In respect to 150 years of watch crafting, Timex, in collaboration with Core77, held a global design competition called 2154: the future of time design. OK Timex, you win this one. No one is going to compete watch designs with 150 years of watch experience.

One runner up of the competition, the TX54 concept, is a disposable clock and calender that can be worn on the user’s thumbnail. No one wants an obtrusive monster of a watch around their wrist when they can have a translucent nail clock that makes seeing in the dark as easy as pressing down on the end of your thumbnail. Look, it’s 4:20. You know what that means.

Link (via)

Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates has a vacant plot of land which will be used to hold “Masdar City,”  the first city to rely entirely on solar energy. The transit system will be much like the robotic taxi-cab in Total Recall, sans self-destruct mechanism. The system consists of a fleet of solar-powered programmable vehicles that seat six which will keep the streets free of congested traffic.

“You program what station you want to go to, and [the vehicle] will directly take you to that station . . . If you look at things like Blade Runner, etc., that we had 15 years ago, it’s really bringing that to the fore now,” says Scott McGuigan of CH2M Hill, the construction firm that’s building Masdar City.

Masdar City is bringing Blade Runner to the fore? No one wants to live in a city full of replicants, even if it’s eco-friendly. Someone better call Deckard to fix this mess before it gets out of hand.

Link (via)

Combine the urban security suit with the augmented reality mask and you get the future outfit of pro-tennis. A recent Lacoste ad, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the brand, shows a player dressed in a ridiculous garment, playing tennis in a fictional, digitally-enhanced room. The racket has robotic features and assembles itself right out of the bag.

The walls measure the speed of your slice and even returns the ball to the player.  Seems pretty intense for a tennis game but I’d be willing to play if I could ditch the ridiculously queer outfit.

Link (via)

Toasters aren’t merely an appliance to be used as your own discretion for the sole purpose of toasting your bread. Toasters are more like an introverted roommate who not only makes your breakfast but also has a sleek sense of style.

PC Magazine has written a 10 Tantalizing Toaster Concepts list that features a variety of toasters with bizarre looks; even some with multi-functional use. They even have a wall mounted toaster which looks like a hamburger phone. Click on to scope out some of the other designs and a link to the 10 toasters.

(more…)

Victor Vetterlein has designed a vision of what conceptual homes of the future will look like. I am easily reminded of the bizarre looking “arcologies” you could build in SimCity 2000. Dubbed “Reboot,” the futuristic living-space is supposed to be a self-sufficient and environment friendly take on everyday living.

Everything about its interior is digitally controlled and designed to be operated by voice activated sensors, touch pad and remote controls a la mobile phone or computer. Anyone old enough to read this will probably never live to see a house like this in which they could afford, but one can dream.

(more…)

In the year 2154, biometrics might be so advanced that they will be able to tell us how long we have left to live based on data retrieved from our bodies. Or at least that’s the type of technological advancement that the creator of the Life Index is hoping for in the future.

Envisioned by One & Co for the Timex 2154 competition, the Life Index is worn like a nicotine patch that acquires biometric feedback from the skin, including fitness level, stress, nutrition level and the environment. It then uses this information to make an educated guess on how long you have left to live.

I guess the real question is whether you’d want a gadget that could put a number on your life or a guesstimate from one of those stupid online surveys. And more importantly, would the ever decreasing number convince you to quit smoking, drinking and having unprotected sex while simultaneously shooting intravenous drugs with dirty needles?

Link [via]

If you were to get your hands on a Flux Capacitor and traveled to the year 2014, Marty McFly style, you might see some gadgets that will blow your mind. The Ori-ori-Moshi-moshi device (that name might be hell on its marketing) is a conceptual multimedia device made of a semi-flexible OLED display, which uses an origami-like form factor for pure awesomeness.

Just like many dream gadgets from the future, the Ori-ori-Moshi-moshi from AntennaDesign consolidates about every electronic function under the sun into one compact and pretty device. You name it, it can do it. You can use it as a phone, a gaming device, a media player, a camera, and photo editor. The OLED display can be folded in an assortment of ways to adapt to its present use. (more…)

Google never ceases to amaze with their annual April Fool’s antics, and this year, the search giant brings the joke right to their main search page on their Australian domain. Launching a new “service” called gDay, which shows you tommorows search results, before they happen.

We’re sure this will come in handy for those who play the lottery or gamble their savings away at the tracks. It’ll also be fun to use as a spoiler the evening before election day. — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

This type of technology is probably a good many years away, but what would it change in the world of photography? Imagine a camera featuring a huge array of sensors which use stereo photography to create a picture perfect depth-of-field, which you don’t need a forklift to carry around with you. This is what Stanford researchers have unveiled as a project in progress.

Of course, a technology such as this always raises more questions than it answers. How will the camera’s aperture adapt itself to the prospective of each individual lens? And most importantly, how will the photos ever be crystal clear with all of the sensors being in varying locations? Pretty damn cool though for a concept. — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

[ev type="youtube" data="HrzeiUvDZog"][/ev]

The video above is what our lives might very well look like in the coming years. But than again, look how wrong we were in 1900. Though this does seem a little more likely then a weather changing machine. — Andrew Dobrow

Link