Designed with cloud-computing in mind, the EYA projector focuses on maximizing ease of use, super-fast connectivity, and high quality output for the mobile world. The design’s simplified silhouette is further enhanced by easy pop-up on/off functionality as well as automatic pairing with your tablet or smartphone. Hit the jump to see it in action!
One of the simplest but most impactful design decisions inside the Prius is the miles per gallon meter. Any Prius owner can readily fill you in on their average miles per gallon, and if they’re really paying attention, they know their MPG in different parts of town. Going down a hill or sitting in high traffic? MPG goes up. Have to cruise on gas for a while? Watch the numbers go down.
What that little indicator taps into is a scientific effect known as the Hawthorne effect. Arecent article in Scientific Americanpoints out what that means: “…study subjects change their behavior because they’re being observed. So researchers collaborated with a utility to test for the Hawthorne effect in electricity use.” Participants who received a postcard notifying them that they were being monitored for “research purposes” decreases their energy usage by almost three percent. That doesn’t sound like a lot until you note what happened after the study (supposedly) ended: their usage went right back up.
Even the thought of being monitored might alter behavior. A recent study at Newcastle University found that simply placing a pair of eyes in front of bike racks reduced theft by 62% in two years. And here’s the bigger surprise: schools that didn’t put the posters up experience an increase in theft by 63%. (Maybe all the thieves scared off by the posters just traveled to the posterless campuses.)
The important takeaway here for designers isn’t simply an indicator, though judging by the Prius example that clearly has an impact. The Dexim smartphone charger, which lights up to show electricity usage, is a great example. But it’s interesting to think about how creating affordances for monitoring—whether actual monitoring through social media sharing, or just implied monitoring, like a set of eyeballs—can influence how users interact with products.
On the car-related front, I was just looking at this cost-of-driving meter that takes the MPG logic even further by showing the straight-up cost of driving. What if data from that meter could be (voluntarily) reported back to peers, or if a set of eyes reminded you about that rideshare program you’d been meaning to check out? That might not be so popular for automobile and gas companies, but it could influence how much we drive.
Etudiant à l’Ecole Cantonal d’Art de Lausanne, Benjamin Muzzin a présenté cette sculpture appelé « Full Turn ». Dans une pièce, l’artiste a placé un 2 écrans dos-à-dos qui se mettent à tourner à grande vitesse, laissant ainsi apparaître des formes intrigantes et visuellement très intéressantes. A découvrir en vidéo.
Though the majority of our game-playing time these days is spent staring solitarily at our smartphones moving pixelated candy, nothing quite beats a good old-fashioned board game. While a game like Monopoly is a classic, the newly unveiled );…
For its seventh design competition, Spark is dishing out its most ‘meta’ brief yet, calling for “a design that shows the experience of designing experience.” They’re looking to dive into the realm of user experience its interaction in the design process from idea to finished product.
The judges are looking for entries that align with Spark’s mission, initiating positive design-led change. Winners will be published in the new Spark Annual and in Korea’s Creative World of Design Competitions.
The late entry deadline is coming up on October 10. Find out more info and enter at the competition website.
It is generally accepted that persistence is essential for success and happiness. However, in their research, two scientists found that the persistence of unattainable goals in certain cases can be a detriment to health and well-being, especially for adolescents.
What does this mean for parents? If you are pushing your children to continue an activity that they do not like or in which they are not interested, you are likely increasing their stress levels — and yours too!
Sometimes all it takes is for parents to assist their child in setting new goals. This may help the child re-engage in the activity with a renewed definition of success. However, if goal redefinition isn’t working, consider quitting the activity if:
the child complains constantly before, during, and after the activity;
the child is not advancing as fast as his/her peers and is frustrated;
you must constantly push the child to practice the activity;
the child does not speak about the activity with pride or excitement.
What about the money invested in the activity?
If you have paid for a session, you may want to finish it and explain to your child about obligations and commitment, especially if the child is playing on a team such as soccer or basketball and other people are depending upon your child. If you have paid in advance, whether or not you continue with the activity, your money is already spent. The question is, do you want to spend your time pushing your child to participate in an activity he or she doesn’t like? Your time and your health and those of your child are usually worth more than money. Review the situation, ask questions, and bail without guilt if that is what is right for you and/or your child.
Remember that saying “no” to something you don’t really enjoy means you’ll be able to say “yes” to something that you may really enjoy.
Focus sur Tomasz Gudzowaty, photographe renommé dont nous avons pu parler sur Fubiz à plusieurs reprises, qui revient avec une superbe série en noir et blanc appelée « The Art of Freerunning ». Il met en avant cette pratique physique millimétrée, semblable à une chorégraphie dans l’environnement urbain.
Small attic spaces are tucked between the ribs of a triangular roof at this house extension in Japan by mA-style Architects (+ slideshow).
Japanese firm mA-style Architects designed the timber roof as a series of V-shaped frames, which sit over a rectilinear base and create triangular windows at each end.
Added to the west side of a family house, the Koya No Sumika extension provides a separate living and dining space for a couple and is connected to the main building by a glass and timber passageway.
“The young couple desired feelings of ease and spaces that ensure quiet and comfortable times,” said the architects. “The extension is designed as a minimum living space and pursues both maintaining distance and retaining fertile relationships.”
Small pockets slotted into the sides of the living area provide storage spaces for books and plants, as well as study areas with wooden desks and chairs.
A set of protruding wooden stairs and a separate ladder lead to the compact attic spaces overhead, as well as to a bed deck at the front of the building.
Bare light bulbs hang down from the triangular ceiling sections to illuminate the space.
This is an extension plan for a young couple’s house next to the main house. The main house is a one story Japanese style house with about 200m2, which is commonly seen in rural areas.
It is a big house with many rooms and mainly consists of large spaces for people to gather and to provide hospitality. However, the young couple desired feelings of ease and spaces that ensure quiet and comfortable times.
A simple extension may enable each of the house’s residents to live completely separated, but the relationship between the families and the connection with the main house might be lost.
Therefore, by utilising the functions for living in the main house, the extension is designed as a minimum living space, and pursues both maintaining distance and retaining fertile relationships.
The extension is attached by a connecting-corridor on the west side of the main house. This enables the residents to switch their mindset before entering into the other living space, and the common garden maintains a proper sense of distance. By relying on the main house for the large kitchen, bathroom, and future children’s room, only a few functions for a living space are required for the extended part.
The living spaces are aggregated into a simple continuous structure, which consists of small, 2m high, U-shaped bearing walls. A V-beam roof truss is made with 62mm panels and structural plywood on both sides, and it is topped with a 69mm thin roof.
By overlapping the bearing walls and the V-beam frame, and by using a variety of finishes, contrasting spaces are created and a sense of scale in the vertical direction is born in the flat house. By doing so, as the residents’ living scenes unfold, light and air freely circulate in the space, and the people’s lines-of-sight extend beyond the area in a state of freedom. We intended to leave a rich blank space that fosters the imaginations of the residents.
La designer française Constance Guisset a imaginé de superbes lampes imaginées pour Moustache Paris. Des créations s’inspirant essentiellement de la chantilly, proposant un design d’une grande fraicheur à la fois joyeux et coloré. A découvrir en images et détails dans la suite de l’article.
Only the Smithsonian Institution could compile a survey of design from the 1860s onward and somehow land every major milestone. Their new book, released this month by DK Publishing,…
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