InfoCompanions » Design

Fabian Hemmert: The shape-shifting future of the mobile phone

Himanshu Sharma — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:37:28 +0000

At TEDxBerlin, Fabian Hemmert demos one future of the mobile phone — a shape-shifting and weight-shifting handset that “displays” information nonvisually, offering a delightfully intuitive way to communicate.

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Julian Treasure: Shh! Sound health in 8 steps

Himanshu Sharma — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:34:51 +0000

Julian Treasure says our increasingly noisy world is gnawing away at our mental health — even costing lives. He lays out an 8-step plan to soften this sonic assault (starting with those cheap earbuds) and restore our relationship with sound.

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Kevin Stone: The bio-future of joint replacement

Himanshu Sharma — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 15:41:36 +0000

Arthritis and injury grind down millions of joints, but few get the best remedy — real biological tissue. Kevin Stone shows a treatment that could sidestep the high costs and donor shortfall of human-to-human transplants with a novel use of animal tissue.

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The Art of Choosing

Himanshu Sharma — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:47:36 +0000

Sheena Iyengar studies how we make choices — and how we feel about the choices we make. At TEDGlobal, she talks about both trivial choices (Coke v. Pepsi) and profound ones, and shares her groundbreaking research that has uncovered some surprising attitudes about our decisions.

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A headset that reads your brainwaves

Himanshu Sharma — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:44:23 +0000

Tan Le’s astonishing new computer interface reads its user’s brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts (and a little concentration). She demos the headset, and talks about its far-reaching applications.

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Hitler Ain’t Happy With iPhone 4. Are You?

Himanshu Sharma — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 21:13:04 +0000

Did you stand in line for 6 hours under the blistering sun just to get the new iPhone, only to get stuck with the antenna issue? You need to do 2 things – (1) follow Steve Job’s recommended fix by avoiding “holding it that way” and (2) think of creative ways to vent. Michael Ingram Jr. followed advice #2, and made a hilarious video. See below.

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Sony’s rollable OLED display

Himanshu Sharma — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:54:08 +0000

Check out this awesome 4.1-inch screen with a resolution of 432 by 240 pixels. It’s so flexible that this can literally roll around a pencil! Just imagine the applications – video screen that doubles as a wallpaper, or even the living room window curtain? What about “wearable” video display units!! Check out the video below.

Toyota’s ad for Sienna minivan starring ‘Swagger Wagon’ rap song

Himanshu Sharma — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:10:19 +0000

Now this is what I call advertising! After the recent series of recalls, this is a pretty cool way to get those customers back. I think Toyota just crossed Apple in super cool ads!

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Dean Kamen: The emotion behind invention

Himanshu Sharma — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:39:33 +0000

Soldiers who’ve lost limbs in service face a daily struggle unimaginable to most of us. At TEDMED, Dean Kamen talks about the profound people and stories that motivated his work to give parts of their lives back with his design for a remarkable prosthetic arm.

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Deloitte Innovation elevator campaign

Himanshu Sharma — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:13:04 +0000

Deloitte Netherlands launched a new business unit – Deloitte Innovation, which focuses on developing new business ideas. As part of the campaign, several Deloitte offices had their elevators transformed into showers. Because after all, the best ideas are born in the shower.

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BMW GINA Light Visionary Model

Himanshu Sharma — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:36:05 +0000

Am not a great fan of “concept cars”, but BMW Gina deserves special attention for completely rethinking out of the box. Check out the cool premiere video below, where Chris Bangle, Director of Design, BMW Group, describes the thought process that went behind this cool pair of wheels. No wonder GM and Ford are struggling just to survive.

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Simon Whatley has some interesting pics. Also check out TechFresh.net for related pics.

RepRap – the self replicating machine

Himanshu Sharma — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:26:18 +0000

Ever wished that your new iPod could somehow self-replicate into two iPods every night? Or maybe every other hour? Christmas would be so much more fun… and less expensive Adrian Bowyer is thinking on somewhat similar lines. A senior lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath, Adrian is credited with the invention of the revolutionary RepRap Project – an open-source self-replicating 3D printer. As per The Guardian, “[RepRap] has been called the invention that will bring down global capitalism, start a second industrial revolution and save the environment…”.

RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. Adrian defines it as a practical self-copying 3D printer that builds the parts up in layers of plastics – in essence, a self-replicating machine. Not counting nuts and bolts RepRap can make 60% of its parts; the other parts are designed to be cheaply available everywhere.

This is an interesting coincidence: we can make 60% of our proteins; the other parts are evolved to be cheaply available everywhere. In this respect, RepRap machines could/would follow Darwin’s theory of evolution. And with the project now available in Open Source domain, natural selection seems all the more logical growth route.

Imagine the potential impact of this “magical wand”! Will this “demonetize money”? Check out the video below.

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Vision of One Laptop Per Child

Himanshu Sharma — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:00:51 +0000

Check out this cool animation highlighting the “Vision” of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program. I love the simplicity in the messaging and design of this video. All major projects and initiatives SHOULD start with a clear statement and “visualization” of the vision, such as this… and can help engage your stakeholders, users and other community members alike.

Also check out the other blog post pointing to some potentially troublesome future for the OLPC program.

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Toys that blend Beauty and Magic

Himanshu Sharma — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:40 +0000

Remember Pleo, the animatronic dinosaur toy designed to emulate the appearance and behavior of a week-old baby Camarasaurus. The creator, Caleb Chung is a very funny man, who interestingly is also the co-creator of the Furby. In this video, Caleb walks us through the intimate design routine and countless hours that went into conceptualizing, building and perfecting both Furby and Pleo. He tells us the philosophy is to blend art and science, “beauty and magic”… and wrap the whole package in a thick layer of business logic. We see his philosophy in all his “life-like creations” from Furby, which sold over 50 million units worldwide, generating over $1.2 billion in sales, to Pleo.

Look out for instances in this video where Chung quickly walks through toy successes and failures in the past. I think it requires a great sense of humor and self confidence to be able to discuss your past failures. On a related note, check out this cool blog post- “You Must Fail – Six lessons from Michael Jordon”

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Simplicity patterns

Himanshu Sharma — Sun, 11 May 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The MIT Media Lab’s John Maeda lives at the intersection of technology and art, a place that can get very complicated. Here he talks about paring down to basics.

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About John Maeda:
John Maeda is a programmer and an artist — and is committed to blurring the lines between the two disciplines. As a student at MIT, studying computer programming, the legendary Muriel Cooper persuaded him to follow his parallel passion for fine art and design. And when computer-aided design began to explode in the mid-1990s, Maeda was in a perfect position to influence and shape the form, helping typographers and page designers explore the freedom of the web.

He jokes about himself as “the guy who makes the flying letters.” But behind this joke is a deep insight into the way good programming can create new forms of good design — the guiding principle of Web 2.0, where type and images can behave in brand-new ways to communicate and amuse.

He’s the author of several books, including his latest, The Laws of Simplicity, and the retrospective MAEDA @ MEDIA.

Simplicity Sells

Himanshu Sharma — Sun, 20 May 2007 07:00:00 +0000

New York Times technology columnist David Pogue opens his talk with a rousing musical number about the trials of customer support, then launches into some sharp commentary on “The Software Upgrade Paradox” (“Improve a piece of software enough times, you eventually ruin it”). Next he takes on the worst interface design offenders, the causes of “Software Rage.” After a couple of trips back to the piano, Pogue moves to the success stories, offering examples of products that celebrate the power of simplicity.

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About David Pogue:
Which cell phone to choose? What software to buy? Are camera-binoculars a necessity or novelty? As release cycles shorten and ever-shrinking gadgets hit the market with dizzying speed, it’s harder and harder to know what’s worth the investment. A tireless explorer of everyday technology, David Pogue investigates all the options so we don’t have to.

After happily weathering installation nightmares, customer service hiccups, and an overwhelming crush of backups, upgrades and downloads, Pogue reports back with his recommendations via his many columns, TV appearances and how-to books. And he does it all with relatable insight, humor and an unsinkable sense of pun, er, fun. All that, and he sings, too.