Author Archives: leo

greener than thou

photo mary lou jepsen invented the display that made the OLPC so power-efficient, and she presents the case for the green design of the laptop as the result of a concerted effort to address the needs of developing countries. where there is little electricity and limited tooling, the laptop had to be durable, power-efficient and […]

Posted in energy, fabrication, open objects, product design, universal design | Comments closed

sofa boat

AMPHIBIAN: how to sit, relax, sleep on a work of art (from an old issue of DOMUS magazine)

Posted in furniture, soft/glowing | Comments closed

fictional computing

pierre wellner’s 1991 digital desk is a seminal piece of human-computer interaction research, but it’s also a pioneering video. in today’s interaction world, video documentation is essential to show how a dynamic, responsive system works. in many ways, videos are the documentation media best suited to interaction design. as wellner’s video demonstrates, it’s not necessary […]

Posted in animation, augmented reality, product design | Comments closed

postcard-maker

john kestner’s photoradio is a concept for a digital picture frame that can also print – so that the images you email your friends and family can become real, tangible postcards. it was aimed at bridging the gap between generations, so that young people who are accustomed to communicating by computer can have a seamless […]

Posted in blogogracy, product design, tangible, universal design | Comments closed

magic models

these videos by dassault systems are meant to sell design software, but they are far more powerful as inspiration for future kinds of tangible interfaces, maybe one day when nanotechnology gives us the ability to use atoms as dynamic input/output media the same way pixels move today:

Posted in 3d, architecture, tangible | Comments closed

grandma-net

humanbeans‘ latest project is what’s cooking grandma, a social network for sharing your grandmother’s cooking through youtube videos. it serves as a recipe website, a social network and a nice way to herald oft-neglected domestic work.

Posted in blogogracy, food, futurecraft | Comments closed

trashcam

nico van hoorn documents one piece of trash a day on his trashlog. the pieces of trash are carefully selected and shot, which makes them seem clean and pretty, and the website itself is compartmentalized and orderly, so nothing about it has the feel of trash. it would be nice if the items could accumulate […]

Posted in blogogracy, environment, upcycling, visualization | Comments closed

all-natural electronics

noah vawter’s Synth From Nothin’ tries to answer the question ‘if i was stranded on a desert island, how could i make a synthesizer?’ at the same time the research project tries to discover whether it’s possible to make electronics without the semiconductor industry, and in turn whether electronics can be all-natural and sustainable. from […]

Posted in art, energy, environment, materials, product design | Comments closed