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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...]

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...]

See what happens when fruits and vegetables are turned into interesting works of art…That’s really fantastic, while not hard to create. Follow us to see them all after the jump. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Showcased at the Design Museum London, ‘Harvest’ is an installation of chairs and tables made of Gypsophila plant, which has a natural ability to interlock. All the flowers have been put into moulds and freeze-dried for weeks before they’re used to make up the furniture. It will remain on show in The Tank outside the museum until 15 March. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Welcome to the Five-Stars Hotels made from cardboards…

Designed by Keung Caputo, these boxes would offer you a luxurious resort, because each of them is created with a cardboard bed, pillow and dedicate interior decorations. Four different themes are available for you to choose from. But the biggest problem with the cardboard hotels may be that no smoking is permitted if you want to be safe…Just kidding. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Especially designed for specific designers, the wonderful eVouse concept combines two important functions in one: a mouse for laptops and a pen sensor for design works. Its unique triangular design not only means appalled comfort, but indicates great convenience. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Guardian Toilet Paper Keeper is aimed at public places where toilet rolls are often stolen. The new box features two mean eyes and a long bloody tongue to warn the thieves not to break the law. The red tongue also locks the holder to the toilet tank, ensuring that nobody except the key-keeper could move or take it away. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Coming from the Greener Gadgets Design Competition, InCharge Battery Station is an all-in-one recharging device designed by Pensa. More than that, the device could automatically sort and juice all kinds of rechargeable batteries at one time. Due to the dedicated charging slots design, the station will still keep all other batteries in charging status, when a particular battery pops out of its slot. After all the batteries are fully charged, the station will then be cut off from power automatically. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Since every year over 87,000 fights in Britain are caused by drinking, the local designers have been committed to developing a new range of glasses that are more difficult to smash. At present, two prototypes have been finished: the Twin Wall and the Glass Plus. Announced by their creator DesignBridge, the first prototype is inspired by car windscreens and is made by using resin to stick two thin walled glasses together. As for the second design, it features a thin film of bio-resin coated inside the glass. Experiments showed that neither of the two kinds of glasses will be broken into sharp fragments when dropped onto the floor. Therefore, they will reduce the injuries caused by bar fights. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Anyone once used the Google Earth may find the map printed on the envelop familiar. But it doesn’t indicate the address of receiver for the postmen, but the address of the sender for the receivers. Just imagine how surprised and delighted your buddies will be if they receive a letter enveloped by this. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Though claimed as a yacht, the design is more like a house on the water, cruising at a speed of 12 knots. Featuring a triangular structure, the yacht is 58 meters long and 38 meters wide, accommodating 20 crew and 12 tourists at one time.

It is divided into three levels, where are built with a dinning room, a library, a cinema, a gym, a U-shaped swimming pool and other facilities. Moreover, it utilizes high-efficiency batteries to store energy and adopts a smart system to manage the energy consumption. Sounds really cool, right? So we’ll be glad to tell you that a boatyard from Italy is ready to build a real one and you won’t wait for too long to see it. [Read the rest of this entry...]

What you’ve seen in the picture is not water, but Liquid Glass designed by the German company Nanopool. Anything will be kept away from bacteria and dirt if they’re covered with merely a 1000th-of-an-inch-thick layer of the stuff. Even better is that the Liquid Glass is also waterproof and resists UV rays. You’ll find the clothes and shoes are much easier to clean if they’re sprayed with Liquid Glass. The Liquid Glass also works as good as the bleaching cream, if you use hot water to clean those items. Best of all, the stuff is totally eco-friendly and results no harm to the environment. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Print your documents with a pencil! Yes, that’s just what the ‘Pencil Printer’ is intended for! You don’t think that is practical? Well, put a pencil into the hole on the top right of the printer, start the machine, and then you’ll see the device printing on paper using the pencil powder…Wow, cool! To top off the great design, Hoyoung Lee also adopts eraser to erase off the printed paper so that you could use the paper again. [Read the rest of this entry...]