Hasta La Ideas

The month of May brought with it an influx of innovative and mindblowing tech designs! At Yanko Design, it was surely an exciting month for us, as we came across an array of intriguing designs that left a lasting impression on our minds. Each design broke through some barrier or convention in the tech world, bringing to us unique solutions, improved functionality, and immense value. From the downpour of tech designs that May introduced to us, we’ve curated some of the very best. Not only do these designs address tangible problems, but they also make our lives better, easier, and efficient in their own way. We hope you love these tech trends as much as we did!

In a world where over 40,000 bicyclists die globally each year, the LIVALL EVO21 Smart Bike Helmet is aiming at impacting change by making bicycling smarter and safer. Apart from serving as protection for your head, the LIVALL EVO21 helps other motorists and pedestrians be aware of your presence and helps avoid a collision in the first place. The helmet’s aerodynamic outer shell comes with a built-in wide beam angle front light as well as a super bright 270° rear light and two turn indicators. Controlled by a tiny remote that straps to your handlebar, the lights offer 360° visibility to people around you, allowing them to be aware of your presence as well as of your intentions as you ride. The wide beam-angle headlight offers great visibility by shining a beam of light that’s wide horizontally as well as vertically, allowing oncoming traffic to spot you even if you’re cycling with your head down for better aero dynamism.

No matter how you cut it, the iPhone 13 looks unique – from the front, the back, and even the sides. The bump serves a practical purpose too. For once, the modern iPhone doesn’t have a notch. The iPhone 13 comes with a complete screen, as all the cameras and sensors that enable FaceID to sit on top, within that tiny 3-4 millimeter bump. Looking beyond it, however, the phone comes with speakers on the top as well as the bottom. The camera bump shifts slightly upward too, ensuring it’s perfectly aligned with the raised edge, thanks to the bump. Lastly, the conceptual phone flexes its muscles with its greatest feature yet, the Apple-made M1 chip.

Designed to be extremely portable (they’re just about the size of your thumb) and equipped with unsettlingly fast read and write speeds, portable SSDs like the Rapid SSD are slowly killing cloud subscriptions because they’re A. always accessible anywhere, B. can’t be hacked because they aren’t on the cloud, and C. cheaper than cloud drives, because an SSD is just a one-time purchase, not a monthly subscription. Quite like the SSDs we’ve spoken about here before, the Rapid SSD puts up to 2 terabytes worth of storage right in your pocket. It’s about the size and shape of a pack of chewing gum but takes care of virtually all your storage needs. It also has 3 different ports that let you connect to virtually every device you own, from your smartphone to laptop, and from your tablet to your DSLR… and even your gaming console!

Inspired by living life on the edge and documenting travels along the way, the iCam Pro was conceptualized using top-grade technology fit for the adventure seeker who isn’t about to be held back by limiting camera setbacks. Equipped with Apple’s A12Z Bionic Chip, the concept of iCam Pro boasts lightning-fast feedback and the same power efficiency we’ve all come to expect from Apple. In addition to its ultra-fast microchip, the iCam Pro comes outfitted with LiDAR sensors, an advancement in camera technology that fills out Apple’s camera to take videography to another level. LiDAR sensors essentially use remote sensing to examine the Earth’s surface, and all of its nooks and crannies to deliver photos that are as close to the real thing as you can get from phone cameras.

LetsGoDigital uncovered Xiaomi’s patent for a modular smartphone on the 26th of April and partnered with Jermaine Smit (aka Concept Creator) to bring the patent drawings to life. The phone’s components attach to one another using sliding dovetail joinery, with contact points that allow for communication between modules. Finally, a primary screen snaps on the front, hiding the crease lines and providing a large, bezel-less display. The three modules play a rather interesting role when combined. The upper module houses the camera but also contains the phone’s motherboard. The central module houses the battery, while the third includes the speaker along with the phone’s charging port. Conceptually, the modules would be interchangeable, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you had to switch the phone off prior to swapping parts.

Bose just announced their latest product, the SoundControl Hearing Aids – the first FDA-cleared, direct-to-consumer hearing aid developed for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. They’ll be sold by Bose (as opposed to being available at medical stores) and can be directly purchased, worn, and controlled by the wearer without needing to visit a doctor for a prescription or even an audiologist for a hearing test and professional fitting. The SoundControl hearing aids partner up with the Bose Hear app that gives wearers complete control over their wearables through their smartphone. Using its revolutionary CustomTune technology, the app lets you personalize your hearing experience in under 30 minutes, which Bose says is “a seismic shift from the process required for conventional hearing aids”.

