The following dresses by Studio Roosegaarde and V2_ are constructed with electro-sensitive foils that shift in opacity with relation to current. This material functions somewhat similarly to those electrochromic glass doors often found in the rest-rooms of swanky hotels and lounges.
The pair -- "Intimacy White" and "Intimacy Black" -- differ slightly in their aesthetic execution and behavior. The transitions of Intimacy White (which can be seen in action here: http://vimeo.com/14006024) depend entirely on the interactions of the wearer alone, whereas Intimacy Black becomes transparent only upon the approach of another person. Though both impressive, I find the social play of Intimacy Black particularly compelling.
See more work from Studio Roosegaarde and V2_ here:
http://www.studioroosegaarde.net/
http://www.v2.nl/ Intimacy is a fashion project about the relation between intimacy and technology. |
Its high-tech garments ‘Intimacy White’ and ‘Intimacy Black’ are made out of interactive technologies and smart e-foils which become transparent based on personal interactions. |
The Module.MGX is, quite simply, a modular table inspired by the Fractal.MGX that WertelOberfell - Platform developed in collaboration with Matthias Bär two years ago.
From designboom.com:
"the latro lamp by eindhoven-based designer mike thompson utilizes living algae as its power source. the lamp design was inspired by a scientific breakthrough made earlier this year by scientists from yansei and stanford university that allows a small electrical current to be drawn from algae during photosynthesis. latro is hanging lamp that makes us of this discovering, drawing its energy from a glass chamber of algae. the alga only needs sunlight, carbon dioxide (co2) and water to survive, so placing the lamp outside and breathing into the lamp begins the energy production process. the energy produced is subsequently stored in a battery ready to be called upon at night."
The airy delicateness of this material conceals its actual strength -- I love the idea of that quirky dish set rising like bread dough in the kiln. dutch designer marjan van aubel has developed foam porcelain, a material which has the
capabilities of producing lightweight objects that can be handled in a similar way as china.
just like bread, the foam literally rises in the kiln, expanding itself about 300% its original volume.
extremely light weight because only a third of the material is needed, its open-structure also makes it
incredibly strong. through the production process there is an experimental boundary between
controlling the material while also letting it behave freely. van aubel has used foam porcelain
to produce a series of tableware and two cabinets. |
Working in conjunction with Microsoft, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute has developing an innovative new interface that turns users bodies into a control surface. Called “Skinput”, the system consists of an armband-mounted video projector and a series of bio-acoustic sensors. Due to variations in skin, muscle and bone density, the sounds captured by these sensors can be used to determine where on the users arm a given tap was made. |
This television uses a plotter to insert pigments within the individual cells of a bubble-wrap sheet -- creating an image at the rate of one per day. gebhard sengmuller is a vienna-based artist working in the field of media technology and the lead artist of
the very slow scan television which uses bubble wrap as a television display. very slow scan television
(VSSTV) was created in collaboration with jakob edlbacher, johannes obermayr, gerhard proksch-weilguni,
ludwig ertl and andreas konecky. this new televison format is based on an image transmission system used
by ham radio amateurs called slow scan television (SSTV). ‘VSSTV utilizes a plotter-like machine to fill
the individual bubbles with one of the three primary CRT colours, turning them into pixels on the VSSTV
screen’. the system mimics the way a CRT display mixes the three primary colours to create the different
hues, only much slower and in a physical form. the television display is so slow that it has a frame rate of
one image per day. |
Friedman Benda is at 515 West 26th Street, for all of you who may be in the NYC area. on march 4th, a new body of work by dutch designer joris laarman will be unveiled
at friedman benda, nyc - his first U.S. solo exhibition. laarman's aesthetic merges cutting
edge technology and the life-sciences to create work of unexpected beauty. in 2008,
laarman's bone chair and bone chaise, his first two works since graduating from eindhoven,
were displayed in MoMA's exhibition design and the elastic mind. this marked a major
milestone in his career and the chair subsequently, was added to the museum's permanent
collection. |
the upcoming exhibition is the culmination of five years of trial and error, exploratory
material research and his continuous quest to translate science into functional objects
of beauty now, on a monumental scale. his new body of work expands on his core
investigations; it includes skyline storage, fractal bookshelf, a table that captures
patterns inherent to flocks of birds, and a sustainable lamp made from living cells.
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I think the word I may be looking for here is... lenticular? The way Gareth Neal’s American walnut wood table is constructed reminds me of a corrugated cardboard piece’s innards. |
Be sure to check out the rest of this Designboom link for the specifics of this beautiful, durable hook-and-loop fastener.
hook and loop fasteners have become commonplace features of both industry and households.
however, they have one snag: they are too weak for many applications.hook and loop
fasteners made of spring steel have now been developed at the institute of metal forming
and casting of the technische universitaet muenchen (TUM).
the device consists of hook tape and loop tape 0.2 mm thick.
these fasteners are resistant to chemicals and can withstand a tensile load
of up to 35 tonnes per square meter at temperatures as high as 800°C.
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To properly do the Meeting Chairs justice, you really ought to watch the demonstration in this DOMUS video:
http://www.domusweb.it/dvideo/video.cfm?id=1270&inizio=169&da=10
Laurence and her chairs came to visit MoMA a short while ago -- I love the beautiful pantograph and was rather impressed by how gracefully such a substantial chair glides as it deploys and collapses. Easily, it supports the sitters while still being compact and unwieldy.
Best of all, you'll never feel it's about to amputate one of your fingers if you aren't careful. Thanks to a system of pistons, pantograph and lever, the Meeting Chairs have three combined movements. Meeting Chairs do respect and refine the current laws (chairs for public usage have to be chained enabling quick transportation and storing operation). Everyone loves it! Read more at www.missdesign.it |
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