Hasta La Ideas

COVID-19 has turned all of us into homebodies – irrespective of whether we were originally one or not. Since we spend most of our time at home, our mind automatically hones in on maintaining and taking the best care of our home. At least it does for me, once I wrap up my work! And a couple of innovative and unique home appliances can really help us with this. If you’re in a mood to Marie Kondo your home, or simply want to complete your chores easily and efficiently, these handy appliances will perfectly assist you in doing so. From a washer + dehumidifier that doesn’t steam up your house and effortlessly merges with it, to an intriguing toaster-inspired dishwasher – we have curated a whole range of nifty gadgets that promise to be the ultimate sidekick during your cleaning expeditions at home. Enjoy!

Laundry is one of the most disliked chores and so it is no surprise to me that many of us just let the clothes be in the basket till we run out of fresh underwear. It may not be stinky or filthy, but it is certainly not the most hygienic practice because you are lettings the bacteria from the clothes spill into the air around you. Also, if you don’t air out your washing machine after using it, it can lead to molds and malfunctioning of the appliance. Keeping all these details in mind, designer Kikang Kim created Drawsher which is a sanitary machine that functions as a laundry basket and a washing machine. You’ll notice that it also looks good unlike any washing machine you’ve seen before, and that is because Kim has based the design on a modern dresser that optimizes space and blends well with your interiors. Drawsher ups your laundry game functionally and aesthetically – say goodbye to hours of sorting clothes, dealing with excessive humidity when it runs a cycle, smelly mold, and appliance upkeep.

Robotic vacuums are not new news but Everybot Edge is a home appliance that works for both wet and dry cleaning of hard floors. And if you want to feel like you’ve put in some work then simply switch to the handheld mode and get into the crevices. One of the most interesting features is that this vacuum maneuvers without wheels. It runs on two round, rotating microfibre pads, which are driven by two separate motors; so the robot cleans the floor while moving – similar to when I stepped on two kitchen towels and walked around the space-eating snacks while telling my mom I was cleaning. The best part is you don’t need a dry pad and a wet pad (like Swiffers) because the two containers in the vacuum constantly supply the pads with water. Call this robotic vacuum Hannah Montana because it is the best of both worlds.

A team of Seoul-based designers has conceptualized and designed a modular WFH appliance called Fot to help get those chores and rituals done during the workday. They developed Fot so that once that final work project is submitted, the workday is done, including housework. Fot comes in four parts and leans on a modular design to function as a charging station, vacuum cleaner, air diffuser, timer, and mood operator. Whenever a user chooses to step away from WFH duties to begin some household chores, Fot can turn into a free-roaming vacuum cleaner operated wirelessly with the ring-shaped remote. Similar to walking a dog with a leash, users only have to hold and steer the remote to indicate where they’d like the vacuum module to clean. Alternatively, Fot can be used as a meditative air diffuser simply by placing the ring-shaped remote on top of the diffuser module to activate the module’s mist function.

Designed to be a sustainable appliance, the Addition by Heewoong Chai is a multi-type refrigerator system that up-sizes on demand. This fridge makes clever use of being modular by allowing you to add components like a water purifier, oven, etc. making it a holistic solution in the kitchen. What I love about the design is the clever use of technology via an app, to help control key features like temperature vs content and status on the food item stored – for example, expiry date, freshness, etc. In essence, each module can be temperature controlled individually, thus creating various customized zones for the food within. Another cool inclusion is the ability to change the door orientation – what I mean by this is that you can change the hinges to open the fridge from the left or the right side.

The Hide Washing Machine, as its name suggests, features a hiding door that helps it occupy a little less space when in use. In the event that your washing machine’s door ends up blocking a pathway if opened, or colliding with a pillar/wall/door, the Hide allows you to simply circumvent that problem by tucking the door right into the machine’s body. This results in a marginally wider machine, but here’s where user behavior comes into play… people usually buy machines after comparing measurements with their laundry rooms, but they don’t always account for the washing machine’s door and how it opens. The Hide’s door opens like any normal one, but then immediately slides into itself, freeing up your passageway so you can walk around and go about your laundry.

The Dishwasher. The must-have kitchen appliance for the time-conscious and lazy home-occupiers alike. However, justifying the loss of valuable space and the increase in water-bill that comes with them is sometimes a little tricky… especially when you live in a place that is on the smaller side! This was the motive that led to the creation of Toasher, the portable dishwasher for limited living spaces. Toasher utilizes a method of interaction that has been lifted from another kitchen appliance, the toaster. The dirty items are lowered into the stainless steel tank, where an ultrasonic transducer agitates the dirt and separates it from the dishes. Add-ons elevate Toasher’s functionality even further; with the modular peg-board that can be attached to the rear of the unit, to expanding the amount of storage that it can hold, and allowing it to be used as an item of furniture as well as just a kitchen appliance!

