Shino Takeda in Inventory Magazine 02.15.13 — By Monica Khemsurov We first spotted Shino Takeda’s awkwardly lovable, one-of-a-kind ceramic spoons and desert-style dishes at Caitlin Mociun’s store in Brooklyn, but the ceramicist’s work is a testament to the fact that you can still find amazing things on Etsy if you know where to look: Takeda keeps a store there called “Shino’s World,” and browsing its vases and bowls, you really get the sense that she lives inside her own storybook, where tea sets are named after bluebirds and sake cups appear poised to kiss. But we didn’t know much more about the real Shino until last week, when Inventory Magazine took a more literal look inside her world — with editor Ryan Willms photographing her at work in her Brooklyn studio — and so we couldn’t resist the chance to feature the story here in an attempt to put all the pieces together. “The handmade, uneven and organic feel of Shino’s work has become part of her signature.
LapTouch: a conceptual laptop for creative minds The LapTouch concept is targeted at the creative community (Image: Amir Labidi) Image Gallery (8 images) Einstein famously maintained that a cluttered desk is a sign of a brilliant mind. However, for many modern designers the desk is not just messy but is also jammed with a mandatory array of PCs, laptops, screens, tablets, and more. View all As a daily user of a graphics tablet and computer, Labidi says the concept was derived from the difficulty he found positioning a tablet and PC together to be able to press keys while using the pen. Though hybrid touchpad laptop models are already available, Labidi’s concept for the LapTouch is aimed at a specific market. Labidi hopes that if the new Panasonic tablet or Wacom Cintiq prove to be beyond your price range, then his idea may meet tactile drawing requirements in a cost-effective manner should the concept be realized. Source: Amir Labidi via Iam Architect About the Author Post a CommentRelated Articles
Next-Gen Video Format H.265 Is Approved, Paving The Way For High-Quality Video On Low-Bandwidth Networks The ITU has approved a new video format that could bring 4k video to future broadband networks, while also making streaming HD video available even on bandwidth-constrained mobile networks. The H.265 standard, also informally known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), is designed to provide high-quality streaming video, even on low-bandwidth networks. The new video format is the successor to the H.264 codec, which nearly every video publisher has standardized after the release of the iPad and several other connected devices. The hope is that, through improved compression techniques, H.265 will enable publishers to stream 1080p video with about half as many bits as required today. In places where there is decent broadband connectivity, H.265 could enable even higher-quality video. Of course, just because the format has been approved doesn’t mean that we’ll start seeing video files shrink or lower bit-rate streams anytime soon.
Making Fun of Snowboarding Since 1997 » Every Third Thursday: The Glass Snowboard By admin • Feb 21st, 2013 • Category: Featured, News, Videos For this month’s episode, Signal Snowboards’ Founder Dave Lee leaves the factory to travel across the sea to an Italian glass factory to create a handmade glass snowboard-the most delicate build to date! The glass snowboard is cut, pressed, tempered, and ever so carefully transported to the slopes. Check back every third Thursday of the month for another custom snowboard build from Signal Snowboards. Monkey Light Pro turns bicycle wheels into colorful, animated displays There are plenty of interesting ways to deck out your bicycle, but MonkeyLectric may have come up with the ultimate way to make it stand out on the road. The company's new Monkey Light Pro is a set of LED bars that attach to a bicycle wheel and can be programmed to play colorful animations. This isn't the first light-up bicycle wheel system we've seen, and MonkeyLectric itself has produced other models in the past, but none have been as elaborate as this. Over the last two years, the company has been hand-making prototypes of the newer system for special events and projects. During that time, the developers practiced their manufacturing processes with smaller products until they felt ready to launch a more complex system. The Monkey Light Pro features four bars sporting a total of 256 full-color LEDs, which fit together inside the spokes and display bright images over the entire wheel when it's in motion. Sources: MonkeyLectric, Kickstarter
The first flexible, fiber-optic solar cell that can be woven into clothes An international team of engineers, physicists, and chemists have created the first fiber-optic solar cell. These fibers are thinner than human hair, flexible, and yet they produce electricity, just like a normal solar cell. The US military is already interested in weaving these threads into clothing, to provide a wearable power source for soldiers. In essence, the research team started with optical fibers made from glass — and then, using high-pressure chemical vapor deposition, injected n-, i-, and p-type silicon into the fiber, turning it into a solar cell. The lead researcher, John Badding of Penn State University, says the team has already produced “meters-long fiber,” and that their new technique could be used to create “bendable silicon solar-cell fibers of over 10 meters in length.” Moving forward, the potential for flexible, woven solar cells is enormous. These fibers also have two other intriguing properties that still need to be investigated.
Experimental Airline Seat Plan Designed With "Dignity" In Mind More than the fetid air, the $9 cookie boxes, and the Electronic Device Lie, airline seats strip coach passengers of their humanity (or whatever was left of it after their shoes came off and their belt hit the floor). An undergraduate at the University of Malaya is aiming to improve the situation with his design for a new seat that would allow everyone on the plane to recline at a 45 degree angle without invading the space of their brethren. The idea is so good, it's a shame it wasn't proposed before the Airline Monopoly was created last week. Alireza Yaghoubi's AirGo design, which he submitted for a Dyson Award, features foot rests and trays (adjustable by touch-screen) that aren't connected to the seat in front of the passenger, and a drop-down computer screen that would allow passengers to while away the hours from a fully reclined position. Or maybe just read a book and fall asleep? You can see more renderings of the design here.
