Tag Archives: Interactive

Minimalist alarm clock offers a simple yet delightful way to control it

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Everyone knows that stereotype of sleepyheads reaching for their bedside alarm clocks and simply pushing a button to turn them off. Even with smartphones, people approach alarm clock apps with that same detached and mechanical behavior. Of course, these clocks are just tools, but the way we interact with them in a way reflects our subconscious attitude toward time and waking up each day. Rather than simply letting time pass us by without our involvement, this minimalist and fun design turns the passive tool into something interactive, turning a routine action into something almost like a game.

Designers: Adrian Wright, Jeremy Wright (DesignWright)

We can sometimes feel like slaves to our clocks, moving according to pre-set schedules and called by the beeping or ringing of alarms. Smartphone apps made that situation simpler but also made us feel less in control. It’s only too easy to set up an alarm, sometimes even without our explicit action, and it’s just as easy to get lost in dozens of alarms and notifications. Having a physical alarm clock, especially by your bedside, helps us distance ourselves from the complexity of apps and digital experiences, and the Flip alarm clock adds a joyful twist to the way you interact with the object.

As its name suggests, you flip the alarm clock to determine how it behaves. One side is labeled “on” and it means what it says, that the alarm is enabled and active. Flip it over, however, and you’re greeted with the word “off” to indicate that the alarm is now disabled. Whichever way you turn it, the LCD display flips to show the time right side up, making it a reversible design as well.

This design that eschews physical buttons for kinetic controls adds an element of direct interaction with the object. You’re no longer dragged around by the alarms you set and become a willing actor in the scenario that plays before you. It can become an addictive action, one that kids will love, and it could even get you up and out of bed with less begrudging effort. Best of all, the Flip alarm clock looks just as fun and attractive on your desk or bedside table, adding a pinch of joy to your life.

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Mesmerizing Paired Cubes and its 3,500 polycarbonate panels invites viewers to play

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It’s always interesting and nice to see installations that are not just works of art but also invite the viewer to interact with it. Sure, paintings and sculptures in museums are nice to look at but of course you’re not allowed to touch them for important reasons. So art installations are much more accessible and in a sense, more experimental, especially if visitors are invited to touch and explore it.

Designer: A+U Lab

Paired Cubes is a temporary pavilion that is set up in Busan, South Korea but is also created to be transferred and assembled in other public spaces. It is made up of 3,500 recycled polycarbonate panels put together in 2.5m tall pavilions and put together without any fittings or glue. It has eight outer facades and two inner walls and the overall effect, especially when illuminated, is that they look like floating panels.

Aside from its sustainability, the pavilion is also pretty interactive as visitors are actually invited to interact with the structure and its visual patterns and optical textures. They are put together in both a symmetrical and asymmetrical fashion. During the day, you can explore the layered surfaces that bring about various shadowy patterns. When it becomes darker, it becomes a luminous box which attracts you to go inside the pavilion.

Up to 6 people can go inside the structure at once but you can also just stay outside to play around with the panels. It is also built to be easily disassembled, transported, and reassembled so we can expect to see this pop up in other areas after this.

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An Interactive Lamp Series That Brings The Cosmic Moments Into Interiors

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Space, with its vastness and complexity, has always captivated the human imagination. Our solar system, a celestial ballet of planets and stars, has inspired various aspects of human life and design, from ancient sundials to modern-day innovations. The COSMOOVAL lamp series is a testament to this inspiration, drawing on the phenomenal interconnectivity of our solar system to create a collection of lamps that not only illuminate spaces but also tell a cosmic story.

Designer: LFD Official – Seohyun Nam, Nam Woo Kim, Doyoon Kim

The designers of Cosmooval drew inspiration from the celestial bodies in our solar system, considering the way they influence our planet and the intricate dance of light and shadow they create. The lamp series incorporates key elements such as expandability, limitation, transparency, and immateriality to bring the essence of space into our living environments.

The design process began with the creation of a mood board, reflecting the tension and spatial dynamics of the universe. Simple basic figures, inspired by solar and lunar eclipses, shooting stars, and planetary movements, were arranged to evoke the mood of the cosmos. A clay mockup emphasized stability through the use of circles and triangles, laying the foundation for the lamp series’ structural elements.

Several idea sketches were explored, with the initial focus on a triangular structure within three circles. As the design evolved, proportions, details, and interactions were refined in subsequent sketches. The final design selected a form that considered materials, structure, and user interaction, resulting in three distinct types of lamps within the Cosmooval series.

