Designer : Rob Cameron

Designer : Joshua Saling

E-book readers always keep one thing common that is a very high definition display and the entire surface area is almost occupied. Few e-book readers are available in only black and white colors but there are many supported with full color display capability. The main advantage of e-books is you don’t have to worry about your encyclopedias, technical documentations, catalogues, brochures, magazines and comics to get aged. Moreover, e-books are updating continuously and since most of e-books don’t kill your storage device with a gigantic volume, you can store a previous version documents easily.

Designer : Massimo Marrazzo

[Press Release]

MIT unveils EyeStop: an iPhone‐like interactive bus stop for the City of Florence

May 14, 2009. MIT architects and engineers have unveiled EyeStop, an interactive bus stop designed for the city of Florence. On Saturday 16 May the project will be presented officially at the Genio Fiorentino by the President of the Province of Florence Matteo Renzi (dubbed ‘The Italian Obama’ by TIME Magazine).

EyeStop, developed by MIT’s SENSEable City Lab, is an exploration into the next generation of smart urban furniture; it aims to enrich the city with state of the art sensing technologies, interactive services, community information and entertainment. The project is partially covered with touch sensitive e‐INK and screens, so that it can deliver information to people seamlessly. Users can plan a bus trip on an interactive map, exchange community‐relevant information on a digital message board, surf the web, monitor their real time exposure to pollutants and use their mobile devices as an interface with the bus shelter. “Interacting with EyeStop could change the access to urban information in a similar way to how the iPhone has changed our mobile life” commented Carlo Ratti, Head of the SENSEable City Lab at MIT.

At the touch of a finger users can indicate their desired destination; the system will then display the shortest bus route from where they are and the position of all relevant buses real‐time. The EyeStop will glow at different levels of intensity to signal the distance of an approaching bus. Riders and passers‐by can also post ads and community announcements to an electronic bulletin board placed on the bus stop, enhancing its functionality as a public space ‐ a place to gather and exchange community relevant information.

In addition to displaying information, the bus stop also acts as an active environmental sensing node, powering itself through sunlight and collecting real time information about air quality and the urban environment. “EyeStop is an experiment into urban computing: it may be considered an “info‐tape” that snakes through the city, rising up like a pole or cropping out of the sidewalk like a shelter. It senses information about the environment and distributes it in a form accessible to all citizens” – commented project leader Giovanni de Niederhousern.

A generative parametric model produces a unique design for each bus stop, providing both optimal sheltering for users and maximum sunlight exposure for direct photovoltaic powering. Unlike the typical mass‐produced bus stop, EyeStop is designed to fit the physical characteristics of its surroundings, with each unit being slightly different from the others. Furthermore, simple materials like shiny steel, extra clear glass and gray local stone (pietra serena), together with its minimalist design, serve to optimize how it blends into the historic urban fabric of Florence.

“Since the Renaissance, there has been an interplay between the physical form of the city (urb) and its citizenship (civitas),” added Carlo Ratti. “Today’s technologies are adding new possibilities to that age‐long relationship, thanks to the addition of digital information to physical space. It is as if a new materiality were emerging in architecture, with the seamless blending of bits and atoms…”

EyeStop was developed at the SENSEable City Laboratory by Giovanni de Niederhousern, Shaocong Zhou, Assaf Biderman and Carlo Ratti, in collaboration with the Province of Florence and the local public transportation authority ATAF.

Designer : Giovanni de Niederhousern, Shaocong Zhou, Assaf Biderman and Carlo Ratti via Core77

This electronic device is combined with a speech synthesis and a digital camera with a shape of a traditional product. The speech synthesis is able to decode texts to voice streams and the screen can be used as a magnification in conditions when the speech synthesis is not working. One good example of such situations is when a visual handicapped person wants to illuminate for instance images or illustrations which can be portrayed in endless ways. This device comprises a bendable OLED display featuring non-photosensitive images, fast speech synthesis and a digital camera module. Not all of these devices are ready to use today, but many of them are already operational.