The rumor-mill of a new Apple Watch started back in 2020 when prominent Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo hinted that a new design was in the works and could drop as soon as 2021. Now that we’re well into the year 2021, Prosser’s collaborated with Ian Zelbo to bring rumors and leaks to life in the form of pretty life-like renders. The renders are based on real images and CAD file screenshots supplied to Prosser by his network of sources. In order to protect the sources yet still share the designs with everyone, Prosser and Ian created these renders to show us exactly what they saw, and it seems like Apple is really beginning to streamline their design language. The ‘magical slab of glass’ analogy seemed to work really well for the iPad and its flat-edge design language finally carried onto the iPhone 12 last year and the iMac this year. According to the renders, the Apple Watch is getting a similar design upgrade with flat sides as opposed to the rounded ones, giving its screen a larger-than-life presence with minimal bezel interference.

The Zen Garden speaker captures the minimalistic element of a Japanese garden by mimicking the repetitive patterns you find in the sand there. As a bonus, the rock on the top of the speaker doubles as a volume control know. The speaker boasts of a diffused white light that shines underneath the speaker and under the pebble/volume knob, amplifying the overall tranquility of the design. Music is known for its ability to help us transport ourselves to another space. We don’t need visuals, but we always need music to work on our mood. The Zen Garden speaker brings the visuals to help you meditate, or even take you through the streets of Kyoto, wandering as we feel that balance of tradition and modernity in one tiny little package guaranteed to look great even when not in use.

The Z Fold Tab concept takes on the avatar of a folding device with an outward screen. Although, unlike the Huawei Mate X or any of Royole’s Flexpai devices, the Z Fold Tab comes with two hinges on its massive screen, creating a novel folding format that has a rather interesting set of pros as well as cons. In its closed mode, the Z Fold Tab can obviously be used as a regular smartphone (albeit being slightly thicker) with a waterfall display on both left and right edges thanks to the folding screens (this obscures the volume and power buttons, but those could easily be translated to the screen via force-touch like in the Vivo Apex 2019). However, unfold the screens on either side and you have yourself a larger tablet.

The Snapods by Scendo are a pair of TWS Earbuds that come with a flat case that snaps right to the back of your phone. Building wonderfully on the capabilities of the MagSafe feature introduced in the latest iPhones, the Snapods make carrying earphones convenient. Just snap them to the back of your phone and you’ve got yourself a pair of earphones that are easy to store, quick to access, and hard to lose. The case’s design is inspired directly by where it’s located. Made to sit against the back of your phone, the Snapods case comes with a flat, wedge-shaped profile, making it easy to slip your phone into your pocket. The slim case doesn’t just dock the earphones, it charges them too, giving you an impressive 45 hours of playtime.

A hydroponic system is far better at growing plants without the use of soil by using a mixture of water and nutrients. Even better it can be used to grow herbs, veggies, and plants with the minimum amount of maintenance. Ideal for modern homes and apartments – hydroponic farming brings the goodness of therapeutic wellness to our busy lives. While more extensive hydroponic systems are being offered for homes, industrial designer Lautaro Lucero has germinated the idea of something simpler. He has conceptualized the Palto Hydroponic Pot that reuses old glass goblets to grow avocado.

Lautaro accidentally broke the bottom half of his glass goblet, and his basic instinct was to make something out of it. The big volume and the beautiful color of the goblet intrigued him to awaken the designer inside him, and hence the Palto Hydroponic Pot was born. The beauty of this concept is its practicability – anyone at home can take the design cues from Lautaro’s blueprint and recycle their broken or old goblet into a hydroponic planter. The creation not only germinates avocado right in your living room but looks so aesthetically pleasing. The mesmerizing caustic effect of the light refracting, as you see the plant germinate.

The open mouth of the glass goblet ensures maximum airflow for proper growth while the bottom half supports the glass in place. The hydroponic pot is so well designed you instantly want to buy one right away. Since this project is still not in the production phase, and just a prototype one-off creation for now – the next best thing is to create one of your own as a nice weekend DIY project.

Designer: Lautaro Lucero of Uido Design Studio

Dezeen promotion: Italian ceramics company Marazzi has released a collection of porcelain tiles with hand-painted designs and small irregularities that create an authentic look.

The tiles are painted in a palette of whites and blues, designed to give interiors “vibrancy” and a “welcoming mood”.

The Crogiolo Rice collection is informed by thick-glazed majolica tiles, resulting in a lustrous “glossy” finish. They come in either block colours or decorated with nature-inspired motifs.

