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Nomad Lightweight and Simple Wheelchair for Your Comfort

TheFuture — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:13:30 +0000

The Nomad Wheelchair concept is the outcome of Mark Owen’s continuous effort with his brother Jon and Angela Gidden, a furniture designer of Studio SDA, after he got paralyzed in a motorbike accident. The inconveniences and difficulties he has faced with the traditional wheelchairs became the key turning point of Mark to make an innovative wheelchair that can overcome all those problems successfully. Finally, the lightweight and minimal mobility device reached the production house with the money he got from his personal injury claim. The simple and sleek wheelchair excludes all the unnecessary elements and has been structured in a comfortable and contemporary way where a person can sit and roll for longer time without getting irritated.

Designer : Mark Owen

Renault Picnic Zero-Emissions Concept Car Provides Room for Social Gathering

TheFuture — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:26:05 +0000

When people goes for a picnic, a car that can provide room for social gathering parked in an urban landscape is always desirable, which was the main inspiration of designing the Renault Picnic concept car. This car can become an urban furniture, where people can re-acquaint themselves with the surrounding natural environment with its various functionalities. It features LED-impregnated DOL that allows adjustable and customizable tinting patterns that will make the car’s surface a public art. The easy access sliding doors allow convenient entrance. You can attach a bicycle with the rear bumper and can arrange some extra sittings with tailgate rumble seats that slides-out from the front trunk. The Renault Picnic features low-cost and minimalist dashboard with i-pod compatibility which is ideal for new drivers. The modular seating arrangement of this car ensures equal comfort to be enjoyed for all passengers either inside, on atop the rear bumpers or on the front tailgate.

Gabriel says :
The Renault Picnic seeks to augment rather than detract from the health of it’s surrounding environment. It is a Zero-emissions vehicle that provides a social function to the parked car within in the urban landscape. When parked, the Picnic transforms into urban furniture, becoming a social space for people to re-acquaint themselves with the surrounding environment. LED-impregnated, glass-coated polycarbonate windows project customized images when the vehicle is parked, transforming the vehicle into a form of public art.

Further considering the environment, the exterior panels are composed of hemp-based composites, and the vehicle is powered by Lithium Ion batteries and two rear-mounted in-wheel hub motors.

In order to reduce cost, complexity and weight, the simple interior is constructed of modular components, with four identical, soy-foam seats and an i-pod doc replacing most of the functions, including sound system and GPS on the dashboard.

Designer : Gabriel Wartofsky

Tok and Study Furniture for Students

TheFuture — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:47:44 +0000

Reading on bed instead of sitting on a chair in front of table is a usual issue with students. Tok and Study is an innovative furniture specially designed for those who prefer reading on bed with equal functionalities that of a table. This furniture is capable of making the reading environment conducive for studies by combining dynamism and comfort. The Tok and Study fits both the study with notebooks and study with traditional materials, when lying on a bed or sitting on the couch. The most effective feature of this furniture is you can fold this for space saving when it is not in use.

Designer : Helder Filipov and Diego Silvério

Polygon Resort : A New Level of Floating Shelter Unit

TheFuture — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:07:56 +0000

Polygon Resort is a floating resort concept that can make room for up to 6 people using the minimum area. The concept focuses on exploring the shelter and approaching the contrast between the structure and a flexible roof formed of flexible canvas. This concept has the ability to collect solar energy through embedded flexible solar panels on the canvas and reusing the natural flow of rain water over the cover by collecting them in strategic holes on the ground. It comprises modular furniture that allows basic living for the user, while the space usage compatibility was inspired by usual tent, allowing people enjoy the space freely. Moreover, it offers a double bed and additional 4 more beds stored on the kitchen.

Designer : Pedro Gomes

Buddy Concept Computer was Inspired by Home Furnitures

TheFuture — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:00:51 +0000

Buddy is a concept computer system which was specially designed keeping a better home-living environment in mind. This concept was inspired from the usual home furniture, and was aimed to enhance the major roles that computers take in our daily life. Buddy is consists of three components – a portable small touchscreen, a big touchscreen connected with a projector for sharing home entertainment with family and friends, and a module that comprises all other necessary hardware and utilities, and acts as a charging station for other two components. Both the small and the large component are able to act as an independent computer, but if you want, you can use the little one as a cordless keyboard when working on the big screen.