This project took ten long weeks to accomplish aiming to create a product that will enable various options to clarify information for those people who are visually handicapped. The intention was not to replace the physical companion. Rather, it is an attempt to strengthen the self confidence of the users by feeling more self-governing.

Designer : Erik Rydell

Massimo says :
Electronics should be user-friendly and eco-friendly, cheap and standard. Some products will have only 2 dimensions. If you want 3rd dimension is possible use packaging technology (boxes) or glued printed electronics sheets or print directly on surfaces of 3d objects. Philosophy of product designer is going to be more near to fashion designers or graphic designers: products think as dress, using ribbons and sheets.

Transparent and thin means not only invisible electronics but you can also customize it with your creativity. Help and tutorial “how use it” are visible on the products’ surface. With “artificial muscles” inside is possible move, vibrate or open printed sheets. Using surface’s treatment like gecko’s paws is possible shape or attach devices everywhere. Solar nano-cells recharge devices by sun or infrared rays. Without wires for electric energy is possible use it everywhere. Neither fall nor water can damage our precious electronic friend.

Designer : Massimo Marrazzo

Kenneth says :
Shake is a mp3 player that can be charged by shaking when the HOLD function is on. With HOLD off, the user shakes the player for PLAY/PAUSE. The action of shaking the player to play or charge it is similar to shaking a pocket watch to wind it. The similar semantics provide an interesting yet familiar experience of giving life to an electronic device.The form of Shake was developed based on the language of a pocket watch, not only through the operation of shaking but also visually. Using the form from an established typology, Shake provides a comforting familiarity in a sea of electronics with foreign shapes and forms.

The use of kinetic energy to charge the battery not only solves an environmental issue, but also a more personal one. In situations like a long commute home, the user can enjoy personal audio without worrying about the battery dying out.

An electromagnetic coil is connected to the battery, converting kinetic energy into electrical energy that charges the battery. The player connects to the computer via a USB cable through the headphone jack, facilitating the transfer of songs as well as the conventional method of charging.

Shake would utilize kinetic energy generation technology developed by start up company M2E Power. M2E’s micro-generator technology delivers 300% to 700% more power than existing kinetic energy solutions (according to the company’s website), harvesting sufficient energy from normal daily and mechanical motion to power a wide range of mobile electronic devices.

This technology allows Shake to charge even in the user’s pocket while he/her is walking around.

Designer : Kenneth Tay

From the website :

There are several already made Braille products existing in the market. However, other than heavy and large in size, most of them are also highly priced. B&D messenger was designed to solve these problems. We intended to design following aspects: Cost effectiveness and Functionality. General Braille display or TTY system that are available right now are too expensive in price. To reduce its cost, B&D Messenger is built with an open source platform, Arduino and Processing. Currently, in order to keep the price low and affordable, a basic B&D messenger still runs by a connection to a computer, however if the user seeks portability a wireless connection can be made by ordering an optional Bluetooth module that can be easily attached on to the micro controller. In addition, by running under the Internet, no cost will be needed for sending and receiving messages. Small and Light. To accomplish this objective, all of the adopting materials we choose are lightweight. The triangle shape is chosen to be consistent with the other existing devices and the design was limited in accordance with the LCD size. Do-It-Yourself. B&D Messenger is designed to have a less complex construct. The case should be easy to make and ensemble with a recycled hard paper attached inside the kit. All basic electronic parts come with customized and presoldered state.

Designer : Jaeyoon, Kang and Noriaki Okada

Designer : Sanyo via IGreenSpot via BusinessWeek

Using silicon cells embedded in its glass surface, the SOLo Lounge Table collects and converts solar energy to clean and efficient electricity. Its USB, lighter, and standard 3 prong outlets can be used to power your personal electronic devices. In a typical outdoor setting, the SOLo can harness over 17 kilowatts of solar energy every year.

Source : ProductPage via BornRich