The Modern Materialist

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• Ooch Armchair Brings Multiple Pillows

  Sanniadesign has created a fun and practical chair concept: take one frame; add four pillows; that’s it. So you have the option of having a princess and the pea style chair, or take the pillows out for up to three friends (I assume you wouldn’t want to sit on the frame by itself, though I guess you could).  The chair will be shown at an upcoming furniture show, though there’s not a lot of info on which one, or when. Sanniadesign also has a number of other concepts on their website, but the one that jumped out at me was this: Read More... Posted May 09 2008, 03:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: concepts, chairs

• Squeegee Window Concept

  I feel like I spend a lot of time on this blog ripping apart the inherent design flaws in concepts, without necessarily suggesting anything positive to go in its place. This time, I AM going to rip this particular concept to shreds with my patented droll, sarcastic humor, but I’m also going to open up to you guys as to how you would improve this. This being a window with a built in squeegee. So what you do is, drag the window back and forth, and it cleans itself. Brilliant idea, right? Except for two things: Read More... Posted May 07 2008, 06:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: concepts, home, windows

• Personal, Evil Sub/Car/Helicopter

  A 26-year old named Michael Cerva has invented a totally evil looking vehicle that can travel in land, sea, and air. The vehicle is essentially a modified Segway design, running on two wheels, and holding up to two people. The wheels snap off, and wings snap on to take this baby into the air, and with a nice tight seal, it can travel under water, as well. Granted, this is all just a concept right now… So you’ll just have to travel in three vehicles until further notice. Check out another pic, after the jump:  Read More... Posted May 07 2008, 11:00 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: vehicle, concepts

• CandLED Lamp

  I kind of totally love this, and sadly, right now, it’s just a concept. As mentioned multiple times on this blog, I love olde timey stuff, and there’s something, in particular, very romantic about wandering around the house holding a candle as your only source of light. This may have to do with me picturing this happening right before a mystery or daring adventure to a magical world full of fairies and fauns unfolds, but it may also be because I like candles. Your choice. More olde timey talkin', after the jump...  Read More... Posted May 06 2008, 02:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: lighting, concepts

• Coffee Grinder Works In Time With Your Heart

  The Heart Beans Coffee Grinder works on the power of your heart. Seriously. You cuddle up nice and close with the grinder, and it grinds in time with the beating of your heart, creating a different grind every time. Unless you’re a robot. This is only a concept at the moment (and let’s be honest: it’s probably going to stay that way), but I can just imagine the hilarious romantic comedy scenes that could be built around this: Find out the plot, plus several other amazing movie concepts, after the jump...  Read More... Posted May 06 2008, 12:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: coffee, concepts, Food and Drink

• Sound Hive Lets The Bees Out

  When I think about relaxing to some music after a long, hard, days work, the first thing I want to be reminded of is bees. You know, there’s nothing that really helps you take a load off like an alarming swarm of bees in your house. That’s why I appreciate the Hive Speakers, a concept by Yanko Design. Okay, to be fair, it reminds me a little more of honey, as it has a honeycomb design, but nonetheless… BEES! The concept works off the sound bar home theater design, centering all sound in one area of the room. There's something even cooler about these speakers, though: Read More... Posted Apr 29 2008, 03:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, speaker system, concepts, Music

• Put That In Your Tea and Smoke It

  This is operating on the principle that there exists at least one person in the world that would enjoy drinking a cup of tea with a cigarette floating in it, right? Sorry, taking a step back… This is a design concept for a tea bag shaped like a cigarette. So you pour hot water in the cup, drop in the Cigarettea, and then drink your dirty cigarette water. I mean, again, I understand it’s not cigarette water, but still… One good thing that could come out of this, you could have the following exchange: Read More... Posted Apr 29 2008, 11:00 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: concepts, Food and Drink

• Take Care Umbrella Stand Grows Plants

  I’m totally in love with this umbrella stand concept. Basically, you lay your umbrella on the stand. The base is dirt and seeds. The run-off from your umbrella waters the plants. That’s it! Surprisingly, more after the jump... Read More... Posted Apr 24 2008, 04:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: concepts, green, Umbrella Stands

• Salt & Pepper Meets Cigarettes

  Now here’s a smokin’ idea. Take salt and pepper shakers. Place them in cigarette shaped vials. Place those vials in an ash-tray. Call it “Welcome to Flavor Country.” Go to sleep. More salt and pepper goodness, after the jump...  Read More... Posted Apr 24 2008, 11:00 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: kitchen, concepts, spices

• Digital Cutting Board is Crazy/Beautiful/Stupid

  I have two reactions to this particular cutting board concept. First reaction: “OHMIGOD! It’s a cutting board, but it’s also a sleek, Apple-esque gadget! My two favorite things!*” Second reaction: “This may have been made by someone who has never cooked before.” In all fairness, and to give you a little background, this was a project for a design class, to create a product that catered to a segment of the population, while being eco-friendly. That’s it. The student who created this didn’t need to back up his work or anything, he just needed to have a slick design. Much more, including tons of pretty pictures, after the jump...  Read More... Posted Apr 07 2008, 02:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: concepts, Food and Drink

• Bang & Olufsen’s Touchless Remote

  Whenever I want to hardcore lust after audio equipment I can’t really afford, I head over to Bang & Olufsen’s site to gawk at their space-ship worthy speakers. They also make equally mind-blowing telephones, TVs, and other equipment, so it’s not a shocker that they’ve created an absolutely stunning looking touchless remote control. Except that they DIDN’T create it. More after the jump… Read More... Posted Apr 03 2008, 05:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, concepts, Television

