Modular gadgets are great because they are part toy and part serious technology. In other words, when we reconfigure a device, it reminds us of how much fun we had (and still have) with Lego and other building toys. The folks at OObject have put together a list of 14 modular gadgets and concepts—like Bug Labs, the Modu cellphone and, of course, the International Space Station. Hit the link to check out the rest of the list. [OObject]
Yesterday, Brando chose not to release any new products. I wonder why—maybe they thought someone might not like it. It’s a four-way USB hub that also brings colour to your desk. I say a pot of paint does just the same (give Brando five years and they’ll probably come up with USB paint). All this USB nonsense begs one question, though:
If you enjoy rock climbing, snowboarding, or base jumping, you need a backpack that fits in with your hardcore lifestyle. Designer Teo Song Wei believes that his QuickShell backpack concept could be the answer. Instead of packing and repacking your gear, the QuickShell allows users to simply snap on the appropriate module.
Modu’s tiny mobile phone could be inserted into multiple “jackets” to change its function. Or better said, the Modu phone carries your data, giving your personality to whatever gadget you insert it into, GameBoy cartridge style. After seeing all the pictures of the different jackets and the announced prices, the video and the idea makes a lot more sense now.
This Pac-Man modular lighting system from French company Remake will fire up anyone with latent ’80s videogame nostalgia within them. The glowing bricks interlock, so you can build your own maze complete with ghosts, power dots and of, course, the yellow chomper himself.
While many of the wrist/arm based multimedia devices are improving, none of them can hold a candle to Danillo Mangini’s Lobster. This oddly named prototype involves an LCD base unit about the size of an iPod Shuffle (or presumably a lobster tail) that straps on to your arm or wrist, but what sets the Lobster apart is its modular ability.
I’m all for big dreamy concepts. This one, of a modular computer, is gorgeous, and I hated it at first, but it’s essentially a computer built up of several parts that plug together. Seems like a complicated setup, but it’s not any different than the inside of a PC’s case now. Well, it’s just like that, but vomited inside out.
There are worse places to sit than the Loopty-Loopy-Loopita. A fabulously ker-screwy concept in on-floor seating, it has been designed by a chap called Victor Aleman who probably got the idea when he dropped a large chunk of orange peel onto the floor and liked the way it fell.
The best bit about this, though, is that if you fit a bunch of them together then it looks like Scalextric for the posh. Made of a single piece of red oak and covered with high-density foam it will no doubt be off-the-scale expensive – but think of the Loopty-Love you could enjoy with the chicks.
