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Freescale Modular Netbook Based on ARM Technology

TheFuture — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:43:09 +0000

Portable workbooks with various features and brands are ever-increasingly popping up everyday and designers are still looking to introduce more functional gadgets. Smartbook is a concept design by Freescale who has specially made six prototypes with a wide range of features. These modular mini-notebooks are based on ARM processors and emphasize on enhanced super-long battery life in order to fit in different usage patterns. These compact smartbooks, with brilliant look, durable made and great functionality, will meet the growing need of handy ultra-portables with all the required attributes and ambience. These concepts didn’t get a hardware version yet but are expecting to adapt quite a big part of portable gadget markets.

Designer : Freescale

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

MO:BEN is A Portable Food Container That Can Heat-Up Your Food

TheFuture — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:22:20 +0000

Mo:Ben is a handy food container that includes a built-in film heater component that can heat up foods to a pre-heated temperature. Mo:Ben’s main mechanism of maintaining the heat is the combination of foam-filled cavity insulation and the built-in heating factor. There are two main parts of the device; one is the external box that features a carry grip, slip protective rubber base and cutlery storage, and another is the temperature sensitive substance for food preparation indication. The internal box holds the food and can be detached for convenient dish-washing. The arrangements inside the box are designed to encourage variety of food and mixing of food is prevented by different available compartments.

This design has been inspired by traditional Japanese ideals of functionality and simplicity of the bento box while fusing it with modern technology of heating, insulation and materials.

Customizable lunch options
- Compartmentalization to 2 different portion sizes.
- Variety and visual appeal.
- Healthier options with the relationship to food consumption.

Takeaway waste
- Negates takeaway waste as product can be reused.
- Food contact parts easily removed for easy cleaning.
- Ease of use and cleaning encourages users to reuse the product.

Aesthetics
- The product and user interface is designed with a simple and clean sense of quality.
- Retractable handles are flushed with surface when not in use.
- Overall package compacts into a single unit.
- Silicone rubber is reminiscent of traditional rubber band around a box.
- Silicone rubber acts as a non-slip base when eating with one hand.
- Band colour choices allow for personality customization.

Functionality
- Designed for usability, the product has been considered through the process from preparation to transport, idle period, eating experience, and cleaning.
- Tested ergonomically through a series of models and prototypes.

Standards
- Australian Standard for Plastic Materials for Food Contact Use, AS 2070-1999.
- Food Safety Standards – Temperature control requirements.
- Australian/New Zealand Standard for Safety of household and similar electrical appliances, AS/NZS 3350.2.15:2002.
- ISO 20282: “Ease of Operation of Every Day Products”.

Materials
- Internal Box is made of Polycarbonate for its durability.
- External Box is made of A.B.S for its availability and strength in appliance applications.
- Foam is used for insulation, ease of manufacture, availability and cost.

Technology
- Film heaters embedded at the base of the product, heating the internal box from bottom up.
- Food is heated to 75 degrees Celsius, controlled by an internal thermostat.
- Electronics are divided up into an active unit – electronic control adapter and a passive unit – lunch box unit to enhance safety.

To conclude, the product seeks to address a culture through design and present a new and satisfying experience for the user.

Designer : Alex Cheong

Scratchophone by Thierry Alari

TheFuture — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:14:14 +0000

The Scratchophone is an ultimate portable scratching gadget that includes a turntable, mixture, tonearm, a rechargeable battery and a couple of speakers. This is a really an autonomous and portable instrumental unit which is very much useful for scratching. Carrying Scratchophone is convenient and can be used virtually anywhere such as performing live on stage, jamming with friends and even scratching outdoor. There are some professional and unique features of this instrument like tangential micro-tonearm for scratching in a non-skipping manner, an exclusive rotary fader box and a high torque direct drive that can be set apart from Scratch DJ’ other products.

Thierry talks about Scratchophone:

“I was exasperated with my classic DJ gear setup, I couldn’t move it to play with others musicians, I couldn’t practice in the sofa or outdoors unlike the guitar …
I gave myself the mission to design a new scratch instrument to solve this problem: the Scratchophone. After a dozen of prototypes, I had what I wanted : the first portable, all in one and autonomous scratch instrument.”

Designer : Thierry Alari

Audi R25 Prototype

TheFuture — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:09:15 +0000

The new concept car R25 by Audi is the latest in its lineup of race cars. The features are quite innovative and the same have never been featured in any of the prototypes like high velocity banks and tunnels, a feature that allows the car to race in inverted position which helps it overtake other aerodynamic race cars. The car has been designed to perform in new racing conditions and will sure be a pioneer in revolutionizing the conceptual cars being designed for racing in the days to come.

(Click the image for bigger view)

Designer : Craig Durfey, Raul Cenan & Taeho Kim

Boeing SkyHook JHL-40 Rotorcraft

TheFuture — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:35:09 +0000

Boeing SkyHook JHL-40 is the new stunning aircraft by Boeing and looks more like the design of the WWII period. The aircraft runs on the heavy-lift motorcraft, which can lift up to 40 tons, and can travel a distance of up to 200 miles in one refill. It is designed to travel in regions where no other means of transport can access and all this with maximum safety and minimum cost. This eight engine aircraft has four vertical rotors to lift the body with four directional propellers and each having a rotor for directing the same. The icing on the cake is that this big boy is environmental friendly too.

