Interior Design Ideas » Technology At Home

Scientists Create A True Magic Mirror

HD Staff — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:52:48 +0000

If you had any doubts regarding the direction in which technology is headed, you can lay that to rest. Whether you like it or not, it is going to creep into every corner of your home at one point of time. And yes, this would include your bathroom. Researchers at New York Times Lab have created something of a Snow White style magic mirror that would tell you anything from what the weather is like outside to how a particular tie would suit you. That’s not all. It is sound as well as gesture driven(thanks, Kinect) and allows you to surf the web, send emails, or even flip through your wardrobe.

See how this could work in the retail sector.

TIME magazine has chosen this as one of the 50 best inventions of 2011.

Sigh, what will they think of next? Urine controlled video games? Oh, wait, that’s been done…

It would be fascinating to see what these guys bring to the table in the near future.

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A Massive Home Entertainment Setup

HD Staff — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:06:53 +0000

Okay here is a guy who is serious about his home entertainment system. Serious enough to mock it up using a sketch up program…

…and resourceful enough to actually build it.

Found on Swedish home tech forum Min Hembio, on member Z3m-Johan‘s page, this entertainment pad leaves no stone unturned.

For the tech savvy, here is the list: Audiovector AV3Ci Avantgarde , Audiovector S3 Avantgarde , Euroscreen Frame Vision Light VLS190-W 16:9 86 “(190×107) , Logitech Illuminated Keyboard K800 (S) , NAD 32A2 , Philips Prestigo SRT9320 , Primare CD31 , Primare SPA22.

Hmm… it looks like the IKEA Tobo unit is more sturdier that we thought.

We like this! No need to go far to rest after a tiring session of back to back movies.

Built in storage is an added advantage, of course.

No questions to where his loyalties lie! :)

… and finally.

Recommended Reading: Home Entertainment Spaces

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7 Videos That Envision How Things Could Be In The Future

HD Staff — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:17:41 +0000

We at Home-Designing are big fans of what the future could be! We love looking at those bold and daring stuff innovators think up today which they hope to take mainstream tomorrow. Here are 7 such videos that give us a taste of what devices and experiences could be like in the near future.

(If you are reading this through email, visit the following link to view the videos: http://www.home-designing.com/2011/10/7-videos-that-vision-how-things-could-be-in-the-future )

The Printer

If you think about it there is nothing in here that isn’t possible already. It is just sensible, innovative design that brings together the advancements we have had in a cohesive way.

The Camera

Designed by the same people who brought you the printer concept above, the WVIL camera offers a great deal of control to photographers even after they have captured the photo.

The Fridge

Wouldn’t it be cool if the fridges could tell you about the quality, quantity, expiration date and even possible recipes for its contents? Don’t lose hope yet! This concept from Fabian Kreuzer tempts us with some exciting details.

The Shopping Experience

Seeing what the Kinect can do these days we don’t think this is too far off. (Did we just hear a collective applause from women world over?)

The Architect

Christopher Nolan pitched Inception to Warner Bros sometime back in 2001 so we are not going to make any accusations here!

The Way We Touch and Feel

This mind boggling video released last week by Microsoft Research just blows us away with what could be possible.

To be fair it is not the first time these guys have thrilled us. We all remember their Vision 2019 concept:

Have an interesting futuristic video to share with us? Please let us know in the comments.

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How you will read magazines and newspapers in the future

HD Staff — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:01:43 +0000

We have a little section at HD where we look at technology products that could potentially change our lifestyle. Through this home tech section, we peek at things that fascinate us in the gadget world and there is a particular medium that is catching our attention quite a lot these days: Tablets.

The growth of this new device has been phenomenal and it is already exceeding expectations. One of the reasons for its popularity(despite brilliant marketing) is the whole new experience it brings to browsing information. The possibilities they bring in the way of consuming and interacting with content is fascinating. And it is hardly surprising that it has also spawned a new breed of editorial designs that exploit the tablet’s capabilities. These new interfaces are slick, visually striking and and they bring about a level of engagement that we could only dream about previously. Take a look at some of them below:

(If you are reading this post through email, you will need to visit this link to view the videos: http://www.home-designing.com/2011/01/futuristic-reading-experiences )

Magazines like Time, Popular Science, Sports Illustrated have already released applications tailored to meet this medium.