Each tile has minor flaws: pitting, irregularities and smears, adding to their authenticity and making the pieces unique.

“Around the edges, some tiles have grainy, sugary surfaces, or chipping, for an even more vibrant effect when installed on walls, with minimal joints thanks to the rectified edges,” said Marazzi.

Crogiolo is the name of the factory where the brand was born. Rice is one range in the Crogiolo collection which aims to reflect the company’s ongoing research into technological innovation, craft, colours and glazes that determine their handmade designs.

“Marazzi’s latest research in the area of industrial craftsmanship has led to the rediscovery of the beauty of authentic, colourful, decorated ceramics in collections with a handmade flavour, created by combining craft skills with industrial technology,” said the brand.

The straight-edged tiles come in three sizes: 15 by 15, five by 15 and 7.5 by 20 centimetres.

“The very subtle changes in colour tone, shadowing, chiaroscuro effects and imperceptible variations in concave-convex form, with minimal hollows and sudden, equally small, bulges in the material,” said Marazzi. “All ensure that no two modules are identical.”

As part of Marazzi’s design heritage, there are a series of booklets developed in the 1980s called Il Crogiolo that records the company’s story and includes 112 projects illustrating its decorative techniques.

The resource includes photographs, sketches, and comments by potters and designers that are “still a source of inspiration of the company’s product development today”.

More information about the tiles and their applications can be found on Marazzi’s website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Marazzi as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Marazzi unveils Crogiolo Rice handmade tile collection appeared first on Dezeen.

Dedication, disciple, and determination – The wizarding world has its 3 Ds, and these are the human world Ds to keep you healthy and fit in life. Building muscles takes a lot of dedication, and attention to detail must be on point to prevent workout injury. Waist supporting belt (a.k.a. back support belt) is the Holy Grail for heavy weight lifters and even everyday fitness enthusiasts who hit the gymnasium as a part of their dedicated healthy lifestyle. For exercises that involve the movement of the upper back, lower back, and lumbar spine – protective back support is crucial. So isn’t it time that the good old back supporting belt gets a smart avatar?

Industrial designer SangWoon Kim has reimagined the traditional waist support belt as a smart wearable to protect the lumbar spine better. Basically, it functions like any standard belt to compress the waist and isolate our breathing patterns. The striking difference is the ability to tighten the belt automatically, depending on the intensity of the workout and the user’s breathing pattern. Kim calls it the BIND.CO belt and this workout accessory comes in handy for any exercise mode and intensity. The innovation will be godsent for beginners who are still learning about the exact tightening of the belt needed for their workout. Thanks to the embedded sensors, the smart belt tightens during exercise and loosens at the time of rest between activities.

BIND.CO can be easily attached or detached by pushing the side clip of the front module. The power button controls the start/rest of the exercise by detecting the user’s athletic position. The belt has a position recognition function that notifies about any body movement instability via subtle vibrations to ensure the pressure distribution during the workout is optimized. This feature is an excellent plus since most of the long-term injuries result from imbalanced posture while performing a particular exercise.

To top it all, the wearable’s bolt is much slimmer than traditional back support belts. Would a fitness enthusiast be enticed by this concept design? Yes, as it brings a whole new dimension to an optimized workout regime – especially for intense back, shoulder, and thighs workouts!

Designer: SangWoon Kim

There’s one skill that has been successfully added to my repertoire of skills during this pandemic – and it is cooking! From a chore that I completely avoided, cooking has now become a therapeutic activity for me. I discovered an inner chef within me while baking banana bread, and concocting some Dalgona coffee! I do believe many other hidden chefs had a similar awakening as me during this pandemic. To encourage and motivate all the inner chefs within us, we’ve curated a collection of kitchen appliances that promise to transform cooking from a Herculean feat to an enjoyable and fun process! These products can reduce your prep time in half, make the little cooking tasks much easier, and help you with tedious and complicated techniques. They make cooking effortless and easy. Enjoy!

Turner designed Carnerie – a conceptual device that will let you grow your own meat in the future! Cultured meat is the process of growing meat from cells extracted from animals. Many experts believe that cultured meat offers us the opportunity to produce meat with significantly reduced environmental impacts and without slaughtering animals. The technology is being rapidly developed across the world and is beginning to be introduced to some high-end restaurants but there has been discussion about whether one day we may be able to grow our own meat from animal cells in our own kitchens. Carnerie is a ‘grow your own meat’ device for around twenty years in the future. It is controlled by an app, whereby the user is able to order cell capsules from local farms in order to grow a variety of different types of meat.

