Love museums? Love chocolate? Now imagine mini museum collection objects printed IN chocolate! As part of Vivid Sydney Festival, “Eat the Collection” explores the interaction of design, food and technology in glorious chocolate. A collaborative project between the Powerhouse Museum and a select group of the creative industry’s finest; Eat the Collection invites designers to forage through the museum’s extensive online collection for inspirational objects and content. They will then hack, re-mix and design an object to be 3D printed in chocolate and exhibited at the Powerhouse Museum’s inaugural Late Night Lounge event on 30 May 2013.
Technology
The innate cool and steely gaze of Ryan Gosling’s character in the film Drive were only made more impressive by his ability to manoeuvre a car in a superhuman manner. Lads and ladies were suitably impressed by his driving feats, with many even considering a career as a getaway or stunt car driver. Bringing a similar infusion of adrenaline is the V8 Supercar Championship, to which Nissan is soon to return as a competitor (after a 20-year absence). Entering four cars with up-and-coming team Kelly Racing in the 2013 championship, Nissan is the first new manufacturer to join the Championship under the Car of the Future program.
Storytelling is a complicated, creative and endlessly inspiring art. For filmmaker Eran Amir, two stories come to life in the space of 100 seconds, with the aid of 500 smiling, frowning, pensive, winking and joyful faces.
Technology has come a long way creating faster and easier ways to perform tasks- like writing a simple email instead of a hand-written letter, googling a topic instead of trawling through encyclopaedias and using computer programs to create artwork instead of using pen and paper. But for artists, designers and doodlers out there, the traditional way of sketching and drawing is far from deceased with Wacom’s latest creation, “Inkling.” Like a standard pen- you sketch with its ballpoint tip on a paper/sketchbook, a digital version is created and then transferred onto your computer with a simple click . The drawings are also automatically saved, so no more accidentally throwing your sketch in the bin- too easy.
Adidas have announced the development of the newest in its line of training shoes; but this one comes with a bit of a twist. The “barefoot” training shoe is designed to mimic the experience of exercising barefoot, yet still maintaining the traction and durability of regular athletic footwear. Closely resembling a foot itself, the Adidas Adipure Trainer separates the toes, helping to maintain regular alignment after our toes have suffered so much scrunching in our dress shoes and heels! They come at a time where the market for ‘minimalist’ shoes is rapidly expanding, doubling in sales all over the world since last year. The shoes will be available November 1.
Some people need a glass of milk to fall asleep, others count sheep and some listen to the soothing sounds of music. But ever get tired of falling asleep with your headphones in your ears? Ear bud headphones can also sometimes be uncomfortable to have in your ears when trying to doze off to sleep. Bedphones are a soft headphone designed especially for bedtime. The headphones use a small memory wire to go behind the ear for support and linked with an app, the sound can be timed to get softer and softer as you drift off to sleep- comfortably.
An international team of researchers has discovered a way to possibly monitor brain waves, muscle movement, heart rate and temperature without the need for invasive procedures. The new technology resembles a wireless patch, which is adhered to the skin similar to a temporary tattoo. The sensor is being described as a flexible and reliable option that could theoretically last for two weeks at a time using stronger adhesives. The research team hope that with more work, the patch could be made touch sensitive and applied to artificial limbs or could emit heat to help heal small wounds. At this stage, it seems that a significant step has been made in monitoring techniques.
It’s hard to imagine that the remote control could be anything but a piece of plastic with a bunch of buttons on it. These days, the only signs of progression of the 50 year old device seems to be universal remotes with miniature LCD screens and more and more buttons. Designer and remote control pioneer, Kristian Ulrich Larsen has created a new breed of remote controls that ultimately changes the way we interact with our television. Baand Remote is designed in the shape of a wristband allowing users to navigate through the channels via a touch scroll wheel. With only three buttons, the design is intuitive and simple yet gives tech-gurus the option to customize the device further with extra apps including facebook.
Better known for running through the darkest corners of the attic than sitting tranquil in a cage, mice aren’t really the usual office pets. Yet the little clicker’s sitting next to the keyboard can be considered as an office must-have. In collaboration with Tokyo- based designer Oki Sato (owner of nendo), Elecom has created a series of wireless mice called the “Mendo Oppopets” (the word “oppo” means tail in Japanese). The mouse features an animal shape liked tail, making the gadget appear like a small pet. The tail doubles as the device’s USB wireless receiver plugged into the back of the computer. The current Japan craze comes in various animal models including a fox, dog, dolphin, cat, pig, chameleon, squirrel and rabbit.
TED conferences are known for being a mecca for boundless inspiration and the place where the seedlings are planted for the world’s next big idea. This year’s TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh was no different. Designer Yves Behar’s company Jawbone launched its newest product, simply entitled ‘UP’. Tapping into the increasing app-driven tendency of modern society, UP uses a sophisticated sensor technology in the form of functional jewelry. Fashioned into a bracelet, UP by Jawbone is a new system that tracks your movement, sleep patterns, and nutrition so you can live a healthier life. This new end-to-end system consists of a small wristband that monitors your activity 24/7, a mobile app that analyses the activity, and an open platform that motivates you with personal and social recommendations and challenges tailored to your goals.
