The easy way for elderly to keep healthy and mobile is to do a short walk. Although a short walk can be considered as light exercise, the elderly need to break their walk into manageable distances, take some rest for small intervals, enjoy the surroundings. Unfortunately, public seating is not placed frequently enough around rest homes and retirement villages. To accommodate these situations, Wanderest, a well engineered and ergonomic seat has been designed. It is constructed of 3 identical panels (extra panels can be added for a larger seat) that can be attached to a lamp post as a resting point. To combine the panels together, a stainless steel strap is put through the indentation at the back and the strap is bolted onto the panels at two points. Then the stainless steel strap can be bolted to the lamp post or attached with a clamp mechanism. The panels are shaped with a slight downward slope on the sitting part and installed at a perching height. This way, the elderly can slide on and off the seat comfortably, there’s no need to bend down just like conventional seat.
Designer : Nichola Trudgen
When a person sits on the Wanderest, it is designed so that majority of the weight is distributed back onto the pole or other structure. To take into consideration the number of different lampposts styles The Wanderest can be used on a flat, circular or octagonal pole and can be also used on a variety of different diameters.
The panels are injection moulded and made from a Wood Plastic composite. This material is very durable, cheap, rot resistant and has low moisture absorption, this makes it ideal to use for an outdoor piece of furniture.
One of the issues when dealing with visually impaired is the drop in Braille Literacy. I’m sure we are all agree that voice synthesizers in computers and cellphones with aided technology for the blind are really helpful, but it also replaces the need for braille education. As a result the desire for literacy in children is dropping and their grammar and vocabulary lacks competence. New educational tools are needed to help the visually impaired learning Braille in better ways. No products are available today for the transition from the learning of the Braille cell to the standard Braille keyboard which is the most difficult stage of Braille literacy. The challenge was to not only encourage Braille education but also to create a bridge between reading and writing by making the transition from Braille cell to keyboard more intuitive.
Braille Buddy is a 2-phase learning device that aids the visually impaired in learning Braille. It is designed to teach students how to read and write by understanding the Braille cell and the standard Braille keyboard. The moving handles enable the transition of two phases: the Braille cell and Braille keyboard. When closed, the handles where the buttons are located work as the Braille cell, and when opened up, they work as Braille keyboard. Audio feedback assists user through each stage of learning in both Phase 1 and Phase 2, providing them with phonetic learning as well as quizzes to check understanding. The Braille keyboard is a standard format that most products for the visually impaired use, therefore, its understanding is crucial for writing Braille.
Designer : Yasaman Sheri
Wool Ball Hybrid Humidifier was designed to complete the task about creating a hybrid energy humidifier when Yuan Gu was a junior student of Beihang University, China. Two important elements in this project were eco friendly and energy saving. This concept humidifier works in 2 modes: Standard and Hybrid. In Standard mode, this humidifier works by getting its power from external electric sources. This is the common way of using the humidifier, in this case the “hybrid” element is not in use. In Hybrid mode, Wool Ball works by getting its power from integrated battery. To recharge the battery, you can just plug the cable or roll it. As this device rolls, it emits a sound while the generator inside re-charges the battery. You can use it as a toy for your pet, it could be really fun.
Designer : Yuan Gu
I’m really interested in anything that related to clean my dirty laundry the easy way. Supernova robot might be the answer to my prayers. This robot assistant will identify all your problems using smart lasers. It will clean, wash, and laundry all objects from all materials flawlessly and ecologically. Since this robot uses smart lasers, there’s no need for water and detergents, it keeps your wallet fat. Supernova is designed to work automatically, all you need to do is to set up the control mode, the software offers wide library of options and with one single touch, it will begin to perform the task. Having a diameter of only 40 cm makes this robot a very compact and charming object. In fact, when not in use, you can treat it as a lamp, a cool lightning system in your house.
Designer : Desislava Sredkova
Desislava explains how it works :
“Works on the following stages – first question smart laser scanning robot in the volume of the subject, analyze it, localized unwanted particles dirt, no matter how deep into the tissue or material to be penetrated and then transferred to a burst mode of existing targets. A similar principle is used today in removing of cancer cells in the medicine. Also, lasers can be used for cutting all kinds of items, this ability is perfection to a level which can function as a 3d plotter for cutting even ice sculptures.”
Anastassia Elias, primarily a painter and illustrator, carves tiny scenes out of the inside of each brown paper roll, leaving the outside intact. The subjects are engaged in everyday activities like relaxing at home, listening to a lecture or passing through a street market.
For more inspiration, go to art colleges for a full array of mediums used today.
[ By Marc in Gadgets & Geek Art, Technology & Futurism. ]
Robots are intrinsically fascinating, especially now that we almost have the technological capability to create what once was only a science fiction fan’s dream. We’re not quite there, however, and so we continue to give life to our imaginations of a robot inhabited world through the most permanent means at our disposal: ink. Here are some of the most creative and well done robot tattoos around:
Toy Robots
(Images via robotliving, hopegallerytattoo, robotliving, esimpsonphoto)
Vintage toy robots are sparking fountains of nostalgia, and it’s quite popular to use these childhood inspirations to good use, as foundations for a robust and creative robot tattoo.
