Jan 02
Dec 23
Cool Hunting Video Presents: Prototyping Displays with Chris Weisbart
Posted in: experiencedesign, hackingOur latest video looks at the prototyping process behind museum displays
Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding with Chris Weisbart this video has been removed.
Dec 20
Unstuck
Posted in: efficiency, happiness, ipadapps, problemsolving New iPad app inspires in-the-moment personal problem solving to help you live better every day
There are times in life when the blank notebook page stays blank for far too long—even the most productive people occasionally get stuck. For moments like these there’s Unstuck, a recently released iPad app to help you work through the situation at hand. Acting as a step-by-step troubleshooter and catalyst for action, Unstuck walks the user through a series of questions that end in a diagnosis, complete with suggestions of thought-provoking tools to help find a solution, as shown in this cleverly animated intro video.
Released by SYPartners, the free Unstuck app marks the first endeavor of a new sister company that taps into their nearly 20 years of experience helping big-name companies, leaders and teams during times of transformation and offers these strategic lessons to the individual. Having helped great leaders lead over these two decades, SYPartners felt compelled to take up the journey to offer this accumulation of knowledge through “tools and methods” to help people people get themselves unstuck. As Keith Yamashita, Chairman at SYPartners, said in our recent conversation, “we’re driven by greatness by trying to help people, companies, teams be great.”
The user-friendly app features a clutter-free layout with eye-catching infographic-style illustrations and easy-to-read instructions designed to get your mental gears moving again. As you work through the series of fill-in-the-blank questions Unstuck uses an algorithm—combined with your answers—to offer a diagnosis of what’s likely to be going on. From here the user is given a series of tools to help themselves work through the situation. Check out this demo for a closer look.
Most importantly though, Unstuck delivers a different diagnosis each time to account for the user’s ever-evolving situation. This adjustment mimics real life in the sense that no situation is ever stagnant and the reasons behind it generally change over time. And thus Unstuck becomes a tool that can be used time and time again.
To make the app accessible to as many people as possible it’s been made available for free download through the App Store’s Lifestyle section. Once Unstucks’ subscriptions build more community-based aspects will be rolled out. Here individuals will be able to instantly connect with others who are in or previously were in the same place, to work as a team and share the good will to help one another get unstuck.
Dec 16
A look at the innovation and process behind Columbia Sportswear’s newest electrically heated outerwear
Advertorial content:
Given the opportunity to create a video with Columbia Sportswear we were excited to get a behind-the-scenes look at the innovation at the core of the brand’s philosophy. We took a trip out to Portland, Oregon and spent some time in the innovation lab at the west coast headquarters, watching how their new Omni-Heat Electric line is tested. We spoke with resident innovation guru Woody and got some insight into the past, present and future of apparel, as well as Columbia’s dedication to continue pushing the envelope in outdoor wear and wearable technology.
Dec 14
Jot
Posted in: KickstarterAdonit brings precision drawing to touch screens with an innovative stylus solution
Advertorial content:
The explosion of tablet computing has brought on just as many challenges as opportunities—one of them being how best to interface with touchscreens. Fingers do well enough for most tasks, but lack the precision that some users may want. Most stylus pens that try to address this issue fall a bit short either in functionality or style, many of them consisting of nothing more than a plastic stick with a foam tip that wears down over time. The Jot by Kickstarter darlings Adonit, on the other hand, answers both to aesthetic demands and functionality, separating itself from the pack in a variety of ways.
The Jot’s metal body is nicely balanced and feels more natural to hold than many smaller, less substantial styluses. This greatly increases the ease of use, as it replicates the way you’d feel holding onto a pencil or pen. Implementing a unique precision disc and ballpoint mechanism that keeps the Jot pressed firmly against the touchscreen of your tablet allows you to use the Jot at a variety of angles for significantly superior accuracy.
In this video, the Jot is put to the test by a photographer and a menswear designer who discover that using the natural-feeling tool makes their work easier to manage.
The Jot is available exclusively at Adonit’s website for $20 or $30 for the pro model.
Dec 09
Small Demons
Posted in: beta, discovery, startup Discover the “Storyverse” of real world places, music and movies from your favorite book
Taking an ambitious approach to filtering information online, Small Demons is a new site dedicated to opening up the worlds inside of books. Not just another search engine for what’s inside your favorite novel, Small Demons collects and catalogs the millions of references to real-world and fictional music, movies, people, and objects that are found in literature. Your new favorite restaurant could be on the next page of the book you’re reading, and Small Demons hopes to provide a place where you can draw meaningful connections between stories and everyday life.