PYRO Fireshooter by Adam Wilber This is not a toy. This is a "badass" professional device that allows you to launch fireballs from your open palm. Fire. The first of its kind, PYRO is a high-tech, wrist-worn, James Bond style device that allows you to shoot magnificent balls of fire from your open hand. Featuring four separate chambers for multiple shots, an easy to use remote device, soft touch finish and adjustable wrist strap, PYRO is about to turn up the heat on your performances. Please Note: You must be 18 or over to purchase and/or use the Pyro Device At Ellusionist, we’re continually striving to make you look like a SuperHero. Now - we’re giving you the power to shoot fireballs on demand. 'Pyro goes way beyond magic and puts an unexplainable, supernatural power in your hands. Comprehensive Instructional It is a condition of purchase that you watch the PYRO instructional in its entirety, prior to operating your unit. Fully Guaranteed PYRO comes with an end to end, 60 day full replacement warranty.
MIT makes transparent solar panels Transparent solar panels — think about it for a moment: Sheets of transparent glass or plastic film that also generate electricity. It’s almost the perfect solution for all our energy needs, generating free power from every available surface, window, and computer display. The concept of transparent solar panels isn’t new, of course, but it now looks like they’re finally finding their way to market: Ubiquitous Energy, a startup that was spun off from MIT last year, is developing a technology and patent portfolio and hopes to bring affordable transparent solar panels to market soon. At this point, you might be wondering how transparent solar cells actually work — after all, if it’s transparent, how can it absorb light energy? The trick, then, is creating a solar cell that only absorbs IR and UV radiation, while letting visible light pass straight through. This is Ubiquitous Energy’s transparent solar cell, in front of an LCD display showing the Tetons.
A High-Tech Makeover For The Payphone In the age of cell phones, the idea of a payphone has gotten a bit absurd. Why invest in such an infrastructure when that money could be better spent subsidizing wireless plans for low-income individuals. Well, there may still be a benefit to some physical infrastructure--not phones per se--but public information spaces. At least that’s the vision of Control Group and Titan, who’ve partnered up to develop a project they call NYC I/O--a submission to NYC’s contest to remake their 11,412 payphones once the current vendor agreements expire in 2014. The team imagines a network of touchable information booths, transparent-screened kiosks connected by fiber optics. Even still, a skeptic might ask, why do these need to exist? “On the whole, our long-term interest is in the infrastructure and real estate that the payphones currently occupy,” Control Group partner Colin O’Donnell tells Co.Design. See more here.
Montblanc E-Strap: A Smartwatch That Hides Behind a Real Watch January 4th, 2015 by Stirling Matheson If you like watches, you probably have strong feelings about smartwatches. On one hand, you’re probably in favor of watches that do as much as possible, even if it’s not something you’d use (what lunar phase is it?), but on the other hand, an electronic device is so far divorced from most of the elements of horology that you love. As a result, you may have briefly considered one of the sexier examples, like the Asus ZenWatch, but then decided to just stick with your existing watch. Montblanc clearly feels similarly, and has announced the E-Strap, which attaches to your existing watch and has a small device that sits under your wrist that performs some basic smartwatch functions. [via A Blog To Watch] LEGO Arm Exoskeleton: Cyberpunk is Awesome SOG Key Knife: A Knife That Looks Like a Key
Leap Motion controllers to ship in mid-May for $80 | Cutting Edge Leap Motion, which has developed an innovative motion-control system that's accurate to the hundredth of a millimeter, said today that it will begin shipping its controller on May 13. The controller, which gives users the ability to control what's on their computers with touch-free pinch-to-zoom gestures, will sell for $80 -- though customers who have already pre-ordered it will pay $70 -- and will ship to pre-order customers on May 13, and be available to everyone else on May 19. The device will be available in the U.S. only through Leap Motion's Web site, and at Best Buy's stores and Web site and wherever Asus computer bundles are sold. BestBuy.com will begin taking pre-orders today, Leap Motion said. Buckwald wouldn't say exactly how many units Leap Motion is producing, but did say that the number of pre-orders was already in the hundreds of thousands.
Keepod Stores Your Computer On A Card Linux boot drives have been around for a long time. Geeks keep a USB stick loaded with their own operating system in their pocket all the time. And when they show up at a computer lab, all it takes is a quick plugging to load their own operating system on top of whatever is there. With smartphone and laptop ubiquity, I wouldn’t be surprised if this trend were on the way out--but there was always something neat about the idea of an OS in your pocket. Keepod is a pocketable version of Linux for those of us without a computer science degree. Yet the Keepod is almost the creation from another timeline--one where consumers stayed fiscally conservative. “Everyone is designing their products to look so perfect, and users are going crazy to keep them so perfect by spending money on covers,” CEO Nissan Bahar explains. Don’t let appearances fool you. The Keepod is currently in beta testing. Sign up here. [Hat tip: designboom]