Made of metallic polyester, Martin Azua’s “Basic House” is a self-inflatable shelter that can offer you a home on the trip. It’s very lightweight and mini-sized when folded, while it can inflate into a huge cube in seconds as soon as it interacts with heat from either your body or the sun. And if it’s too warm outside, you can turn the house inside out so that it could deflect the sunlight.

Designer: Martin Azua

The effective measures to fight against earthquake continued to improve, and here comes the Earthquake-proof Table, a collaborative work by Arthur Brutter and Ido Bruno. Though seems very common, the table actually could successfully protect people from possible injuries during the earthquake, which has been approved by a series of rigorous vertical impact tests. As an additional bonus, the earthquake-proof table also takes into account the financial limitations of people who may need it, and thus it will be produced with cost effective, yet responsible production methods and durable inexpensive materials.

Designer: Arthur Brutter & Ido Bruno

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Developed in 1932, the 8mm film was once rather popular around the world and was recorded in the history as “the world’s smallest film ever used in movie-making”. Nowadays, even though the 8mm film is no longer a trend, we can still try it with these tiny Fuuvi Bee 8mm Cameras. They’re mini-sized, with a weight of merely 39 g, but are built with a CMOS lens that can capture retro videos of 640×480 resolution or images of 1280×960 resolution. Undoubtedly they’re not the best cameras for photographers, they’re indeed the smartest ones to create retro styled videos or images.

Selling Price: $79.99

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Surely it’s dangerous to cycle in the evenings no matter what kinds of tools you’ve chosen to avoid the possible dangers, but this Lightning Vest is still here to offer you with more protection, by reminding the drivers and pedestrians of your existence. It’s hand-netted from a custom developed 3M reflective material, loose and large enough to be worn outside T-shirts, jackets or coats. It’s also very durable, lightweight and compact to fit into even your pocket.

Selling Price: $95

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In cold cold winter, we’re likely to do almost everything in bed, including studying, working, playing and of course sleeping. But before that perfect plan for the winter holiday, we firstly need to find a best bed desk that is both practical and comfortable, and my choice? It’s undoubtedly the Scribe! The modular desk can hang anywhere when not in use, while holds books or laptops steadily to prevent them from rolling. Apart from its outstanding functions, the desk features a sleek appearance too, making it quite ideal as either a personal possession or gifts to others.

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The snowy winter makes you yearn for skiing while its cost is too high? Never mind, you may try another kind of sport: walking on the snow wearing these Foldable Snowshoes. It prevents your feet from sticking in the snow, but can bring you much closer to the beautiful scenery.

Designer: James Page

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What’s this, a huge cube? Of course it is, but it’s exactly also a three dimensional kite formed by 1,700 3D printed connected segments. It seems extremely bulky, but can actually levitate steadily due to its lightweight composition of carbon fiber rods and cubenfibre aerospace fabric.

Designer: Sash Reading, Heather + Ivan Morison

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Foldable, portable and practical, the ‘Radler Trail Camp’ by Timberland is a lightweight and water-repellent shoe quite suitable for outdoor activities. It is especially excellent for the foldable design, featuring a zipper along its sole so that the shoe can fold along its center when not in use. With that unique feature, even with simply one bag you can take almost ten pairs of shoes at one time, as they take up really small space indeed.

Selling Price: $65

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Lighter than paper but stronger than steel, the Minimal Backpack is so tough that it can even be used to hold bricks or steels. It’s waterproof too, so quite suitable for outdoors use, especially in rainy or snowy days. When not in use, simply roll it, place it in your pocket up and you’ll never feel it a burden.

Selling Price: $128

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Use as you read, these Alphabet Furniture sets all come with several individual modules but can combine to create a chair, a lamp and a table as well, just as the words you’ve already seen.  So what do you think? Isn’t it funny to surprise your guests with the Alphabet Furniture?

Designer: DDB Group

Selling Price: $290-$ 800

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Really small and cheap, the seemingly ordinary device actually features a surprisingly 30X magnification, always helping you to observe animals and flowers at close hand.

Selling Price: $6.5

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Anything better than these skull helmets for you bad boys? Especially designed for motorcycle riders, these helmets are not only lightweight, comfortable to wear but also provide breathing space, just so unique. Pity that it comes bit of later, or I may have gotten a more attractive costume for the Halloween…Any way, it’s still a good Christmas gift.

Selling Price: $159.99

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With a density of 0.9 mg/cc, the world’s lightest material is put forward by researchers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology. The material features a unique “micro-lattice” cellular architecture, 99.99% of which is air and only 0.01 percent is solid metal. Thus it weighs incredibly light, even about one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam, and can stand safely on the top of dandelion. Even so, the material still comes with a good mechanical behavior, including complete recovery from compression exceeding 50 percent strain and high energy absorption.

