concepts

Uber-cool (and eco) PlayStation 4 design concept

Here's a futuristic rendition of the yet-to-be-released PlayStation 4 game console. Up to 60 percent of the console is assembled from recyclable materials, while a slew of green technologies add to its eco credentials. These range from a zero-watt standby mode to an "Eco Restart" function that directly resumes saved games. For every 30 minutes the PS4 runs on AC, the box will cut off power and operate from a rechargeable battery for an additional five minutes to conserve power and prevent data loss in case of an outage. … Read more

Smart mattress automatically shifts bedfast patients

A smart bed that automatically repositions a patient throughout both day and night may soon come to market in Switzerland, according to a report on the conclusion of the start-up's first round of financing.

Michael Sauter, the young entrepreneur and mechanical engineer who came up with the concept two years ago with funding from Empa and the ETH Zurich and launched the spin-off company Compliant Concept, says an industrial partner will help manufacture the first beds, possibly by the end of 2011.… Read more

Latest Honda CR-Z Mugen concept is rated RR

I'd like to have a little fun while saving the planet--I'm sure that we all would--but this wave of hotted-up hybrids has me scratching my head. Some, like the Prius Plus Performance Package, appear to use the term "performance" a bit too liberally for my tastes Still others, like the Mugen CR-Z, seem to add a sporty pedigree to what was previously just sporty pretense. Building on the later of those concepts, Honda has just pulled the wraps off of an even more extreme variant of its sporty hybrid at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in … Read more

Prius Project concept bike lets you shift by thinking

Powering uphill on your bicycle often comes down to mind over matter. What if, in addition to controlling your protesting thigh muscles, your mind was master of your bike's gear shifter?

That idea is being made flesh in the form of a high-performance concept bicycle that sports a thought-controlled interface.

Electrodes in the rider's helmet pick up neuro-electrical activity. Signals from the helmet are transmitted to an electronic gear shifter mounted under the seat. With training, a person can learn to shift up or shift down simply by thinking it.

Gives "Look Ma, no hands!" new meaning.… Read more

AutoWed: Romantic robo-weddings for geek love

The cost of the recent royal nuptials over in England has been estimated at more than $20 million. The happy couple could have saved a lot of cash and hassle by getting hitched by the AutoWed instead.

The AutoWed is a one-off device built by Concept Shed for Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Detroit. The creators describe it as part parking meter, part Cadillac, part cathedral, and a little bit steampunk. It stands an impressive 8 feet tall.

The Pepto Bismol-pink device lets users choose from straight, gay, lesbian, and Best Friends Forever unions. For $1, the machine dispenses a pair of plastic rings and a customized receipt for commemorating your special day.

The ceremony is accompanied with mechanized music and a stiffly robotic voice. It's like having Robby the Robot officiate at your wedding.

If you think programming in C++ is romantic or you have a gift registry at RadioShack, then this is the marriage ceremony for you and your sweetie.… Read more

Electrolux Design Lab announces semifinalists

Food on the go is an essential part of modern life. It's a wonder it took as long as it did for the food truck thing to catch on, but the important thing is, it did. Good food no longer has to be subject to long periods of idleness. If you're wondering what might be the next big thing concerning mobility, you are not alone. Electrolux, with its 2011 Design Lab exhibition, has just released the 25 semi-finalists for the competition. The theme is "Intelligent Mobility." Here are a few examples of the concepts that perhaps … Read more

Toyota reveals mid-engined, AWD hybrid concept at Nurburgring

What's interesting about the release accompanying the announcement of Toyota's latest hybrid concept is that there's absolutely no mention of the terms efficient, mpg, or eco. No, when Toyota talks about the GRMN Sports Hybrid Concept II, it uses words like maneuverability, stability, and enjoyment. Just what's gotten into boring old Toyota these days?

Set to be revealed to the public at this weekend's Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race, in Nurburg, Germany, the Toyota's concept is a sporty convertible that's powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain. GRMN stands for "Gazoo Racing tuned by … Read more

Rotary dials give smartphone retro flair

It's silly, inevitable, and inspired. Of course, in this retro-crazed world, somebody was bound to slap a real rotary dial on a smartphone. And you know what? It looks cool.

New Zealand designer Richard Clarkson has come up with a concept smartphone that features a digital touch screen on the front and a space on the back where heavy brass dials, a traditional rotary dial and a dial with buttons can be interchanged like camera lenses. The phone is enclosed in a painted copper case designed to show metal where paint wears through.

Clarkson explains his motivation for the phone, dubbed Rotary Mechanical:

The rotary mechanical smartphone is based on the idea of incorporating more feeling and life into our everyday digital objects. In modern times these objects have come to define us, but who and what defines these objects? Are we happy with generic rectangles of a touch screen or do we want something with more tangibility, something with more life, something with more aura?

Clarkson's concept phone is a fine example of steampunk craft, never mind that rotary dial telephones came on the scene in the chrome-and-glass art deco '20s, several decades after the leather-and-brass Victorian era. I guess to do a truly period-appropriate steampunk smartphone you'd have to slap a crank handle on the side --not so appealing, or pocketable.… Read more

See the Scion FR-S concept in action...sort of

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Scion FR-S concept unveiled at the 2011 New York auto show. Journalistic objectivity aside, that car is hot! When I heard that Five Axis, the team that built the concept for Scion, was entering an FR-S into the 2011 Red Bull Soapbox Race in downtown Los Angeles, I had to check it out.

What came out of the build process was a tube framed, super deformed FR-S micro-car with space for a single driver. Power is provided by two men who push the FR-S; gravity takes over as … Read more