Soft and squishy is the name of the game. The Peugeot Globule is a 4 passenger vehicle made up of 4 individually powered spheres that can merge and separate to best fit circumstances. Not only is calling out "shotgun" meaningless now but parking should be a cinch because the Globule can literally stack up to any challenge.
How brilliant is this phone?!? Okay, brilliantly genius or brilliantly impossible - that's for you to decide but designer Seunghan Song does a good job at wetting my desire. Ewww. It's true. I digress.
They scare me ok? I hate being stuck in between them. I hate the noise they make and I hate how some rig drivers are total dicks, bullying other drivers. The Scania Truck concept by Adam Palethorpe aims to clean up our air with hybridized diesel engines and put all those truckers on probation by way of an innovative light system embedded in the front wheel hubs. Bad drivers are given red lights, good drives get green.
More pics after the jump.
via Yanko Design
Social Security cards are one of 3 important documents in the United States you have to hold on to and protect. Identity theft is on the rise so it's about time those all important 9 digit numbers get a huge upgrade. Frog Design's proposal utilizes a number of ink, paper, plastic, and digital tech to keep our identities safe and secure.
"Of the three forms of identification we have in the states--the other two being the passport and driver's license--[the Social Security card is] the one that unlocks your life," says Frog designer Laura Richardson. To that end the design firm presents the Troika, an aluminum SS card with a multifunctional screen.
"By combining the familiarity and proportions of a standard ID card with the durability of a water-resistant, flexible screen and the security of biometrics, [a card like this] could revolutionize the future of identification," says Richardson.
Like the love child of a dakar rally car and the all but dead Isuzu VehiCROSS, the Nissan Qazana steals my heart. Yes it's odd and the proportions are so not production ready but appreciate its cartooniness.
Nissan's Design Europe team says that they were influenced by the "motif of a modern day beach buggy and a four-seat motor-bike." Why this idea didn't result in a more skeletal open-top off-roadster on balloon tires (the Qazana rides on modest-for-a-concept 20-inch wheels), we're not sure, but we think this design has merit on its own regardless. While we wouldn't expect a greenhouse quite this radical or the some of the motorcycle-inspired interior details to see production, a UK-built smaller counterpart to the smash hit Qashqai has been promised, and the Qazana could well influence the design.
More after the jump.
Talk about a wimpy remote. Panasonic's Gel Remote concept might feel familiar to dildo connoisseurs because it's flesh-like material is designed to engage users with something more tactile and like themselves.
Constructed of a soft, flesh-like gel, the remote appears cold when off. Once turned on, however, it seems to come to life. A soft light emanates somewhere from within as the center of the device begins to slowly rise and fall, mimicking the tranquil motions of breath. Left undisturbed, the remote will slumber peacefully. Buth should a human hand approach, sensors inside alert it to the imminent touch. It stops breathing, grows rigid - the light from within is extinguished. A remote is the ideal meaphor for the disturbance electronic distration poses to life. If we had to interrupt its life before it could interrupt ours, we may think twice before picking it up.
The Torus watch concept by Nicolas Meiresonne eschews numeric delineations for colors. In the mornings you'll see blue and green. Yellow and orange are for mid-day (or fast food), and red and purple are for night. You can even set a timer/alarm by tapping the corresponding color on the touchscreen surface. How snazzy!
via Ubergizmo
Mobile phones are getting so thin, they're almost ignoring every rule of handheld ergonomics. Designer Heikki Juvonen decided to backtrack and redesign a futuristic mobile complete with all modern accoutrements but with realistic ergonomics in mind. The end result is a phone he believes is perfectly balanced in the hand placing the heavy components towards the bottom. The unique profile shape also helps it sit better in the hand providing multiple surface areas to grip.
This is one of those DUH moments where I say, "damn why didn't I think of that!" The Febot is a windmill like gadget you suction cup to any surface facing the wind. A propellor collects wind energy to drive a motor that converts those kinetics into electrical energy thus promptly charging your AA battery. Hell you don't even need wind. Just place your hyperactive children next to them and make it a game. Whoever spins the most Febots the fastest gets a cookie!
via Yanko Design
The Oracle Watch by designer Andy Kurovets not only tells time but digitizes the ancient Chinese philosophy of charting chance events called I-Ching. Need help navigating life? Press a button 6 times to generate a hexagram that correlates to a fortune cookie like prediction.
via Yanko Design
I remember growing up watching Bob Ross painting happy little trees and thinking to myself, "hey that looks easy!" No, it's not easy so to save my ego I went back to my paint by numbers chart. Thanks to modern technology kids today (and adults) have the Virtuo, a computer screen with digitized paint, paint brushes, and colors. It teaches you how to paint "happy little trees" without having to waste materials during your "trial and error" period. It's just a concept but DO WANT!
via Yanko Design
Carcade is a concept for an in-car videogame for the passengers, which captures the landscape and uses it as a videogame environment. Existing objects, for example trees and architecture, are recognized by the camera and enhanced by videogame assets. The game is influenced by the manner of driving of the car. If the driver accelerates, the game becomes increasingly difficult. If the car comes to a stop a different game situation evolves. We developed a small game concept and a functional prototype, with which we did a test drive on the street. A webcam is connected to a laptop running camera tracking software which recognizes the horizon and objects in the environment. The player has to maneuver a spaceship and collect points whilst trying to avoid crashing into oncoming enemies.
Thin is in!