Hasta La Ideas

The first hours of CES 2020 were proof of technology’s ambitions as caregiver

In the first hours of CES 2020, at CES Unveiled: Las Vegas, some products— either conceptual or available for purchase now—seem poised to adopt the role of caregiver, or (more ominously) monitor of our lives. Others are wired to assist in the conception of human life. While a few are dedicated to life for infants and their guardians. We’re seeing that technology isn’t reserved for the generation that has never known a world without it, rather it’s meant for everyone. And even if the level of enthusiasm isn’t matched by older generations, there are still plenty of products intended to cater to them. Here are just a few of the many new gadgets and devices that aim to benefit human life at all stages.

Lumi by Pampers

An evolution of traditional baby monitors, Lumi by Pampers fuses the functionality of a Google Calendar with the ease of a wearable health tracker. Unexpected yet surprisingly practical, this network of devices is comprised of a Velcro-attached tracking device, a particular style of Pampers diaper, a camera, and an adjacent app. The impressive app monitors a baby from bowel movements to the moment they fall asleep (and disruptions within that cycle), as well as extended activity, and even meals. It’s all cataloged, week-by-week for guardians to rely on in times of uncertainty.

Willow

A first-ever for the category, the remarkably discreet Willow breast pump can be used on-the-go, at odd angles, and even while feeding. Wearable underneath normal garments, the incredibly effective pump is silent when operating. The newest generation aids in upping milk production, is entirely wireless, and stores the retrieved milk. Plus, the strength of the suction, the force of the pump, and more can all be controlled within an accompanying app.

Morari

Contrary to popular belief, premature ejaculation impacts millions—in fact, according to Dr Irwin Goldstein, a prominent sexual medicine doctor, 60% of men have expressed a desire to prolong their sexual activity. As such, Morari Medical, a sex-tech company aimed at men, debuted a concept of their unnamed neuromodulation patch that adheres to the perineum region, and intercepts communications between the ejaculatory nerve and the brain. Though a novel idea, its release isn’t expected until 2021 at the earliest.

E-Skin Sleep & Lounge

Intended for elderly users, Xenoma’s E-Skin Sleep & Lounge integrates monitoring technology seamlessly. These ultra-soft pajama-style garments are embedded with activity detection technology and can observe changes in sleep and behavior. One set resembles a classic pair of separate pajamas (a striped, collared top and matching bottoms) and another appears more contemporary; a matching sweatsuit with contrasting piping. The innovate garments can also communicate with other smart products in the home—it can alert a thermostat to lower, trigger an alert for medical assistance, or suggest a light workout when movement levels have remained stagnant for an extended period of time. It’s an intelligent system that does its best not to intrude or underestimate.

Trova

As we raise children, there are particular items that should remain out of arms’ reach. Angling itself as a way to keep kids away from various items (whether that’s prescription medicines or luxury items), the TROVA Home smart safe resembles an elegant design object. Biometric scanning grants entry only to those with a login, and motion-detection alerts the primary user when the safe has been moved. It’s available in March 2020 in two colors: sandstone and charcoal.

Images courtesy of respective venues, hero image courtesy of Xenoma

Home appliances are vital elements of any household. So it’s important for them to be intuitive and easy to use, without much hassle on the part of the user. Keeping this in mind, Chris Ference designed the Slide Thermostat. Upholding the philosophies of minimalism and familiarism (described by designer Nick Baker as the combination of a familiar interaction with an incongruous object in the effort to create a more unique experience) he wanted to create an everyday appliance free of unnecessary elements and parts, one that also has a familiar feel to it. Ference wanted to break it down to basic movements and intuitions.

Created from aluminum, and featuring an OLED panel protected by a plastic faceplate, the Slide Thermostat looks like a matte white capsule, that must be attached to the wall. You operate it using a sliding motion, quite similar to using a smartphone or any other smart device. Mimicking such a familiar action, which we practice every day, he created a thermostat that everyone should be able to use effortlessly.

The magnetic slider allows you to easily control the temperature. Moving it to the right increases it, whereas moving it to the left reduces it. The screen displays warmer color tones towards the right and cooler tones towards the left. Simple, sleek and convenient to use, the Slide Thermostat is the kind of home appliance we would love to have in our homes.