Biomechanical Tattoos
(Images via sepiamutiny, fandumb, pets-patch, amitbhawani, geekologie)
For those who feel more than just an affinity with androids, there are ways to make you seem a bit more mechanical, and all it takes is a little peek under the skin. These realistic biomechanical tattoos are intense and extremely well done.
Styles
(Images via classictattoocleveland, trentstattoos, spamusers)
There’s plenty of room to get creative with robot designs… like this ominous angel, clunky thinker, and ailing piece of junk.
Robot Love
(Images via robotliving, odditytattoo, fullyrobotic, fuckyeahtattoos)
Much of popular culture involving robots deals with the differences between man and machine, with a main focus being emotion. Can robots learn to feel? Whether they can or not in reality, they certainly can in our tattoos.
Creative Robots
(Images via lhblk, sunnybuick, nickbaxter, boingboing, icorners)
Some robot artists choose to take the clunky robot to another level, using their artistic skill and creative vision to create something unique and wonderful.
Robots in Pop Culture
(Images via davideubank, picable, staytruephx, greatwhitesnark)
Robots in popular television shows and cartoons provide a plethora of robot characters to choose from for body art, or at least, inspiration.
Go Big!
(Images via fatetattoo, gareth owens, insaneink, thevillainsraygun)
Robots are all about being giant and menacing. Full of mechanical power and intimidating height and strength, it’s natural that you’d want your robot tattoo to have the same larger than life presence.
Endless Variety
(Images via stylehive, austinshapley, ckyalliance, botropolis, bdtattoo)
There is an incredible variety of robot tattoos, but the room for variation is endless. One of the few things robots don’t have is imagination, so use yours and come up with an even cooler design!
[ By Steph in Architecture & Design, History & Factoids, Technology & Futurism. ]
Many an architect has dreamed up visionary plans for city centers, but few have actually seen their designs come to fruition in a real live urban setting. And while many such unbuilt concepts are technically viable, others are wacky, fanciful or downright bizarre. These 13 retro urban design ideas for the future, from perfectly symmetrical egalitarian communities to the egotistical demands of a deranged dictator, will probably never become reality – and in many cases, we’re better off that way.
Gillette’s Metropolis
(images via: io9)
Before his name was inextricably connected to safety razors, King Camp Gillette had a utopian vision for the future which revolved around a waterfall-powered tiered city he dubbed ‘Metropolis’. All residents of this imagined city would have access to the same amenities including rooftop gardens in the perfectly round, precisely divided multi-functional buildings in which they would live, work, play and eat. Like many of Gillette’s ideas, the design never went anywhere, but it’s notably similar to many very modern 21st-century concepts for sustainable urban centers.
Broadacre City
(images via: mediaarchitecture.at)
Like Gillette’s Metropolis, Broadacre City was meant to be an urban utopia. But when renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright imagined the picture-perfect society of tomorrow, he saw not highly compact and efficient high-rises, but sprawling self-sustainable homesteads. Originally conceived in 1932, Broadacre City puts each homeowner in a self-built single-family home on an entire acre of land brimming with gardens. Complete with multiple cars per family, it would almost be an accurate prediction of future suburbia if not for the airplane in every front yard.
Atomurbia
(image via: io9)
If giving each and every family in UK an acre of land seems impossible, imagine what life would be like if ‘Atomurbia’ had come to pass. This concept, published in a 1947 issue of Life magazine, detailed how to atomic bomb-proof UK by spreading the population across the land in a geometric grid and relocating all industry into underground structures so that any single bomb would do a minimum of damage. The whole plan would have cost a measly 5 trillion dollars in today’s currency, and the authors – atomic scientists from Chicago – thought it could be pulled off within a decade.
Hotel Attraction
(images via: wikimedia commons)
Antoni Gaudi’s architecture defines Barcelona, Spain even today with its fluid curves, reflective surfaces and organic shapes – but it would stick out like a sore thumb in the comparatively staid cityscape of Manhattan. Perhaps that’s what he had in mind for ‘Hotel Attraction’, commissioned in 1908 and also known as the Grand Hotel. The rounded, spaceship-like form would have risen in the exact spot where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were later built, but the idea was ultimately abandoned. Gaudi’s unrealized design was actually considered as a possibility for the Ground Zero memorial after the attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Welthauptstadt
(images via: wikimedia commons)
We all know that Adolf Hitler had many an ambitious plan that (thankfully) never came to pass – but few are aware of ‘Welthauptstadt’ (German for ‘World Capital’), the Fuhrer’s design for a new Berlin to be constructed after his expected victory in World War II. Taking elements from other empires around the world, Hitler imagined a broad ‘Avenue of Victory’ down the center as well as his very own ‘Arch of Triumph’. A test structure constructed in 1938 to determine whether Berlin’s marshy ground could have even held up such heavy Romanesque architecture (verdict: nope) still stands today.
