Inventions for Future Humans at Beirut Design Week

As part of the “Speculative Needs XOXO” exhibition at Beirut Design Week, 150+ Lebanese design and architecture students have presented artistic creations that address future human needs springing up thanks to anti-social technological developments. While the concept seems heavy, the approaches taken by many of the young creatives are playful, colorful and clever. From goggles called “Face Brace” which aid users in re-learning how to …

Essential Products, the Anti-iPhone, and the Future of Tech

With a few important mantras—one being “simple is always better”—Sidekick- and Android-creator Andy Rubin has launched a new tech company today. Essential Products was born out of the realization that even though tech gadgets are meant to help simplify our lives, they oftentimes do the opposite. Today two products (both set for a summer release) have been announced: an edge-to-edge and top-to-(almost) bottom screen smartphone …

This Invention Translates Colors Into Smells

An innovation that is reminiscent of scratch-n-sniff stickers of yesteryear, the Bouquet is a “synesthetic olfactory device” that essentially turns colors into smells. The cone-shaped invention is an ECAL project (from the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne in Switzerland) by Erika Marthins, Arthur Moscatelli, Pietro Alberti, and Andrea Ramìrez Aburto. The user simply points the Bouquet and the device perceives the color, then sends a …