Microsoft recently weighed in with a concept of its own. (Unfortunately the company killed this before it went to production)

Besides tablets there are other handhelds that could undergo a revolutionary change in the way we interact with them. Watch this video for example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7_mOdi3O5E

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Awesome Interactive Wall

HD Staff — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:11:46 +0000

When technology meets office design to create an eye catching workplace viewable from blocks away, we can’t help but be tinkled pink at the thought. The events agency Büro Hirzberger hired one of the best techie talents, Austrian design agency Strukt Design Studio to create a digitally enhanced wall that would capture the essence of their company by using video projectors and tons of creative precision. The Pac Man visuals are but an added bonus at the end of this video which basically demonstrates the manifestation of their genius design idea… Enjoy the show!

If you are reading this post through email, you need to visit the following link to view the videos: http://www.home-designing.com/2010/08/awesome-interactive-wall (It is worth it!)

Via

Actually this also reminds us of the Apple Matrix Wall which Apple showed off at last year’s WWDC. Everytime someone purchases an app, that app icon would pulsate.

Thanks, TC.

This year around they made it more ‘matrixy’.

The way technology is moving these days, you wouldn’t rule out having one of these in your home pretty soon. Check out this video:

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Scandinavian Living Room Entertainment Setups

HD Staff — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:26:34 +0000

Remember that swedish home we featured a couple of days back at HD? It seems there is plenty more from where that came from. Minhembio is a Swedish forum where lots of tech savvy design enthusiasts post their living room setups. Most of them are loaded with audio video entertainment units and they give us an interesting perspective on living room entertainment setups of the Swedes.

The Le Corbusier LC4 really livens up the room. For guides on how to use these kind of modern classic chairs to improve a room’s appearace, check out our post on mid century modern chairs

(Oh, we could use some help on writing a caption for the last image. If you are up for it, go here to comment: Give a caption to this image! )

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Iron Man’s House

HD Staff — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:48:05 +0000

The magic of movie making is alive and well, and clearly on display in the blockbuster Iron Man sequel. While Tony Stark’s alter-ego Iron Man suit is a stunning work of effects, what is even cooler is Iron Man’s house.

The house doesn’t really exist, and is actually a very clever use of CG. The film’s director Jon Favreau explains that the exterior shots of the house are keyed in on, ” a bluff called Point Dume in Malibu that is a National Park, so people in Los Angeles will recognize it. It’s sort of like the best spot and nobody is allowed to build there, but we put a digital house there.” In this video Favreau walks us through the sets of Iron Man 1. (If you are reading this through email, you need to visit this link to watch the video: http://www.home-designing.com/2010/05/iron-mans-house )

Here are some exterior artworks of the home, courtesy of Phil Saunders, the concept artist who visualized Iron Man’s home for the movie.

Phil Saunders’ comments:

Production Designer Michael Riva mandated a Malibu cliffside home in the vein of John Lautner’s really organic cast concrete & glass homes. The first designs were for set extensions of existing homes, but nothing we scouted looked like a billionaire’s home. A few multi-millionaires homes but…

So I came up with this design and perched it in the most decadent location I could think of, right on top of Point Dume, a California State Park. Who else but a billionaire could get those building permits?

The garage under the cantilevered livingroom I really liked, looking out over the ocean between the buttresses. Since that’s where Tony really lives, it should still have a nice view. The actual garage set is three times the size of the livingroom and would never fit in that space below, but thanks to the magic of movie geography, it’s never apparent.

Meanwhile, the inside of the house is as fictional as the outside. The interior of Stark’s home was built on a Los Angeles area soundstage, as is Stark’s impressive workshop, where he tinkers with his creations, including the Iron Man suit. The workshop is a direct contrast to the rest of the house, which is “stark” and barely finished, without even a few mementos. The workshop is where the real action takes place.

We went through a lot of variations of set dressing, the floor was originally cut stone, the area within the cylindrical glass waterfall/ spiral staircase was originally an arboretum, and there were creeping vines on the balconies (which you can still see in the east view.) The staircase started out as glass, supported by cast aluminum cantelever arms of graded heights fanning out from the glass, but structurally it wasn’t feasable, so cast concrete steps similar to another Lautner house’s were substituted. It actually makes the center a little cleaner.

The attempt here was to create a ‘stark’ designer environment, something that reflected a complete absence of personal touch. Anything that reflected Tony’s personality would be in his basement garage/workshop.

This design also went through a lot of set-dressing variations, but once again came out much like the rendering. I was pretty thrilled with the bed & wall unit design (which separates the room from the bathroom which was designed but ultimately cut from the script.) They even managed to match the really bold woodgrain with a printed veneer.