Designer: Chris Ference

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Dezeen’s audience grew for the 13th consecutive year in 2019, with record traffic, comments and social media followers.

The total number of people visiting Dezeen grew by 8.5 per cent, with 27,456,069 different users visiting the site throughout the year, according to Google Analytics.

March 2019 was our best-ever month, with 154,651 visits. January 2019 was our most successful month ever for page views, with just under 11 million pages served.

The USA remained our biggest audience, with the UK in second place again. But the biggest growth came from India, which is now home to our third-largest audience.

Five million social media followers

Dezeen’s social media audience grew 17.5 per cent to over five million across all platforms. We hit major milestones on Instagram, where we now have more than two million followers. We topped a million followers on both Pinterest and Facebook and hit 100,000 YouTube subscribers and LinkedIn followers.

Our Twitter audience is just short of a million followers while our WeChat account, which we launched this year, has been growing at an incredible 12 per cent per month.

Almost 30,000 comments

Our readers made a record 28,652 comments in 2019, which is an increase of over 25 per cent on the previous year. This makes Dezeen easily the most commented architecture and design site in the world.

Over 500,000 newsletter subscribers

Our Dezeen Weekly newsletter hit 300,000 subscribers last year, growing 12 per cent compared to the previous year.

With 160,000 daily subscribers and 50,000 people on mailing lists for Dezeen Jobs, Dezeen Awards and other services, that means we have over half a million subscribers in total.

Almost 40 million video plays

Video plays grew 26 per cent compared to 2018, with particularly strong growth on Instagram (up 33 per cent to 11.5 million) and Facebook (up 48 per cent to 18.7 million). Total video plays were 38.7 million.

Over 4,500 awards entries

Dezeen also celebrated a record number of entries to Dezeen Awards, with over 4,500 architects and designers submitting projects in 2019. The inaugural Dezeen Day conference, held in London in October, sold out, with a packed audience of 450 people attending.

Two more trophies

Dezeen also added two more awards to its haul of over 40 accolades. We were named Editorial Brand of the Year at the IBP Awards in November while Dezeen Awards was named Best New Event at the Awards Awards 2019.

A huge thanks to all our readers and wishing you all a happy new year!

The post Dezeen gets record traffic and tops five million social media followers in 2019 appeared first on Dezeen.

Made to relieve congestion and illness-related aches and pains, C.O. Bigelow’s herbal soak is packed with willow bark, ginger, eucalyptus and peppermint—a combination that boosts the immune system and clears sinuses. Simply add four to six capfuls to bathwater and settle in. Made with all-natural ingredients, this soak is especially soothing in the colder months.

New Zealand-born Anton Thomas drew maps throughout his childhood but he never received any formal training in cartography—or art, for that matter. While working a brief stint as a cook in Montreal in 2012, the self-taught illustrator started to draw a freehand map of North America (where he had backpacked years earlier) on his apartment fridge which had been painted over in white paint to hide unseemly stains. It became the study for an even more ambitious project that he completed in 2019 after four years and nine months of painstaking work: an epic, four-by-five foot map of the continent filled with colorful narrative and geographic details (h/t Atlas Obscura).

All images courtesy of Anton Thomas

“I started with British Columbia, and when I got to Vancouver, I thought, ‘Wow, it would be pretty cool to draw the Vancouver skyline,’ not really thinking about the precedent you set by drawing one skyline,” he said in a recent interview with Atlas Obscura. “And then I got to Seattle, and Portland, and San Francisco, and onward and onward.”

Thomas began work on the second map in May 2014. In addition to city skylines, the densely-packed map represents local flora, fauna, and other recognizable details. “Content all across the map says things about agriculture, culture, history. I try and be apolitical as possible in the things I represent, but it’s a little hard. Because you’re trying to tell the story of place, and places are complicated.”

During the process, Thomas sometimes shared pictures of areas in progress in the r/MapPorn subreddit—and got some useful criticism. “I drew Dallas, but not Dallas–Fort Worth. The metroplex is a twin-city dynamic. The response to that was savage. I remember distinctly being called a fool. And I was like, ‘Okay, this isn’t your average trolling.'”

Thomas will soon offer prints of his completed work, which should be available for sale later this month.