Legos

What toy has theme parks and a movie based on it? Legos! The plastic blocks that people have used to create sculptures ranging in complexity from a kids Lego house, to an exact replica of a Star Wars X-Wing.

Originally designed in 1939 and first manufactured in 1949, Lego Automatic Binding Bricks were one of the first plastic toy sets to ever be accepted on a large scale

Legos have now become one of the toys that just about everyone has played with in their life. The colorful blocks' ability to reform into almost anything you can think of has made them a staple for young kids and adults to let the imagination flow.

In a world where customization had become the norm its amazing to think that Legos were really one of the first products to ever allow for completely personal customization. The ability to put dragon wings on a car had and has a draw that each of us can recognize. They are really like the app store of toys.

Another way to look at the design of Legos, that separates them from the other building sets, like Erector or Tinker Toys, it that Legos were almost 3-D printing before 3-D printing. You are able to make solid structures and sculptures of just about anything using just the simple blocks. And, while it does take some skill to create complex things, it is no more difficult than learning to use a CAD program.

Lego's also have a unique characteristic from a business perspective. With just a few simple components the Lego Kit designers were able to continually create new kits for those that don't enjoy the creating new things. The blocks basically created a foundation that the company has been able to build off of (word play) since the toys were created. The company never has to create completely new components, though they do, they just have to have new instruction books printed with a set of the blocks.

But with all of those advantages the true secret sauce of the toys is their ability to adapt with the user. An adult can get just as much joy and challenge from a set of the bricks as a preschooler can. The bricks can create as simple or as complex of creations as you want. Legos are a toy that is timeless, because their inherent modularity lets them morph and grow with the user as no other toy or kit has been able to do.

The Subwing

The Subwing is a concept that is a little different, but still pretty neat. It's a bit like water boarding, under the water.

What happens is the Subwing is tied to the back of a boat and the user grabs on. Then, as the boat moves forward the user can tilt the two paddles of the Subwing, just like the ailerons of an airplane, to pull themselves underwater. From there they can perform all kinds of acrobatics or just enjoy the view.

The Subwing has the potential to create a new kind of water sport. It is something that is easier to learn and do than water-skiing. And it offers an underwater experience that few people can ever enjoy.

The design of the Subwing is very sleek. With just a single joint, it is very simple and reliable, mechanically. It is made to be buoyant enough to act as a flotation device if it disconnects or the boat stops. But what is important to note is the way that the Subwing offers immediate, physical responses,  to what the user does. In this way the Subwing can become an extension of the user's body. The smallest push of your hand can send you spinning or rushing down or up. Many machines have a disconnect between what the user inputs and what the machine does. The Subwing does not have that disconnect which just adds to the experience and the connection to the machine.

The Subwing is relatively inexpensive, with the cheapest model costing $295. It is certainly worth it, to be able to "Fly under the water."

Gigs 2 Go

Microchips have the unique ability to grow in power while at the same time decreasing in cost. For years futurists have discussed the idea of disposable computers. Gigs 2 Go is the first attempt at creating that reality.

Gigs 2 Go is a disposable flash drive with a recyclable cardboard shell. They come in packs of four that are about the size of a business card. Each flash drive can be torn from the pack, used a couple of times and then disposed of.

The concept is great. We all work to keep from losing our precious flash drives. That is because they can be expensive and we often keep huge amounts of relatively valuable data on them. But what if they changed from being a one time purchase to just a temporary project file. The loss of a Gig  2 Go may affect a project, but not your life. The concept also has credence in that, since cloud storage is becoming a norm, few people need a dedicated flash drive.

As far as the design goes, durability may be put into question but since they are designed to be disposable, limited use, naturally, is inherent to the concept.  The look of Gigs 2 Go is not amazing but compared to some other cardboard-based products it's not bad.

It's great to see us moving into the realm of disposable computing, while at the same time keeping it sustainable. Gigs 2 Go is a very clever step in that direction.

The Tile

The Tile is a new way to find things. It is a a small Bluetooth tag that can be connected to things like keys, laptops, and wallets so that you never forget or lose those items again. Tile which completed a crowdfunding campaign in 2013 will be shipping in the summer of 2014.

The Tile is pretty slick. That is is the way to describe it. It almost looks like a product that would be launched by Apple. It is a sealed tag that does not have battery replacements, (when it dies you buy new ones) and a is a sleek white. A very unobtrusive design, compared to old style keyfinders.

