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“Yo” : MP3 Player Dock with Removable Speakers

TheFuture — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:08:07 +0000

Instead of taking your music player for an outing how would it be if you just need to take your ipod or MP3? Yes you can enjoy the same loud music through your ipod with the help of Yo stereo speakers by American designer Victor Vetterlein. YO is a portable MP3 player dock with removable speakers. Due to its compatibility it could be taken anywhere just as your ipod or MP3 player. It is fitted with rechargeable lithium ion batteries that can either be charged through power supply or simply by wind or solar energy. Removable rods mounted at the top provide an easy handling.

From Victor Vetterlein :
Introducing ‘YO’ – an iPod and MP3 stereo speaker dock by Victor Vetterlein

YO is a rechargeable and wireless stereo speaker docking station for digital audio players. The system is portable, waterproof, and suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

Inside the dock base are lithium-ion (rechargeable) batteries that are capable of powering the stereo system for hours when the unit is disconnected from a power source. The design intention is that a renewable energy source such as solar power, wind power, or hydroelectricity charges the battery packs when the stereo is not in use.

The speakers also contain lithium-ion batteries in their base, and recharge when placed in the stereo base portals. The batteries also provide high-density ballast enabling the speakers to stand upright when removed from the charging ports.

The speaker enclosure is designed to amplify sound. The speakers are mounted in the rear of the speaker housing. Similar to a megaphone, the front portion of the speaker enclosure is extruded to increase and direct sound.

Two removable rods are mounted between the stereo speakers to stabilize the stereo assembly and provide a lifting handle when the unit is transported.

Designer : Victor Vetterlein via Dezeen

FrogWare Light Bulb Design Offers Better Energy Efficiency Than CFLs

TheFuture — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:55:07 +0000

This is not an ordinary bulb but it is known as a LED bulb recently created by Frog Design to provide more sustainable lighting choices. They have used LED lights because they believe that LED lights tend to produce a lot of heat and are less influential than incandescent bulbs. They have created Led lights inside a glass fixture that looks like incandescent bulbs. The power LED is set inside the bulb which dissolves its heat to the aluminum base. The main concept behind creating this bulb is to make it easy for the consumers to change their light bulbs.

Text from the website:
Our original goal was to improve the CFL bulb, both in color and usability, but the technology to do so was not obvious. We began to explore colored filters and realized that any filter would reduce the lumen output. We then looked into adding LEDs to change the overall color output. This led us to the realization that florescent lights have huge environmental drawbacks. CFLs use ballast, which contains mercury, electronics and plastic housings. Most consumers just throw fluorescents out with the trash, even though they should be disposed of as toxic waste. CFLs are not dimmable and therefore use their maximum light output each time they’re turned on. In addition, the form and cold color of CFLs keep them from being widely accepted as a replacement to the incandescent bulb.

As our ideas began to focus on combining LEDs with a fluorescent, we sketched several forms that tried to create harmony between the two technologies. The idea of creating a separation between work and home life through the modulation of the color output drove some of our early forms. As soon as we chose to use only high-output LEDs, our forms changed significantly, rendering the old concepts no longer valid.

As designers are inclined to do, we started to create beautiful forms that revolved around the advantages of the new technology and the form factor it lent itself to. This may have been our biggest wrong turn. With LEDs, that form was flat and thin; but this would not solve the problem we had defined for ourselves. To create the biggest impact on society, this design had to keep the barriers to acceptance as low as practical—which in part meant no super-sexy, fluid designs that would only be found in high-end design stores. Any unnecessary styling would cause a rift in its mainstream acceptance.

We realized the easiest way to create acceptance was to deliver the technology in an already widely accepted form. The form of a standard light bulb was then the obvious choice. It would not ask consumers to change their form of power, their light socket or replace the lampshade attached to the bulb. And it underscored the notion that good design is about solving problems for the whole ecosystem of the product.
Designer : FrogDesign

Marion Hyper-Sub, a Revolutionary Submersible Powerboat

TheFuture — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:12:46 +0000

Marion Hyper-Sub is a submersible powerboat, an innovation new vessel with flexible design. This powerboat has the ability to run in the surface at impressive speeds. The Hyper-Sub is the first small craft built with the horsepower, sea-keeping, and range to allow operation on the high seas, which also functions as a self-charging, autonomous, one-atmosphere submarine. The patented design, which was 31 years in the making, will forever alter the mini-sub industry. The world�s first true general-purpose submarine.

The Marion Hyper-Sub benefits from a design which allows for safe, comfortable and versatile use. The pressurized passenger compartment is accessed through a top hatch which is four feet above water level reducing the chance of the craft being swamped in rough weather. With the hatch closed in a storm, the Hyper-Sub is actually safer than a boat. It can even right itself if inverted. And the compartmentalized ballast system has such a high lifting capacity that the Hyper-Sub can suffer a 12 ton loss of buoyancy before losing its ability to surface.

Designer : Hyper Sub