Smart glasses are the most practical wearables when it comes to your daily style statement. Compared to current generation AR headsets that are bulky, smart glasses are feasible and the buck only stops at how much tech can be fitted inside the compact frames keeping the overall weight down and form factor indistinguishable from a regular pair.

The idea has gone mainstream in the last year or so with Ray-Ban Meta and OPPO coming on board the bandwagon. The latter brought AI-capable Air Glass 3 to the industry in the early half of this year, and Solos has now upped the ante. They’ve revealed a smarter pair of wearables that are the world’s first to have OpenAI’s latest generative AI.

Designer: Solos

This is the AirGo Vision, the next iteration of the AirGo 3 glasses. Powered by OpenAI’s latest ChatGPT-4o, the wearable is also compatible with Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude models. You can expect hands-free operation aided by voice commands to answer any queries or provide real-time inputs for things like reading foreign language hoardings or getting assistance for city directions. The latter is aided by the latest versions of the GPT-4o and generative AI applications, first for any smart glasses. In essence, the glasses will be a visual extension of search information and bring interactive features to make them wantable.

The wearer can capture pictures hands-free and instantly inquire about information. Solos is also giving the option for swapping the main frame with a secondary one that doesn’t have any front camera. Yes, unlike other smart glasses, this one has the camera lens embedded in the arms, instead of the frame. This swap comes in handy for places where a more formal style is acceptable. To keep the wearer aware of any important notifications or calls, there are flashing LED indicators on the frame.

Solos hasn’t yet revealed details about the specific release date or the price, but we can safely assume they’ll cost more than $250.

The post Solos AirGo Vision are the world’s first ChatGPT-4o powered smart glasses for interactive input first appeared on Yanko Design.

Cobalt blue surfaces line this bar and restaurant in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, designed by Brooklyn-based Studio Omar Aqeel as a “retro-futuristic oasis”.

On the corner of East Houston and Allen streets, Only Love Strangers is a two-level cocktail lounge, restaurant and live-music venue that draws influences from 1960s and 70s surrealism.

Studio Omar Aqeel blended references ranging from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey movie and Eileen Gray’s E-1027 villa to the sculptures of Alexander Calder for the interiors.

“A site of sensory fantasy – especially for discerning creatives – Only Love Strangers boasts a unique aesthetic that encourages endless discovery,” said the team.

Guests who enter the 6,300-square-foot (585-square-metre) space are greeted at a cantilevered, brushed-aluminium host stand.

Straight ahead, through an arched opening, is a bar area enveloped in floor-to-ceiling cobalt blue tiles with blue grouting.

A brushed-aluminium bar counter has rounded ends echoed by a light fixture above, and industrial-style bar stools provide seating for seven.

Banquettes are upholstered in Verner Panton‘s 1969 Black and White Optik textile, adding space for eight more guests.

In the main dining space, left of the entrance, the walls are covered in earthy limewash that contrasts the bright blue cushions of built-in seats.

“Here, a voyeuristic egress allows guests to peek into the subterranean lounge, while domed dining niches with blue crescent-shaped booths provide a more intimate dining atmosphere,” the team said.

The private dining space for up to 10 guests is decorated with a wall-to-wall, hand-painted mural inspired by the Bauhaus abstract grid.

With its own entrance, this space includes Ant chairs by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, a vintage Makio Hasuike for Seccose metro dining table, and Maru pendant lighting by Ingo Maurer.

Cobalt blue reappears across the basement-level lounge, where almost every surface is dressed in the bold hue.

Aluminium accents continue in this space too, along with a variety of playful lights that add a warm glow to the cool-toned space.

Pieces by New York-based artists and designers can be found throughout Only Love Strangers, including Max Simon, Blue Green Works, Yuyu Shiratori, Nico Anon, Superabundance, Gregory Beson, Adriana Gallo, Ash Allen, and Lucas Willing Studios.

The lounge also offers a live music program of local jazz talent in the evenings.

