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Technology for the God Fearing

TextBase is a device that produces scripture from the Christian bible depending on how you interact with it. It introduces a new way to engage with the word of God in a playful yet meaningful manner. When the user sends a text, keywords or themes are sniffed out by textBase and through the magical powers of the interwebs, an appropriate verse is printed. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, I find it intriguing to see technology integrated into faith based communities.

Designer: Blair Fraser

Cars of the Future? Three Wheels

Belgrade is one of the oldest cities in Europe and has been an important intersection between Eastern and Western Europe. It was named the “City of the Future in Southern Europe” by the Financial Times for their forward thinking. It’s been awhile since we’ve featured a “far-out” automotive concept and right now… I’m loving the Supersonic.

Designer: Marko Lukovic

Haute Yacht

If the Transformers Autobots could add a yacht to their crew, chances are it would look like something like this. The Epiphany has all of the amenities of a well-bred luxury yacht and the seductive styling of a sexy club, however, it’s paramount feature is the ability to instantly transform from streamlined speed demon to titillating pleasure boat…

Designers: Various

Clairvoyant Table

I’m totally turned of by psychics but I’ll confess – I’m a big fan of magic 8 balls & fortune cookies, – mostly for the amusement factor & their overall simplicity.   The Elymas table works much in the same way, functioning as both a nifty side table & friendly fortune-teller. The user simply turns the dial to a desired category, presses the button, & receives a small piece of paper with a brief prophecy on it. The only requirement: a minute of contemplation. – Outlook Good.

Designer: Adam Huntington

Bowing Lamp

Federico Churba’s Hanoi lamp acquires it’s volume from the complex bending of a single sheet of PMMA (an economical and BPA-free alternative to polycarbonate). The shade which resembles the traditional conical asian hat, and footed base together appear to make a bow of greeting, while the downward diffused light creates a warm and cozy glow that adds to it’s overall elegance.

Designer: Frederico Churba for Prandina

Heliboarding Copter?

Have you heard of heliboarding? I haven’t but apparently it’s the hot new thing with adventurists. The AvA 299 DROP is a helicopter designed to take crazy snowboarders to locations not accessible by normal lifts. The entire cabin can lower them just enough to leap out and carve their stake across a mountain. The coaxial rotor blades spin in opposite directions to provide more power and negates the need for a tail rotor for stabilization. The design also addresses a number of problems with single blade rotors. Hit the jump!

Designer: Timon Sager

Prophecy

Jerome Olivet is a man who loves his curved surfaces so when it came time to design a watch that properly suggested his design ethos, the Prophecy was born. Futuristic, organic, maybe even a little elitist, the Prophecy’s design is a continuous movement expressed by the tense curves of its surfaces. It feels fluidic and quite original. A polarizing design but I like it.

Designer: Jerome Olivet

Bottle O’ Shavings

Designers, parents and anyone with a creative mind will love this Bottle Cap Sharpener. It’s a simple contraption, a sharpener fixed into a bottle cap so that it screws on top of an empty bottle. Sharpen your pencils and collect the shavings. Great way to reuse a plastic bottle. Designers and creative minds will love for the artistic value this raw material will create. I can already picture myself using colorful shavings for my little girl’s next art project.

Designer: Yuchen Liu

Green Luxury Wares

At the 2011 Paris Maison and Objet trade show, the authority on luxury tableware, Pigment France, debuted a new collection of products made from sustainable material. Sustainable and high-end service ware are two concepts rarely presented together, but this event marked not only the cardinal introduction of the banana plant derived material Green Blade to the market, but also showed that luxury can be ecoconscious.

Designer: Pigment France

Get a Grip

I’ll admit, I’m not a chopstick sensei, and when it comes to salad I still haven’t mastered the traditional fork and spoon method.  Now, if I had the SL27 LINK I could hide it in my palm and trick everyone into thinking I was a one handed pro at both. Even if you’re not worried about your pride, the handy LINK makes serving food super easy by turning any 2 pieces of flatware, including chopsticks, into a versatile instrument that anyone can use.

Car With Split Personalities

Inspired by China’s densely populated urban areas, designer Colin Pan sought to design a conceptual vehicle that would satisfy young people who like the accessibility of electric bikes as well as older adults with families who prefer compact cars. The result is this years entry into the Michelin Challenge Design showcase, MBOLIC, a modern modular family car that can separate into 2 gyro-balanced personal vehicles for easy maneuvering in city traffic.

Designer: Colin Pan

Shrink Your Water Footprint

Introducing Mywell, an innovative and easy to use faucet seamlessly integrates water filtration into the fixture. Mywell features a multi-stage water filter that provides fresh, clean drinking water of premium quality, and a built-in Smart Controller that signals the user when it’s time to exchange the filter cartridge. An easy and attractive way to decrease plastic bottle waste and conserve water. Get it here!

Designer: Orsodesign

A Phone That Speaks Your Language

The Transducer Mobile Phone Concept breaks down the language barrier by being the perfect translator between you and the other caller. It has this cool function that allows all incoming calls to be translated to your preferred language and vice versa. Amongst other features like GPS, transparent LCD and mesmerizing color effects, you can use the phone to communicate with the hearing & sight impaired folks. Far-fetch but a concept we’d love to see become reality.

Designer: Jasper Hou