The app itself is nifty. When looking for something users simply pull out their smartphone and use the app to be directed to where the tile is, based on distance from the tile. As you get closer you can have the Tile beep to give its final location. If you forgot an item somewhere, the app records the last GPS location of that item so you can always go back and find it.

But where the Tile app really comes into its own is when something is stolen or completely lost. When this happens the user can mark the item as lost then every other Tile user can basically search for it with their phone. So you essentially create a networked radar to find the lost item. If someone's phone detects the item then you are sent a message as to its last known location.

There is one possibility of Tile that, if it doesn't exist already, (Tile didn't present it in any of their material) should be added. Instead of just helping the user find an item, Tile should stop them from ever being lost. This could be done through a passive mode of when the users phone gets more than some distance away an alert is sent telling them that they are forgetting something. This kind of functionality could keep a lot of flashdrives from being left in computers and keys on tables.

Overall, the Tile is an nifty piece of hardware, and while the software has neat features it needs expanding.

EmoPulse Smile Smartwatch

The Emopulse Smile Smartwatch is one of the few wearables being created that will be able to claim aesthetics as well as functionality.

While not really a watch, but more of a wristband or bracelet, the Smile is not something that someone has to be a geek to wear. Though it may be a bit bulky, its curves and OLED display make it decently fashionable.

Being basically just a smartphone on your wrist the Smile has much of the same hardware, camera, USB, Micro SD, etc. These will help to make the Smile a device that can appeal to a larger range of people since it will be able to take on any number of different tasks and even replace the smartphone. As opposed to most smartwatches, like the Galaxy Gear, which are just smartphone interfaces.

The fact that the Smile simply slips onto your wrist without a snap or band is also a large plus. Easy on and off makes the Smile more of a typical mobile device than just a wearable. This aspect makes the watch and its functions easier to utilize and create a better user experience.

Since the Smile is just now nearing production production we can't comment on function as far as apps and software go. But its ergonomic and aesthetic design thus far seems well thought out and a great addition to the wearable electronics sector.

The Jeep

The Jeep. The icon of WWII. This tough little vehicle defined troop transport at the time. Designed and prototyped in just a few months, the Jeep was a masterful piece of engineering. It was made to be tough and bare-bones in a war where both were needed in order to serve the troops and be manufactured quickly.

The car was a vehicle the exceeded expectations in many areas. It carried more payload than was expected. It could get through more terrains than expected. The jeep became the vehicle of choice for officers and many soldiers because it was capable of doing almost whatever they needed it to do. Few machines ever hit that level of performance. Many designs meet the need that was requested. Few designers and engineers ever blown the need out of the water and go far above and beyond in function as the jeep did. But really, when you think about it the jeeps was just too simple to not perform well. It was a few seats with a solid engine and four wheels under it wrapped up in a well thought out package. That was all that was needed to be a high performer.

The Dirigible

The dirigible is one of the coolest aircraft that has ever been created. Think about it. With little to no effort or energy expended they can lift thousands of pounds into the air and hover, admittedly on a calm day. They are really the closest thing, that exists, to antigravity. And amazingly, Lighter-than-Air craft were the first things to ever carry man into the sky

True, dirigibles are rarely used anymore because they are just large bubbles that are subject to any number of limitations. They can be blown around in a storm. They are kind of delicate. And they have a very small payload for their size. But when one realizes that they also have many advantages, their possibilities appear again. They are relatively cheap and easy to maintain and operate as opposed to helicopters or planes. As aircraft go, they are pretty safe. And they are very comfortable to ride in, much like an aerial cruise.

The dirigible has been forgotten because of its limitations. But its abilities make it a very viable transporter for developing nations without roads or landing strips. And it could again become a cruise liner, as they were in their heyday, for those that aren't in a hurry.

Chess

Chess. The Game of Kings. The game that has more combinations than there are atoms in the universe.

Chess is a game that has more personality to it than any other game. The pieces can be created as any kind of figures to match the preferences of the player. Robots, dragons, nuts and bolts. The players also literally put themselves into the game as the play. When a game of chess is going on, one can literally see what kind of people the players are based on how they command their troops on the board.

