Floating homes

Jelly-fish 45 Habitat

The Jelly-fish 45 floating dwelling unit of 10 metres high and with a diameter of 15 meters is designed to accommodate up to six persons. It would be ideally situated in sea parks, atolls, bays and seas rich in flora and fauna. The Jelly-fish 45 allows the sea dwelling owners to live either above or below sea level in perfect harmony with the ocean environment.

It consists of five levels connected by a spiral staircase. The top level is 5.6 metres above the sea level and has been kept for study rooms. The next lower level is situated at 3.5 metres above the sea level and contains the night time zone while the next lower level at 1.4 metres contains the daytime zone with a kitchen and bathrooms. The lowest living level at 0.8 metres above the sea level is semi-submerged and has been kept for the guest room, bathroom and technical spaces.

The acrylic viewport globe situated at -3.00 mts above the sea level allows the occupants conmplete enjoyment of the submarine world. Its shape comes from the observation of jellyfishes that animate our seas with their transparent and weightless structure. The main carrying structural component of the Jelly-fish 45 is entirely constructed from plastic reinforced by incorporated fiberglass while the submarine globe is made from acrylic with a high compressive resistance.

Trilobis 65

Trilobis 65 Floating Home is a semi-submerged dwelling environment. Its 20 metres in length makes it an habitation by six people at sea. It is ideal for living in bays, atolls and maritime parks. The main aim of the project is to allow anyone to live in a unique environment through a self sufficient, non-polluting dwelling cell in unison with their ocean surroundings.

The shape of Trilobis 65 allows the annular aggregation of more
modular units, creating island colonies.

Apple and the patent business

A number of Apple patents have been released this week. Some of them deal with further refinement of touchpads (probably most of them represent versions which won’t make the light of day). One interesting example is a scroll touchpad for an iPhone that looks a lot like a present iPod. The innovation Apple suggests appears to resemble an old rotary telephone more than anything (everything old is new again!). Also, Apple seems to have got around to putting a patent application for the iChat interface - one version they show shows a three-way text chat. Another application has a description of a local area broadcast system for the iPhone (or similar product), allowing location/person specific information/applications to be sent to anyone in range. Imagine being in an Apple store/Ikea and being able to just click off on you iPhone the products you wanted and pay by credit card and then just pick them up at the counter. Mmmmh, we’ll see.

A multifunctional handheld device capable of operating in different modes includes a single input arrangement that provides inputs for each mode of the multifunctional handheld device. The single input arrangement includes at least an input pad that provides signals when touched or pressed. The input pad may for example be a touch pad. The input pad is divided into one or more input areas that change in accordance with the current mode of the multifunctional handheld device. The multifunctional handheld device also includes a display device that presents graphical elements to indicate the configuration of the input areas at the input pad. Each mode of the multifunctional handheld device provides a different configuration of input areas and graphical elements associated therewith.

Found on hrmpf and more is discussed and presented on the blog.

Don't click!

I discovered a nicely designed web site about human navigation on a computer screen through mouse clics. It proposes the another branch of the alternative: the site explores the control of the mouse clic through gestures.

Organic keyboard?

Organic keyboard? It is possible. Process explained on ifun

Bluetooth Virtual Laser Keyboard

Who needs touchscreens? This wireless laser keypad makes any surface a usable keypad, even in sunlight. Now you can use those skills acquired in 8th grade typing class, using all 10 fingers instead of the chicken-pecking that phone and PDA keypads require. It even duplicates the sound of keys so you can still get the satisfaction of a key well-pressed. And when you're really bored, project the keyboard on the sidewalk and have the neighborhood kids play hopscotch on it. Oh, the wacky text messages you'll send now!

Via Product dose and can be bought via Yahoo

The Virtual Laser Keyboard leverages the power of laser and infrared technology and projects a full-size keyboard onto any flat surface. As you type on the laser projection, detection technology based on optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys, complete with realistic tapping sounds, which feed into the compatible Bluetooth-enabled PDA, Smartphone, laptop or PC

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is the first producer of free electronic books (ebooks). Project Gutenberg reached the following milestones as per dates:

1 eBook in 1971
10 eBooks in 1991
100 eBooks in 1994
1,000 eBooks in 1997
10,000 eBooks in 2003
100,000 eBooks in 2006


Don't miss the science-fiction bookshelf!


Illustration from Ullr Uprising by H. Beam Piper

When design meets science fiction

Mariko MORI, Oneness, 2003, Technogel(Registered Trademark), cast aluminium, electric system, 135 x 75,6 x 37,4 cm. Courtesy: the artist and Deitch Projects. Photo: Jens Ziehe

An exhibition at the Mudam Luxembourg the 25 May to 24 September 2007. More on E-flux

TOMORROW NOW - when design meets science fiction is the first exhibition devoted to the relationship between design and science fiction. Homage to Luxembourg-born Hugo Gernsback, the inventor of the term "science fiction", it explores the links created between the two disciplines from the beginning of the 20th century until today.

Curated by Alexandra Midal and Björn Dahlström, the exhibition presents the territory covered by both disciplines and the richness of their combination through works created by designers, architects, artists, science fiction authors and film directors on the subject of science fiction. More than 800 pieces by more than 100 artists have been brought together and are the subject of a thematic circuit that develops through the different galleries of the museum. The show design, by Mathieu Lehanneur, is in keeping with the exhibition in that it modifies our perceptions with monumental mobile cubes at the entrance to rooms that decide whether to allow the visitor to enter or not, a mountain of unidentified material which seems to pour towards the visitor and inflatable flying objects in a geostationary state...

Twins in tree

One of my favorite picture of all time, Twins in Tree Snedens Landing, New York by Rodney Smith

Stone age trepanation Kit

Trepanation Kit, late stone age.

I love this web site of ancient inventions! This one is especially intriguing:

Trepanation is a method of brain surgery whose origins can be traced to the Late Stone Age. Some remote societies still practice it today, and in some tribal cultures of East Africa it has survived as an integral part of traditional medicine. Doctors employed this invasive procedure to relieve distress caused by a variety of disturbances, including skull fractures, parasites, pressure, hydrocephaly, incurable headaches, and even evil spirits. Intricate and refined instruments aided prehistoric surgeons in the different methods of penetrating the skull, and sometimes in actually removing tissue from the brain. --Trepanation Kit, Worldwide, 2000 BCE by Dierdre Crane

Musicovery

Toujours plus haut toujours plus fort! Music discovery systems can lack graphic visualization, Musicovery does not!