The ever-best thing for both babies and mothers, Toob is a versatile baby-care station that is composed of an incorporated storage space and a foldable blanket and thus to ease the “baby changing” process. Additionally, the Toob also features a water-resistant blanket that makes it easy for parents to clean it and ensures it bacteria-free for babies to lie on.

Selling Price: $19.99

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While we don’t need to take a bullet-resisting device all the time, it is still nice to see this Ballistic Clipboard launched by Impact Company. Initially designed to ensure the safety of corps who might get attacked by the violent people, the clipboard is lightweight for easy portability while really serves to stop the moving bullets. Sounds great, right? Check the video below for more information.

Selling Price: $150

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Wood, stone, steel… Forget those traditional materials used to build furniture, and have a look at these carbon fiver furniture set. They all have merely thin surface plate that measures 1 cm, but can actually bear great strength and work for a long time. As an additional bonus, the carbon fiber furniture is very lightweight, so you can conveniently move it in or out of rooms according to your needs.

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From John Ewans Design, the patented Active Tools 2K shoes are created for the sport of rowing. Quite specially, the shoes are adjustable from size 9 to size 14, so as to offer every sportsman a comfortable wearing. All the external parts of the shoe are moulded in EVA foam, which is same as the material used to construct Crocs, thus the Active Tools 2K shoe is both hygienic to wear and easy to be cleaned with water.

Designer: John Ewans Design

Well, seemingly we’re really in deep love of products from the Apple Company or those designed for the Apple, coz we’ve been focusing on the iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc for quite a continuous period. Here comes something for the iPhone too. It is a portable printer that can print out prints 4×6 photos with crystal-clear 300 dpi resolution directly from a docked iPhone or iPod touch. The new printer is easy to use, and can be controlled via a free downloadable app. Just imagine that any time you shot a photo, you can print it out almost at the same time, isn’t that great?

Selling Price: $159.95

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Any design that features a high efficiency while a low cost is always appreciated, especially when they can bring something good to the environment. That’s why we love the concept of the Inflatable Solar Power Light, an inflatable, waterproof bag built with an LED bulb inside. It can get charged with a solar cell and comes with a battery that holds enough electricity for six hours of light on the low setting. As the light is designed for developing countries that lack electricity, it would be sold at a low price after its launch in January of 2012.

Designer: Anna Stork, siobhan.paganelli & Abby Reed

It seems like a smart container, what do you think the item is used for?

Surprising?  It’s actually a seed removal tool for pomegranate. The device comes with three parts, including a removable plastic sieve, a steep-sided plastic bowl and a silicone dome. When using it to remove the seeds of pomegranate, you’ll firstly need to place a pomegranate cut side down on the sieve that sits in the bowl, cover the soft dome on the fruit and then hit it with a heavy tool. As a result, the pomegranate’s juice will go through the sieve and land in the bowl, while all its seeds and other parts will be kept on the sieve. Isn’t that great? Enjoying pure pomegranate juice without seeds is no longer a trouble now.

Selling Price: $14.99

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A bigger scissor? Of course not, as the gadget is actually a laptop stand that is both affordable and portable. Dubbed “Prop”, the stand can lift your laptop off the table, thus to create better airflow and cool your laptop’s temperature down. Well designed, the Prop can fit nearly all sizes of laptops up to a size 17″.

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Can you believe that the “Chopp” is claimed to be the last chopping board you need to buy?! Although I have no liking for exaggeration, I must admit that the ergonomic chopping board does deserve the praise. It’s a board with interchangeable functionality, including a hollow base to hold the chopped food, a cheese grater, a preparation aid for fruit, an egg holder and so on. Made of high density Polyethylene and ABS PC, as well as fused with Antimicrobial material, the Chopp is both durable and healthy for use. Hey, Alastair Crompton, reserve me a Chopp please.

Designer: Alastair Crompton

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How to slim pianos down and let them go into the houses of many more people? There’re several possible methods, one of which is this “Flat Piano” concept by Yun Jin-yeong and Jeong Seong-hun. The new piano looks bit of the same as items sold by IKEA, featuring modular units that can be assembled together, and therefore ensures a more convenient transportation.

Designer: Yun Jin-yeong & Jeong Seong-hun

【Source】

“My Writing Desk” is a workplace put forward by Inesa Malafej, and honestly that’s something I’m looking for. It features a storage tough around three sides of the table top, thus keeps the writing surface clean while still makes the user’s things close at hand. Moreover, the high edges can protect your cellphones, cups or tablets form falling onto the ground, and that’s why it is deemed as “the safest writing table”.