Each lamp in the series offers a unique interaction with light, adding to the overall cosmic experience. The ceiling lamp, representing expandability, spreads light by adjusting the angle of an oval disk. The table lamp, embodying limitation, controls light brightness through the movement of a red sphere, mimicking the motion of a shooting star. The floor lamp, combining transparency and immateriality, simulates orbiting planets and solar eclipses, changing light intensity as the red sphere is manipulated.

Cosmooval, derived from the fusion of “Cosmo” (space) and “Oval” (ellipse), is more than just a lighting solution; it is an artistic representation of the cosmos. The series serves as a visual metaphor for planets, satellites, and shooting stars, moving in harmony with their orbits.

The ceiling lamp symbolizes the expansiveness of space, spreading light with three ovals arranged in a stable manner. By pulling the red sphere attached to a string, users can open and close the ovals, controlling the brightness and essential light in their space.

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In the table lamp, a triangular structure controls the concentrated light source. Moving the red sphere along a diagonal line mimics the motion of a shooting star, allowing users to experience the fleeting brightness associated with celestial phenomena.

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The floor lamp embodies transparency and immateriality, recreating the orbits of planets and solar eclipses. Pushing the red sphere sideways changes the shape and intensity of light, providing a dynamic representation of the passage of time and celestial revolutions.

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The Cosmooval lamp series transcends conventional lighting, offering users an immersive experience that connects them to the wonders of our solar system. Through innovative design and thoughtful interaction, these lamps bring the cosmos into our living spaces, reminding us of the beauty and complexity of the universe that surrounds us.

The post An Interactive Lamp Series That Brings The Cosmic Moments Into Interiors first appeared on Yanko Design.

Clicks iPhone Attachment Adds A Physical Keyboard

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Do you miss having a tactile, physical keyboard on your phone? Then set your time machine dial to 2006. Or you can buy Clicks, an iPhone attachment that adds a physical keyboard to the bottom of your phone. In addition to allowing more screen real estate while in use, the keyboard also allows shortcuts and dedicated keys. My productivity is going to skyrocket!

Billed as the first ‘creator’s keyboard’, the Clicks is currently available for iPhone models 14 Pro and 15 Pro ($139), and 15 Pro Max ($159) in two colors: BumbleeBee (yellow) and London Sky (dark grey). The keyboard features a backlight that can be toggled on and off for night use, and appears to make your phone long enough to pass as a handheld metal detector. That alone is worth the price in my opinion.

Make more space for apps and content by moving the keyboard off your screen….Real keys make typing feel so natural, you can tackle more tasks than ever on iPhone. …Fly through tasks with keyboard shortcuts and dedicated keys that give you ultimate control of your phone.

Admittedly, I do miss having a real keyboard on my phone. Of course, I also miss owning a pager. They say technology is cyclical, will both keyboarded phones and pagers make a comeback? I can dream, can’t I?

[via LaughingSquid]

Super Mario 64 Reimagined as First Person VR Game for Quest 3

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Redditor yeldellmedia recently showed off footage showing what a first-person version of Super Mario 64 might look like using the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality system. It looks like a good time. Will Nintendo actually make a VR version of a Mario game? Probably not until they develop their own VR headset, and it becomes the must-have but impossible-to-get toy for like three Christmases in a row.

In the video on Reddit, you can see the player in front of Princess Peach’s castle wandering around and interacting with objects, including Mario’s hat. Unfortunately, in its current state, not all of the in-game objects are interactive yet, so it’s more just imagining what the game might look like.

Would I live in a virtual reality version of the Mushroom Kingdom? There’s no question. Of course, they would need to mod the game further to include a snack bar and toilet in every other level so I don’t forget to eat and go to the bathroom in real life. Otherwise, I might find myself crouching over a warp pipe to do my business, and knowing my luck, it would be a pipe inhabited by a piranha plant.

[via Reddit]

The Ultimate Role-Playing Game Table

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Constructed and customized to order by Etsy shop DragonTempl8, this elaborate role-playing table is the ultimate in tabletop gaming. I mean, just look at this thing. Featuring workstations with card and dice compartments for 8 players (7 + dungeon master), the table also includes RGB LED lighting to set the mood (with a setting for standard day/night light), as well as A SMOKE MACHINE to intensify the atmosphere and a 22″ flatscreen in the center! It instantly moved to the #1 spot on my Christmas list this year.

