Hasta La Ideas

A wearable 3D-printed eyeglass that monitors breathing and pupil size to measure what people find interesting online has been developed by students at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College (+ movie).

Developed by Sanya Rai, Carine Collé and Florian Peuch, students of the RCA and Imperial College‘s joint Innovation Design Engineering course, the Amoeba is equipped with sensors designed to monitor three instinctive responses that indicate a person’s interest in what they see.

This sensory data is collated to create an intuitive alternative to bookmarking and other systems for keeping track of digital content.

“We believe that with the advent of wearable technologies, where devices will be constantly mapping every moment of our lives, organising our personal data will be a monumental task,” explained the team.

“Amoeba can help ease this process by bringing only the most interesting stuff to the forefront, making sure we never miss out on the important stuff and saving us a lot of time and effort.”

Designed in CAD and manufactured on a 3D printer, the design is, according to Sanya Rai, “a statement piece to let the world know that the wearer is immersed in research.”

The Amoeba records breathing rates using heat sensitive receptors near the wearers mouth. It has a camera embedded into the lens to measure pupil size and sensors on an arm that measure the electrical conductance of the skin, which varies with moisture levels generated by sweat.

These three elements combined create a snapshot of data about the emotional response of the wearer when they look at content.

The data is then converted into a digital signal which creates a visual map that can be viewed with Google’s Chrome browser.

According to the development team, the Amoeba has several applications including measuring the impact advertising has on potential customers.

“Amoeba reveals the true underlying changes in a user’s bio-data in order to get an honest and unbiased feedback to product developers and the industry.”

Another potential area of use is in measuring student engagement in online education. “The drop out rate from online courses is over 90 percent,” the team said. “Amoeba will help to tailor learning platforms according to the subconscious reactions of the user and thus keep him motivated and engaged on the learning platform.”

The students are currently developing the Amoeba to be able to measure interest in all digital content such as music and film, not just websites.

“Our final vision would be to have Amoeba as an embedded feature in all wearable devices so that it can help streamline all content for the user, bringing to the forefront only the most interesting stuff rather than the entire daily log of data,” said Rai.

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content for intuitive bookmarking appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2014: Dezeen readers can download the first in a series of experimental publications created by Jospeh Grima‘s algorithmic journalism machine in Milan, including content from talks by Clemens Weisshaar and Atelier Bow Wow.

The highly experimental Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) project is printing free newspapers from a mobile unit in Milan, scraping content from a series of talks called On the Fly as well as social media channels.

Hosted by former Domus editor and founder of Space Caviar Joseph Grima, last night’s series of talks focused on the theme of weightlessness in design.

The three PDFs downloadable now from Dezeen were generated last night by an algorithmic journalism machine, using software that combines voice recognition technology and social media content posted using the #OnTheFlyMilan hashtag.

It is the first time the software, developed by design research collective Space Caviar, has been tried in a real-world environment.

» Clemens Weisshaar – download here
» Atelier Bow Wow – download here
» Studio Folder, Marco Ferrari and Elisa Pasqual – download here

This evening’s talks focus on the theme of seamlessness and ask whether consistency is good for design. Members of the public anywhere in the world can contribute on social media using the #OnTheFlyMilan hashtag.

The final set of talks tomorrow, focusing on sustainability, will include contributions from Formafantasma and Martino Gamper.

All the talks are free to attend and take place in Nike‘s Aero-static Dome at Palazzo Clerici in Milan between 5pm and 7pm.

Find out more about the FOMO project.

The post Download the first FOMO experiment in
algorithmic publishing direct from Milan appeared first on Dezeen.

News: analysing trends and listening to what consumers want will ultimately result in bad design, says Spanish designer Jaime Hayon.

“If I listen to the market, I’ll be designing crap because many times it’s good not taste, it’s excessive,” Jaime Hayon told Dezeen during an interview in Milan, where he is showing a new multi-purpose table for Republic of Fritz Hansen.

He said that brands and designers should “ignore the market” and pursue quality rather than trying to please the masses.