Designer: Inesa Malafej

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The ultra-compact wearable blood flow sensor is an invention of a research group from Kyushu and Tokyo Universities. Compared with common blood flow sensors that weigh 2-3 kg, this new device is much more compact and needs merely a 100 V power supply. It can be used to measure blood flow when the user is moving or just keeping still. Besides, the portable sensor can measure blood pressure as well.

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Of course it seems like a handbag, but what could this be, if it is something else? Exert your imagination and leave me a possible answer.

Have you guessed right? It is actually a foldable boat! The item is constructed from a single, standard-sized sheet of plastic, but can be folded into a small parcel of 150cm x 60cm, making it safe an ideal for flat water environments. It’s not only smart enough for an easy storage, but also the foldable structure ensures it simple for people to assemble the boat, which may take two people about 2 minutes.

Designer: Arno Mathies & Max Frommeld

【Source】

Surely we don’t need to take a canoe all the time, but if we could do that, why not? This Foldable Canoe designed by Ori Levin is rightly a portable one that can shrink down to fit into a bag. It weighs about 4.1 kilos, lightweight enough to ensure an easy transportation. It is also easy to be assembled, costing the users merely 5 minutes to get the boat finished.

Test 1

Test 2

Designer: Ori Levin

“Just Fold It” is a flexible and portable room divider that fits in different locations. Its unique design allows the room divider to be adjusted by adding some extra modules. The product is wind-resistant too, as there’re some perforations built on the surface.

Designer: Kutarq

The king of laptop is here. From gScreen, the SpaceBook is the world’s first dual-screen laptop that features two 17″ full HD displays with a gorgeous resolution of 1920 X 1080 pixels. Even so, the new laptop measures merely 4.54kg, lightweight enough to ensure people an easy transportation. It is planned to be launched to the world in November, but now you can make an order via gScreen with a down payment of $695.00 or $795.00.

Selling Price: $1899- $2099

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I’ve known of many parents looking for whatever the best for their babies and I’m happy to see them getting Sparkle Global’s foldable cradle. Displayed on ‘Shanghai International Children-Baby-Maternity Products Expo (CBME) 2011′ recently, the cradle features lava red color, light aluminum frame and a folding system so that it is fashionable and practical enough for infants.

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Let GATR’s new satellite antenna solve your troubles with taking these equipments around. They’re inflatable, making them quite portable and easy for transportation. They’re also compact, measuring 1.2 meters in diameter when unfolded and inflated with air. If you’re someone that needs to bring satellite antenna around, these ones from GATR are obviously your best choices.

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Why hasn’t someone thought of the idea before? Indeed an ideal portable chair is expected to be a pocket chair! It’s lightweight but durable to hold up to 250lbs. It’s small enough and therefore allows you to take it anywhere. It’s also convenient for use while never costs you too much money. Sounds nice, huh? Go and get one then.

Selling Price: $9.98

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Waterbuoy is basically arguing for prevention rather than cure, and the unique item will be especially useful if you’re on a vacation in Venice. It can locate and retrieve your accessories when they incidentally fall into water. With high strength balloon and quality seals, the Waterbuoy would float on water for up to 24 hours, which is usually enough for finding your lost articles.

Selling Price: £6.05

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Did back discomfort ever annoy you when you just sat before computers to visit the I New Idea? If so, we need to apologize and we really wish we would have found this Koala HUG Lumbar Support for you much earlier.

Developed to relieve lower back discomfort, the device features a sturdy yet lightweight and flexible skeletal design so that it can ensure the users complete freedom of movement when reducing their discomfort.

Selling Price: $99.95

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ThinSink by Novel Concepts, Inc claims to be the world’s thinnest forced convection (fan cooled) heat sink as it comes with a really surprising thickness that is even thinner than a credit card. But it still features a best cooling efficiency, which is 25 times greater than the best microprocessor heat sinks on markets. Suitable for notebooks, monitors, and other small electronic devices, the ThinSink consumes only 0.031 watts of electricity.

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An incredible breakthrough of paper is this graphene paper. With a synthesized method and heat treatment, the UTS research team has developed the unique composite material based on graphite, which is as thin as paper but ten times stronger than steel. Due to its outstanding features of “lighter, stronger, harder and more flexible than steel”, graphene paper will no doubt revolutionize the automotive, aviation, electrical and optical industries.

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Having the same functionality as that of glasses, the eyeCard actually performs much better than regular magnifying devices. It features a quite small size which is no bigger than a credit card, making it more convenient for the users to carry around. It is also lightweight, and its 5g weight will never make your nose uncomfortable. Besides, its clear and distortion-free 2.5-fold magnification ensures the wearers a nice reading with newspaper, tickets, timetables, etc. Fabulous!

