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Innovative Designs and Devices
Patrick Griffin writes "When it comes to product design, the significance of aesthetics, the way its design looks and feels, determines the choice of the customer once the functionalities of multiple devices are more or less similar. If supported by sound user interface and a well-tested, clean implementation, innovative design solutions can drastically enhance the user experience. The article Innovative Designs and Devices presents innovative, futuristic gadgets, devices, designs and concepts which can become reality in 2008 or over the next few years." Some of the designs are real, others are stupid, and some are just dreams for the future. But some of this stuff is really cool.
I like the concept, but, umm without the cover to protect the spinning CD (or you from it) that just seems like a HUGE design flaw.
Also the Apple remote is neat and really pays into the popularity of the Wii-mote for interaction? So you think Sony would really place people into that mind set?
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
The Jam trousers Q? now whose idea were those, bloody silly.
To be fair the only part of TFA that got to me were the iRing (jokes abound for the silly name) and Sony apple remote controls. They are very cool. Expect contactless recharging to be the norm in a few years - now how can I retrofit that into my antique desk?
The concept of jigsaw mini screens seems cool (build your own supersize screen by combining unlimited numbers of smaller screen. Of course then the pricing regime follow the square law - 2*area = 4*cost. Damn it, I want my wall screen.
The amphibious car made me think of that. Aside from that there were certainly interesting (and what-where-they-thinking!?) ideas in there.
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
That has the be the awesomest useless appliance I have seen!
The holographic concept of the Vaio Zoom looks pretty cool. Too bad it'll probably cost an arm and a leg to replace a broken screen.
If innovative design interests you, I highly recommend "The Art of Innovation" by Tom Kelley and Henry Petroski's books "The Evolution of Useful Things" and "Small Things Considered". Kelly's book is all about innovation in the workplace and uses IDEO to illustrate his ideas. Petroski's books (and I love all of his stuff) are more of an academic view of how engineering intersects with the real world. His books should be on every geeks must read list.
so who is gonna sue Sony first Apple or Apple
Actually, done a but more thought on the subject. Picture this:
A 14"*12" flat panel touch sensitive display with bluetooth, wifi, inductive power and some clips at the back for mounting.
Now what can this be used for?
1. x1 a tablet PC
2. z2 with a hinge - a laptop, program the lower one to have a keyboard and tracker pad
3. x2 24"*12" widescreen TV/Monitor
4. x3 computer, 1= keyb, rest = screen
5. x4 wraparound display for conferences
6. x8 home cinema or wall screen
7. x1 advertisement kiosk
8. x1 display module and brains for industrial kiosk or ATE
the possibilities are endless.
but what would it need to function?
1. one seriously configurable operating system. mesh computer between linked components, mini cluster?
2. versatile mounting clip so you could add at will - USB, floppy, SD, CF, 10baseT, hinge for laptop, support for screen, external power cable, TV tuner etc.
3. ubiquitous standard - that would be the killer, you need a recognised standard so everybodies components would work together instead of a diversive formats war
4. power saving, power sharing (power one on a cable, it shares to connected units), some clever self configuration.
5. cheap enough or versatile enough to make it all worthwhile.
and finally, and obligatory - open standards on HW and an SDK so anybody can port apps or write their own.
well, I can dream.
waaaaaaaaaant
well, much of it anyway. I certainly could do without the toaster. I would love to try out that bluetooth laser keyboard.
Anyone notice that the top was down on the amphibious car? Hope they brought their wetsuits...
I smirked at first when I saw then office pod-- I mean, who really needs such a form fitting cube? (well, form fitting for some of us). But then I saw the built in 'teleconferencing' projector: http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/eclipseofficepod/1000101428.
Just re-route the video-out to come from your workstation, and bam! you've got the ultimate Counter Strike gaming pod! I tell ya, these pod people are marketing in the wrong direction.
From another post I made, but for this topic, it's a bit more on-topic:
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There's one example of user interface elegance that has stuck with me for decades, and I use it to remind myself of what's possible, and avoiding making things more complicated than necessary:
I've had telephone answering machines before; they typically had many buttons on them (rewind, stop, play, fast forward, erase, record) and tapes for incoming and outgoing, etc.. Quite complex, for the simple task of playing and recording a message. It really felt like working two confusingly inter-related tape decks.