“If you start to analyse the market and try to think that you’re going to be able to make the perfect sofa, forget it,” he said. “Sometimes you get a brief with analytics, you can laugh at it.”

The exuberant tastes of consumers in the lucrative markets of Russia, Asia and the Middle East might to blame for some of the bad-quality products currently for sale, according to Hayon.

“What people in Dubai, India, the Middle East and Russia want, is that what rules? Is that what [everyone] wants?” he asked.

Hayon admits that convincing a company to disregard their customer’s preferences is not an easy task, but thinks this is the only way to achieve the best results.

“It’s very hard to say that to a marketing director [of a brand] “ignore the market”, but honestly it’s the only way to get the glory of things, it’s the only way to get results.”

He believes that brand owners should listen to, and trust, the designers they are working with and focus on the quality of the products.

“The markets rule everything, the sizes, the periods, the options,” he explained. “When an owner of a company says “I don’t want that anymore, what I want is to hear what the artists and the designer wants to say, in relation to what I feel about my own company”, quality is a big word.”

The post “If I listen to the market, I’ll be designing crap”
says Jaime Hayon appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2014: American furniture company Emeco has revealed a collection of stools and tables made from recycled and reclaimed materials in collaboration with Nendo (+ slideshow).

Called SU, which means simple and plain in Japanese, the collection is being shown at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan this week.

The tabletop is made from high-pressure laminate (HPL). The stool seats come in three materials – reclaimed oak, eco-concrete and recycled polyethylene. The legs to the table and stools are made of reclaimed oak or recycled aluminium in natural or with a black anodized finish.

Oki Sato from Nendo said he was inspired by the American company’s Navy Chair design in making the collection. “The Emeco Navy Chair is “the chair”, and has always been inspiring many architects and designers around the world,” said Sato.

“After roughly two years, we are proud to present a stool, which is strongly linked with the Navy Chair. It is for us, definitely “the stool”.”

The reclaimed oak seat has been sourced from old buildings in the US and carved by Amish craftsmen in Pennsylvania. Magnus Breitling, Vice president of product at Emeco said the wormholes in the oak give the seat “character and uniqueness”.

“We keep the oak seat untreated to allow the colour to change depending on its exposure to the sun, humidity and above all – usage, thus creating its own history,” said Breitling.

The eco or ‘green concrete’ is made from 50 per cent recycled glass bottles and CSA (calcium sulfoaluminate cement), which requires less energy to make.

The recycled polyethylene seats are shaped into the SU seat through rotation moulding and come in red, flint grey and dark charcoal grey.

The stools and tables will be on show until 13 April at the Emeco stand, Hall 20, E09 in Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.

Here’s some more information from Emeco:

Emeco Announces the SU Collection – Stools and Tables Designed in Collaboration With Nendo

SU Collection features the famous Emeco characteristics of design, engineering and strength, built with recycled and reclaimed materials.

HANOVER, PA – April 8, 2014 – Emeco today announced that they will launch The SU Collection of stools and tables designed in collaboration with Nendo, at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, Italy, April 8 – 13, at Emeco’s Stand Hall 20, E09. The Japanese concept of ‘su’ comes from traditional Japanese culture, and means simple, plain, minimal. Nendo brought the design aesthetic of ‘SU’ to the collaboration with Emeco, along with the name, for the Emeco SU Collection.

The SU Collection features precise engineering and the use of new, surprising eco-conscious materials. SU has “Emeco bones” the iconic seat of Emeco chairs made since 1944, and is made of reclaimed and recycled materials discovered through ongoing exploration of eco-conscious resources. SU seats come in three new material choices, all of which demonstrate a more environmentally conscious way of doing things, using responsibly selected alternatives of some traditional materials.

Solid reclaimed oak seats have been sourced from old architecture in the U.S.A., and carved into the Emeco seat by Amish craftsmen in Pennsylvania. Every piece is unique with signs of its past life. Eco- Concrete seats are made of Green-Concrete, a revolutionary concept that can replace the energy-consuming traditional concrete used in architecture. Emeco’s eco-concrete SU seat consists of 50% recycled glass bottles and CSA (calcium sulfoaluminate cement) that takes much less energy to make.

