Author Archives: Yanko Design

G-Case turns the Nintendo Switch into a Gundam-inspired gaming powerhouse

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If you’ve ever wished you could push your Nintendo Switch to the limits, now’s your chance to armor it up like a super giant robot, ready to wage battle against idleness and boredom.

The Nintendo Switch is generally loved and looked up to, especially judging by how many have tried to recreate its magic. Case in point is the Steam Deck, which tries to bring Switch-style portability and flexibility to PC gaming. That said, the Switch isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t seem like Nintendo is keen on launching a new model that addresses owners’ pet peeves. Fortunately, arduous Switch fans at Plenbo have stepped in to give the handheld console an upgrade.

Designer: Orion Chen

Click Here to Buy Now: $69 $89 (22% off). Hurry, 168/1000 left! Raised $430,000.

Nothing induces sweaty palms and frantic button-mashing better than realizing that you won’t have enough battery juice left before the next save point. Of course, you could try to scramble for a compatible power bank, but that means losing a few precious moments that could cost you your sweet victory. At first brush, the G-Case almost sounds like a battery case for the Switch, but that barely scratches the surface of what this innovative product can do to improve your gaming life, whether on the go or at home.

The G-Case is actually made up of a few modular parts, with the main body serving as the battery dock and kickstand. It is flanked by detachable Joy-Con cases that can also slide together to form a single but bigger controller, so you won’t have to bring along the official grip that comes along with every Switch. Those grips also hide card slots so you can bring your favorite games with you anywhere. And then here are the batteries, which do more than extend the Switch’s life. The detachable batteries have their own USB-C port, so you can actually charge your other gadgets from it.

Modular body.

Charge anything.

Fits any hands.

Handy Joy-Con grip.

The G-Case, however, is just one part of an ecosystem that Plenbo has created around the Nintendo Switch. Equally remarkable is the OneDock that removes any and all friction when trying to use the Switch in TV mode. The size of a large phone charger, the space-saving block conveniently connects to the Switch and a TV via cables while the OneDock itself plugs into any outlet. Its utility doesn’t end there, though, as the OneDock also functions as a charger and a computer hub as well.

The way the G-Case’s parts function together and independently might remind you of some futuristic armor or gear, and that isn’t by accident. Its predominantly white motif and red accents were specifically chosen to pay tribute to the popular giant robots of the Gundam franchise. And like those robots, the G-Case doesn’t just provide additional protection and comfort; it delivers a powerful modular system that promises to level up your Switch game.

Click Here to Buy Now: $69 $89 (22% off). Hurry, 168/1000 left! Raised $430,000.

The post G-Case turns the Nintendo Switch into a Gundam-inspired gaming powerhouse first appeared on Yanko Design.

AirTag-equipped Passport Wallet lets you keep track of your cash and important documents

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The first step in ensuring your passport, cards, or money doesn’t end up getting left behind… or stolen.

The AirTag Passport Wallet comes with a built-in holder for your Apple AirTag, allowing you to tap into its ultrawide-band tracking abilities to keep tabs on your personal effects like your Passport, cards, cash, boarding pass, and vaccine certificates. Now admittedly, the AirTag itself is a pretty bulky pebble-shaped device and something like the Chipolo CARD Spot would absolutely work like a charm here, but if you’re well tied into the Apple ecosystem and you like the AirTag tracking interface that lets you know where the tracking device is by following a large arrow around the room, the AirTag Passport Wallet makes quite a nice addition to your travel EDC arsenal.

Designer: Simply Soirée

Click Here to Buy Now

Each AirTag Passport Wallet also comes with an AirTag keychain, effectively covering all your belongings. Made from vegan leather, the wallet has space for a passport, along with 3 cards, a certificate, as well as some cash. The AirTag chamber lets you tuck the tracking device in, and once it’s in  place, you can rename the tag on your iPhone or Apple device, personalizing it in a way that lets you track it better. Even with the AirTag, the overall device measures just 0.3-inches in thickness, making it thin enough to slide into most laptop bags, briefcases, purses, or even fanny packs if you’re still the kind to rock those…

Click Here to Buy Now

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This cinema dolly makes short work of uneven terrain to make your filmmaking dreams come true

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The rise of smartphones has made almost anyone an aspiring filmmaker, trying to capture precious moments in an almost dramatic fashion. Some of these budding creatives graduate from phones to more sophisticated cameras, but the amount of extra equipment they need can be a bit overwhelming. What if you could replace a gimbal, a drone, and a dolly track with just a single piece of equipment. That’s the proposition that the Snoppa Rover is making, allowing cinematographers to roll the camera, even on the roughest of roads.

