Tag Archives: Fountain Studio

This compact + unidirectional phone gimbal brings convenience and function to solo vlogging

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Fountain Studio came about with this cool gimbal for phones after reverse-engineering the existing products. It is like an EDC – a gimbal that brings the benefits of market-leading stabilizers minus the weight and volume!

Smartphones have become more of an extension of our body one can say. The compactness and multitude of utilities of this revolutionary gadget have made it a staple for almost everyone on the planet. The phone can be your trusted photography buddy for clicks in a jiffy or a creative tool for making some pressing videos. This is where a good quality gimbal for your phone comes into play – adding a layer of professional stabilization to otherwise shaky footage or action shots.

The current best options on the market for a trusted phone gimbal come in the form of Zhiyun Smooth 4 which has a lot of useful buttons and apps. Not far behind is the DJI OM 4 gimbal which is more suited for Apple users. While both these options are great, I certainly crave something that’s lightweight, has a compact form factor and is easy to keep with you at all times. And of course, an option that’s not as pricey as the ones on the market – most newbie content creators don’t have that sum of money to invest on a gimbal alone!

Fountain Studio seems to have struck the right notes with their proposed concept for a smartphone gimbal for solo content creators who longed for such an accessory. The Gimbal Griptok doesn’t come with the baggage of bulkiness and boasts an ergonomic design. The actuation of movement is done with the onboard inertial measurement device (IMU) and the brushless motor which provides the subtle corrections for resulting stable footage. Another problem the gimbal addresses is the extension of the cradle to the left or right to hold the phone in position.

The design studio went ahead with testing and verifying the size and usability of the gimbal design. Finally, the 3D printing technique was used to create the prototype. This prototype (and hopefully the final product) uses MagSafe technology to keep the gimbal secured to the phone at all times. For other devices, the magnet accessory attaches to the back of the phone and on top goes the Gimbal Griptok. The user can rotate the phone at any angle and any direction with this gimbal – which is a great advantage for vloggers.

Designer: Fountain Studio

The post This compact + unidirectional phone gimbal brings convenience and function to solo vlogging first appeared on Yanko Design.

These ergonomic AR glasses are designed with a minimal interface to seamlessly blend into your life

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A pair of intelligent AR Warp smart glasses created with the mindful intent of simplifying the user’s life without any strings attached.

Apple’s ambitious AR glasses could hit us anytime soon, Facebook just released their smart wayfarer glasses and Xiaomi dropped a surprise bomb in the form of smart glasses that are making waves on the internet. Logical wisdom tells me, augmented reality and virtual reality glasses are the exciting future everyone is going to follow and excel at. Just like the smartphone tsunami revolutionized the tech space. AR glasses are not everyone’s ball game as far as design and function go – they are darn hard to create for the commercial market!

While we brace for the towering wave of AR glasses to change the complexion of our everyday world, it’s time for a concept that will bear fruit in the coming future.  The cool creation is ideated by Fountain Studio, a design studio excelling in stirring us every time they muster up a cool creation. The augmented reality glasses are ergonomically designed keeping in mind the wearer’s desire for comfort, freedom and a non-intrusive interface.

Unlike other AR smart glasses, the AR Warp is designed to be worn on the forehead when not in use. The adjustable legs can be rotated according to the need, giving them usability for all situations. The glasses, therefore, sit at a slight distance from the face, not touching the nose bridge. Of course, they need to be lightweight so that the user can use these glasses for a longer duration of time – and that’s what they actually are.

The mixed reality HUD interface can beam information based on the time of the day and the user’s schedule. For example, in the morning he glasses put up weather alerts, text messages, important reminders and all the little telemetry like the battery level. By the evening, when it is time for physical activity, they send reminders of workout schedules and the screen is partly filled with illustrations motivating the user to get off their ass. After that, the glasses could shift to the relaxing mode, playing soothing music to calm down the mind and body.

The AR function of the smart glasses is actuated by the on-board camera and the UX is aided by the speakers which combine the visual stimuli with the audio input. Just like any other gadget, these smart AR glasses have their own storage case that wirelessly charges them up. This is a well-thought concept that gives us a glimpse of the things to come with the exponentially rising popularity of AR glasses.

Designer: Fountain Studio

This mindfully designed tape dispenser brings one-handed application to this useful stationery!