But the variety in chess is its truly defining value. No game is exactly the same or ever will be. The abilities of the pieces and the layout of the board allow for this. Not many games are able to have nearly infinite variation as chess does. Given that the game was developed in the 15th Century and uses no computers to help change it up, this is very impressive.

But the classical chess board has also become a piece of decoration due to its appearance. The glossy wood of the pieces sitting on the checkered board is a beautiful addition to many rooms. This certainly isn't inherently true of Monopoly or cards.

One drawback that Chess has is its difficulty to learn. Nuances in the game can confuse a beginner even before they start to compete. Chess could be improved if its pieces were simplified somewhat, but not to the extent of checkers. But of course this simplification would take away from the complex beauty of the board and its many pieces.

But overall, Chess is one of those few nearly perfect games. It is beautiful to look at. Challenging every time. (with appropriate opponents) Always good for the brain. And is never the same game twice. It is a game that can be as complex as the minds that play it.

Square-Drive Screws

How many stripped screws have people endured. Or how many times have we tried to keep the driver in the center of the slot. Many of us have, for years, resorted to using the screw as a nail for the last 1/2 inch when it has been stripped out. This is one of those "why don't we use it more" ideas. The square-drive and screws also known as the Robertson Screw.

The square drive doesn't let the drive slip off the head of the screw and since it is a simple square hole it doesn't strip very easily if ever. It is a simple, solid design with only one problem, it is so strong that it can be screwed too tight. 

The square drive was actually invented in 1908, nearly thirty years before the Philips head, and was an American standard at the time. (the model T used these screws) 

Like many great designs. the square drive is no longer the standard due to poor business practices by the original inventor that allowed the Philips and other options to gain traction. But this screw is still used heavily in construction and woodwork for its tough, reliable characteristics.

The Robertson screw is really a testament to the idea of making something that lasts. The screw is tough. It gives off this idea from the shape on its head. It isn't a smooth, curving, beautiful thing. It was meant to get stuff done where nothing else worked.

The Paperclip

The paperclip is always used as an example of great design. The paperclip is such an icon because since the creation of the standard paperclip the design has never changed. Why has it never changed? Because there hasn't been anything better created to temporarily hold a few sheets of paper together. Very few products can boast of that. To never have been changed for more than fifty years.

The paperclip has a elegance in its design that makes it transcend its simple purpose. Again, curves, the simple silver finish, no moving parts. Just a wire formed that very easily clasps the paper it is meant to hold. In this way the paperclip is almost romantic in its simplicity and elegance.

iRobot Roomba

The Roomba, created by iRobot, is one of the first true robots to be commercially successful on a large scale. It is also one of the first home robots to have a use beyond education or entertainment. Basically, it is the first successful, useful personal robot and, at this point, it is the closest thing to Rosy the Robot that we have available.

The Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner that is able to automatically clean a room on a schedule and then return to its docking station to charge for the next time. Fundamentally it is very simple. Bounce off the walls while vacuuming the floor. This simplicity made the Roomba a robot that could be produced cheaply.

One of the major design aspects of the Roomba is its single purpose functionality. It can only vacuum floors. While un-incredible, this design is what made it possible for the robot to exist because it was a function that was well within the state of the art.

Robots are not smart. There are only a few in the world that can tell the difference between an apple and an orange and then grab one or the other, and those robots cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. For this reason single purpose function is the best way to design a useful robot. iRobot has adopted this approach with Roomba and a few of its other products. Have one robot, perform one task. So you have a swarm of robots doing the tasks that Rosy the Robot did alone. But because there are multiple robots they can be kept individually simple and cheap. Essentially the Roomba doesn't bite off more than it can chew.

The Roomba is also a good looking product. Curves are always good practice, but that shape also is useful for navigating around furniture and in tight places. The disk never gets caught on anything. The curves also make the robot appear "cute." There are people that have adopted the Roomba instead of a dog.

Overall, the Roomba is a well designed product because it had a single purpose in mind that it does very well and is able to make itself useful to the user without excessive cost.

XStat

The XStat is a medical device for treating bleeding wounds that, in the past, would be treated by a bandage and pressure or could not be treated easily at all.