Designer: Snoppa Technology

Click Here to Buy Now: $2398 $3599 (33% off). Hurry, only 2/165 left! Raised over $425,000.

The Rover is a cinema dolly that boasts an advanced electronic stabilizer, a simple yet vague phrase that belies the true power this unassuming filmmaking tool really offers. What gives the Rover its ability to shoot stably on uneven ground is the fact that each of its three wheels can work independently of each other while also working in harmony together. Each wheel has its own damping system, sensors, and steering system that allows it to perform tricks that few dollies can do with ease. For example, each wheel can turn 360-degrees on its own, making it possible to do zero-radius turns in place without breaking a sweat.

Three wheels each with independent power control and steering system via three electric stabilizer arms.

That stabilization gives the Snoppa Rover almost unmatched flexibility, allowing cameras to roll on anything from concrete to rocky roads to uphill paths. In fact, flexibility might actually be the cinema dolly’s biggest superpower, allowing you to replace some equipment or remove the need to hire an extra person on your team. Need an extremely low-angle shot? Simply hang the camera upside down at the bottom of the Rover’s pole. If you do already have those other pieces of equipment around, you can also use them in tandem with the dolly, like using a tripod head or gimbal to control the tilt of the camera.

Active Damping System – Has built-in gyroscopes and acceleration sensors in each of its three stabilizer arms.

Steering System – The angle sensor (Hall sensor) at the joint between the stabilizer arm and the wheels of the Rover, the electric steering mechanism can be rotated 360.

Power System – The built-in gyroscope detects wheel speed in real-time, and the intelligent algorithm can distribute the power of each wheel individually.

You can control the Rover whichever way you prefer, whether from a phone or tablet, a dedicated transmitter control, or even manually. You can also pre-program the path that the dolly will take or have it lock on to a subject and follow that around. Hyperlapse is a piece of cake for the Rover, especially since it can “walk” at a steady pace and path, no matter the terrain. Even the best-planned paths fail, however, and you might have to change some points along the way. Fortunately, this dolly is smart enough to memorize the path it did take and replay that exact same route when you need to re-shoot later.

Arc Mode – Rover keeps the lens and the subject always equidistant, rotating one/half turn at the same rotation speed.

Lock Mode – Whether you are manually or remotely manipulating the Rover’s movement, the lens orientation will always remain the same.

Follow Mode – The lens will smoothly follow the movement of Rover. For use when a moving subject or a different subject needs to be shot, etc.

Target Mode – No matter how Rover moves, the subject is always in the center of the frame. This mode is only suitable for use when shooting fixed / still objects.

Smart Object Tracking – If you want to do a self-tracking shot, you can leave it to Rover to perform the tracking while saving manpower.

The Snoppa Rover is built for flexibility to cater to the varied needs of filmmakers, including the need for long hours of work. The dolly’s dual battery system allows it to continue working even when one battery dies out. Simply swap in an extra pack and watch the hours go by. And when it comes time to leave or change locations, simply fold the Rover up and roll out without missing a beat.

Click Here to Buy Now: $2398 $3599 (33% off). Hurry, only 2/165 left! Raised over $425,000.

The post This cinema dolly makes short work of uneven terrain to make your filmmaking dreams come true first appeared on Yanko Design.

Norm Model B stone desk warns you if you’re slouching and charges your devices while you work

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There is no shortage of desks in the market, especially after the Work From Home boom in the past two years. Given product design trends, most of these desks tend to favor sustainable wooded materials and minimalist designs. Wood, however, isn’t the only thing you can turn into a desk, and the designers over at Norm opted to use stone to create the Model B, the long-lasting and multi-functional desk that could very well be the last desk you’ll ever need.

Designer: Norm

Click Here to Buy Now: $899 $1299 (30% off). Hurry, only 3/10 left!

Minimal furniture has become less minimal these days, at least in functionality. While their designs remain simple and relatively blemish-free, even IKEA has started incorporating smart functionality into their minimalist products, especially wireless charging. The Norm Model B desk follows this new trend but takes it to a new level by offering something that fits almost every modern worker’s need as well as that of the planet. It’s the only desk you’ll ever need because it’s something you won’t be throwing away any time soon, thanks to the materials it is made of.