The lively Lower East Side neighbourhood is packed with bars and restaurants, such as Italian spot Una Pizza Napoletana with “deco meets industrial” interiors.

Boutiques that have recently opened in the area include the Le Père menswear store by BoND and the Awake NY streetwear shop by Rafael de Cárdenas.

The photography is by Ori Harpaz.

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Although announced back in 2020, the Flipper Zero didn’t become a cult object up until 2022 when it gained popularity among the pentesting community for being able to ‘hack’ into various everyday items. Governments and online retailers immediately panicked, attempting to ban or stop the sale of the Flipper Zero – a harmless game-inspired pentesting device… while the community that helped popularize the Flipper Zero had a valid counter-argument. If exposing the digital vulnerability of everyday objects like traffic lights, cars, air conditioners, or smart homes was so easy, is it really the Flipper Zero’s fault for pointing it out?

Old mobile phones like the Siemens C55 served as references. The orange color was taken from the Siemens C55 screen because of its nostalgic warmth.

Envisioned as a Tamagotchi that let you explore the world of electronics, the Flipper Zero is a tiny, handheld, versatile device that lets you play games, test electronics, build powerful devices, and even penetration-test gadgets around you. The product gained a cult following in 2022 when videos on TikTok showed how it could be used to clone RFID cards, tap into WiFi networks, and get into all sorts of mischief. That’s similar to having an outcry over hairpins because they open locks… or sellotape because it picks up fingerprints. Needless to say, the Flipper Zero sold out almost immediately, and I spent a good year and a half searching for a device of my own on eBay and Etsy. I finally got my hands on one last month, and even got in touch with the folks who built the Flipper Zero. Beyond asking them the obvious questions that every publication already had, we dove into the Flipper Zero’s approach, its design brief, and most importantly, its design process.

A view of the GPIO pins on the top for attaching newer modules

The IR blaster on the side, and the iButton reader/writer

The minute you understand the Flipper Zero’s origin story, its design makes a world of sense. It was envisioned in 2020 to help develop a more common interest in technology, cybersecurity, and electronics. Existing products in this domain were just way too complicated and boring – they had ultra-utilitarian designs, bare-basic aesthetics, wires, soldering, and they looked like something that would come out of an engineer’s workshop. This was in contrast to what sci-fi movies had us believe. Minority Report, Tron, The Matrix, Bladerunner, every movie showed a more concept-art-driven product future, but existing ‘hacker’ devices looked nothing like the ones we were used to seeing in movies. This was a great starting point for the folks at Flipper, who wanted to create a device that A. paid homage to decades of sci-fi films, and B. was the electronic equivalent of an EDC multitool – compact, multifunctional, awesome. “In a Swiss army knife, you have a blade, corkscrew, screwdriver, ruler, scissors, etc., all in one tool. The idea of the Flipper Zero was to combine all the hardware tools you’d need for exploration and development on the go,” the Flipper team told Yanko Design. “Flipper Zero has a 125 kHz or Sub-1 GHz antenna, CC1101 chip, built-in NFC module, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support, 1-Wire connector to read iButton contact keys, infrared transmitter, and a microSD card slot. All in a toy-like body.” Moreover, despite all these features, the Flipper Zero came with GPIO handles on the top that let you explore the device’s open-source nature by adding PCB hardware and exploring even more features and capabilities.

Flipper Zero development process

The Flipper Zero’s design is actually pure genius if you look at how much they’ve managed to squeeze into a product that small. Yes, I did ask them whether they considered making something with a touchscreen, or something phone-like, but the Tamagotchi approach seemed to be the most convenient route – it was uncomplicated, and could be done without expensive OLED displays and other hardware. Ultimately, it did lend to the Flipper Zero’s overall charm, with its monochrome orange screen that was a hat-tip to the Siemens C55. “We went through several design iterations to achieve this functionality and look, constantly overcoming challenges in electronics design, component limitations, and multiple antenna designs,” the Flipper team mentioned. “For example, the first version of the hardware used an off-the-shelf main PCB, but we eventually decided to design our own. This gave us more freedom and flexibility regarding the shape and form of the device while also giving us more control over the supply chain and costs.”

