Gregory Kaufman, a student at Kansas City Art Institute, imagined and implemented “DJ touch screen interface and gesture interaction concepts” for his senior degree project. Though it’s not quite as visually stunning as the rear projection setup we spied earlier this week, it does bring a new kind of functionality to the up-and-coming DJ multitouch game–the ability to replicate a standard DJ turntable-mixer setup using a touch-based interface. Check out the video embedded above to hear all about from Kaufman and see a demonstration of the concept tech.
Tag Archives: concept
DJ gives multitouch a spin
Check out this crazy amazing homemade DJ setup called Token Concept. Sure it uses rear projection video on glass for the cool visual effect, but the multitouch implementation is far out. Into the future. It’s running off a Traktor Pro controller called Emulator.
[Via Engadget]
Concept: Space Invader couch
Peep this glorious couch inspired by the classic video game Space Invaders. Designer Igor Chak has outdone himself with this latest creation. The couch is all leather, features two glass surfaces, and is lined with memory foamed. The black-on-white color scheme and the wild shapes and spaces are excellent design choices if you ask me. I wish this were a real couch and not a mere concept…because I would have already ordered one by now. Check out more images in the gallery below.
Concept: Game Boy condoms work just like Mario’s mushrooms
…they make you grow! These here are “Play Condoms” designed by Ben Marsh. They’re condoms packaged inside plastic Game Boy cartridges. But why?
The packaging aims create a desire to purchase the product for aesthetic reasons, rather than the necessity of condoms. Simply by owning the product, safe sex is promoted.
OK, then. But with titles like Donkey Shlong and Sextris, how could you refuse?! Look in the gallery below for additional shots of the packaging.
[Via Engadget; ilikedoodles; seekvideogames]
Paging all doctors: stethoscope headphones
Stethedphone, designed by Antrepo Design Industry.
They’re headphones in the shape of a stethoscope! They come with a remote and mic and features include listening to music, making/receiving phone calls, and accessing voice control. They’re “made from ultra light and flexible plastic” and comes in an assortment of colors and sizes. “Stethedphone” is a concept design, one that I can’t believe I didn’t come up with.
[Via Gizmodo; YankoDesign]
Concept: Foldable E-Ink newspaper display
The Page, designed by Jae Kim.
With all the buzz surrounding iPad this and iPad that, it’s nice to see someone else thinking outide the box when it comes to reinventing the way we read newspapers and other print media. Designer Jae Kim has conceptualized The Page, a foldable display that features a semi-transparent E-Ink screen that displays text and images. Screens that can bend into various shapes and sizes have been conceptually implemented in the past, so this certainly isn’t the first player to the game. However, it does feature a number of interesting UI enhancements, including automatic column formatting depending on its shape and interactive page navigation on a flat surface. Check it out in all its concept-y glory in the video above. There’s some stills waiting below, too.
[Via Designboom; Gizmodo]
Concept: Google Mail envelopes make e-mail physical
Industrial designers Rahul Mahtani & Yofred Moik have imagined a new way to go about emailing. This is all conceptual thinking, mind you, but take a knee and listen here. Google Mail Envelopes is designed to be built into the Gmail service. When you’re ready to send off an email, you’ll be given two options: send email (as usual) or “send envelope.” When you click the new button, Google representatives are notified and they print out your email, package it into a Google Maps decorated envelope, and send it off to its destination via the United States Postal Service for a small fee. The envelope design is neat; the return address and destination labels are placed inside Maps bubbles and they each point to their respective locations on the map. The two locations are connected by a line, the same line that’s formed when you look for directions online at Google Maps. In other words, the mail’s exact route is labled on the map on the envelope. Although this concept is one that will likely never make it into reality (privacy concerns, Google employing letter senders), the idea is quite fascinating. Turning electronic mail into a physical letter is an option some people might find useful. It’d be a faster, more efficient way to send a letter–it would eliminate the need to shop for stamps, for one thing.
[Via YankoDesign]
Multitouch? Pfft! Try multi-toe.