Selling Price: £16.5

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For almost a thousand times I’ve been dreaming of a smart digital camera that can be directly plugged into my computer, until I see this Fuuvi Pick Mini Digital Camera. It runs on a MicroSD card and weighs merely 24g, and therefore making it a best choice for outdoors using.

Selling Price: $59.99

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If you want a lightweight shoe rack that can be folded flat for an easy transportation, then you have the option of Stepper. It is made from plastic and therefore is lightweight enough for taking around. It is functional, as the shoe rack can store up to six pairs of shoes. Besides, the Stepper is also easy-to-store: simply fold it flat and you can put it anywhere- under your beds, your tables, or inside your cabinet.

Selling Price: $26.99

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Quite a long time after laptop computers were created, we finally see a printer that also features a simple book shape. It’s super compact, measuring 50 X 257 X 182 mm so that you can easily take it anywhere. Even better, the Book Printer can be connected to other devices via Bluetooth and therefore allowing you to have files saved in cellphones or iPads printed.

Designer: Moonhwan Park (SADI)

Electric paper is not a new concept to us, but this NoteSlate tries to transform the way we see electronic paper by making itself more like real paper in both look and weight. It measures 6mm in width, weighs about 280g and seems just the same as A4 paper. It is also a portable “computer” for everybody, allowing the users to edit documents, write down creative concepts and to do many other things conveniently. For $99, everyone should get one NoteSlate.

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Simplicity and delicacy are not always contradicted, and from this “Personal Post Office Scale” we can find a clever combination of those two features. Even though the smart scale is merely designed to “weigh letters for correct postage”, its amazing concept of making a scale as thin as a card still impresses us quite much. Probably we’ll find the scale fantastic too, when we use it as a decorative item.

Selling Price: $4.75

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Though flax fiber is widely used for suits, have you ever thought of making a bike with the same material? Actually, the world’s first bike has already won EuroBike Gold Award. Built from biodegradable flax fibers, the bike is durable and lightweight, and it performs well at absorbing and dampening road vibrations. It’s also built with a battery-free lighting system that is powered by a dynamo in the front hub, making it a stylish and eco ride.

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A group of high school students from Automotive Design Studio, a unique class provided by Kansas City based DeLaSalle Education Center for high school students, has created a lightweight electric car that weighs less than 1,200 pounds, which is half the weight of 98% of most electric vehicles. Its body was shaped using a thin wire framework covered with a transparent skin made from a heat-shrinkable material, and that weighs only 39 pounds! Also due to its light weight, the DeLaSalle car is quite well known for energy efficiency, and it can achieve the equivalent of nearly 300 miles per gallon.

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The ‘Pod à porter’ neckband aims to deliver wonderful music to the iPod shuffle users while not letting the chaotic wire of the earphones to bother them. Fabricated from 3D printed polyamide, the neckband promises a comfortable wearing and an easy carrying. It is also expertly designed, lightweight, and simple to operate: the user only need to place the headphone jack, push the cable through the opening on the side and attach the iPod shuffle to the headphone jack. And more importantly, the stylish neckband still ensures easy controls, so the users can conveniently turn on/off the player by controlling the buttons through the opening at the top.

Designer: Michiel Cornelissen

Selling Price: $27

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Czech design student Jiri Richter has offered us a possible solution to recycle materials. He bounded dozens of empty 2L Coca Cola bottles together and therefore created the lightweight, portable concave seating unit. You may have thought of the same concept, but it is Jiri Richter that gives us a real one.

Designer: Jiri Richter

Mercedes Arrow is a two-seater recreational vehicle designed by Felipe Palermo. It comes with two stunning features, one of which is the bobsleigh-shaped body and the lightweight materials which make the vehicle to run like an arrow from a bow on the road. And the other feature is the combination of TANDEM and MAGLEV technology, due to which the car’s body will tilt left and right to minimize the wheels tilt angle when Mercedes Arrow takes sharp corners.

Designer: Felipe Palermo

The 2010 summer is wonderful enough to be memorable—we sit under the open sky, breath in the fresh air, and watch the live telecasting of the world cup match with numerous people. And of course we all use the OASIS 2-Person Folding Table and Chairs. Shaped like a small suitcase that measures 23 3/4″ x 15 3/4″ x 4 1/2″ (L x H x D), the furniture actually can be expanded into 31 1/2″ Length x 23 5/8″ Width x 25 9/16″ Height, especially perfect for camping and picnic.

Selling Price: $69.99

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The cheapest and simplest way we’ve found to keep our trousers clean when a chair or stool isn’t available is to sit on a piece of paper or a book. And that’s essentially the same concept behind the “Take a Seat” built by Darris Hamroun. It’s a foldable chair that looks like a book. Whenever you’d like to sit, you open the book, and then you use it as a chair. Simple buy pretty good!

Designer: Darris Hamroun

Selling Price: $29.95
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