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Won’t it be great to use a tape dispenser just one-handed without all the mess that ensues? This cool stationery does exactly that with its smart design.

A tape dispenser is a cool invention that looks simple but solves a very essential purpose that millions have utilized at some point in their life. But if you do want to be a little picky, tape dispensers also have their own set of shortcomings. First of all, you need to use both hands and the functionality similar to a glue gun or nail gun is longed for here. Secondly, no matter how hard you try, the fingerprint marks and contamination while removing the tape will always be a problem.

To add to this, the process of using tape from such dispensers is a bit long and won’t it be great if that is addressed? This is the O N tape dispenser by Fountain Studio, designed specifically to address all these issues while being aesthetically functional and good-looking. Most of all, it brings one-handed use to the good old tape dispenser, a feature that all of us will highly appreciate.

The design of O N is centered on the two holes at the bottom. The first hole keeps the tape bonded and pressed to the rubber pad for uninterrupted, continuous usability. The second hole has a button along the cutter sign to cut the tape off when required. This way, the user doesn’t have to bring the second hand into play which can be an irk at times with conventional tape dispensers.

Other than that the O N tape dispenser has a similar-looking tape refill dispenser that rolls along as the tape is used. To make it easy for the user, there is a hole in the body to check the amount of tape left.

Clearly, this is a very intelligently designed concept prototype that I’m wishing hits the market sooner rather than later. It is actually that good – bringing a very useful evolution to the tape dispenser that each one of you is going relish!

Designer: Fountain Studio

This Styrofoam chair is designed to replace your trusty lounger by adapting to your body shape over time!

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Like a good pair of jeans, the Tamable Chair only becomes more comfortable with wear-and-tear.

Styrofoam is like an improvised shapeshifter. It’s used for anything from packing material to insulation to play products. Composed of 98% air, styrofoam is well known for its shock-absorbent properties, making it the ideal choice for packing material. The rest of styrofoam is made up of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), a type of dense craft building material that gives styrofoam its rigid appearance and stiff impression. The buoyant nature of styrofoam and its dense, rigid makeup inspired Seoul-based Fountain Studio to design the Tamable Chair, an ergonomic, conceptual chair entirely made from styrofoam.

The Tamable Chair maintains the shape of a traditional lounge chair for optimal comfort. Over time, the Tamable Chair’s surface morphs to different seated positions and becomes more comfortable with continued use. Styrofoam is composed of 98% air, making it the ideal packing material. Styrofoam tends to contort and warp when pressure is applied to its surface.

Even as kids, poking at sheets of styrofoam taught us that the depressions our fingerprints make don’t rise. Fountain studio used that insight when developing the Tamable Chair to allow the styrofoam surface to adapt to different body shapes and seated positions.

Fountain Studio set out to create a lounge chair that naturally morphs its outermost surface to adapt to different seated positions. Finding the ideal building material, Fountain Studio’s Tamable Chair is made from styrofoam for its tendency to contort and bend when pressure is applied, giving the chair an adaptable and lightweight comfort that gets better with use.

Fountain Studio considered other buoyant building materials before settling on styrofoam. The Tamable Chair is entirely made from expandable polystyrene that was put through a CNC milling machine to give the block of styrofoam some stylistic ridges and a fully-formed chair shape. Like a good pair of jeans, the Tamable Chair only becomes more comfortable with wear-and-tear.

CNC milling techniques were used to give Tamable Chair stylistic ridges and a unique shape. The Tamable Chair morphs its surface and overall shape with each new seated position—the ridges level out to become a squeaky, flattened surface more similar to that of traditional chairs.

Designer: Fountain Studio

When sitting on Tamable Chair, the chair’s seat forms a depression that remains even after you leave the chair.

Over time, the ridges level out and form a squeaky flattened surface.

The more one sits in the Tamable Chair, the more familiar it becomes, passing from rigid indentations to a smooth surface.

This cactus-inspired desk organizer uses a slot-and-tab stacking method to adapt with your changing setup needs!

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There are as many ways to organize an office space as there are offices in the world. When there’s no longer any room to stuff stationery in desktop organizers, that’s when things get messy. But desks are arranged to fit the needs of those working behind them, so options for storage better be plentiful. And by storage options, I don’t mean endless stacks of papers, pens, and staplers. Inspired by the indefinite growing lengths of succulents, Subin Song collaborated with Fountain Studio to design Cacty, a modular desk organizer that can expand and grow to limitless heights.