Heaters usually make the air in any room dry and arid which can cause dry eyes, sore throat, and colds – not the best when you are sick, getting chills and all you want to do is feel the warmth. Heattle creates a balance by maintaining the humidity in the air at a recommended 40-60% which is healthier for you and also keeps the room warm for a longer period of time thus saving energy (we all know how the electric bill shoots up in winter)! The inspiration for its form was the visual of a warm kettle on a cold winter day and Heattle manages to radiate that exact emotion through its design. It not only heats the room but also creates an emotional connection to the product itself. The three settings of Heattle are Warming, Heating, and Humidify. Warm keeps your room warm without the hot wind. Heating adopts a high-efficiency PTC ceramic wire which lets it heat much faster without any pre-heating time. It also reduces dryness because it heats the cold air without burning oxygen. Humidify provides heated humidification without any bacterial concerns.

S2VICTOR designed a collection of intact IoT home appliances, called Animal Land, to resemble different animals, bringing in some lighthearted fun into this seemingly endless pandemic. In order to convey an ecosystem’s natural and simple life cycles, the Animal Land collection consists of a giraffe-shaped router, a whale-shaped diffuser, and a home speaker shaped to resemble a turtle. All three of the home appliances are connected with one another through smart home technology and can be separately managed with an accompanying app.

UVClean is a simple and innovative design that can help reduce the germs we come in contact with! While you wash your hands, the appliance will also disinfect your phone so all that scrubbing and precautions you are taking do not go to waste. Appliances like UVClean can help people feel safe in public places again as we adjust to life during and after this pandemic. Designers had to make sure that the product can be seamlessly integrated into the contactless environment while taking the new hygiene standards seriously. Simply put your smartphone in the capsule while you wash your hands and UVClean will disinfect it. After washing your hands you can dry them on the sides of the appliance before taking your phone out. The appliance also uses a HEPA filter inside.

Supporting you in your eating-clean habit is the Mizzle, a smart aeroponic appliance that helps you grow microgreens. This smart cultivator comes with three compartments, one for the germination process (a little dark and humid place), and two for the growth and harvesting process. What I like about the design is that it not only grows the greens for you efficiently but also makes the cultivation process engaging and exciting for the user. You can track the progress via an app on the mobile and also get alerts with regards to water levels in the tank. Going the extra mile, the app also helps you with recipes that help you make use of the microgreens. New seed pads and additional trays can also be bought, to expand your garden.

Designed as the conceptual successor to the Athena rescue truck which made its first appearance at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, the Mitsubishi Fuso Vision I.RQ and HeliDroid were designed to be your best chance at surviving a calamity. The I.RQ is an advanced, fully equipped rescue truck that’s designed to work on a variety of terrains… and for the places where it can’t reach immediately, it has its own rescue drone that can perform reconnaissance missions for it.

The I.RQ and HeliDroid work in tandem to perform highly specialized rescue missions. The rescue truck itself sits on a modular chassis, allowing the upper cabin to be attached to various types of platforms for different terrain. The model shown in the images above and below comes outfitted with Mecanum wheels that allow it to move in any direction and even rotate on its own axis for flexible mobility. “The styling gives the surfaces a lot of volume as a progressive look into what is considered tough. This results in a more simplified design by also keeping surface interaction of various shapes very fluid. As this is an autonomous vehicle, we use our black belt concept, which continues to the side, to enclose the radars and an illuminated FUSO logo”, says lead-designer Tanay Patel.

The I.RQ’s most interesting feature is its companion drone, which can help locate victims in dense or difficult-to-reach areas. The drone is deployed in emergency scenarios to rapidly locate and pinpoint victims by scanning the terrain. Equipped with big rotors for vertical lift and electric ducted fans for horizontal flight, the drone can carry as much as 10 liters of supplies and cargo to victims. It even comes with its own onboard AI assistant which interacts with victims through its anthropomorphized face-display, providing a sense of comfort to them in moments of distress and letting them know that help’s on the way. When the HeliDroid locates and identifies the victim and drops off its emergency supplies/cargo, it makes its way back to the I.RQ truck, which opens up to transform into a landing pad for the drone. “Our aim is to create a benchmark for ourselves with designs like these so we can apply some of these design cues to the next generation of production vehicles”, Tanay told Yanko Design.

Designers: Tanay Patel, Benoit Tallec, Tsuchide Satoshi, Ryoko Kurosu and Diego Santos

Bresslergroup and Delve, two leading American design and innovation consulting firms, have just announced plans to merge and form a new partner company within the portfolio of Dallas-based private equity firm Trinity Hunt Partners. The move expands the firms’ collective capabilities to deliver increasingly innovative solutions for clients and to create a world-class place for staff to explore and grow as professionals.

