materials

Microsoft Multi-Touch Laptop

Posted by _tango! on June 21, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, design, entertainment, experience, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, style, tech, thoughts, wacky. Leave a Comment

First came Jef Hans Multi-Touch screen a few years back, then came the over-marketed super hyped iPhone, followed by Jef’s bigger brother wall, then Microsoft launches a huge table sized Surface Computing idea, followed along with a hilarious parody of their surface table, and now this early developmental video of a multi-touch laptop which also has the same IR sensor as the super fun Nintendo Wii, that you can make at home. I wonder whats next.

I’m not a huge fan of touch sensors/screens when it comes to function…for the cool factor, yes I like it, and for the community multi-user reasons I love it, but when it comes down to one person using a touchscreen via a capacitor (the electronic component that detects touch) I’ve never fell in love with it. First off, if you have ever used a touch screen before on a remote or even on a laptop to turn up/down the volume, you’ll know instantly that there is no user feedback which us humans need. We can live without it, but it just isn’t as good, though there are some developments into piezo-electronic screens that vibrate once your finger does something.(The Wii vibrates when you hover over objects which is nice in the remote) Then there’s GelForce,a must watch (video demo) which is pretty fascinating technology because of the simple implementation and the scalability.(It’s incredible to play with)

I’ll post all the videos of each technology after the jump.
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Drivers of Change cards

Posted by _tango! on June 13, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, experience, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, tech, thoughts. 3 comments
drivers of change book cards

“What will our world be like in 2050? This set of cards identifies some of the leading drivers of change that affect our future.

Each card depicts a single driver. A factoid and rhetorical question are on one face, backed up by a brief indication of the breadth and depth of the content on the other face. The set was devised by the Foresight & Innovation team at Arup, a group tasked with exploring emerging trends and how they impact upon business of Arup and its clients. The publication serves not only as a vibrant visual record of research, but also as a tool for discussion groups, personal prompts, for workshop events or as a ‘thought for the week’.”

I’ve had these cards for a few months (thanks TED) and they rock! Very inspirational, educational, great coffee table item, easy to read, and an amazing conversation starter for big topics in technology, our environment, economics, political culture, and social awareness in a globally changing sustainable future.

Drivers of Change website.
Drivers of Change Blog
Buy Cards here.

Replate.org: Recycle your food

Posted by _tango! on June 11, 2007
Posted in: brand, food, green, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, thoughts. 6 comments
replate.org

Are you the type that never finishes a meal on the go ends up trashing it? Are you also the type that sees people in need of food on the streets asking for pocket change or food? We’ll Replate.org’s hope is to fix both these problems by bringing awareness of wasting less and helping more. If you have unwanted leftovers on the go, leave it on top of a nearby trashcan rather than in one so it doesn’t go to waste. I know this might seem odd at first, but I’ve countlessly seen people dig through trashcans seeking good edible food. It’s somewhat disheartening, but treat it like recycling… It’s still usable so help someone out by letting them know. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

I’ve always wondered about grocery stores, fast food joints, restaurants, etc throwing away perfectly good food(I see it alllll the time at grocery stores). I forget where, but I once read/heard that all the food thrown away in the states would be enough food for the 3rd world countries in need. For a brief video on this topic have a look at Current.tv‘s video on Freeganism. Here are a few other organizations surrounding this topic: Freegan.info and FoodNotBombs.net.
(thanks axel)

Tunnel House

Posted by _tango! on June 11, 2007
Posted in: art, ideas, inspiration, materials, style, thoughts, wacky. 151 comments
tunnel inversion house

Isn’t it great how creativity kicks in when times running out. Take for example this incredible and beautiful installation by artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck a few months before this house was to be demolished…. I’m guessing they saw any opportunity to do something freaking crazy cool to a space that was going to be destroyed and turned this old house into a trippy wooden warp zone! More pics after the jump.(including whats at the end of the tunnel)
via hemmy
A few pics via Kevin Omara
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Spin N’ Snap Camera Concept

Posted by _tango! on June 6, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, style, tech. 5 comments
snap n spin sony camera concept

Sony just showed off a series of pretty sweet concept ideas on environmentally friendly sustainable electronics in Japan.”One of the more interesting devices of the lot is the Spin N’ Snap digital camera (pictured above), which you charge up simply by placing your fingers in the two holes (which also double as a viewfinder) and spinning it around a few times.”

Check out the pictures via Engadget or the whole article via DigitalCamerWatch.

Personally I love kinetic powering ideas though it’ll take more than one twist to take a picture most likely. We already have the hand-cranking 100$ OLPC laptop, so why not have a minority report like fling-charging camera. I’d buy one.