Inspiration moodboard for the Flipper Zero’s Cyberpunk Design

The entire device is nothing without its mascot, the cyberpunk dolphin that forms the essence of the Flipper Zero’s experience. It functions quite literally as a Tamagotchi, growing and being happier and happier the more you explore the device’s features and play with the product. The idea of using the dolphin existed way back in the beginning, and you could think of the product’s shape as somewhat resembling a dolphin’s flipper too, albeit with sharper, cyberpunk-ish edges. The team told us, “The main inspiration was William Gibson’s cyber-dolphin Jones, from Johnny Mnemonic, who had a dark biography and could do very dangerous things. Our dolphin is a quirky, queer, and enthusiastic but simple and nice guy at the same time. We wanted to create a character that you’d want to be friends with.” The dolphin’s persona received a lot of design experimentation as it essentially was to serve as the product’s mascot, guiding you through the features, exploring uncharted electronic territories with you, and forming a codependent bond that allows you to get more and more familiar with and attached to your Flipper Zero. You loved your Game Boy because of all the Pokemon you caught, grew, and evolved on it – the same would apply to the Flipper Zero.

Sketches of in-house modules for the Flipper Zero

However, as a non-hacker myself (and with no coding background), owning a Flipper Zero was still quite an interesting experience. The interface immediately felt familiar to a guy who grew up on Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones, and the internet is FILLED with documentation and tutorials that allow folks like me to figure out how to use the Flipper Zero. For now, I’m proud to say that I managed to clone my buddy’s car key fob and can open her doors remotely. All done with consent, though. The device also allows me to save RFID cards, NFC codes, and even be prankish enough to change channels on televisions or control air conditioners using the infrared function. All these are gradual steps, and the interface makes it exceptionally simple to navigate. You can even play games on the Flipper Zero like Solitaire, Doom, Pong, Snake, and Tetris. Additionally, you can set a Pomodoro timer or metronome, check the nearest weather station, or encrypt a message to your friend using Caesar Cipher or Morse code apps. For anything else, there’s a burgeoning Flipper community that routinely explores everything the Flipper Zero has to offer, discussing new features, writing new lines of code, or creating new apps. After all, with more than half a million devices sold, there’s clearly a massive sub-culture of loyal Flipper Zero users ready to tinker with anything they find, just the way our parents were encouraged to take a screwdriver and pull apart objects so they could learn how to repair them. It’s an art that seems lost on our generation, especially with how complicated devices have gotten, and how ruthless companies are when it comes to creating terms and conditions that prevent us from looking under the hoods of the gadgets we own.

The Flipper Zero is just the beginning, though. Given the movement it stands for, and the resounding success of their flagship device, Flipper’s team is just getting started. They’re continuously working on new modules that can be attached to the Flipper Zero, giving it even more powerful new features… and yes, there’s a Flipper One in the works, although they’re pretty hush-hush about it right now!

Limited-edition transparent version of the Flipper Zero

The post Flipper Zero Behind The Scenes: How a group of enthusiasts designed the ‘perfect’ ethical hacking toy first appeared on Yanko Design.

For our latest lookbook, we’ve collected living rooms that feature sculptural furniture in homes from São Paulo to London.

An undulating sofa, a lamp made from towering columns and a wiggly chair are among the sculptural furniture pieces in this lookbook, which showcases how they can be used to add more interest to living rooms.

In pared-back interiors, these furniture designs can add a playful touch and make the rooms feel more special, while also giving them a gallery-like feel.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring rooms dominated by dark-wood furniture, well-designed hallways and contemporary green bathrooms.

Gale Apartment, Brazil, by Memola Estudio

Local firm Memola Estudio renovated this São Paulo apartment with a combined living-and-dining area containing furniture in earthy hues.