The history of design firm acquisition by management consulting, engineering or manufacturing firms is filled with stories of mismatches in corporate culture and project focus. This has led to some less than successful pairings, and often times is hard on the internal staff of the newly acquired company. The management team at Bresslergroup was keenly aware of this history and not eager to fall into that same trap. Finding partners with this same vision was a challenge, and is one of the keys to making an effort like this work.

“Bresslergroup and Delve bring similar backgrounds, philosophies, and approaches to the way we run our businesses, and our common ground and shared growth objectives position us well as we further expand our capabilities,” said Bresslergroup Managing Partner Andrew Weiman. “This combination of our businesses is a great opportunity to further establish Bresslergroup and Delve as leaders in our field and we are excited to have partnered with a like-minded, culture-oriented firm in Trinity Hunt.”

As full-service innovation consulting firms, both companies have extensive experience in new product definition, design and development, from initial strategy through implementation. Both have a shared respect for the product design and development process, offering a full suite of research, strategy, design, and engineering services. The new firm will have locations in Philadelphia, Madison, WI, Boston and San Francisco.

The approach of Trinity Hunt in bringing together two leading organizations to create a bigger, better entity while preserving what originally made them great is a smart one. The new company will be able to better compete for hard-to-hire talent and will have an expanded offering to grow their collective client base. For these two, now one firm the future looks bright indeed.

Article thumbnail photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash

Architecture office Leckie Studio and design agency Aruliden have released designs for a series of mirrored structures that will be built in a forest in Ontario, Canada.

Called Arcana, the secluded cabin rentals will be built in an area of woodland two hours north of Toronto.

Their exact location is being kept secret and will only be revealed to guests once they have booked. With their reflective outer walls, the cabins have been designed to merge into the landscape.

Leckie Studio and Aruliden plan to build the cabins with a wooden frame and cladding covered in sheets of polished stainless steel.

Each cabin’s interior will be lined with pine and feature floor-to-ceiling windows by the sleeping area.

The 275-square-foot buildings are designed to be almost invisible in the deciduous forest, allowing guests to feel as close to nature as possible.

The metal cladding will offer a slightly distorted reflection to prevent birds from being hurt by accidentally flying into it.

“As a brand that’s rooted in respecting the power and beauty of nature, it’s been a priority to design our structures so that they aren’t a hazard to birds and other creatures that reside in Arcana’s habitat,” Leckie Studio and Aruliden told Dezeen.

“It’s difficult to distinguish in the artist renderings, but the reflective cladding is an imperfect mirrored surface, which is naturally a deterrent to birds.”

“Additionally, we are applying film to all reflective surfaces that is unnoticeable to the human eye but can allow birds to identify the cabin as an object in the landscape,” they added.

The cabins will have electricity and running water, but the designers have created an off-grid version that they could build in more remote locations in the future.

“To ease the transition from the hinterland to the heartland, we’ve designed them with basic luxuries, such as electricity and running water,” said Leckie Studio and Aruliden.

“There’s a contemporary kitchen, a custom-built fire pit with grill situated on the private deck for all-weather alfresco cooking, and a private bathroom with a rainfall showerhead, and a carefully curated selection of amenities supplied from Sangre de Fruita.”

Guests will be able to access the cabins with a contactless check-in, and the site will include facilities such as a sauna.

Tours of the 15 kilometres of wooded hiking trails around the cabins will be available, including foraging expeditions and guided forest bathing. Forest bathing, or Shinrin-yoku, is a Japanese health practice that combines mindfulness and walking amongst trees.

Construction is due to begin on the Arcana cabins later this year.

Vancouver-based Leckie Studio is also the founder of a company that makes flat-pack wilderness huts.

More mirrored buildings that blend in with nature include an off-grid cabin in Mexico and a hotel in China made from 18 mirrored cabins on a mountainside.

Images courtesy of Aruliden.

The post Arcana mirrored cabins will blend into the forest in Canada appeared first on Dezeen.

Google unveiled their redesigned Android 12 operating system at this week’s I/O 2021 developer conference, which runs through tomorrow. Visually speaking, they’re sticking with the flat design approach, but have moved away from the vibrant, in-your-face colors of Android 11 and adopted softer, more pastel hues for the presentation:

Of course, you’ll be able to customize the color palette to whatever you’d like, but the presented tones reveal the more subtle and refined direction the Android team is pursuing. If you want to try it out yourself, they’ve just released the first Beta, which you can sign up for if you’ve got an eligible device.