Norm’s choice of acrylic stone might sound strange at first, but its reasoning is sound. It’s the same kind of sustainable material used for surgery tables, it says, which makes it both tough and hygienic. And contrary to expectations, it is also warm to the touch, and the curved edges contribute to that smooth and ergonomic feeling. Speaking of ergonomics, the Norm Model B also has a special trick up its sleeves, or in this case, up its edges. Norm calls it “posture tracking,” and the desk analyzes how much pressure your elbows are exerting on the edge of the desk. Too much of that pressure means you could be slouching, and the desk nudges you with a gentle buzz to remind you to sit up straight.

You slouch – it buzzes.

While some modern desks try to be smart and feature built-in wireless charging surfaces, the Norm Model B embraces both wired and wireless methods, so you don’t have to choose. There’s a spill-proof power outlet and two USB-C ports on one side, while three wireless charging spots occupy the opposite side. Although the latter can accommodate any device using the Qi wireless charging standard, it was made with Apple’s MagSafe technology in mind. That means it has magnets to help align your iPhones or AirPods properly so you won’t have to second-guess yourself. In case you do want to see where to place your devices, a simple double-tap on any surface to the table will light up the LED markers.

You don’t have to worry about accidentally knocking over your precious cup of coffee because that 100-240V AC outlet is specifically designed for such accidents. For one, it has a built-in ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) circuit breaker. Second, the power will be cut in 0.03 seconds when liquid invades its territory. Like floor-mounted outlets in wet spaces like bathrooms, the liquid will simply flow through the isolated outlet body and out the leg. Yes, you do lose your coffee, but you get to keep your desk.

No tools assembly, just a single wire to plug.

The Norm Model B’s minimalist design, available in white and black tabletop colors, lets it fit in almost any space, even outdoors. But more than just an ingenious new WFH tool, the desk is also a statement on sustainability and a commitment to the environment. Every part of the desk can either be repaired, replaced, or even returned to Mother Nature. Durable, smart, and ergonomic, the Norm Model B solid-stone desk is designed to almost be immortal, something you can even pass on to your children when it comes time for them to work from home.

Click Here to Buy Now: $899 $1299 (30% off). Hurry, only 3/10 left!

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IKEA’s 70-year design evolution compiled into this one video shows why they’re the greatest furniture brand of all time

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Contrary to popular belief, IKEA wasn’t always the flat-pack furniture and home-decor giant you see it to be today. Sure, it was founded by Swedish businessman Ingvar Kamprad back in 1943, but as a mail-order sales business that expanded into pre-assembled furniture five years after it was founded. However, the fateful event which radically altered IKEA’s brand ethos (and also its fortunes) can be traced back to a regular day in 1956 when Gillis Lundgren (one of IKEA’s employees at their first-ever store) was trying to load an IKEA table into the back of the car for delivery. Realizing that it was WAY too bulky to fit cleanly into the car’s boot, Gillis removed the table’s legs, effectively reducing it into smaller, easier-to-pack portions. Until that moment, the young company only offered pre-assembled furniture… but Gillis’ clever lifehack took the work-in-progress formula of a ‘supermarket for furniture’ to the next level. The IKEA flatpack was born.

Ever since that innocuous day in 1956, IKEA has firmly doubled down on being the low-risk, low-cost destination for furniture that you can assemble yourself – a philosophy that’s allowed them to expand to 60 countries, cementing their position as the world’s largest furniture retailer since 2008. Take a trip to your nearest IKEA and you’re sure to return with something practical, affordable, and a little on the chic side of ‘basic’, but a look back through 70 years of IKEA design tells a wilder story: an illustrated tale of style innovation, retro trends, the rise of the Scandi lifestyle, and a flatpack living room that would evolve across generations.

This wild compilation, courtesy HouseHold Quotes, condenses over 70 years of IKEA’s styles into a short 90-second video. Household Quotes scourged through archives of IKEA catalogs for classic living room pieces from the past 7 decades, meticulously creating digital renders of IKEA’s modern living room through the ages!

1950s (IKEA living room cost = $1,819.34)

The first IKEA store opened in 1958, but it started as a mail-order concern. Customers would send off a completed coupon from their IKEA catalogs – which was mostly written by the company’s founder, Ingvar Kamprad. The centerpiece of our 1950s lounge is a “beautiful elm” UTÖ table that seems purpose-built to store incoming catalogs and lifestyle magazines. Although that PALETT lamp is a low-key talking point, too. Available in ox-blood, bright blue, pigeon grey, or plain-old black, the PALETT’s palette illustrates the story-telling capacity of IKEA’s products. “Nowhere else would you be able to find such a stable and beautiful lamp at such an outstanding price,” yells the brochure in true 1950s salesman parlance.