Among the sculptural pieces used are a low, pill-shaped coffee table with a decorative indentation and cosy, velvet-clad lounge chairs.

Find out more about Gale Apartment ›

Haussmann apartment, France, by Hauvette & Madani

The interior of this Parisian apartment in a Haussmann building (above and main photo) was created by design studio Hauvette & Madani to have a gallery-like feel, inspired by the owner’s art collection.

In the living room, two slow-slung curved sofas add a sculptural touch and are complemented by round chairs and tables.

Find out more about Haussmann apartment ›

London townhouse, UK, by Tabitha Isobel

A stylish metal chair with a graphic fabric adds design interest to the living room of this London townhouse, where it matches a mushroom-shaped steel lamp.

A textured painting in earthy tones hangs above the home’s marble green fireplace, while small sculptures add to the decorative atmosphere.

Find out more about London townhouse ›

DN Apartment, Brazil, by BC Arquitetos

The living room of this 230-square-metre apartment has a Petala table by designer Jorge Zalszupin that functions as a sculptural centrepiece.

A velvet sofa and chairs with polished wooden globes are among the other sculptural furniture pieces on show in the apartment, which was designed for a landscape architect.

Find out more about London townhouse ›

Casamontesa, Spain, by Lucas y Hernández Gil

Spanish studio Lucas y Hernández Gil drew on 1970s aesthetics for the interior of this Madrid bungalow.

In the living room, a sculptural wavy stool, an arched fireplace and a round tadelakt coffee table add a fun touch.

Find out more about Casamontesa ›

Chancery House, UK, by Norm Architects

The only non-residential building on this list, the Chancery House workspace in London has a number of living-room-like spaces for relaxation.

In one, design studio Norm Architects added floor-to-ceiling wooden screens to create a sheltered space, where soft, monolithic armchairs are contrasted against a low, geometric wooden table.

Find out more about Chancery House ›

Esperinos, Greece, by Stamos Michael

Numerous geometric shaped pieces by designer Stamos Michael fill the living room of this Greek guesthouse, including a lamp made from two towering, rust-brown columns of powder-coated steel.

Also featured is a sculptural chair by Michael that features a metal pole running through its backrest and a brown-leather edition of designer Konstantin Grcic‘s Traffic lounge chair.

Find out more about Esperinos ›

The Maker’s Barn, UK, by Hutch Design

A concrete pig farm outside London was turned into a rural retreat by architecture studio Hutch Design, which decorated it with bespoke fittings and handmade furniture.

The sculptural furniture in the living room include a metal table with triangle-shaped legs and a wiggly lamp.

Find out more about The Maker’s Barn ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring rooms dominated by dark-wood furniture, well-designed hallways and contemporary green bathrooms.

The post Eight gallery-like living rooms with sculptural furniture pieces appeared first on Dezeen.

Architecture historian Adam Štěch highlights ten images from his recent exhibition Elements: Unique Details of the 20th Century Architecture and Interior and explains the stories behind them.

The exhibition brought together an edited selection of nearly 3,000 photographs from Štěch’s archive of buildings and interiors and their bespoke details.

Elements: Unique Details of the 20th Century Architecture and Interior was created for Milan design week and provided a welcome respite from the week’s influx of new products.

It was displayed in one of the previously abandoned warehouse tunnels behind Milan Central Station, as part of the Dropcity series of exhibitions.

Over more than 15 years, Štěch estimates he has photographed about 7,000 projects in 45 countries, capturing buildings and interiors that were completed between 1910 and 1980.

“It’s hard to count them all,” Štěch told Dezeen when asked how many photographs are in the ever-evolving archive.

For this exhibition, he focused on ten specific elements from his archive, grouped according to certain details ranging from entrances, windows and handrails to furniture, lighting, fireplaces and surfaces.

“All of these elements were created by architects as one-of-a-kind and bespoke design solutions for specific houses and buildings all around the world,” Štěch said.