The site uses both algorithms and human touch to make these links and open up what Small Demons calls a “Storyverse,” or the expanse of details that support a good story. “A computer can tell us how many times a song appears in a book. But it can’t tell us that it is the song that the couple dances to at the wedding reception or the song the jilted lover plays after being dumped. It can’t tell you the emotional resonance of it. So we are going to be relying on librarians and authors and gifted amateurs to come in and help us fix and add and weight and evaluate all the data we are generating,” says Richard Nash, the start-up’s VP of Community and Content.
Founded by former Yahoo Product VPs Valla Vakili and Tony Amidei, the original idea for Small Demons came to Vakili while on a trip to Madrid and Paris. He also happened to be reading Jean-Claude Izzo’s celebrated Mediterranean noir novel Total Chaos, the first book in the French author’s well-known Marseilles Trilogy. Vakili changed the Paris leg of his trip and headed to Marseilles, finding himself enchanted by the fact that he was enjoying the same scotch and walking down the same streets as the protagonist in Izzo’s book. The story in Total Chaos had a life beyond the page, and Vakili realized that many more books had the same experiences to offer.
Small Demons is currently in beta, and you can apply for an invite here.
Dec 01
Gifts For Gadget Lovers
Posted in: earbuds, scanners, technologyaccessoriesTech-centric highlights from our 2011 holiday gift guide
Many adults—including a majority of CH staffers—classify their favorite toys in the tech sector. We’ve culled a batch of coveted electronic items from the Cool Hunting Gift Guide for all the gadget lovers on your list.
Ultimate Ears
Developed in 1995 by Van Halen’s touring monitor engineer and drummer, this line of earphones ranges from the simple $50 set for the daily commuter to the extravagant professional in-ear monitor custom-made to mold to your ear ($450-$1350).
Qlocktwo and Qlocktwo Touch
The gorgeous display on this digital wall clock will deliver accurate readouts without the stress of a ticking second hand. Qlocktwo comes in multiple colors and sizes, with a design fit for home or office.
Ray Solar Charger
Power your life on the go with pure sunlight from ray, a portable solar charger for digital devices. The handy contraption comes with a silicone suction cup and kickstand to harness solar power anywhere. Coupling convenience with responsibility, this is a sure win for conscientious gadget users.
Moshi Moshi 03i Handset
French designer David Turpin presents Moshi Moshi 03i, a wireless handset and dock for iPhones and personal computers. Link up via Bluetooth or USB and use the slick desktop accessory to call and Skype to your heart’s content.
NeatDesk Digital Scanner
Digitizing all kinds of clutter from tax returns to receipts to business cards, NeatDesk is a scanner-and-software combo that records and organizes your most essential information. The intelligent software is able to digitally categorize the content of your scans; in the case of receipts, it finds the date, payment type, purchase amount as well as other important details.
Ceramic Speakers Version 2
The second installment of SF-based industrial designer Joey Roth’s ceramic speakers pump out massive sound in a simple package. Made with durable and natural materials like cork, porcelain and maple plywood, this classic set will enliven your living room for years to come.
Kogeto Dot
The adorable Dot from Kogeto snaps onto your iPhone 4 or 4s to enable 360-degree recording from the palm of your hand. The attachment comes in a rainbow of colors and is a perfect gift for amateur videographers to record their latest youtube shenanigans.
iPong
The nifty iPong robot provides expert ping pong training without a partner. Best of all, the cylindrical, super slim design allows setup in less than a minute.
Dec 01
Digital Apollo
Posted in: interactivedesign, machines Man, machine and the dawn of software in the space age
In Digital Apollo, MIT professor of the history of engineering David Mindell plumbs the archives at the university in order to explore the tenuous relationship between man and machine during the Apollo landings. While machines had long defined human undertakings, it was the rise of software and intelligent machines that caused the most pronounced shift in mechanical interactions. As Mindell puts it, “Astronauts and their spacecraft were but the most visible manifestation of broad changes that raised fundamental questions: in a world of intelligent machines, who is in control?”
