3D glory. This virtual prototyping system will allow unprecedented access to the designs, letting viewers experience the cars from all angles, inside and out, trialling colour schemes and switching parts on the fly or making body panels transparent. Overseen by 3D gurus Holovis International, the system promises to significantly reduce development times – and on top of that, it's ridiculously cool. Read More
John Wassner
- November 27, 2009 @ 01:40 UTC