Each module of Cacty can be linked to one another through a slot-and-tab stacking method that creates an endless array of options for organizing. Users can store bulkier items like staplers and tape dispensers in Cacty’s base module, the most central piece of the stacking system, which comes equipped with four slots for additional modules’ tabs to connect. The other modules that come with Cacty fit different organizational needs. For instance, a taller module can contain long writing tools like pens and pencils, along with rulers and scissors. Then, shorter modules can hold office supplies like glue sticks, binder clips, and safety pins.

Cacty’s main appeal is the infinite combinations that can be applied when constructing the modular system. Meeting the organizational needs of each user, Cacty can be constructed into any shape that works for your desktop. Thanks to its slot-and-tab stacking method, any modular scheme can work with Cacty to help categorize your office supplies and streamline your workdays.

Designer: Subin Song x Fountain Studio

Inspired by the infinite growth of succulent plants, Cacty’s expansion has endless possibilities.

Cacty’s prototype was made from corrugated paper.

Using a slot-and-tab stacking method, Cacty securely fastens its modules together.

Cacty’s base module is the most central one, offering room for bulkier office supplies.

Cacty’s tallest module creates some space for taller, slimmer items like scissors and rulers.

A shorter module is the ideal size to keep items like gluesticks and mini-highlighters.

Cacty’s shortest module creates shelf-like organizers for paper clips and thumbtacks.

The modular structure of Cacty depends on each user’s organizational needs.

This AI robot + smart home system replaces hearing dogs for those with hearing impairment!

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We’ve often seen hearing dogs help those who may have trouble listening but there are a few issues with that system. Firstly, getting a hearing dog is expensive, secondly the training takes a long time, and they really aren’t an accessible solution for everyone. So this conceptual robot + smart home system was designed to fill the gap and be an alternative solution for people with hearing problems.

Called ‘Hearingbot’, this AI-powered robot comes with an integrated smart home system for seamless and reliable use through the day. One of the components is the hearing clock which wakes you up with vibrations while the Hearingbot smart home system raises the curtains for you. A cool feature is gesture recognition which makes communication easy for those who rely on sign language. The robot can recognize the signs and uses speakers as well as subtitles to communicate with its user. “It interprets sign language of the deaf through motion sensor and projects it into a projector.Through these process, it helps easy and natural conversation between deaf and ordinary people,” explains the design team. It can be paired with different products, for example, Hearingbot will manage the cooking status and schedule of the dish while the hearing-impaired person cooks and prepares the dish individually. It is also synced with a smartwatch that keeps you alert about real-time information, dangerous situations, public transport, and if someone is ringing your doorbell.

If main body of the bot has insufficient battery, it can be charged on its own. The bottom feature three wheels, an anti-fall sensor, and a vent hole. Hearingbot also uses minimal graphic facial expressions to communicate, it is a simple design detail which makes the product more organic and allows the user to form an emotional bond with it. Concepts like these are pushing boundaries for inclusive designs and showing us that we can do more to help a huge demographic that experiences the world differently.

Designers: Fountain Studio, JC HAM and Boseon Kwon

This Electric Scooter + Cleaning Trolley Is the Public Sanitation Solution Your Community Needs

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Here’s the problem. Street cleaning is a physically demanding job that calls for longer hours compared to indoor cleaning jobs and farther distances to travel (sometimes up to 16 km per day). The work is essential yet under-appreciated. It’s unfair to expect these workers, especially if they are older, to cover these distances on foot and pull a trolley of their cleaning supplies behind them. The Cleaning Board electric scooter presents a win-win situation; it takes the strain off of the workers and allows them to cover a larger area in less time.

The Cleaning Board consists of three parts: a supply bin, kickboard, and a mobile app. The bin has two compartments: one for broom handles and dust collectors, the other for smaller items, such as masks, a fire extinguisher, a first-aid kit, water, and a hot/cold pack. When the user isn’t traveling, the kickboard folds up against the cleaning vessel, transforming the scooter into a pushable cart. Also, light strips along the board’s edges make the vehicle (and rider) more visible at night. Finally, the Cleaning Board features a companion app that would send workers information about the trashcans on their route, which would help them prioritize specific stops.