The SkyHook JHL-40 aircraft will be capable of lifting a 40-ton sling load and transporting it up to 200 miles without refueling in harsh environments such as the Canadian Arctic and Alaska. Currently, conventional land and water transportation methods in these undeveloped regions are inadequate, unreliable and costly. With its lifting capacity and range, the SkyHook JHL-40 aircraft changes that for a variety of industries around the world.

“There is a definite need for this technology. The list of customers waiting for SkyHook’s services is extensive, and they enthusiastically support the development of the JHL-40,” said Pete Jess, SkyHook president and chief operating officer. “Companies have suggested this new technology will enable them to modify their current operational strategy and begin working much sooner on projects that were thought to be 15 to 20 years away. This Boeing-SkyHook technology represents an environmentally acceptable solution for these companies’ heavy-lift short-haul challenges, and it’s the only way many projects will be able to progress economically.”

Boeing is designing and will fabricate two production prototypes of the JHL-40 at its Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Park, Pa. Skyhook will own, maintain, operate and service all JHL-40 aircraft for customers worldwide. The new aircraft will enter commercial service as soon as it is certified by Transport Canada and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

via Boeing

Aspid Roadster : A Luxury Sports Car

TheFuture — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:07:54 +0000

We always wanted to have a car like Caterham, but the one and only thing that came to our minds by looking at it was that this car would have been better with roof, 400 horsepower and more luxury. So all the prayers have been answered and the IFR has come up with an all-new Aspid with roof in which two engines will be available and a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter producing 270 hp, or a 400-hp turbocharged version of the same mill. This light weight carbon fiber structure whose power will be sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential to get that 400 horsepower.

PRESS RELEASE

IFR Automotive reveals track car

A new sports car boasting luxury fitments and high performance has been announced by engineering consultancy IFR Automotive.

Known as the Aspid, IFR has sought to create a track car with everyday levels of usability and, importantly for cars like this – reliability.

It’s also a technology showcase for demonstrating the company’s design and engineering capabilities.

Aspid prototypes feature a 2-litre engine; either naturally aspirated to deliver 270bhp or supercharged to 400bhp.

Power is delivered to the rear wheels through a manual 6-speed gearbox and limited-slip differential.

Use of aluminium and carbon fibre has resulted in weight of just 700kg and the resulting 570bhp-per-tonne power-to-weight ratio enables 62mph (100km/h) in 2.8 seconds and 100mph (160km/h) in 5.9 seconds.

“The Aspid has been engineered to deliver a high level of driving pleasure,” says company founder, managing director and automotive engineer Ignacio Fern?ez Rodriquez, whose initials give IFR Automotive its name.

Formerly with Prodrive, Rodriquez subsequently joined the Mitsubishi World Rally Championship team as race engineer for Alister McRae and Fran?s Delecour.

Rodriquez founded IFR Automotive in 2003 and began work immediately on the new sports car project, while handling confidential car and commercial vehicle assignments from industry clients.

With a long list of options, and each one tailored to the precise needs of each individual customer the anticipated base price is £75,000 and upwards per Aspid.

The car will be displayed at the British International Motor Show in London docklands from Wednesday 23 July to Sunday 3 August 2008.

via [AutoBlog]

Samovar Water Heating Container

TheFuture — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:07:39 +0000

Russia has traditional tea ceremony which use water heating container (samovar) to keep the tea hot. This design aim was to create an original samovar not based on the traditional prototypes and to demonstrate that an object may look very different, but still keeps its main function – to heat the water. A charcoal-burning samovar that doesn’t need electricity and gives a possibility to take part in the process of brew-up and the following tea ceremony in a big company. This fascinating design won Red Dot Design Awards in 2007.

The pipe construction allows an effective use of heat-producing value of a charcoal, distributing it homogeneously.
Double body with a thermal insulation is safe in use. The low temperature on the upper shell allows the use of non conventional materials for refinishing of a body, such as wood or leather.
A complicated form of a internal reservoir gives a unique method of water preparation, which is typical for samovars. Because of a natural convection, the liquid intensively circulates, mixes up and homogeneously and gradually warms up. The efficiency of a samovar is no less than 70%.

The high volume and the construction allow preserving the water warm for a long time and providing a possibility for a leisured conversation without a necessity to add water to the samovar.

Designer : ManWorksDesign

Wireless Optimus Mini 3 3.0

TheFuture — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:26:09 +0000

Since the Maximus keyboard last year create a real buzz, they have developed Optimus Mini 3 version 2.0, smaller, three-buttoned version of the Maximus keyboard. Following the success of Optimus Mini 3 v 2.0, Art Lebedev is in the process of making the next generation of Optimus Mini 3, which is wireless, possibly Bluetooth and AC-powered. The picture below is the version 2.0 of Optimus Mini 3 since they still don’t have the picture of version 3.0. Really looking forward to see the prototypes.

From : Art Lebedev via Gizmodo

Overhead Projector Desk to Help Disabled Teachers

TheFuture — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:46:10 +0000

It’s quite difficult for disabled teachers to move freely when using overhead projector. That’s why Reinier Halbertsma and Sarah Hay came up with this overhead projector desk design. This was inspired by a disabled Professor who generously field-tested many prototypes. Users can switch easily between overhead slides, use the central grab rail for mobility, and it can be used in many configurations.

Designer : Reinier Halbertsma and Sarah Hay from Carleton University’s School of Industrial Design with Thomas Garvey as their advisor.