Wood paneling and silver-painted plastic used to be cool; so I wonder when our current metal and glass gadgets will go out of style, and if so, what will future gadgets be made from?
I asked several designers what they thought, but Kara Johnson, the lead of the Materials Team at design company IDEO, had the final word based on her focused expertise related to the question at hand. Her answer is a bit heady, but I won’t get in the way of what she’s telling us about tomorrow’s gadget materials.
“Plastic as we know it is kind of on the way out, especially when it’s painted. No one likes the way your phone’s paint chips at the corners after a few months of use. Unpainted plastic is the future. And we need to move beyond injection molding, look at sheet processes to build structure from a series of 2d layers, instead of molding a complete 3d structure.
Glass, as a part of the screen, won’t go away very quickly. But maybe we’ll find ways to use glass so that it’s more difficult to create cracks with an accidental drop on the kitchen floor. Maybe there are lessons to be learned from automotive glass windshields or scratch resistant coatings on eyewear. And why not etch the glass?
Metal will continue to be a player in the world of gadgets. It’s beautiful and appropriate to create thin, mobile, technology-based products. Extruded aluminum is a design opportunity that has not yet been fully explored in terms of form or function. With the introduction of laser etching or chemical etching or a detailed craft process like wire filigree, we should be exploring the use of pattern on metal or to create surfaces. This is more evident in large-scale products or architecture where metal is used to create elegant structures or to create a frame for other elements of pattern. By translating innovations in metal from a large scale to something small, we will find new design opportunities, too.
So what’s next?
I think we need to experiment with how we design the buttons that connect hardware and software experiences. This is a design element whose materiality has been relatively unchanged, and there is more opportunity here to create ceramic or wood details (where the drop test requirements can be quietly avoided)…What if the power button was made of stone? What if the LEDs shine thru a thin layer of bamboo? We also need to experiment with the screen itself, this element has been limited to the display of information. What if the screen folds or unfolds? What if the glass is textured or etched with communication icons or pattern? Finally, in the future, I think that we should experiment with creating decoration or function by introducing incredibly surprising technologies (high-tech or low-tech) – like ferrofluid or starch-based plastics.
If the next generation of gadgets is about experimenting with materials or materiality, then it will only be not about what materials we use but how we use materials to tell stories.
What does vinyl mean to music and media players? Can phone be made of fabric so it is ready-to-wear, like the clothes you keep in your closet? What does traditional craft mean to high-tech products? What is the physical connection between these objects of fetish and the internet buzz that proceeds/follows each product launch? How do we create real and tangible advertising for the next CE products? And look for the introduction of “new” materials in the small details of each product…the platform of these devices is relatively standardized by its components, phones and laptops are a commodity. The design is in the details and the story you tell.”
Though not much of a looker — feel free to insert your own beer goggles joke here — Basil the Robot is an experiment by Jim and Louise Gunderson to train an AI to identify its surroundings symbolically. That way, the couple hopes, he can react dynamically in new environments. Basil was intended to be shown off at a Cafe Scientifique meeting by having him go to the bar and order drinks for his creators, but that proved unsuccessful when Basil’s battery died. The couple did videotape a successful trial run from the night before, which you can see after the break. Basil will next receive a microphone for voice commands and be upgraded from his current sonar navigation to a video sight system. The eventual goal is to teach Basil to go to the local brewery and pick up beer. Sure, we’re still terrified of the robot revolution, but let’s get serious here — who are we to deny our mechanical overlords if they keep proffering us six-packs? Hit up the read link for the full story.
When a recent fake news story claiming that Coby Electronics would enter the netbook market with a $100 PC included a quote I had given two years ago, I smelled something fishy. But before I questioned the validity of the article, I questioned the validity of such a product. Because for at least those expecting some semblance of a modern PC, the fascination with a $100 notebook might turn to disappointment when they realize the considerable compromises needed to achieve that alluring price.
For as life quickly moved to imitate art, the aftermath of Cobygate saw news of the Alpha 400, which is smaller, lighter and, at $170 at Geeks.com, about $100 less than online pricing for the Eee PC 2G Surf. With no hard drive and no fan, it runs so coolly and quietly the only noise the product makes is when you open and close its creaky hinge, which allows the screen to lay flat parallel to the keyboard. Its brand-free top surface is glossy black, but the rest of its plastic body has a finish so dull that the product could pass for one of those plastic laptop props used in furniture stores.
Like the original Eee, the Alpha 400 has a 7-inch screen, an SD card slot, three USB ports, and a keyboard (albeit one that is even smaller than the one on the first Eee). From there, almost all the specs take a dramatic step down. The Alpha 400 has only 128MB of RAM and 1GB of local storage. It has no webcam and supports only 802.11b although it connected consistently to my home network, something that has not been true of some other Linux-based netbooks. With the Alpha 400’s extremely limited driver support, very few USB peripherals will work with the device. Some USB flash drives, for example, would not mount and USB audio is not supported.