Because we are still living in a pandemic, public sanitation is a top priority for cities around the world. The Cleaning Board was created to help those workers, not necessarily their employers. It just so happens that both parties benefit from this product. By extension, the Cleaning Boards improve the quality of life for the communities that use them, because they make it easier to maintain a safe, sanitary environment.

Designer: Fountain Studio

 

This spherical gaming controller for one-handed gamers promises fatigue-free fun!

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Gaming is one of the best activities to pass time during the lockdowns and it helps you stay sharp too. Sure you have controllers to up your game and besides the bundled controllers with gaming consoles, there are optional controllers which offer even more. It’s good enough if you have no physical trophies, but what about people who cannot use their one hand or some fingers due to physical disability? Shouldn’t there be gaming controllers specifically made for such people, so that they don’t feel the handicap of not being able to use conventional controllers?

Moreover, gaming controllers in the market are a tad bulky and lack a sleek design for customized one-hand use. Designer Junebeom Son in collaboration with Fountain Studio has envisioned the Sticky game controller, tailor-made for gamers who have unfortunately lost motor capability in their hand or finger(s). The ergonomic design is centered around the simplicity of use, with the focus on compact form factor. Hence, came through the blueprint of a gaming controller that’s shaped like an egg, is easy to grab, and looks visually inviting for an extended gaming session with buddies.

The cool blue orb-shaped controller has the joystick controls on top with the Select/Cancel controls to one side. On the bottom, there are the power toggle and volume control buttons. Depending on whether the player has lost finger or thumb, the sticker buttons (up to two) can be configured accordingly keeping in mind the shape of the hand. The cool looking controller can be charged with a type C charger and comes with wireless charging support too. For this concept, the designers have chosen white and blue as the color options which truly match the overall design of the Sticky controller.

Designer: Junebeom Son & Fountain Studio

Beauty and the Beast’s new flower vase doesn’t make a mess

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Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite Disney films and the scene where the petal drops is such a poetic visual. However, in real life when petals keep dropping one by one it is not as magical, in fact, it can get annoying when they come under your feet or are constantly at the countertop no matter how many times you clean. Prop is a conceptual vase that turns this petal plunge into petal power with one simple twist to the conventional vase.

Prop’s most distinct feature is the petal plate – we usually don’t see this in a vase and I like the idea that it can catch petals before they fall down so it looks artistic instead of messy! It has three simple parts – the vase, the water bottle, and the petal plate. To add a touch of rich aesthetic, the glass slides were covered with a plating material. The plate makes it easy to discard all petals together instead of one by one (that you pick from the surrounding surfaces) and the water bottle is a convenient way to add or change the water.

The elegant yet functional flower vase comes in three colors – budding yellow, blooming red and faded orange. The warm tones complement your flowers and make your space cozy. Prop reimagines the traditional flower vase and brings back a little bit of the Disney magic without the mess!

Designer: Fountain Studio and Soohyeon Lim

Say goodbye to travel anxiety with this innovative pet carrier!

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We are all itching to travel again but we know that travel will be changed forever post this pandemic. The bright side is that we have the opportunity to change the way we have been doing things and make them better. While we are on the subject of making the transit easier and safer, let’s not forget that travel is not easy on our pets at all. They get stressed and confused which leads them to fall ill, and it leaves the owners in a constant state of concern which doesn’t make traveling a pleasant experience. The Air Cage was designed specifically to make the journey easier on the pets and their owners so that everyone can enjoy an emotional turbulence-free flight!

Air Cage was created to ensure your pet’s safety and ease your mind when you’re traveling with them. The concept was designed to be a rent-as-you-go service but it can also be opened to buying. You get your carrier in advance so your pet can familiarize themselves with it and have lesser anxiety during the flight. On the day of departure, your pet will be comfortable in the Air Cage which you can then handover to the attendants without any worry because you will be able to monitor your pet throughout the journey thanks to an in-built device. Apart from the real-time camera monitor, the carrier has many features to keep your pet comfortable – a water bottle, a pet bowl, and a bowel pad too!

The exterior of the carrier it a hard case designed for the maximum safety of your pet during rough flights. The development process took your pet’s behavior into account before landing on the shape, material, and size for the Air Cage. A handle was added so that you can move the carrier around easily if your pet weighs over 5 kgs. Make travel great again (for all humans and pets!).

Designer: Su Yeon Lee and Fountain Studio