The table starts at around $8,700 and goes up from there, depending on customization. It measures 160cm x 160cm (62″ x 62″) with a 200cm (78″) height and is going to be the focal point of my home from now on. I’m not going to lie; at first glance, I did think it was the control console inside a TARDIS, which makes me want it even more.

Now all I’m missing is a group of friends that actually want to play role-playing games with me, and I’ll be all set. I’ve tried playing alone, and it’s… difficult. And don’t even get me started on trying to get the cats to play – they just steal the dice! It’s like they get way too into their rogue elf characters.

Desktop Mars Zen Garden: Interplanetary Peace

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Originally created as places for monks to meditate on Buddha’s teachings, Zen gardens have been miniaturized and available in desktop versions for quite some time now. Just not in interplanetary form, like this Mars Zen Garden available from Uncommon Goods. The desktop meditation garden features a 10″ diameter resin tray, red sand, lava rocks, a tiny astronaut and Sojourner rover, and a rake for making patterns. I am going to have so much fun relaxing and not working!

The copper-finish nickel rake features one end for raking and the other for creating craters from meteorite impacts. How realistic. Of course, if they wanted to make it even more realistic, it should come with some alien mini-figures as well. Stop hiding the truth, NASA!

I remember I had a miniature Zen garden in high school to help calm my nerves from the high stress of youth (little did I know!), but my cat Bill eventually knocked it off my desk, and all the sand got lost in the carpet. I suppose I should just be thankful he didn’t decide to use it as a litter box instead. At least there’s that.

[via The Awesomer]

MIT Students Build Wooden Roller Coaster on Campus

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Undergraduate students living in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) dorms are invited every year to take part in Resident Exploration Week (REX), during which the school’s residence halls host a variety of different activities for students to participate in. And this year, some of the students built a wooden roller coaster. That’s cool. I remember my freshman year of college, we had a snowball fight. Of course, I didn’t go to MIT.

The coaster features a 130-foot long track with a sled platform that takes a single rider over a number of hills in reverse, then forward, and is entirely powered by gravity. I wonder if any of the students involved are going to go on to become professional roller coaster designers. I mean, what better use of an MIT education is there?

The team created the initial design for the coaster in 3D CAD software before being reviewed by architects, the university, and the City of Cambridge to receive the necessary building permits and safety certifications. Me? I would have just built the coaster under the cover of darkness without all the necessary permits. I hate red tape; I only use classic silver duct tape.

[via TechEBlog]

A LEGO-Powered Water Vortex Machine

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Because there are very few things you can’t create with LEGO, YouTuber Brick Technology has constructed a collection of transparent, spherical LEGO machines capable of spinning their orbs fast enough to produce water vortices inside. How about that! I wonder what the liquid inside tastes like. My guess is water. Disappointingly, it’s almost always just colored water.

One of the LEGO Technic machines is operated by a Playstation controller, can spin the orb in any direction, and in the video creates a very impressive water vortex, as well as a water band (seen above) by spinning the orb vertically like a car tire. Centripetal force! Science! Or dark magic?

I really want one of these as a executive desk toy, that way everyone who enters my office immediately knows I’m high-level management. Granted I’m not high-level management, and the only people who come into my office are my dogs and cat, but still, maybe I can convince myself that I’m high-level management.

[via The Awesomer]

Playable LEGO PONG Set Turns up on LEGO Ideas

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LEGO maniac TheBananaman2018 has built a fully playable, motorized version of PONG that can be built out of LEGO bricks. He’s added the set to the LEGO Ideas website, and with enough support, LEGO may consider it for production. I don’t know about you, but I just created like twenty accounts and pledged my support from all of them. This might be the most important thing I do in my life.

“The game is played by two players; each of them has a paddle on the right or left side of the screen. There’s also a ball that flies around the whole screen, bouncing off the sides. The players need to move their paddles so that the ball never reaches the left or right side of the screen. If that happens, one of the players scores a point. The machine counts and displays points automatically. When a player scores 5 points, it displays the message “YOU WON!” instead of how many points the player has.” Impressive!

Amazingly, the game (which features over 90 gears) runs off a single motor, including the scorekeeping. Wow! I can’t even imagine the amount of engineering that went into its development but rest assured, it’s way over my head. Honestly, most things are. Don’t even get me started on photosynthesis OR magnets.

[LEGO Ideas]