1960s (IKEA living room cost = $1,764.22)

Into the Mad Men era, furniture stood up on its legs to allow the Hoover-buying public to reach every last ball of floor fluff. That RIO coffee table is very much for company rather than catalogs. The plastic-treated teak circle-top allows guests more legroom (we’re told), following the design by Arne Wahl Iversen, a young Danish designer who specialized in what we might call “office casual.” You’ll also note the atom-age spin of the helixed wallpaper and circular GYLLEN rug. But the science isn’t so hard: the “soft and snug” GYLLEN has “long fringes,” its “delicious color scale” created with high-quality dye for a “lasting luster.”

1970s (IKEA living room cost = $1,701.32)

Say what you will about 1970s style, but no other decade was bold enough to give us the IMPALA sofa. Believe it or not, the IMPALA’s designer was the same man who created the BILLY bookcase: Gillis Lundgren, who joined IKEA as its fourth employee in 1953. Lundgren was also the same young man who unscrewed that historic LOVET table, bringing flatpack furniture into the mainstream. (The coffee table pictured here is the fiberglass/polyester CENTRUM 50). That AMARANT standing lamp is also a bit saucy, and decidedly 1970s. A nickel-plated stem, crowned with white or orange acrylic plastic, it offers a pull switch and the lamp can be taken apart and reconstructed as a table lamp if preferred.

1980s (IKEA living room cost = $1,480.25)

Yes, that’s a BILLY – “Sweden’s most-purchased bookcase” according to the catalog. In 1986, the bookcase was available with an oak veneer or nut-brown glaze, with five design alternatives. Having debuted in 1979, by the time of its 30th anniversary the BILLY would be produced at a rate of 15 bookcases per minute, and the 41 million units sold would have formed a wall 70,000 kilometers long. However, the BILLY also marked the ushering in of a more conservative period in IKEA design. Our 1980s IKEA living room is something of a nightmare flashback: the bland HEDE armchair and YSTAD sofa fading into the background next to the faintly more risky rattan VIBY side table.

1990s (IKEA living room cost = $2,086.23)

Nobody knew what they were doing in the 1990s, style-wise. But IKEA’s latest lines were at least comfortable and practical. Who hasn’t got lost on a TULKA sofa? (Smelling like three decades of dog at the moment of writing.) The steel and leather MULLSJO was a bolder (failed) style experiment, but no less comfy. The RÄCKE picture frame is recent enough and gaudy enough to be a thrift store regular in the 2020s. It was available in black or white lacquered metal with a glass front. But the real ‘take-home’ from our 1990s IKEA lounge is the AKROBAT storage unit, which paired a sense of mid-century style with a chipboard skeleton that wasn’t breaking any backs.

2000s (IKEA living room cost = $1,732.95)

The design world got back on its feet at the turn of the 21st century. Noboru Nakamura’s revived 1976 POÄNG cantilever armchair offered a fine set of bare-bones around which home-makers could drape a range of fabrics and cushions. “A chair shouldn’t be a tool that binds and holds the sitter,” said Nakamura. “It should rather be a tool that provides us with an emotional richness and creates an image where we let off stress or frustration.” The double-pronged DIPODI lamp is more divisive. Bold and practical, or an uninspired misstep? And the ENERYDA table is definitely built for comfort, not speed: so strong and clunky you could even take it apart and rebuild your kitchen with it.

2010s (IKEA living room cost = $2,806.45)

Now truly a global phenomenon, IKEA returned to its Swedish roots with the 2014 STOCKHOLM sofa. Three back cushions and just two bum cushions to share make it a distinctly socialist affair. “The full-grain leather becomes softer,” promises the catalog, “and acquires a darker tone in time.” This was IKEA’s first STOCKHOLM range in nearly a decade. That gorgeous wool rug is also from the STOCKHOLM collection, which is curated around IKEA’s higher-quality wares. The smooth-woven little number was “hand-woven by skilled craftsmen and fits perfectly into a day-room or under the dining table.”