Designer : Guy Ceder

Autonomous Living Unit : Futuristic Chair by Eduardo McIntosh

TheFuture — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:27:02 +0000

Autonomous Living Unit has been demonstrated last April for the first time in the Future Cities exhibition occurred in New York City which is a concept chair with a unique look that integrates all the functions that a home may have into a single chair. This concept is outlined by imagining the furniture that could be fitted in derelict buildings to provide the fundamental needs of human being. This project symbolizes the current housing crisis due to the tendency of people to live on their own and the tradition of transforming architecture into consumer products. In fact, this concept product shows the visually alluring yet most minimal objects that still can provide the basic needs of human being.

From Eduardo:
Autonomous Living Units is a somewhat satirical project that stands at the intersection of the current housing crisis, the tendency of people in developed countries to live on their own and the trend of turning architecture into a consumer product. The project poses a scenario in which living units (homes) have evolved into the most minimal yet visually alluring objects that can still provide for the basic needs of the 21st century human being.

Because of the morphing of architecture into furniture, the Living Units could be inserted in derelict areas and ruined housing projects. This project was exhibited among others at the d3 Gallery in New York for the “Future Cities: Past, Present” exhibition in April 2009.

Designer : Eduardo McIntosh via [Dezeen]

UP-Series for Urban City People

TheFuture — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:25:15 +0000

UP is a product line that includes both furnishing and lighting elements for urban environments aiming to connect different people, markets and cultures. This design is a result of a young and inspiring team who think differently in principle and features from a bicycle stand and bollard to a bench. This formal design idea is carried throughout the entire product line and will enable the user to plan and produce more aesthetically rational cityscape. This product was developed in order to make our future cities more pleasant, attractive, and livable, and make the people happier than ever.

Just because of the efficient functionality of this product line, it has received various positive feedbacks from many important personnel. The starting point of designing this useful product collection was the simple and rounded bollard. Different functions were adjoined by making various incisions and the main outline was converted into a wide-ranging and versatile range of products. In order to get the most from the product line, placing and organizing them accordingly is very much important. Implementing these artifacts will surely bring a significant difference in the appearance of our current city life which will be able to change the entire lifestyle of the urban city people.

Designer : Norway Says via HomeDosh

Design Bugs Out : Medical Devices from Design Council UK

TheFuture — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:38:46 +0000

The UK Design Council has recently commissioned a series of useful medical equipment concepts aiming to diminish the spread of germs. Under this initiative, the council has designed various products such as a easy to clean, durable, comfortable and cleverly usable porter’s chair that will definitely reduce the number of user ‘touchpoints’ where germs can be spread. Another product is an ‘intelligent’ mattress that can change color when it comes with the contact of body fluids. A patient bedside arrangement, featuring bedside storage along with an easy to clean over-bed table made of scratch-proof materials. The 21st century portable commode is another useful product that will eliminate the potential of spreading out the germs and can be cleaned easily. A smart canella is another helpful equipment by the council that can tell the staff when it is time to change the intravenous lines.

The main goal of these useful and innovative designs for hospital furniture and apparatuses is to help fight against healthcare associated infections such as MRSA and HCAIs. The prototypes have used cutting edge techniques in order to reshape the patient transport, bedside environment and usual medical equipments keeping easy clean in mind. The design also influences staff and patient behavior to lessen the probability of exposure to HCAIs.

Designer : Design Council via Core77

Homebox Modular Apartment with Modular Furnitures

TheFuture — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:43:13 +0000

Homebox is a sensational idea of mobile apartment with moveable and individual customized rooms that will allow the user to place its stuffs virtually anywhere. This innovative concept will eliminate the hassle of traditional house relocation and you will be able to settle done your new home in a new location within a short span of time. This idea comprises box shaped adjustable articles for all sorts of home decoration needs which can be easily placed when it’s required. Most of the furniture can be shaped and transformed just as you want and thus can save a significant amount of your in-house space.

Designer : Svenja Hotop

EyeStops : Futuristic Bus Stops from SENSEable City Lab of MIT

TheFuture — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:03:29 +0000

EyeStops is a concept device for bus stops which will allow the passengers to do a lot more activities than just sitting idle and wait. The SENSEable City Lab of MIT has designed this solar-powered booth that are outfitted with touchscreen displays that will show necessary information like bus schedules or the shortest route for a certain destination. Even more, you will be able to browse the web, check the air quality, see the exact location of your desired bus, interact with a mobile device and use the booth as a community message board to post announcements and ads. On top of that, this booth will surely change the appearance of a traditional bus stop.

[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