Going green seems to be the mantra these days, and this line of thinking is exhibited in the Energy Tree concept from Yanko Design. Designer Ben Arent aims to bring together technology and the physical environment by developing a system that uses a real life tree which is hooked up to a microprocessor. This device will then control the watering and feeding of the tree automatically - but with an interesting twist. The ability to feed and water your tree depends on the amount of energy you and your household use. This is made possible by the implanted (pardon the pun) device monitoring the entire household’s appliances, heating/cooling, and recycling habits.

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I seriously wonder how many people these days light up their cigarettes with a match still. After all, Zippo lighters are more or less the end all and be all when it comes to getting your cancer stick lighted up since it is ever reliable, doesn’t snuff out at the slightest breath, and looks cool whenever you flick its cover open. While the very word Lucifer will probably make you think of the devil himself and his three-pronged pitchfork, this is not quite the case although there is some sort of pyrotechnic action going on here.

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I hate my keys. Loud, heavy, pointy pieces of metal, easy to lose, hard to find among the others, even fragile, and used everywhere. Door keys, gate keys, car and bike keys, locker keys.. they’re everywhere. Wouldn’t you like a way to get rid of them, and of your RFID tags and car remotes? There might just be a chance here…
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Permit me a moment of heresy. I certainly can appreciate the visceral sensation derived from the sound and power generated by downshifting a Ducati or Harley. The reality we all need to face is that hybrids are pervasive and the line of concept bikes from ecycle might re-define the hog. Designed by Machineart of Frenchtown, NJ, these bikes will put some green into your machine.

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The Turkish designer Hussein Cahalayan sure knows how to impress his audience. After showing clothes that changed shapes using microcontrollers, switches and motors in Paris, he created a video dress that’s even more striking, showing a time lapse of a rose opening and closing up, in a spectacular display of colours and light, created from 15.000 LEDs that are embedded in the fabric.
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Watching movies is a favorite past time for many people, but more often than not we have to contend with the plague/blessing of subtitles, depending on which camp you come from. While you have the option of turning off or choosing different languages when it comes to subtitles on a DVD from the comfort of your home, you don’t have that luxury when snuggling up with your mate at a local cinema. What’s a geek supposed to do then? Why, keep a keen eye out on this pair of Subtitle Glasses, of course! After all, there is nothing better than watching foreign films that has not yet been dubbed, relying on subtitles instead for understanding.

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In this day and age, to go to war without Global Positioning System (GPS) would practically be suicide, as you won’t be able to pinpoint the exact location of your targets as well as troops. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has obviously thought about such a GPS-less situation, and has awarded a concept development contract to a team of bigwig corporations led by none other than Boeing. Known as the Robust Surface Navigation (RSN) program, this technology will concentrate on developing technologies which are capable of exploiting different “signals of opportunity” - basically any electronic waves emanating from satellites, cellphone towers, and even TV transmission towers. This technology will be able to provide the exact location and navigation information to ground troops even when GPS signals are unavailable or blocked.

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The “1881” may look like an old heirloom handed down from generation to generation, but it’s actually a digital camera. This is the latest cool, yet functional design was sponsored by Kodak for a study on the future of wearable technology and designed by industrial designer Lindsey Picket. It’s a circular locket style digital camera that is described as a “high tech device hidden in a low tech disguise.”

This isn’t the first time that Picket has designed a gadget for a futuristic study. In 2005, Picket helped design an interesting cellphone for the Samsung Global Sponsorship.
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