2020s (IKEA living room cost = $1,112.95)

It’s the future. Clutter is outlawed. Sustainability is sexy. But the ghost of that 1950s salesman remains: the NOLMYRA armchair is “layered glued bentwood and is comfortable even for your wallet,” according to the Swedish brochure. The BRÖNDEN rug is fast becoming a modern classic, and is marketed on the ethics of its supply chain. And Johan Kroon’s VITTSJÖ table has a timeless geometric feel that wouldn’t be out of place on a Stanley Kubrick space station. “I chose materials that really bring out books, vases, and other favorite things,” says Kroon. “The straight, simple lines of the metal give the furniture a graphic expression and put an attractive frame around all your personal things.”

IKEA hasn’t always got it right. But the furniture brand’s unashamed dedication to low price points and intelligent design has made them a mainstay in the western home living room since the peak of mid-century modern design. You might not want to furnish your home from wall to wall with IKEA designs, but everybody has at least one piece that inspires them to say, “it’s only IKEA, but..”

Read the original article at HouseholdQuotes.co.uk

The post IKEA’s 70-year design evolution compiled into this one video shows why they’re the greatest furniture brand of all time first appeared on Yanko Design.

Formerly known as the Michelin Challenge, the “Movin’On Challenge Design” is now accepting entries for 2022!

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With its new brand name and its newly unveiled theme for the 2022 leg of the competition, the Movin’On Challenge Design is all set to revolutionize the world of transport and make it sustainable, equitable, and beneficial to everyone.

Formerly known as the Michelin Challenge Design, the international competition has a rich 21-year history when it comes to fostering and encouraging innovation from the brightest minds in the design industry. Over the last two decades, the challenge issued a broad brief to designers, asking them to create concept electric vehicles, conceptual Le Mans race cars, and even its 2021 brief — “Respect”, a call to end the mobility divide between people from different communities, walks of life, and with different abilities. Michelin Challenge Design became Movin’On Challenge Design in 2020, reflecting its integration as a featured program of the Movin’On Summit, the world’s foremost gathering for sustainable mobility. Created and inspired by Michelin, the Summit brings together large companies, startups, public and academic authorities, NGOs, and international organizations, as well as a community of experts and professionals to move from ambition to action.

The Movin’On Challenge Design now enters its 2022 edition with its competition theme: DELIVERED. The brief of the theme is to invite designers to focus on logistical equality and equitability, or being able to get goods and services to the people who need them. Nearly 30 percent of the world’s population lives outside urban centers and an equal number reside in economically depressed urban areas with sub-standard infrastructure. The 2022 Movin’On Challenge invites participants to design a mobility solution to provide essential services to all people in a safe, efficient, and sustainable way. The challenge isn’t even a transportation-focused one anymore. It’s open to artists, designers, engineers, architects, city planners, creatives, or anyone with a strong vision to build a more equitable, sustainable future by considering mankind’s need for and relation to mobility. Participants are encouraged to:

  • Identify the people or communities that your solution would serve, by including related research, and how it will improve their quality of life.
  • Explain how your idea is built on the foundation of inclusive design to enhance the human experience, and not simply to make services more convenient for those who already have access.
  • Illustrate how your innovative solution will deliver services to people.

The 2022 Movin’On Challenge Design is now accepting entries up until its submission deadline of March 1st, 2022. The Challenge’s top three winners will be announced at a Movin’On global event in June and concurrently through Movin’On social media channels. Through its first 21 challenges, the competition has received more than 14,700 entries from 136 countries. Scroll down to see a few of our favorites from the 2021 challenge, with its theme: RESPECT.

Click Here to participate in the Movin’On Challenge Design 2022. Deadline for entries: March 1st, 2022.

Crosswing by Drew Spahn

The Crosswing’s clever design turns a prosthetic leg into a skateboard that the prosthetic-wearer can use to skateboard – either for recreation or transportation. The prosthetic leg features a fold-out skateboard that when closed, provides the same walking experience as a prosthetic leg but when opened out, offers a riding experience that compares to a skateboard or pair of skates! The multipurpose artificial limb “turns a disadvantage into an advantage”, mentions Spahn, a fourth-year industrial design student at Kean University.