An experienced typist knows their keyboard intimately. With hands comfortably poised, their fingers dance across the Qwerty alphabet, accompanied by the click clack sound of thoughts being transformed into words. Das Keyboard insist that efficient typists never look down and have created the Ultimate keyboard with unlabelled keys to cater to the more dextrous text jockeys. For lovers of traditional input, the USB typewriter creates a retro inspired deskspace and encourages you to channel your inner Don Draper or Joan Harris (nee Holloway). The USB typewriter is also iPad compatible for those on the move. If you grow weary of plastic peripherals, sustainable desktop accessories assist in adopting more eco-conscious computing practices.
With the advent of the MP3 file, the days of carrying around an awkward discman are far behind us, but not forgotten it would seem. A fashionable advance (or step backwards, depending on your point of view) in portable music players is the Playbutton. Based upon the philosophy “why just play a record when you can wear it too?”, the Playbutton makes a fashion statement far bolder than that of the cumbersome discman and the iPod’s white earphones. The Playbutton is a light-weight badge pre-loaded with a full album of music. Similar to the experience of listening to an album on a discman, the content is predetermined and cannot be altered or downloaded from the internet. So you can listen to the album the way the artist intended, the track sequence cannot be altered either. The traditional play, pause, skip and volume functions have been retained.
The bed covers are warm and nestled just below your chin, a small sliver of morning light slips under your curtains, and your dreams continue, blissfully interrupted – until you are rudely interrupted by the shrill screech of your bedside alarm clock. With the SnūzNLūz WiFi Donation Alarm Clock there is no room to hit the snooze button and roll over for a few more moments of guilty dozing. As soon as your finger presses the snooze button, the alarm clock wirelessly links to your bank account and donates to a cause that makes your blood boil. Drawing on the concept of hate and animosity, the SnūzNLūz concept encourages meat eaters to donate to a vegetarian cause or property developers to donate to the Wilderness Society.
A space age take on photography, satellite imagery captures galactic scenery and transforms it into readable and useful visual data. Visual artist duo Semiconductor is comprised of Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, who work together to explore life around us and the physical universe. With impressive fellowships under their belts including stints with the Smithsonian Artists Research department and NASA Space Sciences, the duo used moving images and raw satellite to produce Brilliant Noise, a video portrait of the sun. Delving into the depths of the NASA data vaults, Ruth and Joe reorganised satellite images into time-lapse progressions. Incorporating natural solar-radio sound and white noise from cosmic rays, Semiconductor proves that art can leap into other dimensions, and cross space and time. Until July 31 at the Institute of Modern Art.
Thanks to the internet, budding astrologers, explorers and lunar lovers can now take an online leap to the moon, where its endless craters are waiting to be discovered and charted. A virtual exploration collective, Moon Zoo aims to conduct a global study to compile a map of the moon’s surface in unparalleled detail. Using images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Moon Zoo invites users from all over to the world to view and monitor the moon’s craters, robotic space debris and lava movement. A citizen science project, Moon Zoo forms part of the Zooniverse, an online project that draws on the efforts and knowledge of volunteers and amateur scientists to assist with scientific research and data sorting.
There are some blogs/websites that are inspiring, funny, lovely that we habitually revisit each time we open our desktops, they’re the sites that keep us coming back into the “webosphere”. “Le Love” is one of these web gems. It’s a pick-me-up when you’re finding life a little lack-lusture. The site is a collective love note from lovers to; ex-lovers, current lovers and want-to-be-lovers. Admittedly some of the stories and images shared by readers are heartbreaking, but mostly the site is touching, whimsical and reminds readers that love is the greatest emotion we share.
Can business help to mitigate human rights? Google thinks they can at least try. Google’s efforts to stop China’s tight control of information, particularly web sites pertaining to human rights movements and the tragic events of Tiananmen Square, has resulted in Google retreating from China. While Google’s search results have been restricted by government orders since the site’s inception, Google eventually decided to stop censoring web pages blocked by the Chinese government. In January, Google discovered that the gmail accounts of human rights activists had been hacked through a series of sophisticated attacks suspected to be launched from Chinese governments. In retaliation, Google removed all restrictions to sites, allowing China to search freely. This act was not without punishment, and following unrelenting pressure from the Chinese government, Google redirected their Chinese site to a web domain run from Hong Kong.
Click. Jump onto Google. Click. Read up on the latest headlines. Click. Boot up mobile phone. Click. Become lost in cyberspace. Whilst the internet and modern mass-communication provides a space for global interaction and the spread of positive ideas, as we browse/call/text we are also inundated with advertising and negative news. The DoGood iPhone Application encourages users to do one good deed each day, through simple reminder messages sent via mobile. The application strives to help thousands of people to each perform the same act of kindness, simultaneously each day. The DoGood movement encourages positive actions and advertising, and provides users with the opportunity to absorb optimistic messages whilst using the latest technologies. DoGood Headquarters donate 50% of profits gained through advertising sales, to environmentally friendly movements and charities.
It is startling to think that a few years ago, the Apple iPod didn’t exist. Even looking back on an iPod from 2007 can be a shocking experience; bulky and primitive looking, the rapid evolution of the iPod accentuates the rising rate of technology. Apple’s innovation has translated to a monopoly of portable electronic products, and Apple is adding to their repertoire of creative technologies with the Apple iPad. Extremely thin and lightweight, Apple has released the ‘giant iPhone’, in a flurry of speculation and hype. Complete with the features of an iPod, iPhone and Mac computer, the iPad can conquer all your requests and bring to life ‘Jetsons’ dreams. New applications, tunes and internet windows whizz by on the elegant screen, allowing users to create spreadsheets and presentations easily on the smart layout. It will also be used with iBookstore, the instaneous portable book store, making reading books, magazines and newspapers a seamless function of the iPad.
