As a designer, we rethink how everyday objects should change for improvement, but on the flip side, we also think about how people should reinvent how to use the products that are created for us.
Check out the video above during a game show in Japan about how to undress, cook breakfast, eat, brush up, and dress up all really fast in under 5 minutes. I’ll admit, I’ve used some of these tricks myself, but the undressing, pants on, and tie are a bit new for me!
Topobo’s kinetic memory toys which I’ve known about since 2004 is finally available for a limited production purchase. Check out the video above or website to learn more. I played around with them while at the MIT medialab in 2004-5, and must say, they are addictive! Congrats Hayes and Amanda for inventing, sharing, and bringing this idea to life!
“Forget about the hybrid auto — Shai Agassi says it’s electric cars or bust if we want to impact emissions. His company, Better Place, has a radical plan to take entire countries oil-free by 2020.”
RISD’s first “What We Do” Event is going on today, April 11th. Head on down.. I’ll be there!
“What We Do is a new, student-run, RISD event designed to bridge departmental gaps and create new connections through the sharing of ideas.
On Saturday, April 11th, 100 members of the RISD community (students, faculty, staff, and alums) will share something that they do with the rest of the RISD community and the larger surrounding community of Providence.
Leading up to the day of the event, 8 site-specific “spaces” will be created by members of every department at RISD; majors paired up to encourage cross-departmental collaboration. The spaces that they build will house the day’s events creating a street-fair environment for the open sharing of how people at RISD spend their time and energy. ”
update: some pics of the event after the jump.
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Awesome relief prints by Bryan Nash Gill. I’d love to see a print using a cold press sheet, or maybe on handmade Japanese paper.
Behance and Coolhunting bring to us their very first conference “99%” which “focuses less on inspiration, and more on how idea generation and organization come together to make ideas happen.” It all takes place next week at the The Times Center building NYC, April 16-17, 2009… I’ll be there, so get your tickets here while they last!
A few of the speakers:
– Michael Bierut of Pentagram
– Cheryl Dorsey at Echoing Green
– Seth Godin of Squidoo, and several Books (purple cow, tribes, marketers are liars)
– Ji Lee of Google and Bubble Project
– Jeffrey Kalmikoff and Jake Nickell at Threadless
– Scott Thomas of Obama for America
– full list here.
“BMW’s MINI division will debut its first color-morphing car in Singapore in June. Called the MINI Chameleon, the car changes color according to weather conditions.
For example, on a rainy day, the car’s paint brightens to improve visibility while on a sunny day, it lightens to reflect heat and cool down the vehicle.
The color-morphing technology was made possible due to a special treatment called FeintPaint by Spanish company Payola Forlids.
Cars treated with FeintPaint comprises tiny magnetic iron oxide particles which can interact with a low grade magnetic field to change the spacing of the particles, and hence its ability to reflect light and change color.
The color changes take effect in seconds, and should be quite a sight to behold! Unless of course, you’re the owner, and you’ve no idea where you last parked your car in a multi-story car park. ”
It’s about time someone did this! Wished this color technology could be applied to the interior leather as well…nothing like black leather during the winter, but oh my is it toasty to the touch in the summer! Would also be cool if the cars color changed as you sped up on the highway, from a cool blue to a hot red the faster you went.
I’ve always wanted a ping pong table in a main room without looking too nerdy…. boom… make the ping pong table ultra plush fancy, and make it a convertible… awesome work Hunn Wai!
more pics after jump. Continue Reading
Daniel DeSure makes some pretty cool LED lights. I think all LED messages should scatter. Reminds me of Tom Hulberts(ideo) led wall installation.
Our favorite crew at Improv Everywhere does it again with a very enlightening High Five Mission smartly placed up the stairs in the subway. 2,000 high fives in 45 minutes, thousands more smiles… pretty awesome!
Great talk again by Dan Ariely during TED2009… Buy his book Predictably Irrational.
I love it when an everyday object is turned into an entirely different emotional object. A bar of soap, foaming gel, or perhaps some soap leaves!
via BookofJoe
Buy at Wrapables, 20 soap leaves, $13