RISD Collections Fashion Show

Posted by _tango! on May 19, 2007
Posted in: art, design, entertainment, experience, information, inspiration, materials, me, style. Leave a Comment
risd collections apparel fashion show 2007

I’m off to the fabulous RISD Collections Apparel Fashion show (2007 press release here) over the weekend displaying over 150 outfits from 50 select students. If your in the area, there might be a few tickets (2pm and 7pm shows), but from previous years, it’s pretty jam packed during both walks. If your around on sunday may 20th, the one-of-a-kind outfits are for sale in the market square. Off to RISD!!! Whoohoo!!!

Clay Grass Tennis!

Posted by _tango! on May 3, 2007
Posted in: design, entertainment, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, thoughts, wacky. 4 comments

federer nadal tennis court grass clay
How bizarre! First came the breathtaking mile high tennis court with Andre Agassi, and now tennis star Roger Federer dukes it out with French Open champion Rafael Nadal on an experimental exhibition part clay part grass tennis court costing $1.63 million to set up(damn…give me $5000, and I’ll make that happen and pocket the rest). I’ve always been a fan of half&half pizza, drinks, hybrid cars, tools, payments, etc, but I never thought I’d see this happen. It would be interesting to see this again with the split happening horizontally (each player with both floors). Maybe a dangerous oncrete, clay, grass court is next.

Read the rest of the story with more pictures after the jump.
via Slam Sports and ESPN.

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VoicePrints

Posted by _tango! on April 29, 2007
Posted in: art, design, fun, ideas, inspiration, materials, style, tech. Leave a Comment
voiceprints

“Voiceprints is an experiment in the translation of audio information to visual imagery. Artist Pierre Proske records a person’s voice into a microphone, analyzes the audio file for frequency content, loops the sample, and then generates a variety of textile patterns arranged according to the individual’s vocal frequency imprint.The basic acoustic unit in human speech is called a phoneme. The visual equivalent is called a “viseme,” a basic speech unit in the visual domain. Interested in the audio to visual translation, Proske developed software that describes sound using basic visual units to represent recorded frequencies.

Proske reminds us that the use of computing in textile design is nothing new. Woven textiles actually form part of computing history, through Joseph Marie Jacquard’s automated patterned textile weaving machine in 1804 which led to the use of punch cards in computing devices.”
via TransStudio

Pop!Casts Videos

Posted by _tango! on April 10, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, design, entertainment, experience, food, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, Poptech, tech, thoughts. 1 comment

The sensational PopTech Conference I attended last October just launched their new PopCasts website with several of their amazing lectures from the 2006 event.

The above MUST watch video is an astonishing and inspirational highlight from the 2005 conference of Jesse Sullivan & Todd Kuiken presenting the world’s first non-fictional bionic man maneuvers of his prosthetic arm using only his mind. (Don’t ignore me…watch it!)

Watch the rest of the captivating videos after the jump!
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Manufactured Landscapes

Posted by _tango! on April 6, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, entertainment, experience, green, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, tech, thoughts. 2 comments

manufactured landscapes movie

Manufactured Landscapes is a stunning must watch documentary film created by legendary photographer Edward Burtynsky and award winning director Jennifer Baichwal that has received several awards this past year. The film visually captures China’s massive industrial revolution through Edwards camera while questioning our own human endeavors in impacting the planets future global proliferation, destruction, and waste.

I was not aware of this film until recently while talking with Edward at TED about his amazing slide show he gave at Poptech which previewed images used in this film. I missed the film when it was in theaters, but the DVD’s are available which I’d highly encourage everyone to buy (or the book) and share. (it’s a bit odd thinking about the movies message on massive product waste while using the exact same substance to distribute this film)

As an industrial designer I’ve been greatly influenced by the huge message Al Gore gave in Inconvenient Truth (meeting him pushed me as well) while also advocating Alex Steffan of Worldchanging.com‘s message that “your either in, or your wrong”. I’m stuck in a field where products and massive sales are king, yet the sustainable need for global changes is so uneducated in a cost driven but not globally aware or active field if not society. I’m not saying change is not happening, but time is not something you can pause… this change must happen, not sooner, but now. Perhaps I feel more like architect and famous product designer Philippe Starck when he was onstage at TED and said “I believe in general that my job is absolutely useless; but now, after Carolyn(Porco) and these guys, I feel like shit”.

Anyhoots, before I get ya’ll stuck in my own dilemma, give the trailer to Manufactured Landscapes a view and perhaps question your own actions in your own field, home, and surroundings and get motivated for some simple changes like recycling, changing to longer lasting light bulbs, or even reusing your CD spindles.

Trailer Preview
Manufactured Landscapes website
Worldchanging.com
ClimateCrisis.net