Mindell reveals that in all six Apollo landings, a NASA pilot took control of the landing. Neil Armstrong was the first to do so, responding to an alarm in the guidance software that threatened to abort the mission. Integral to the design of these systems was both the automated and interactive components. Programmers were forced to come to grips with the limits of their own system and those of the pilots. In the end, it was always a synthesis of the two skill sets that resulted in a successful lunar landing.
The book includes images from the various missions, interviews with NASA personnel, and a wealth of research that even the most informed space fans can enjoy. Mindell avoids the temptation to glorify the space program, instead dealing with the nitty gritty logistics involved in getting a man to the moon. Digital Apollo succeeds in providing an inside track to one of the most difficult technological challenges of the 20th century.
The recent cancellation of the Constellation program and the uncertain future of space exploration lends special gravity to this volume. The 2008 hardcover of Digital Apollo didn’t get the love it deserved, so we’re letting you in on the new softcover release of this incredible work.
Digital Apollo is available from Amazon for $12.
Nov 28
OneReceipt
Posted in: holidays, organizers, receipts, servies Store all your receipts in a searchable online interface
Timed to launch for today’s Cyber Monday online shopping extravaganza, the new service OneReceipt provides a solution to keep track of all your proofs of purchase. Whether you have receipts from Black Friday, plan to accrue some more over the holidays or simply have an overflow of receipts and confirmations in your inbox dating back a couple years, you probably wish you had a better organization system.
We’ve been testing a beta version of OneReceipt, but at 12pm EST the free service goes live for the public. Simply “reserve your name” and add an email address—OneReceipt will automatically look through your email account and create searchable entries for the purchases you’ve made from online retailers from iTunes to Amazon. Instead of seeing the total amounts you spent on your card statements, OneReceipt imports itemized lists.
Though the service will import most email invoices, there are still some retailers it doesn’t recognize. For those instances, you can forward the email receipt to a personal OneReceipt email account. Not all of these forwarded emails will create line-item lists, but they will show up in your log. Plus, you can give stores your personalized OneReceipt email address when you make purchases, keeping your regular email addresses clutter-free.
For the analog receipts you accrue, the site is making it possible to email photos of receipts to your OneReceipt account, where they will be automatically imported, and then searched and tagged. The convenient organizing service, OneReceipt will be available beginning 12pm EST, 28 November 2011.
Nov 23
Playground Sessions
Posted in: interactivedesign, learning A new software program trains aspiring pianists through interactive learning
Gaming meets Chopin with Playground Sessions, a downloadable software that teaches piano through its breakthrough “Play to Learn” approach. Riffing on the strumming-to-scoring simulation of Guitar Hero, Playground Sessions enables users to practice “in an interactive environment with real-time feedback,” backed by an interconnected keyboard and hit music library.
Created by brand invention firm, ZAG, Playground Sessions is a “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” method of self-driven learning motivated by the gaming allure of rewards and level ups. Drawn to their research and design expertise, Managing Director Chris Vance turned to Jan Plass and Bruce Homer, founding partners of NYU’s Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education (CREATE) “to fine tune specific learning-related design elements,” says Vance. Aiming to “identify design patterns for effective educational games,” CREATE’s joint initiative with Microsoft Research, Games for Learning Institute (G4LI), aligned with Playground Sessions’ innovative design requirements.
Playground Sessions uses a split interface that simultaneously highlights keyboard hand placement, musical notation and video instruction led by the self-taught pianist and YouTube sensation David Sides. “The pedagogy behind Playground Sessions taps into three powerful mechanism for learning—the motivational power of games, the ability of games to engage the learner in meaningful activities that are effective for learning, and the ability to provide detailed performance feedback to players,” explains Dr. Plass.
Organized by level—beginner to advanced—and subject—rhythm, ear training and more—Playground Sessions’ “Bootcamp” lessons appeal to learners of varying styles and preferences. Playground Sessions also allows users to share their scores via Twitter and Facebook or high-kick their skills into action with a collective competition amongst friends. Playground Sessions bolsters confidence through effective and encouraging steps, evidenced by the above video, “Days to Play,” a heartwarming story illustrating the software’s success.
“Games have a number of benefits that make them powerful learning environments with the potential to impact learning. They involve learners in the kind of activities that allow them to develop skills essential for success,” states Dr. Plass. Indeed, it’s with this gaming mentality that Playground Sessions seems to mix a winning formula for a new generation of hyper-stimulated kids and adults burnt out on traditional piano lessons.
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