Recycled Polyethylene seats, made of 75% postindustrial and 25% post consumer content, and shaped into the SU seat through rotation molding, come in three timeless colour options – red, flint grey and dark charcoal grey. Emeco’s traditional material, recycled aluminium is used to make SU legs with either natural or black anodized finish. Reclaimed oak, as used in the seat, is another choice for the legs.

The post Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair
to create new stool for Emeco appeared first on Dezeen.

Eight intersecting arches give a towering symmetry to this copper-coated mausoleum erected in the English countryside for a revered Iranian philosopher (photography by Edmund Sumner).

Designed by emerging London studio Borheh, the structure was built as a memorial to Javad Nurbakhsh – a master within the branch of Islam known as Sufism, which is thought by some to be a philosophy of existence that pre-dates religion.

The structure is located within a dense thicket of woodland in Oxfordshire, on a site chosen by Nurbakhsh, who spent the latter years of his life in England.

Raised off the forest floor on a tiered plinth, it comprises a ring of copper-coated steel triangles. These are expected to change colour as they gradually oxidise, allowing the tower to show its age.

“The mausoleum’s blend of striking design and organic materials presents a refreshingly modern take on mysticism without detracting from its timeless spiritual ideals,” said the architect in a statement.

The arched forms chosen reference some of the characteristic motifs of Persian architecture, creating a tower intended to demonstrate “geometrical perfection and simplicity”.

“The mausoleum combines traditional Persian architecture with contemporary materials local to Iran, resulting in a construction that reflects the Iranian heritage of Dr Nurbakhsh, while remaining in keeping with the English landscape,” said the architect.

The structure was built as a series of modules using local artisanal techniques in Iran. These were then shipped across to the UK and erected onsite.

Photography is by Edmund Sumner.

Here’s a project description from Borheh:

Contemporary Sufi memorial brings Iranian mysticism to the heart of the English countryside

A mausoleum dedicated to the memory of a prominent Iranian Sufi master, Dr Javad Nurbakhsh (10th December 1926 – 10th October 2008), has recently completed construction. The mausoleum’s blend of striking design and organic materials presents a refreshingly modern take on mysticism without detracting from its timeless spiritual ideals.

London based multidisciplinary creative studio, Borheh, have unveiled the completed mausoleum which adds a unique spiritual presence to the Oxfordshire countryside. Located near Banbury, England, the mausoleum stands on a beautiful natural location chosen by Dr Nurbakhsh himself during his lifetime. It is nestled amongst a dense wooded grove, named “the Forest”, which was planted by Dr Nurbakhsh in the 1990s.

The mausoleum combines traditional Persian architecture with contemporary materials local to Iran, resulting in a construction that reflects the Iranian heritage of Dr Nurbakhsh, while remaining in keeping with the English landscape. The structure is created from copper-coated steel which will naturally change colour over time as it is exposed to the elements, allowing it to evolve and adapt organically within the forest.

Using traditional Persian architectural motifs, the mausoleum evokes the principles of Sufi mysticism with a unified display of geometrical perfection and simplicity. Eight overlapping triangular arches converge together in a form known as karbandy, maintaining a balance of strength and elegance across every point. The geometrical perfection of the form is manifested through its interaction with the sun, as the natural path of sunlight creates a unique pattern of shadows through the passing of the day.

For minimum impact to the natural landscape, Borheh utilised an innovative approach to construction by following a modular method. Each part of the mausoleum was constructed separately in Iran, using local artisanal techniques. It was then transported to the UK and reassembled on site. While this was by no means an easy endeavour, the process ensured both the protection of the natural woodland that would be home to the mausoleum and remained faithful to the mausoleum’s cultural heritage.

The project represents a combination of traditional artistic principles and cutting edge technologies – the ideal monument to the life and work of a modern mystic.

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honours an Iranian philosopher appeared first on Dezeen.