This is so cool. French photographer Fred Lebain went to New York City and took pictures at various locales. Then he printed out poster-size versions of the images. He then brought those large prints back to their respective original locations and held them up in front of him. Lebain seemingly vanishes behind the large image when he holds it up in precisely the right area.
[Via Gizmodo]
Vertical Bed armature collapses into briefcase. Fully supports body weight by attaching to subway ventilation grating. Noise-cancelling headphones, opaque sunglasses, and free standing umbrella included.
I could use one of these.
[Via Gizmodo; SubstituteMaterials]
Roca Waterdrop Shower Room, designed by Wu Chenghou.
This concept bathtub features a large tacile touchscreen that “almost envelopes you” as you cleanse yourself. The screen allows you to control video and musicplayback, the shower, jet intensities, and water temperature. Oh, and did I mention the screen is 3D?
[Via Gizmodo; Yanko Design]
This subway ad for the upcoming movie 2012 misleads the viewer into thinking that the walls are collapsing and water is consuming the area. Run for your lives!
2012 opens in theatres November 13.
[Via Gizmodo]
I will let designer Michal Mitek get your tech-heart pumping:
It’s always about the future, and in the future you guys are going to realize the need of doubling up your interior spaces by adding more than one function to a room. Like, you may want your bathroom to double up as a gym when you’re not taking a bath. So how about you get the Roca Active & Relax Bathroom? It’s this luxurious room where the sunken bath is really sunken, invisible till you don’t open up the floorboards. No windows too, instead 3 floor-to-ceiling LCDs giving you the illusion of a panoramic view.
Still not satisfied? How about we give you a bathroom where the screens are connected to the Home PC so that you can watch movies as you laze in the double bathtub, or take a shower in the rainfall! Super sex-citing!
Mhm, I can now check this off as a feature of my future home. I’ll take the lady model, too.
[Via Gizmodo; YankoDesign]
Designed by Sanjay Puri.
The windows are deliberately created in an opaque glass to block out the immediate surroundings & allow the public spaces to have an ambience of their own, whilst allowing natural light. Concrete fins are arranged around the windows offer privacy from the adjacent office buildings whilst also acting as a heat barrier. Through these combined efforts the air conditioning cost is thus reduced by over 25 %.
The spaces are thus defined in complete contextual terms to the site, its surroundings & location and the climate of the city. The punctuated rectilinear volume of the hotel with LED lit circular glass windows renders it dynamic by night while it looks sculptural & creates a strong presence with a unique character.
[Via Gizmodo; WorldArchitectureNews]
Google’s EMEA Engineering Hub in Zurich, Switzerland.
They sure know how to design form, function, work, and play in a relaxed but still professional manner.
[Via Gizmodo; WorldArchitectureNews]
Rihanna’s next album titled Rated R is gaining tons of buzz as its release is soon upon us. Rihanna plans on making a big comeback after her public battle with former boyfriend Chris Brown (who is also releasing a new album soon). Yesterday the full track list was unveiled. Featured artists include Young Jeezy, Slash (!), and will.i.am. Look after the break for the full track listing. If you preorder the album on iTunes you will instantly receive a free download of her first single “Russian Roulette,” a song written by fellow R&B artist Ne-Yo. Today Rihanna is giving her fans a taste of what’s to come with the new music video for “Wait Your Turn.” The album drops November 23.
[Via RollingStone; KanyeBlog]
Continue reading Rihanna’s “Rated R” cover art, track list, a music video
Designer Eric Testroete was inspired by “big-head mode” found in video games to create this papercraft self-portrait of himself. He used 3ds Max 2009, Mudbox 2010, Photoshop CS3, and Pepakura to model 370 different paper triangles. Put together they formed what you see above and in the gallery below. Neat stuff. Check out his website to see how it was done.
If you have ever shopped at an retail Apple Store you have surely noticed their transaction system. If you are paying for an item with a credit card you simply approach an Apple employee and they can scan your item(s), swipe your credit card, and print out (and/or email) your receipt from a bulky, Windows CE-powered (oh, the irony) device called EasyPay. In the near future Apple will transition from the old (circa 2005) EasyPay system to a brand new system that will smartly be implemented into custom-designed iPod touches. With the help of the OS 3.0 hardware accessory support, Apple will dress the iPod touch in a large plastic case-like enclosure, complete with a barcode scanner at the top, a card reader on the side, and an extra battery. It’s all powered by a mini USB port that’s located on the bottom of the case. The iPod touch will run an Apple “EasyPay” application that will get the transaction process done. And just like it’s Windows CE predecessor, customers will be asked to sign the device with–wait for it–a stylus. Who knew such an archaic instrument would ever come in contact with an iPod touch, a modern tech beast with a multitouch screen to-boot. But hey, it does “allows finer entry and control.” And if you have cash, no worries; an iPod touch-equipped employee can take care of you on the spot and transfer the almost completed transaction to a nearby cash register. It’s all about streamlining the transaction process and making things easier for the employees and customers. And customer satisfaction is what matter most. Those guys at Apple are forward thinkers, and I like it.
[Via Gizmodo; AppleInsider]
Late last night Sony officially announced the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 smartphone. It is SE’s first Android device. Some specs include a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 4-inch capacitive touch display (480 x 854 pixels), an 8.1 megapixel camera with autofocus, A-GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. It also has a 3.5 mm audio jack, a micro USB connector, and it comes with an 8 GB microSD card. The most exciting news involves the personalized user interface. Android 1.6 will be running underneath SE’s elegant UI called Rachael. We have seen Rachael before but never in such an official and polished manner. SE was keen to mention that the XPERIA X10 is the flagship device in a line of Android-powered phones; glad to know there is more where this comes from. I’m looking forward to seeing how the XPERIA X10 device performs when it releases Q1 2010.
For now, be sure to check out the gallery below for some official press shots and peek after the break to see the phone (and the stunning Rachael) in action.
[Via Engadget; Gizmodo, here & here]
Continue reading Sony Ericsson reveals the XPERIA X10, runs Rachael UI