Here is a small bonus video for our readers. It is a video from Perception (the studio that did part of the visual effects for Iron Man 2) that show a few behind the scenes shots of the technology behind Iron Man 2.

References: Marvel, Phil Saunders & Perception

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Futuristic Interiors of a Bank in Madrid, Spain

HD Staff — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:35:12 +0000

YDreams is a company focusing on developing full scale interactive environments combining technology,design and augmented reality. We came across their work recently and have really been impressed with the way they tackled their latest challenge which was to develop a visitor’s center for the Spanish bank Ciudad Grupo Santander. The brief given to them was to make it reflect the bank’s position as a leader in technology and innovation. The results they have come up with look stunning. With multi lingual robots to guide you around the place and touch screen walls displaying financial information, the place looks straight out of a sci-fi flick.

Video and pictures follow…

(If you are reading this through email, visit this link to view the video: http://www.home-designing.com/2010/04/bank-interior-design

We checked out Ydreams’ Youtube channel and noticed that have done several other eye catching projects. Watch these if you have some time to kill.

Overview

Nokia Interactive Billboard at Lisbon Airport

BES Interactive Wall

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The Futuristic Car of A.D. 2040

HD Staff — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:46:53 +0000

It is not usual for a home design blog to feature an automobile. But I guess it depends on what your definition of an automobile really is. Ever wondered about a day when your entire home is nothing but an evolved version of the ‘automobile’ itself? Sure, we have all seen self driving cars with cozy interiors in sci fi movies, but I think this concept by Mike and Maaike (a San Fransisco based industrial design studio) takes it to a whole new level. They envision the car of tomorrow to become a moving habitat that you live in and not just merely a machine to drive on.

They call it ATNMBL a (short for Autonomous Automobile).

Mike and Maaike feel that:

Today’s car industry is brainwashed by its own car culture, with its obsession for speed, styling and fantasy. The car business has become one of repackaging, steering people’s focus towards style and a narrow definition of performance, not on our true needs.

Moving away from the beaten down track of high speeds and accelaration, they emphasize that the performance criteria of tomorrow’s cars would be measured in terms of time-saving, quality of life, and increased exploration that it enables its users. Freed from the monotony of driving, people would be able to enjoy quality time while in transit: socializing, gaming, movies, business, videocalls, web surfing, sleeping or discovering new places with powerful voice controlled search and navigation.

Passengers enter ATNMBL from the curb side through an electric glass sliding door into a standing-height entryway.

Inside, the seating arrangement is a direct reference to the familiar living-room setting of a couch, side chair and low table. Riders are oriented towards each other and to the view outside through the large floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides. Centrally oriented is a large flat display that features live trip information, maps, and entertainment. The display can slide up to reveal a bar behind. A new and comprehensive sense of control is introduced through voice recognition and a touch screen remote control (or one’s personal phone), offering riders a wide range of trip planning, ride sharing and performance settings that can be very detailed for those who want elaborate control or extremely simple for those who would rather just relax and enjoy the ride.

Here is a brief summary of features the ATNMBL would have:

• fully electric powered plus solar assist
• driverless navigation via GPS, Lidar, radar, accelerometers
• wrap-around seating for 7
• voice recognition and remote for real-time control/ input
• large display for info, searches, browsing, communication
• open-source software with downloadable apps for carpool and car-share through social networking, pre-loaded trips, city tours, virtual drivers, etc.
• live trip info on mini display
• electric door, standing height entryway
• electronically tinted windows
• all wheel drive with motors in each wheel
• very few mechanical parts (drive by wire)
• bar

Our kudos to these people who push the limits!

[Via]

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Amazing 3D Immersion Technology!

HD Staff — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:26:03 +0000

It seems like some of the futuristic movie environments, that we showed you yesterday might become reality sooner than we thought. Check out EON Reality‘s immersive 3D visualization technology(video shown below) that is used by architecture firm WATG to provide clients a walkthrough experience like no other.

Stereoscopic images are projected onto 3 white walls within a 10 ft x 10 ft room and the viewer uses polarized 3D glasses for the experience. IR sensitive cameras track the position of markers fixed onto this 3D glasses to determine the exact location of each eye within the room and the feedback given is used to shift the perpsective of the images projected. We will never really know how it feels as it is a kind of ‘BE there’ experience. Going by the looks, I would say it appears very realistic. The viewer even appears a bit disoriented when you have him standing on the wall’s edge!

(BTW, the bummer here is that the projection equipment costs more than half a million dollars.)

[Via]

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