Right after it mocks Mapple, The Simpsons finally hits iTunes. So far, it’s just the current season. I wonder if the backlog is so Steve Mobs can pee on every one. [iTunes via Macworld]
So, you’re tired of removing and replacing your netbook each and every time you waltz through an airport (or a different terminal at Sky Harbor International — great planning there, Phoenix), but the current crop of TSA-friendly bags are simply too large for your tastes. Clearly, Solo has felt your pain, as the CheckFast Netbook messenger bag is only big enough to handle netbooks 11-inchers or smaller. Our good pals over at Gadling were able to take it for a spin, and even being avid travelers, they were mighty impressed. The build quality was top-shelf, there was plenty of extra storage room and the $35 price tag was found to be downright delectable. Still in need of a last-minute gift? You may have just found it.
You already know what it will take to beat down a zombie horde, but a throng of frantic last minute shoppers is another matter altogether. Here are the tools you need to win the day.
Overcoming Your Physical Limitations:
HAL Exoskeleton: First thing is first. In order to outwit your opponent and score the last minute deals you desire, you are going to need a strength and speed advantage. Renting a Hal Exoskeleton from Cyberdine will increase your strength up to 10x the norm—making it easy to lift heavy gifts and intimidate the weak. Sure, a rental costs about $2,200—but you have to ask yourself: how bad do I want to win? [Cyberdine via Link]
iShoes: As mentioned, speed will also be a key to victory. These self-propelled shoes will help you travel the store at a whopping 13.5 mph. [iShoes via Link]
Secure Your Prize:
Sonic Alarm Grenade: Once you have located your prize, you will need to secure it from the grubby hands of the holiday horde. Wearing a set of earplugs and pulling the pin on this sonic grenade should buy you a little breathing room. It packs an ear-splitting high decibel blast that can cut through a crowd like a knife. [Firebox via Link]
R/C Skunk: Speaking of cutting a path through a crowd, sending this realistic looking radio-controlled skunk down the store aisles should help clear the way. It even has a flickable tail to strike fear in the heart of your enemies. [TYNKE]
Security Briefs: These dummy skid-marked briefs are intended to be a secure place to hide your valuables, but placing them on top of the HDTV you want while you shop elsewhere works well too. [Baron Bob]
Cyber Clean: Like the security briefs, Cyber Clean goo can be repurposed for holiday horde fighting. Under normal use, the substance helps clean your keyboard. But sneezing and throwing it discreetly on the product you desire should help you secure it. Licking it and / or putting it down your pants is also effective. [Expert Verdict]
Misdirection:
Excuse Me, I’m a Reporter with a Camera: People will do anything for someone with a camera. Picking up an old shoulder-mount VHS camcorder and a cheap mic from eBay will give you free reign of the store. Posing as a local reporter covering the last minute holiday shopping crowds will help you cut through lines and grab the items you need with no resistance. You can even add a microphone flag for added authenticity. Sure, a VHS camcorder is a poor substitute for a modern, professional video camera—but amidst all of the chaos and the thrill of being on television, people are unlikely to notice. [eBay]
Protect Yourself:
Defender Hoodie: As we have learned from the horrific incident at Toys R Us this year, it is important to protect yourself from insane, gun-wielding shoppers. The Defender Hoodie is made from 2mm of Type IIA bulletproofing—enough to stop a 9mm full-metal-jacket round at a velocity of 1,090 feet-per-second. [Bladerunner via Link]
This may sound weird, but maybe the children—the future engineers, programmers and techs of our world—deserve crappy gadgets as presents this holiday.
It’s not that I think all kids are bad. Nor is it about avoiding breeding spoiled brats. Buying high end gadgets for kids is not quite like buying new driver a sportscar. Not exactly. But a kid driving a beater that is slow, handles poorly and needs mechanical love once in awhile can teach an early driver a lot more about how to coax the maximum performance and life out of a car when learning on a piece of junk. Likewise with tech. Giving them great gadgets can deny kids the unavoidable toil poorly designed or rough-around the edges technology offers that can be so educational. I don’t have kids, and I won’t presume to actually propose parenting advice to anyone, but I can draw on my own childhood, where I learned tech by taking the harder way.
My dad wisely refused to buy me a complete toy remote controlled car, but instead had me work on a Tamiya kit car, which required me to learn how to solder at age 7. The kid across the street from me eventually had to ask me how to build his own car. He was 16. In another instance, one of many, I couldn’t get Ultima to run on my dad’s old 386 until I got the autoexec batch file set up right. It was a pain but getting that game to run right taught me a nugget of knowledge. I had plenty of experience like this, and they all added to my collective experience with machines.