But then I bought one, which wasn't terribly expensive, that was clean and elegant looking, with *one* big visible button on the outside and one LED. On the side was a volume knob. And the amazing thing is that it was as functional as my prior more complicated machines.
When there was a message, the link blinked. Intuitive. You'd press the big button to hear the messages. Simple. To back up while playing a message, you simply held the big button down (not completely intuitive, but easy to learn/figure out or read in the manual). After playing the messages, the LED would blink quickly for a few seconds; you could then tap the big button to keep your messages, or do nothing to have it turf the messages. (Again, not necessarily intuitive, but trivial to learn/understand and use.) You could also record memos of your own by pressing and holding the button at any time. A lot of functionality built into one button, and not hard to use at all. Very clever.
You could stop it from answering by turning the volume knob all the way down until it clicks; fairly intuitive.
It had one microcassette; the answering message was recorded at the start, and it would record messages after that (fast forwarding as necessary for additional messages before recording). This microcassette was under an opague door (you wouldn't even know was there) on the top of the unit. Opening the door also revealed another smaller button. The single button inside paralleled the use of the outside button to a large degree, but for handling your answering message. Press and hold it to record your message (similar to the memo record of the outside big button). Tap it once to play/check your answering message, pressing/holding it to rewind during the message. Very elegant, yet quite functional.
The thing was a masterpiece of simplicity, elegance, understatement, functionality, and design.
Yes, answering machines are ancient technology now, but the thought that went into that "user interface" design continues to inspire me when I create web interfaces.
And another neat aspect to it: I'm sure the manufacturing cost of the unit was lower than others, due to fewer buttons, a single tape, and simpler design. (It likely had a bit more logic inside to handle the functionality, but overall it was likely cheaper to produce than other models.) Initial design can make such a difference to all aspects of a product's delivery.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
would we think a custom message on toast is useless. Those who are married can imagine a significant improvement in their chances of getting lucky by burning "Honey, I love you!" on rye.
I come here for the love
I still can't work out how you're supposed to use the three seashells.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Even better... according to the article, apparently that keyboard "allows convenient use of any language -- Cyrillic, Ancient Greek, Georgian, Arabic, Quenya, hiragana, etc. ". Technically, you don't need a keyboard for a language (as opposed to a script), but if they mean what I think, a piece of hardware that can finally push the Tengwar through the Unicode Consortium would be nice.
They've been rotting there since 1989...
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
As if we thought it wouldn't get any worse than cubicles.
Enjoy the days when you had 20 cubicles on your office floor. Now you've got 100 Eclipses crammed into that same space.
Can you explain any way that the device you're describing is more usable than one with one function per button? I'm all for rethinking design and having alternatives, and I can see that aesthetically, your device would be more appealing to some people.
But I far prefer a rewind button, fast forward button, etc. and I find it hard to fathom how what you're describing is an improvement. Why spend time learning how to use a device that could work just like all the other media playback devices I use?
The cordless charging devices are a good idea. If there's a standard. If there's one bowl or pad which recharges everything, we've made real progress. If we end up with one per device, they just waste space.
At least three small companies (SplashPower, WildCharge, and WiPower) are pushing that idea. Incompatibly. There's no one in a strong enough position to make them play together.
One Ring to Rule Them All
-- Language is a virus from outer space.
Now all these folks have to do is contact IBM
I read
Look at the fourth picture of the cool LED keyboards. Is that a barrel roll key featuring Peppy from Starfox?
Anybody can render up a cool-looking-but-impossible-or-impractical-to-produce CG image. One of the first things I ever modelled in a 3D app was a fusion-powered coffeemaker. That doesn't mean it should have been treated as a serious design.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
I like the idea of the nonobject camera. Should make those behind the scenes extras a bit more interesting (seeing the director wigging out etc). I just really hope the porn industry doesn't adopt it. Some behind the scenes footage is just not meant to be seen.....EVER!
Be gone from my sight or prepare to feel my flaming wraith!
The sQuba car looks pretty damn useful for illegal immigrants from Cuba. It will do much better than their last attempt.
Why can't designers understand that a keyboard with painted keys can only be used for hunt-n-peck typing?
"MIGHT I INSTRUCT YOU TO INTEREST ME IN YOUR WARES? SOMETHING INNOVATIVE, PERHAPS? HOW ABOUT A FUDGEPOP UP THE NOSE? HOW INNOVATIVE!!"