• Product Porn: Siftables

  ...Because what we all need are hundreds of tiny computers you can accidentally put through the wash: Posted Mar 19 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: Videos, concepts, Product Porn

• Product Porn: Minority Report Display

  Hey, it's like an iPod Touch, except super large, and too many people can use it at the same time: Posted Mar 18 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Videos, concepts, Product Porn

• Foot Pedal Surge Protector Concept

  Currently, I have a completely convoluted plug situation, forcing me to crawl under my desk every time I want to boot up my hard drives (I have four, daisy chained together). Annoying, right? This concept is, unfortunately, the opposite of the solution to my problem. However, it’s also pretty cool. Basically, each outlet in the surge protector has a foot pedal that allows you to pop out the attached plug, while filling up the outlet’s holes with child-safe plastic. Now, if they could add a second pedal that grabs the plug, and puts it back in the outlet, we’d be talking. [Via Engadget] Posted Mar 18 2008, 10:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, concepts, office

• Future Speakers Look Dangerously Familiar

  As in love with these slick speakers from Symbio Design as I am, they remind me of something… I don’t know if it’s the tiny legs, or what looks like a tail ready to strike, but they certainly look like scorpions, don’t they? And if there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s scorpions. If there are two things I don’t like, it’s scorpions and brussel sprouts. I once ate these brussel sprouts served to me by scorpions… Big mistake. No info on pricing yet, as it's just a prototype, but if you want more on your scorpion speaker, head on over to Symbio Design. [Via Crave] Posted Mar 11 2008, 03:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, concepts, Music

• Product Porn: Nokia Morph

  The Nokia Morph is a flexible cell phone concept. It's energy harvesting, self cleaning, and completely rad: [Via Thoughts From The Sidelines]  Posted Feb 29 2008, 11:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: gadgets, concepts, Product Porn, phones

• Happy Leap Day: Jumping Brain

  Continuing our once-every-four-years tribute to all things that leap, Lapolab has created what is, hands down, the cutest little Jumping Brain toy, ever. Though the official site is scant on details, the toy is clearly some sort of squishy jumping brain. And, get this: the hemispheres separate, for two-player fun! I took the liberty of translating a block of text over at the SolosonToys Forum, which revealed a few more pieces of info. Check out how I insult most of the world's Spanish speaking countries, after the jump... Read More... Posted Feb 29 2008, 10:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: concepts, toys

• Product Porn: Robotic Breast Massager

  I don't know what's creepier, the fact that this exists, or that the video has no sound, so you can't hear the silent screams of its victim: [Via Geekologie]  Posted Feb 27 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, concepts, tech, Product Porn, sexy

• Piggy Bank 2.0

  My first, and largest problem with this Bluetooth credit card reader concept is that it is not pink. HOW DO YOU HAVE A PIG, AND NOT MAKE IT PINK??? Okay, rant over. Submitted as part of the 2007 Henkel Design Award, this little piggy will work at the market, or at home, or if you want roast, or even if you want none. Official Description after the jump...   Read More... Posted Feb 27 2008, 10:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, concepts, tech, money

• Mind Control Device Lets You Play Games

  Seriously. I’ve hesitated posting this for a little while, because it seemed like some sort of frightfully early April Fool’s joke. But it seems it is, in fact, no joke. Emotiv Systems has created a device (The Emotiv Epoc NeuroHeadset) that somewhat effectively reads your facial expressions and emotions. That’s better than my girlfriend, I’ll tell you that. Zing! I’m so unhappy. Anyway, the software/hardware works on pattern recognition. So if you scrunch up your forehead really hard while calibrating the software, then whichever movement that synchs up to (say, moving a box forward), the device will continue to perform every time you scrunch up your forehead and “think” really hard. Similarly, if you completely relax (to, say, make a box disappear), the device will read that as a movement, while you will think, “Wow, I’m controlling things with my mind.” More after the jump... Read More... Posted Feb 26 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, video games, concepts, tech

• Retro Arcade: Tetrice

  You have no idea how sad I am that this is just a concept. Created by designer Martin Žampach, these flexible ice cube trays would dispense... Well, technically, I guess still cubes... In the form of the shapes that continue to haunt my dreams. There was a time when I would close my eyes and see Tetris blocks falling. Now, there could have been a time when I could OPEN my eyes, and see sweet, delicious Tetrice cubes falling into my frosty drink... But no. It was never meant to be. Head over to his site for a few more pics, and if you speak Czech, please plead with him to make these a reality.  Posted Feb 25 2008, 11:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: kitchen, video games, concepts, Retro Arcade

• Google Gauntlets

  What can I say, I’m a sucker for anything titled “Gauntlet.” This design concept by Du Tran Nguyen, as part of the Australian Design Awards, is… Well, let’s Nguyen describe it: The Vie (pronounced vee, French word for life) is a sports glove, of which the main objective is to incorporate today’s technologies to enhance human performance and safety via a simple human-machine-interface. The Vie is aimed towards those who keep active by running/walking but its features can easily be spread to other sports. The Vie is a typical health monitor that also uses GPS technology to do such things as map jog routes, rendezvous with friends, send out emergency distress beacons and more. To keep the sport natural, the input is made via a unique, single hand control interface. More, including a special message from your childhood, after the jump... Read More... Posted Feb 21 2008, 01:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, concepts, Sports

• Product Porn: Rinspeed Squba, the Underwater Car

  Taking the least dangerous page from Bond's arsenal, Rinspeed have created an underwater car that actually works:   It's completely submersible, and also, completely green (it runs on rechargable lithium ion batteries). Good girl who turns out to be bad not included. [Via] Posted Feb 18 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: Videos, cars, concepts, Product Porn