“The ultimate selection of elements celebrate the modernist idea of the total work of art, the so-called Gesamtkunstwerk, and tell stories about the versatile skills of modernist architects from Art Nouveau to modernism and beyond.”

The paper-printed photos in the exhibition were folded simply over an aluminium construction, making the show quick to assemble and lightweight and compact to transport.

“The images were freely divided into typological sections in which visitors could explore various formal similarities and analyse modernist architecture in its differences and transformations,” explained Štěch.

“My ambition for this project is to create the biggest database of one-of-a-kind designs from specific buildings and interiors captured by a single person and survey a never before seen chapter in the history of applied art.”

Below, Štěch highlights ten featured photographs, one from each of the typological sections of the exhibition:

Schlegel and Brunhammer Apartment by Valentine Schlegel, Paris, France, 1970s

“Valentine Schlegel’s vases from the 1950s are among the pinnacle of French post-war artistic ceramics. Despite the fact that her work was largely forgotten, interest in her has increased again recently.

“I visited her own apartment and studio in Paris, which she shared with her friend Yvonne Brunhammer, writer, curator and director of Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. I was there just a few weeks before its interior was completely emptied and sold at auction.

“Designed during the 1970s, her apartment and studio were conceived as an artificial cave, organically modelled by plaster. It was created at the time when she specialised in designing private apartment interiors, which she transformed into organically shaped spaces. I was amazed by the leather-covered door she designed for the space.”

Grand Hotel Minerva by Carlo Scarpa and Edoardo Detti, Florence, Italy, 1957-1964

“If you talk to architects, many are celebrating Carlo Scarpa as an ‘architect of the detail’. It is also why I focused on his work and have visited almost all of his projects.

“The one which is not so well known is the Grand Hotel Minerva in Florence, which he designed together with the architect Edoardo Detti. The hotel is located in the historical building close to Santa Maria Novella church.

“The architects created public spaces spread around the external patio which you can look at through this exceptional double window. I enjoyed an amazing breakfast there while photographing this great detail of Scarpa’s.”

Chamber of Commerce, Work and Industry by Jože Plečnik, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 1925-1927

“Two years ago I was commissioned to photograph a collection of Jože Plečnik’s buildings in Ljubljana.

“This was an amazing opportunity to experience the work of Plečnik who I find to be one of the most important European architects for his ability to combine all historical architectural styles together with absolutely original results.

“This staircase and metal handrail is located inside Plečnik’s first project after he came back to Ljubljana from his stay in Prague. This robust metal handrail beautifully shows Plečnik‘s sensitive approach to details and his skills with metal craft.”

Casa Carcano by Ico and Luisa Parisi, Maslianico, Italy, 1949-1950

“It took me more than two years before I was finally able to arrange a visit to the unique Casa Carcano designed by my absolutely favourite Italian architects and designers Ico and Luisa Parisi.

“They built it near the famous Lake Como in 1949-1950 at the beginning of their rich career. Parisi was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1916 and settled in Como in the 1930s. Together with his wife Luisa, they designed exceptional houses from the late 1940s to the 1970s.

“I have already visited five of them since 2011. Casa Carcano is their early masterpiece with much bespoke furniture including this wonderful built-in sofa in the middle of the stairs, which is housed in the spectacular entrance hall.”

Former Czechoslovak Embassy in New Delhi by Karel Filsak, Karel Bubeníček, Zdeněk Dvořák, Jan Kozel, Karel Filsak and Zbyněk Hřivnáč, India, 1966-1974

“As my diploma project at the Art History department at the Charles University in Prague, I focused on the work of interior designer Zbyněk Hřivnáč. He collaborated with the best of Czech architects during the socialist time from the 1950s to 1980s, designing mostly bespoke interior furnishings.

“These projects included Czechoslovakian embassies all around the world. Back in my student years, I did not have any chance to travel to see these buildings. Finally, now I have resources that allow me to travel worldwide.