"Actually, I serve traditional ice cream here. You know - in a dish or on a cone or whatever..."
"NOW JUST HOW IS THAT INNOVATIVE? Hmmm?"
I think that's a really neat idea. Modular screens. Imagine a laptop with two screens, one that you do your viewing on, one that you do your typing on, and when you want to watch movies, you "open" the laptop all the way (180 degree angle), twist it 90 degrees, and now it becomes a larger monitor for watching movies.
It would need a hinging mechanism to allow the two screens to sit next to each other, virtually pixel against pixel, which might be tough. However, with the direction OLEDs are going, there could be a flexible plastic LED joint between the two screens to allow uninterrupted transitions.
I like that Apple remote. That not only looks slick, but could be really functional as well.
The toast thing, while creative, isn't as "useful," per se, but it certainly is biodegradable. Then we'll be having moral discussions about feeding starving nations vs. Post-it Toast, similar to the 'Corn: Ethanol vs. Food' discussion now. But, if you feel creative, you can make one yourself!
That depends on which other devices you use. For example, take the Leitz projector described by Don Norman in his book, The Design of Everyday Things:
"I started my talk and showed the first slide. When I finished the first slide and asked for the next, the student carefully pushed the control button and watched in dismay as the tray backed up, slid out of the projector and plopped off the table onto the floor, spilling the entire contents.... It was the fault of the elegant [Leitz] projector. With only one button to control the slide advance, how could one switch from forward to reverse?... All during the lecture the slides would sometimes go forward, sometimes backward. Afterward, we found the local technician, who explained it to us. A brief push of the button and the slide would go forward, a long push and it would reverse."
Uh, OK, so maybe being a classic example of how *not* to design things isn't the best example. But his one-button design certainly wouldn't be unique!
"When it comes to product design, the significance of aesthetics, the way its design looks and feels, determines the choice of the customer once the functionalities of multiple devices are more or less similar."
Linux developers should stick this on their monitors and say it aloud like a prayer before they sit down to do some work on a project. Linux is inevitably looking more and more like Windows. Imagine something prettier than Vista that actually works, and runs rings around it performance-wise.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
and in the darkness bind them...
That iRing looks interesting...
Kind of made me think of a Golemesque Steve Jobs.. precious my precious
"It seems that we are at the age where life stops giving us things, and starts taking them away..." Indiana Jones
Well, you've certainly managed to free yourself from the constraints of grammar and punctuation.
You still need to work harder on the intelligibility side of things: your text can still be understood, that's bad.
Full creative freedom will also be gained from a less constrained use of cAPitILisAtION - see how grand that last word looks?!
" "When it comes to product design, the significance of aesthetics, the way its design looks and feels, determines the choice of the customer once the functionalities of multiple devices are more or less similar."
Linux developers should stick this on their monitors and say it aloud like a prayer before they sit down to do some work on a project. Linux is inevitably looking more and more like Windows. Imagine something prettier than Vista that actually works, and runs rings around it performance-wise. "
Quite frankly, not having a mantra like this helped get Linux (and quite a bit of other UNIX-ey software) where it is today. Instead of worrying over the pretty interface and having perhaps a steaming pile of crap underneath, traditional UNIX apps have had often rough interfaces with people worrying over making the algorithms as efficient, elegant, and correct as possible. Interface is left to the interface guys; with good software design this isn't a big deal.
As for interfaces themselves... well, the DEFAULT interfaces are looking too Windows-like because this is considered to be less confusing to people switching over from Windows. But, Linux really gives the choice of interfaces to let people choose what they want. Aesthetics are in the eye of the beholder as it were. I actually do find somehting like Ubuntu (particularly with desktop effects) to look better than Vista (once I replace the brown background with something prettier), and it kicks XP's ass performancewise, let alone Vista. Some say OSX is aesthetically pleasing; I found it rather overdone and missed many of the visual queues OSX fans find intuitive, making it very hard for me to use. One person where I work thinks virtually anything is too showey, and uses fvwm (no bar at top or bottom of the screen, no icons, no background image etc. whatsoever; left, middle, and right click on the screen background or edge of screen brings up menus.. I admit I used to use fvwm quite a while ago.) Some people just claim giving people even this many choices is too confusing and Linux really should standardize on one interface too.
I mean, if this article is your idea of good aesthetics... well.. most of the items in it looked utterly unusable to me.