A bunch of bright minds at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany have been working on this research project they call “multi-toe interaction.” Basically it’s a multitouch floor that can recognize a person based on their shoe pattern. But I’ll let the masterminds explain:
The key factor of the shown design is that it is based on frustrated total internal reflection sensing. FTIR allows it to identify and track users based on their sole patterns. The floor recognizes foot postures, distinguishes users who interact from people walking by, and enables high-precision interaction. In addition, the floor can approximate users’ head positions based on the pressure profile in the soles and it extracts enough details from soles to allow users to play first person shooters by balancing their feet.
So precise! Not so sure if this can ever be practically implemented, but it’s always good to see unique implementations of a multitouch interface. Even if it involves stinky feet.
Concept watch relays Facebook, Twitter updates to your wrist
The stainless steel Instant Trend concept watch receives Facebook and Twitter notifications by hooking up to your smartphone via Bluetooth. Buttons on the side of the watch let you scan through the messages. And if you think that’s neat, listen to how bizarre reading the actual time is: the pixelated bars you see in the image above represent the time in hours, minutes, and 10-minute blocks. “Reading the time is simple, just add the blocks; 12 blocks for hours, 5 blocks for groups of 10 minutes and single minutes 1-9.” Did I mention this is a concept device?
[Via TokyoFlash; Gizmodo]
Skyscraper built by robots wards off natural disaster
‘Nested’ Skyscraper, designed by American architects Ryohei Koike and Jarod Poenisch.
Projected to be situated in Tokyo, the architects observed that this location is known for its extreme climate changes, densities, earthquakes and flows. ‘Nested’ skyscraper looks to counteract these extremes with lightness, flexibility and transparency. Using primarily composite materials and a dual layer fascade composed of ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene), the entire building can be lightweight and flexible, while the construction process uses far less energy.
Speaking of the construction process…
Building this structure involves a series of robots that stretch over a network of carbon sleeves sprayed with fiber-laced concrete. A second set of robots wraps the structure with a steel mesh to allow for lateral movements and can increase or decrease its density according to structural and programmatic needs.
And what makes it a “nested” skyscraper? “The building acts as a series of nests that stretch between and around compressive elements as the vertical circulation wraps around and pierces through the entire project. Together the materials and volumes create a hybrid relationship between compressive and tension elements, public and private spaces, and static and dynamic forms.”
I would totally live in this concept skyscraper of the future. Wouldn’t you?
[Via DesignBoom; Gizmodo]
Porsche 918 Spyder Concept is one hell of a hybrid
The Porsche 918 Spyder Concept is the most handsome hybrid vehicle I have ever laid my eyes on. Set to replace the aging Carrera GT, the 918 Spyder Concept is powered by a 3.4-liter V-8 engine and a hybrid drive system that can crank out 500-horses (9200 rpm) while maintaining a 78-mpg efficiency. Surprisingly the hybrid system does not affect this car’s superspeed; it can go 0-62 in 3.2 seconds and reach a top speed of 198mph. It’s being previewed at this year’s Geneva Motor Show and likely won’t hit the production lines until a year or two. Style and speed with an interior painted bright green. Now that’s what I call good economical sense. Can’t wait to see the price tag, though.
[Via MotorAuthority; Engadget]
Skinput brings user interactivity to your body
Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft have teamed together to create a different type of user input system. It’s aptly called Skinput and here’s how it works:
We present Skinput, a technology that appropriates the human body for acoustic transmission, allowing the skin to be used as a finger input surface. In particular, we resolve the location of finger taps on the arm and hand by analyzing mechanical vibrations that propagate through the body. We collect these signals using a novel array of sensors worn as an armband. This approach provides an always-available, naturally-portable, and on-body interactive surface.
Veddy veddy interesting. Potential applications for such a daring input system include cell phone calls, video games, mp3 players. Is it practical? I’m not so sure. But the idea of having a hierarchical menu system accessible on your forearm and manipulated by the touch of your finger and its vibrations just sounds and looks (see the video above) so cool!
[Via NewScientist; Gizmodo]