“I was finally able to visit two of the Czechoslovakian embassies (now divided into Czech and Slovak) in Cairo and New Delhi. The one in India is an amazing brutalist building with all of the original furnishing details still preserved.

“Hřivnáč also designed this series of wooden lamps including balloon shades.”

The Box by Ralph Erskine, Lovön, Sweden, 1941-1942

“Not far from the Drottningholm Royal Castle on the island of Lovön near Stockholm, there is a miniature house that Ralph Erskine built as a starter home in the early 1940s. Its architecture is synonymous with frugality and minimalism.

“If you want to see Ralph Erskine’s house, you must first pick up the keys at the reception of the ArkDes architecture centre in Stockholm. After paying the deposit, they will entrust you with the keys and you have nothing else to do but go to the island of Lovön and open this unique house yourself.

“I did the same to visit this masterpiece by the famous Swedish-British architect who was a pioneer of Scandinavian modernism. He designed this organic fireplace as a centrepiece of the minimal functional interior.”

Bossard House (Kunststätte Bossard) by Johann Michael Bossard, Jesteburg, Germany, 1911-1950

“One of my many specific interests with 20th-century architecture is totally-designed interior environments. These are spaces where all the surfaces are given the attention of the designer.

“This kind of interior can often be found in Germany. They were created by artists influenced by the expressionist movement, very often by painters or sculptors and not architects.

“This is also the case of Johann Michael Bossard who created his own world in the middle of forests in Jesteburg, close to Hamburg. His own house is completely painted inside by mixing mythology and his original visions of the future. I called these interiors ‘3D paintings’.”

Maison Wogenscky by André Wogenscky and Marta Pan, Saint-Rémy-Lès-Chevreuse, France, 1952

“I was desperate to visit this house, built near Paris by Le Corbusier‘s disciple André Wogenscky and his wife, sculptor Marta Pan.

“Despite the house only opening to the public a few times a year, it was one of the most challenging visits because I did not get any answer from the foundation for years. Finally, I made it there in 2022.

“The bathroom, with the beautiful mosaic-clad curve, presents the essence of postwar French interior design.”

Girard House by Wolfgang Ewerth, Casablanca, Morocco, 1954

“Casablanca boasts a rich collection of art deco architecture, as well as modernist and brutalist. That’s why I decided to go there in 2019. With the help of architects from preservation group Mamma, I was able to visit some exceptional houses.

“Originally German architect Wolfgang Ewerth was a follower of progressive modernist tendencies after the second world war and built several remarkable villas in Casablanca. I was lucky enough to visit House Girard, which Ewerth completed in 1955.

“The spacious terraces, glass facades and open living space stand in bold comparison with the best contemporary examples of Californian modernism by Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano or Craig Elwood, who, like Ewerth, used simple steel frames to allow for freely articulated interiors.

“But unlike his American colleagues, Ewerth also designed more sculptural features including this massive boomerang-like planter.”

University Library by Henry Lacoste, Leuven, Belgium, 1948

“Last summer I had the chance to stay for three weeks in Belgium, supported by the Czech Centre in Brussels. I took advantage of this and visited dozens of Belgian modernist houses and interiors. Every day I woke up very early, travelling to different Belgian cities and documenting marvels of Belgian architecture and design.

“Hidden behind the historical neo-Renaissance facade of the monumental Leuven University Library is the main reading room, which was one of my intended destinations.

“It is a perfectly carved interior treasure, created by Belgian architecture legend Henry Lacoste after the second world war when the library was completely destroyed for the second time. The space is full of sculptural details and symbolic motives carved into oak, including this monumental wall clock.”

The photography is by Adam Štěch. Main image by Piercarlo Quecchia.

Elements: Unique Details of the 20th Century Architecture and Interior was on show as part of Dropcity during Milan design week from 12 to 21 April 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest architecture and design events taking place around the world.

The post Ten Adam Štěch photographs of “one-of-a-kind” architecture and interior designs appeared first on Dezeen.