This is the picture. A man has just been shot and is bleeding from the bullet wound. Normally the best that could be done was to press a towel to the wound and hope that the man doesn't bleed to death. The XStat has moved beyond that. Instead of covering a wound it literally plugs it. The medic uses the device to inject sponges into the wound that expand and fill the cavity. These sponges also contain clotting agents that help the wound seal itself naturally, until better care can be attained.

When you think about the problem, aside from the personal aspect, it is really a very simple need. Plug a hole so that it doesn't leak. But for some reason it has been done in the same, unreliable way for hundreds of years. Put a band-aid on it, whatever size is needed and hope it works. The XStat design reworks the method of plugging that hole by creating something that works in reaction to the problem. The more bleeding, the more the sponges expand to better plug the hole.

The delivery method of the XStat is also worth of note. It is a device that anyone could use with relative security. It is, after all, just a syringe. You put the stuff in the hole and it stops the bleeding through its own mechanisms. Pretty simple. It doesn't require a complicated knowledge of correct bandaging of wounds in order to use. If your friend is shot on the battlefield you can stop his bleeding reliably without having to wait for a medic or an evac team. And you would be able to fix the wound better than medics could in the past anyway.

The Electric Light Bulb

What site dedicated to design could leave out the electric light bulb. This device fundamentally

changed the way we live our life.

When Edison started down the road to creating the light-bulb he had one thought in mind. A cheap and a safe way to provide light. The lamps that were used at the time were dirty, expensive to fuel, and

caused the destruction of property on a regular basis.

The light bulb was a nearly perfect solution. It was cheap, and produced a smooth consistent light. The infrastructure was also easier to install than gas. Wires are far more durable than pipes and less prone to explosions or leaks. 

And as far as asthetics, the lightbulb is almost spherical. (the world's favorite shape) Plus imagine the experience that is offered. By flipping a switch some mysterious force made light come into the room. It was akin the telephone. No one could really understand it. So it was an amazing thing to own at the time because it was magical.

Few products have been as perfect as the light bulb. When you think about it it is the perfect product. Cheap, easy to use, well shaped, and offering an experience that nothing else in the world can and has a twist that people can't comprehend. And setting a standard for over and hundred years ans still going.

inForm: The Morphing Table from MIT

The inForm project from MIT's tangible media group. is a great system. Being a research project, this concept is far more interesting by seeing what it can become than from what it is.

But first of all, let's set aside a few of the ideas presented in the video above. These ideas are concepts that will not be what the design of the table would be used for. First, the idea of having it visualize data or bar graphs. This is useless as an application because actual, non-tactile LED/LCD displays do this just fin and with growing 3D and their interactivity capabilities. So the tangibility of data is simply not needed. As a matter of fact, using the inForm as almost any type of display is a misuse of the design.

The inForm is not meant make flat things 3D and real, it is meant to make 3D things 3D and real. The idea of having it form into  the shape of a toy or design is brilliant, because it makes rapid prototyping instantaneous. Or having someone interact through the table, this would also be very useful. The point of the display is to make things become real so that we can interact with them with our senses and the table can interact with us. It is meant to be a precursor to a holodeck not an iteration of the computer screen.

While the design is chunky right not it could easily be refined. But the chunky isn't bad either. For example if one was to super-size the chunky you could create an urban apartment that changes its layout and furniture to the needs of the tenants. Sure everything would be a little "blocky" but it would be so cool to watch your bed fall into the floor and be replaced by a desk and chair.

The Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle. A single function device in a world of multitasking. Why is this the tablet that so many pull out to read from? Why is any e-reader?

The answer is actually quite simple. The Kindle bridges the gap between books and technology. Its function is to make reading from a tablet like reading from a book. That fact that its display looks like a page, (i.e. no glare) and that it is the size of a normal paperback make it an ideal substitute for a backpack full of books to many. But the look and feel of the Kindle make it ideal not just for the tech generation, but those older that enjoy reading.

The breakthrough in the Kindle that made it the ultimate niche device was the fact that it is more natural than any other tablet to read from. Because it is as no technological as it can be in function and appearance. It's e-ink is a perfect substitute for the real thing.

However, the kindle is not perfect. While the look and feel of its page is very natural the rest of it is not. The tablet shape is small and tight. And the touchscreen does not allow the fingers to relax onto its page as you would a book. It is also cold and thin, unlike most books. But I suppose these are all issues that are solved by Kindle cases. But any device should not require accessories to function perfectly.