I New Idea Homepage

Inventions, patents, designs, creative ideas and products.

Intendix Brain-computer Interface

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After lengthy years of research and development, an Austria-based company is ready to launch their first brain-computer interface, the ‘Intendix’. It utilizes an electrical cap worn on the user’s head to capture brainwaves, which will then be transferred to the computer to complete certain commands. Since what you have to do to control your computer is to think, you’ll have your hands and mouth free, and that’s also why the system is believed perfect for hands-impaired people. But at present, it is only being used for writing and playing advanced video games. [Read the rest of this entry...]

DIY: Transform your Hoodie into a Backpack

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No matter what you normally do with your old hoodie, the method here will still interest you a lot. So what are you waiting for? Follow the instructions shown in the pictorial and transform your hoodie into a functional backpack then! [Read the rest of this entry...]

ExiTool ensures the maximize safety of the drivers.

20100316101

The ExiTool concept has been designed as an essential safety gadget for car drivers, and the users will find it especially practical when they have to break the seat belts and get out of the car quickly. The emergency tool comes with a seat belt cutter, a tungsten carbide window breaker and a LED flashlight. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Sydney Opera on Wheels

20100315401

Coming in a similar outlook as the famous Sydney Opera, the design we’re to argue about is actually a pop-up camper, which is surprisingly luxury than you’ve ever thought!It features everything you can find in a presidential suite or a sumptuous apartment: a teak veranda, ceramic toilet, electrically adjustable beds, water heater, hot air heater and even the low-energy LED floor lighting. Its price? Well, as the old saying goes, if you have to ask, you can’t afford one. [Read the rest of this entry...]

8 Super Skinny Houses

20100315301

Why is a building famous? The reason is apparently different: some are well-known because of the ingenious architects, or due to the significant locations, but there’re still some buildings that become attractive just because they’re surprisingly ’slim’! So right here are several skinny buildings we’ve collected for you guys, the building above is Haussmann building in Paris, and continue reading for more fun! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Cognitive Balloon for Beach Swimmers

20100315201

A balloon with the other end tied to the band on your wrist? What is that used for? It’s intended for ensuring the safety of the swimmers, by helping the lifeguards to quickly and accurately spot those people in danger. The concept features a stylish wristband that releases a balloon when you press the button. Simultaneously the balloons will get inflated by compressed helium gas and rise quickly into the sky, alerting the seashore lifeguards of the emergency situation. [Read the rest of this entry...]

New York City Stoop Bench

20100315101

New York City Stoop Bench is a multifunctional piece of furniture that could be easily shifted between a bench and a stair. Just as shown in the pictures, it could flip over to change into a stair mode or double-bench mode, easy as that! [Read the rest of this entry...]

4N Watch: A perfect combination of digital and mechanical watches

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The two common kinds of watches separately has their own advantages—digital watches tell us the exact time directly and clearly, while mechanical watches also double as fashionable accessories for success men. So what about combining them two together? Apparently, the result is the 4N watch. It features the quirky disc-based mechanism, which rotates the numbers to deliver the time as the digital watches do. Leaving aside its high-quality material and fine workmanship, simply the limited run of only 16 units has confirmed our speculation that the watch must be quite expensive! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Interactive Light Show staged at Auckland’s Ferry Building.

20100312401

Using software made with the openFrameworks library by YesYesNo, four creative agencies and the public have collaborated to display several colorful and amazing scenes on the facade of the Auckland’s Ferry Building. Named as ‘Night Lights’,  the project was created for the re-branding of Telecom New Zealand. [Read the rest of this entry...]

One simple Gadget helps you cut the cake in two ways.

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What may you need to cut a cake? Of course a knife is needed, and then? The Petals Cake Slicer from a Taiwan-based company! Each set consists of a single plastic flower, but actually featuring two different ways to cut the cake—using either the pedals or the leaves. Check them out after the jump. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Multi-functional Furniture for Kids

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Your little boys want a changing table to showcase their Transformers, his cute girls ask for enough drawers for storing their skirts, while her naughty baby needs a crib… Yups, different people need different things, but the Multi-functional Furniture by Adensen Furniture is rightly something every parent has dreamed of. Especially designed for kids up to 10 years old, the smart furniture could be changed into a crib, a table, storage drawers, shelves, and a bigger bed, etc. [Read the rest of this entry...]

11 Floating Staircases

20100312101

Not only in the outlook of the buildings, great changes have also taken place in the houses’ interior design, say the floating stairs. So today we’d like to show you 11 trendy floating stairs, which are achieved using glass balustrade, hidden bolts, unique shapes, etc. And the above, Maison NW, is designed by Nathalie Wolberg Architecture. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Sprout Pen Concept

20100311401

May it have you feel disappointed or not, I’d still like to declare that the ‘Sprout’ Pen is merely a concept from Igor Lobanov before we start the topic. But it’s really a refreshing idea, featuring a housed plant in the bulk. The containment plant lives on the ink, which means you will see the plant inflate and change color from yellow to vibrate green as the pen sits in the inkwell and takes in the ink. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Paint on your ceiling with color LEDs

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Perhaps next time you’re to furnish your living room, you’d prefer the Lighting Design by Seo Dong-Hun. It consists of two parts, some color LEDs installed on the ceiling and a “light brush” to control them. Just as shown in the pictures, you can easily complete a shinning painting on the ceiling by turning on or off certain LEDs. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Airswitch1 Lamp Senses your Hands

20100311201

Like most conventional lamps, the Airswitch1 here is still controlled by your hands, but in a totally different way. It could sense your hands, changing its light intensity when you raise your hand vertically and switching on/off if you move your hand horizontally above the lamp. Cool! [Read the rest of this entry...]