Tag: DESIGN

The landscapes of Google Earth have never looked quite as hypnotic (or ominous) as they do in this music video from the band Lux Repeat. Created by designer Bartholomäus Traubeck, the clip takes viewers on an aerial voyage across Google Earth's pixelated landscape, in all its geographic desolation and graphic vibrance. Equal parts nature documentary and flight-simulator video game, it's ...

For those who design for the Web, securing a placeholder image -- a temporary picture that'll save a spot while the website is under construction -- is often a headache. On top of needing to resize hundreds of images that'll just be tossed anyway, merely locating a group of suitable pictures is a tedious task to which no self-respecting Web guru looks forward. Enter Placekitten, a simple ...

Lost remote control woes, begone! Japanese electronics giant NEC announced this week that it's developed a way to let users control a variety of electronics simply by touching some skin. No implants are necessary; a wristband with acceleration sensors (similar to what makes your smartphone and Wiimote so awesome) transforms the user's arm into a seven-part controller, with each area ...

3-D printing has changed the way that engineers and designers prototype things, but it hasn't really made its way into mainstream manufacturing yet. But engineers at EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, are making strides by using a process called additive layer manufacturing, which uses a laser to melt plastic, nylon or metal powders in layers until the finished product is ...

Remember the Telenoid, the creepy humanoid bot that transmitted both the voice and the head movements of its operator? Imagine having that nightmare-inducing creation in your pocket at all times. The Elfoid P1 is essentially that: a ghostly robot effigy, shrunk down to handheld proportions and made into a cell phone. The outer coating is specially designed to feel like human skin (eww!), and ...

The high-tech Zenona Piggy Bank's purpose isn't immediately clear, but when has that ever stopped technology developers? Comprised of an iPhone, Arduino BT and credit card slot, the half-bank half-Tamagotchi gets sad when it's been too long without a payment. Just swipe your card, and a pittance equivalent to pocket change will be transferred to a separate account. Weird. ...

By employing Delaunay Triangulation, or the practice of creating wide-angled triangles along a set of given points, designer Mary Huang hopes to democratize the little black dress. With her project 'Continuum,' which is about to hit Kickstarter, she hopes to take her proprietary software, and offer it to any gal who wants a hyper-futuristic dress entirely tailored to her own proportions. "Could ...

Norwegian designers Timo Armall, Jørn Knutsen, and Einar Sneve Martinussen recently came up with a cool way to visually represent the invisible Wi-Fi networks that blanket our urban spaces. After constructing a Wi-Fi measuring rod capable of displaying signal strength as bars of light, the trio set about photographing it throughout various neighborhoods in Oslo. Measuring four meters ...

From old-school joysticks to motion-control interfaces, the ways gamers control onscreen movements have drastically evolved. We aren't sure what's next, but, if a project by artist Hye Yeon Nam is any indication, it could involve locking lips. That's right: Nam has designed input hardware that allows gamers to control onscreen movements by making out. With the Kiss Controller, one gamer places a ...

Google has issued a challenge to data-nerds: to take data from the site WhatWePayFor.com, which tracks where your tax dollars are allocated, and create a user-friendly way to visualize it. Google has gotten the ball rolling with its own interactive infographic of differently sized bubbles, each representing a distinct category of government spending. ...

Customized kicks aren't just for the cool kids. For proof, check out these customized Nike Dunks inspired by Firefox, Twitter and Google. The colorful hi-tops are designed by Daniel Reese, who sells a number of other nerd-themed kicks at his site Brass Monki. Most of his custom sneakers, which are available in limited runs, retail for between $200 and $250. Honestly, that's a small price to pay ...

Even with the best interfaces - and few TV interfaces would qualify as among the best of anything - it's a special kind of frustration to watch someone else manipulating a cursor or some other kind of U.I. selector while you, as a passive viewer, have no control over where it goes or what it does. This is what makes the televisions screen so different from other screens: our phones, laptops and ...

In case you hadn't noticed, physical media are dying. Digital audio files long ago replaced CDs, movies are regularly available to stream, and games will download at the click of a mouse. There's no more reason to ever run to your local Best Buy . But there is still something alluring about physically touching your content source (just ask a vinyl fetishist). Jordi Parra, a Spanish design ...

Much of the product design coming out of Art Lebedev Studio has been bold, but of questionable taste. Remember those ridiculous Optimus keyboards? Shudder. But this concept for disposable thumbdrives, designed by Alexei Lyapunov and Lena Ehrlich, is both realistic and restrained. Called Fleshkus, the drives are made of cardboard and not meant to last. Let's hope they eventually make it to ...

Sex objects don't look like themselves anymore. While the industry of personal sexual satisfaction is still dominated by glittery phalli and plastic rabbits, a handful of companies that challenge the anatomical form factor have started to emerge. And San Francisco-based Jimmyjane has been one of the driving forces behind this new design of delight. Launched in 2004, the company first gained ...