Food One was designed for young people living in cities who don’t have either the time or skill set for cooking multiple meals throughout the day. Beginning early 2020, the pandemic’s quarantine orders forced many of us out of restaurant booths and into our kitchens to cook our own meals. Fully integrated with smart technology, Food One operates as a classic smart assistant, with Bluetooth connectivity and app compatibility to connect to your smartphone or other smart devices. After connecting to Food One’s app, users can choose from a long list of available recipes suitable for cooking with the smart wok. Alternatively, those who enjoy cooking can upload their own recipes to Food One’s app for others to learn and follow.

Designed by Designer Dot, BO-ON is more than just your ordinary rice cooker! This multifunctional electric rice cooker features a double-layered cauldron, so the rice tastes as if it were cooked in a traditional iron pot. The cooker can also be used to prepare frozen dumplings and other ready-to-eat food items. This is due to a hot plate on the top section of the rice cooker. An accompanying app alerts you when your food is ready, so your food isn’t left stale and forgotten in the appliance.

The Open Suite Cooker Hood by Fabrizio Crisa for Elica is designed to keep in mind modern styling requirements and, most of all, modularity to bring out the most in everyday practical usage. The Open Suite merges a hood, a large LED light panel, modular shelving units along with a voice assistant integration that provides feedback on filter maintenance and overall system management. The unit is tailored for all your modern needs – the modular structure of the hood brings flexibility in how you actually want to set up the function and complement it with the visual appeal. This freedom comes courtesy of the 80 cm/160 cm modules that join in endless configurations depending on the user’s requirements and personal taste. 

The Dreamfarm Chopula Chopping Sit Up Spatula is a handy tool that can be used to flip and chop food! The flexible product allows you to flip pancakes, steaks, and more with ease. You can then use Chopula itself to chop or slice through those very pancakes and steaks. The multi-curved design of its head reaches the trickiest corners of the pan without any tussle. Available in a variety of color options, this thin little tool is definitely niftier and mightier than it seems!

Brava’s Purelight Countertop Oven uses light as an energy source to cook delicious food at home. Employing the proprietary Pure Light Technology, this oven reaches 500 Fahrenheit in less than a second! The Pure Light Lamps ensure that the food is cooked by utilizing lesser energy than you would need to even preheat a traditional oven. Equipped with multiple zones, the oven can cook different food items at different temperatures. This is the future of ovens!

We need to have the next refrigerator evolution in the form of Venine – a design conceptualized by industrial designer You-jin Syn. The idea is simple – preserve the core function of the refrigerator – but with the infusion of a design overhaul and added features. The motive is to make it convenient for a single-person household in the smallest footprint possible without compromising on the inherent function of the appliance. Syn’s concept germinates from the need for young apartment dwellers to have a smart and convenient way to gulp down quick meals without much fuzz. Rather than taking all the eatables out of the refrigerator and onto the dining table, Venine brings the possibility of dining on the refrigerator counter.

This kitchen appliance is for the Star Wars fans! The Star Wars Two Slice Stormtrooper Toaster looks exactly like a Stormtrooper. You can slide in two pieces of bread into the toaster, or even buns, waffles, English muffins, and pastries. Once toasted, the food will pop out with the Galactic Empire logo directly on it. Pretty cool, no? This one is a must-have for sci-fi lovers.

The Miso Robotics Flippy Robot is the kitchen assistant we all need! It’s especially handy if you own a commercial kitchen, and need that extra help. The robot can work for 100,000 hours continuously. Once it has been programmed, the AI assistant works automatically by itself, without requiring any assistance or help from you. Although, you can always control the robot and customize its setting via its control screen. I, for one, would love to have a cooking assistant, but I do believe the Miso Robotics Flippy Robot would be more ideal for large-scale kitchens!

The uniquely flexible Trebonn Roll mat is made of two parts. Individual vertical strips made from a knife-friendly polymer, connected together by a flexible, food-grade, dishwasher-friendly silicone mat. The silicone is responsible for the mat’s hinges, and magnetic closure at one end lets you snap the mat shut in place. Open it out and the mat unfolds to reveal a flat cutting surface… just make sure your knife-work isn’t parallel to the silicone hinges (you don’t want to accidentally cut the hinges through and through). Once you’re done cutting and chopping, the mat’s flexible design makes it easy to collect all your chopped bits and pour them into your crockpot, saucepan, skillet, or mixing bowl.

For more such innovative and functional kitchen appliances, check out Part 1 of this post!