One famous geek dad I put this theory to said he didn’t think high end gear in itself was the problem.
Because computers suck so much, every high-end gadget requires learning all sort of tricky OS stuff like managing several devices, understand DRM, password and username management, updating firmware, rebooting when things go wrong, etc. Compared to a games console, practically everything involving a computer is a mini lesson in IT.
I can agree with that, but I think it strengthens my point. What’s funny is that the types of devices I use manage most of these problems he mentions very elegantly. Today, most of the gear I use is from a certain manufacturer that prides itself on making things very easy to use and consumer oriented. And I appreciate it, but I can’t help but feel like I’m becoming dependent on technology so polished, its no harder to use than biting into an…Apple.
Then again, other tech parents I talked to believe what I’m saying is nothing new. One creative family in particular thought the philosophy here could be applied to all mediums. For example, Instead of having their kid listen to pop music, they give her weekly music lessons. And although their daughter has total access to all the gadgets her father and mother do, they’re using it to ramp her up to more difficult and advanced ways to interface with and control tech. That is, she’s getting programming lessons soon. Knowing the girl, I think she’ll enjoy them, even thought she’s been raised on easy to use tech. But perhaps the difference here is how that energy is diverted — instead of using a tinkering mentality to get the baseline OS working, she might use it to write programs.
Another parent says this is all theoretical. I heard on some NPR show awhile ago that there’s not much you can do to encourage or discourage the spirit of a young person. I guess what I’m saying is that giving junior geeks personal tech problems from a young age can be can be good basic training, so what benefit do we get by buying them stuff that works out of the box?
It’s been just about six months now since we’ve seen a solid video of two incredibly sophisticated robots beating the ever-living daylights out of one another, and quite frankly, that’s about 5.5 months too long. The unashamed fanatics of unbridled robot violence at Impress have assembled a killer compilation video showing some of the greatest slams, smashes, hits and fan chops from the Japanese robo fighting circuit, and it’s waiting for your attention in the read link below. Warning: copious amounts of blood, PCB, gears and actuators are seen flying in all directions.
Using a polishing technique previously employed in the semiconductor industry, a professor has discovered that it’s possible to make a tooth too slick to have bacteria stick to. For reals.
The professor and his student have shown that “bad” bacteria cannot stick to the surface, which is great, since it’s the type of bacteria that cause dental bills. Teeth polished with nanoparticles still may have bacteria on it, but from what I’m reading, can be easily removed. Easier than with brushing, or else this thing isn’t really an advance at all.
It’s too bad that by the time the technique is productized and deployed to actual dentists, I’ll be 50 and have been toothless for 20 years. [Science Daily]
Wood paneling and silver-painted plastic used to be cool; so I wonder when our current metal and glass gadgets will go out of style, and if so, what will future gadgets be made from?
You already know what it will take to 
iShoes: As mentioned, speed will also be a key to victory. These self-propelled shoes will help you travel the store at a whopping 13.5 mph. [
Sonic Alarm Grenade: Once you have located your prize, you will need to secure it from the grubby hands of the holiday horde. Wearing a set of earplugs and pulling the pin on this sonic grenade should buy you a little breathing room. It packs an ear-splitting high decibel blast that can cut through a crowd like a knife. [
R/C Skunk: Speaking of cutting a path through a crowd, sending this realistic looking radio-controlled skunk down the store aisles should help clear the way. It even has a flickable tail to strike fear in the heart of your enemies. [
Security Briefs: These dummy skid-marked briefs are intended to be a secure place to hide your valuables, but placing them on top of the HDTV you want while you shop elsewhere works well too. [
Cyber Clean: Like the security briefs, Cyber Clean goo can be repurposed for holiday horde fighting. Under normal use, the substance helps clean your keyboard. But sneezing and throwing it discreetly on the product you desire should help you secure it. Licking it and / or putting it down your pants is also effective. [
Excuse Me, I’m a Reporter with a Camera: People will do anything for someone with a camera. Picking up an old shoulder-mount VHS camcorder and a cheap mic from eBay will give you free reign of the store. Posing as a local reporter covering the last minute holiday shopping crowds will help you cut through lines and grab the items you need with no resistance. You can even 
Defender Hoodie: As we have learned from the 
Umbuster Umbrella: Finally, as a last line of defense, the Umbuster knuckle-dusting umbrella will help you beat down mother nature and 
This may sound weird, but maybe the children—the future engineers, programmers and techs of our world—deserve crappy gadgets as presents this holiday.
Using a polishing technique previously employed in the semiconductor industry, a professor has discovered that it’s possible to make a tooth too slick to have bacteria stick to. For reals.
Ent