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What, the flowers decide to give those who often forget to water them a good lesson by hitting on their noses with a ball…? May you believe it or not, that would happen for real if you’re using the “VaseBall” Magnetic Vase. The base of the vase and the top of the base each has magnets, which are mutually exclusive. So when the water in the vase is not enough, the ball-shaped vase will then go up from the ground. According to the designer Min Seok Song, the magnets also act as the “intermediary in communication between human in plant”. It’s time to care your plants more. [Read the rest of this entry...]

While most researchers are trying to improve the touchscreen interfaces used on PC, cellphones and MP3 players, Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft have developed a touch-interface for your skin. That’s really terrific! The ‘Skinput’ includes a micro-sized pico projector, which is embedded in an armband to beam an interface on the skin. But it actually uses an acoustic detector —which would match the sound frequencies with specific skin locations—to recognize which part  you’ve tapped. The revolutionary technology also supports wireless applications like Bluetooth.

Video after the jump. [Read the rest of this entry...]

What if the kids love all kinds of food? Mhmm… I guess the parents would thank the God again and again…But they should also feel grateful to Philips Design, for the Food Creation Concept they’ve come up with. The concept is intended for giving each kind of food a new look, by mixing various edible ingredients together and ‘printing’ them out in your kids’ desired shape and consistency. For example, carrots could be served as foam and broccoli as ice cream. On the other hand, it also presents the physical/chemical processes (which happen while cooking) in an artistic and modern way. [Read the rest of this entry...]

The Rotary Kettle fits in perfect to the handicapped, and those who are really too lazy to pick up the kettle…Featuring a user-centered design, it allows you to pour water in quite an easy way: simply grip the handle, rotate its body and then pour…Due to the spring system, the kettle will return to an upright resting position once the user release it. Its hourglass body and vivid color contract makes the kettle aesthetic enough for modern spaces. Finished in stainless steel and heat-resistant, flame-retardant polymers, the revolutionary kettle ensures a completely safe using. [Read the rest of this entry...]

More and more designers are endeavoring to improve the personal urban mobility, including Ben Thorpe with his latest Urban Wheelchair Concept. Made from the highest quality materials, the wheelchair is lightweight enough to ensure the users an easy transportation. It adopts a tightly packed ball bearing system to reduce rolling resistance, greatly increasing its efficiency. Considering the users’ needs to reach for items on high shelves, the concept also features the lifting mechanism, which would lift the user into an upright position. Powered by two Lithium-ion batteries, the Urban Wheelchair is completely rechargeable. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Created at the Knierim Yacht Club in northern Germany, PlanetSolar is the world’s largest solar-powered boat, measuring 31 meters x 15 meters x 7.5 meters. The yacht is covered with up to 500 sqm of solar panels, which are expected to capture 103.4 kW of solar energy to power the engine that merely needs 20KW. Designed with an average speed of about 9mph, the boat could reach a top speed of 17 miles per hour. About 18 million euro has been invested into the project. According to Knierim Yacht Club, the yacht has been ready for testing later this month and the sea trials (due between June and September). If everything goes smoothly, PlanetSolar will start its first world tour in early 2011. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Postcarden—pronounced “post(card) garden”—is a stereoscopic card that turns into a mini-sized garden when filled with seeds and watered. Of course sunlight and a little fertilizer are also needed. Created by A Studio for Design, the Postcarden is available in three types: Allotment, City or Botanical. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Designed by Benjamin Wojtyna, Compact Kitchen Cart is quite ideal for small departments and other small living areas, where urgently needs small-sized furniture. Several containers are hidden inside and some hangers are built on its side to hold your utensils. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Some of us just don’t like to hold the umbrellas in the hands when no longer using them, and they prefer to drag them around…until the umbrellas are totally broken as a result. The ‘umbROLLa’, featuring a small ball in the top, is rightly intended for those who have that queer hobby, while not damaging the gadget. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Not everybody could easily handle the simple thing to knot their shoelaces, and the case is particularly bad to the kids and hands-impaired people. Maybe that’s why the Lace-amatic is created. The device mainly consists of two sections, one is a peg to twist and hold the laces and the other is the flat plate for keeping the peg in place. Just as you can see, simply slide the flat plate behind the laces, twist the loosely-tied laces using the peg,  and then you can easily have your shoelaces fastened. Want to take off the shoes? Well, what you need to do is only to flip the lever open with your feet! Easy as that! [Read the rest of this entry...]

In my humble opinion, the design seems like a terrible idea, resulting needless complexity since the piano may get wet if you carelessly pour water on the table… Of course, you won’t agree with me, if you’re just in the necessity to place a bulky piano inside your small department. So consider it for a second, the idea of the Piano Table seems quite valuable. So you like it? For $6000, you still like it? OMG! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Before you all leave comments about the “quite ordinary clock”, I’ve just had a question for you: how could the Oblique Clock indicate the exact time since it has no essential components like the gears? (Hints: the clock is made of laminated maple, custom mechanism and digital driver.)

You don’t know the exact answer? Well, neither do I, and that’s also a riddle for the visitors who saw it during the Toronto Design Week.

Returning to the clock itself, the cool timepiece is really cool for modern spaces. Even though its structure looks quite simple, the limited edition (20 pieces) wall clock is sold at $4000 (CAD)…So pricey… [Read the rest of this entry...]

An amazing bar recently appeared at the Oporto University in Portugal, capturing almost everybody’s eyes. Why, you may ask, the bar could be so appealing? Perhaps that mainly attributes to the special material the Temporary Bar is made of. It is built by firstly fixing 420 different-depth IKEA storage boxes on a wooden structure and then attaching them to the main metal structure. The designers, Diogo Aguiar and Teresa Otto, have folded open one of the building’s walls, to make it look exactly like a cool bar. Since LED lights are also adopted in the project, each box will give a different brightness (according to its depth) at night, adding more fun to the wonderful time. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Although named as the “Saving Energy Multitap”, the strip actually won’t directly reduce your electricity cost, but helps you to develop a good habit of unplugging the unused gadgets from the strip so as to save the energy. It sucks up the energy wasted by the unplugged devices and uses it in a rational way—to power the touch-sensitive ambient lights on the wall. The main task of the ambient lights is to remind you to switch off those unplugged gadgets if you no longer use them. As for the ambient lights, they could also be turned on or off via simple tapping. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Taking the personal urban mobility to a new altitude, Honda has come up with the latest 3R-C concept, a single-seat three-wheeler. It is powered by a lithium ion battery, which is mounted low in the chassis to keep the vehicle stable. The fully enclosed design not only protects the vehicle from dirt and water, but could be used as a windshield. A lockable cargo was also included for the riders to carry needed items. [Read the rest of this entry...]