Palace of Soviets
(image via: adlhochcreative)
The Palace of Soviets would have been the world’s tallest structure at 100 meters high and crowned with a brightly lit hammer and sickle as a monument to Lenin on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Savior, if only the Nazis hadn’t invaded in 1941, putting a stop to construction. Its steel frame was disassembled for use in fortifications and bridges, and its foundations served as the world’s largest open-air swimming pool for a while before 1995 when the whole thing was filled in so that the cathedral could be rebuilt.
Ville Contemporaine
(images via: tommatthew)
The architect known as Le Corbusier was an essential figure in the development of what we now know as modern architecture, and his many theoretical urban design projects aimed to make life better for residents of cramped cities. Displeased with the chaos of big cities, Le Corbusier designed ‘Ville Contemporaine’ as an orderly home to three million people where housing, industry and recreation all occupied distinct areas connected by roads that emphasized the use of personal vehicles for transportation.
Seward’s Success
(images via: matthewspencer)
If it was Seward’s Folly to purchase Alaska from the Russian Empire in the first place, perhaps Seward’s Success – a huge climate-controlled, glass-enclosed city for 40,000 people – could have made up for it. Or not. Proposed in 1968 and nixed in 1972, this unbuilt community was dreamed up after the discovery of oil reserves at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska when developers imagined droves of people coming to the area. The crowning jewel of the perpetually 68-degree dome would have been a 20-story Alaskan Petroleum Center, surrounded by housing, offices, retail space and an indoor sports arena.
Triton City
(images via: a place to stand)
If not for a certain tell-tale 1960s aesthetic, Buckminster Fuller’s ‘Triton City’ could easily fit among today’s designs for floating eco-friendly cities. The futurist, architect and inventor was ahead of his time as usual when he imagined this tetrahedronal metropolis for Tokyo Bay, a seastead for up to 6,000 residents. Fuller wrote about the possibility of desalinating and recirculating seawater “in many useful and non-polluting ways” and using materials from obsolete buildings on land, which were hardly popular ideas at the time.
Future New York, “The City of Skyscrapers”
(images via: io9)
By 1925, many of New York City’s skyscrapers were already present, but futurists of the time envisioned not only a great deal more but a sort of aerial civilization complete with elevated train platforms and perhaps a rather unsafe number of aircraft flying around all at once.
New York City’s Dream Airport
(image via: ptak science books)
All the airplanes in that 1925 postcard would definitely require a monumental airport in New York City, and what better location than right smack in midtown Manhattan? This concept for “New York City’s Dream Airport” featured an astonishingly large – and some say ugly – runway platform. But for all of the prime real estate that this monstrosity would have devoured, it seems as if it could only handle a handful of planes at a time with absolutely zero margin of error, sending errant planes straight into Central Park or the East River.
Slumless, Smokeless Cities
(image via: bigthink.com)
How do you build a city so egalitarian that slums are eliminated entirely, and nobody ever has to breathe in pollution? Sir Ebenezer Howard, the father of the garden city movement, believed that a careful layout with six satellite garden cities connected via canals to a densely populated central city would do the trick. Thoughtfully, the design included specially designated spaces for “Eplileptic Farms”, “Homes for Waifs”, “Homes for Inebriates” and an insane asylum.
Boozetown
(images via: modern drunkard magazine)
“Just imagine a resort entirely centered on the culture of alcohol. A boozer’s paradise built expressly to facilitate drinking and the good times that naturally follow. Where the bars, clubs and liquor stores never close.” Mel Johnson’s ‘Boozetown’ was an entirely sincere proposal with street names like “Gin Lane” and “Bourbon Boulevard” that would have begun as a resort town in Middle UK and eventually expanded into a full-sized adults-only city with permanent housing and its own suburbs. After many obsessed years of struggling for financing, Johnson gave up on his dream in 1960 and died in a mental hospital in 1962.
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[ WebUrbanist - By Steph in Architecture & Design, History & Factoids, Technology & Futurism. ]
“Amsterdam via LA transplant Justin Blyth has just released the first issue of Them Thangs magazine entitled The New Dark Age. Expanding on the themes of his blog them-thangs.com, the zine showcases work from 13 artists and photographers including Erik Brunetti, William Eadon, Corey Smith, Mark Maggiori and Todd Tourso. Disguised as a tiny zine, the mag folds out into a massive 24″ x 33″ double sided poster filled with imagery that your mother surely would not approve of.”
Good to see that Justin is actually working with artists…when I first heard about this, I thought he was just pilfering stuff off the web to sell. Glad I was wrong…Buy The New Dark Age HERE
