I New Idea Homepage

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 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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

Note that the tele lens from Canon is not designed for cameras, but for holding water…Though everyone believes the cup fits photographers quite well, just imagine what would happen if they carelessly take it as real lens…

Memory Drops—as its name implies—is something designed for guiding the users to find items easily. It works more or less in the same way as the navigation systems, but using the sound rather than images. What you have to do is to stick the small drops onto your items, and press the button on the keychain-shaped device to make your belongings sound when you’re looking for them. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Even the toolsets have gone functionally aesthetic since more and more people are pursuing a perfect combination of functionalities and art. From designaffairs STUDIO, the Repair Toolset is rightly the thing you’re looking for. It keeps a range of handy tools in a board-like kit, which is integrated with bookcases for an easy reach. [Read the rest of this entry...]

I am the kind of person who seldom remembers to unplug the devices when they’re fully charged, so you can imagine how much I’ve paid to the electric power bureau. But the Wind Up Socket, featuring an integrated timer, may change that. All you have to do is to rotate the plug to set the duration. And the socket will then cut off the power automatically, as the time passes by. For forgetful guys like you and me, the socket is really the best choice. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Coca Cola has released a new can for the Burn Energy Drink, which is especially intended for those who can’t drink up a whole tin at a single time. It features a reseal-able top, which could be twisted to open and close the mouth hole. [Read the rest of this entry...]