T.Flex by Siavash Jafari Jozani

T.Flex is an Adaptive Extreme Sports Wheelchair that aims to redefine the pleasure of having an active lifestyle with an enjoyable machine for individuals with limited lower-body mobility. Traditional wheelchairs are designed to be steady and balanced, a feature that becomes a problem for people who want their mobility solutions to be flexible, freeing, and frankly, thrilling. The T.Flex incorporates an innovative steering and a flexible structure to realize this freedom. Moreover, the riding position is highly customizable to meet the needs of individuals with diverse body characteristics, including paraplegics, above-knee amputees, below-knee amputees, and a host of other disabilities. While incredibly unconventional as a design solution, the T.Flex does justice to the 2021 challenge’s theme, giving respect to its user and allowing even the disabled to enjoy the thrills of racing and extreme sports!

Orbit by Seongha Lee, Byunghyun Bae, Byungyoon Jung and Minsun Lee

A modern solution for a modern problem, the Orbit is a mass-transit system designed to provide public transport for people with agoraphobia. The pandemic has drawn major attention to the need to socially distance, although people with agoraphobia find it difficult to be around other people, to begin with. Orbit aims to hit two birds with one stone, providing a public transport system that’s accommodating for all, while still creating a private, personalized travel experience. The larger vehicle acts as a ‘movable nest’ for smaller pods that can independently dislodge from the main body of the Orbit and complete last-mile pickups and drop-offs for people. The main vehicle covers fixed frequent routes while the individual pods provide access in remote areas, picking them up from their locations and taking them to the main vehicle, which transports everyone in their own enclosed bubble!

Tramo by Stefan Perriard

Tramo imagines transportation in a world without cars. Designed for the futuristic car-free city, Tramo offers an equitable mode of transport that’s safe, human-centric, and truly for everyone. The design adopts the shape of a pod-like platform that traverses across the city’s roadways. Its unique design makes space for people who want to stand or sit, as well as for wheelchairs and baby strollers. Designer Stefan Perriard describes Tramo as “a flexible solution with no need for stations — like a moving sidewalk” that you can hop onto or hop off from.

Concept Holosafe by Kiran Babu

The Indian Railways is among one of the world’s largest rail networks, although 41% of its accidents and 63% of its fatalities happen OUTSIDE the train, on railway crossings. Kiran Babu’s Concept Holosafe aims at making the railway crossing not only safer but much more informative too. There’s a sense of complacency when you see the barricade descend at a railway crossing, and most people simply assume that they’ve got a reasonable window of time to cross before the train ACTUALLY arrives because the barricade doesn’t tell you how long you have to wait. This attitude is so prevalent at unmanned crossings in India that the government has decided to completely close off all unmanned crossings in the interest of public safety. Kiran Babu’s solution is a novel one that promotes safety by eliminating complacency and replacing it with actionable information. While it isn’t entirely possible to prevent people from crossing over at unmanned railway crossings, Babu’s solution implements a holographic counter that acts as a ‘traffic light’ of sorts. The holographic barricade creates a virtual ‘red zone’ with a countdown clock to let people know how long they’ll be waiting at the crossing, and when the train passes by, it turns into a green zone with a countdown clock too, giving people a realistic idea of the time they’ve got before the zone turns red again. Sounds a lot like a certain Squid Game event, but hey… this one’s actually designed to SAVE lives!

Click Here to participate in the Movin’On Challenge Design 2022. Deadline for entries: March 1st, 2022.

The post Formerly known as the Michelin Challenge, the “Movin’On Challenge Design” is now accepting entries for 2022! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This modular medical wearable uses dual-light therapy to heal knee injuries and relieve joint pain

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Relying on both LED and laser light therapy together, the Reviiv Knee+ helps increase blood flow to damaged tissues around your knee, relieving pain and rehabilitating your joints. Packaged into a modular design that straps directly around your knee, the Knee+ takes on a more up-and-close approach by placing the LED and medical-grade laser panels right against your skin for deeper light penetration to your joints and muscle tissue to ensure fast relief and recovery.

Designer: Reviiv Design Labs

Click Here to Buy Now: $269 $499 (46% off). Hurry, exclusive deal for YD readers only! Raised over $400,000.

Packaged in a 3-part design that’s easy to disassemble for portability, and easy to adjust based on your knee shape/size, the Knee+ comes equipped with adjustable magnetic bands (viewers will be quick to notice the prototype uses Apple Watch Nike-edition bands) that let you easily and intuitively wear the device around your knee, targeting the pain-points directly by positioning the light-panels right on top of the pain zones. 2 in 5 people suffer from chronic knee pain in their life either because of an over or underactive lifestyle (age, location, and bad genetics all play a role too), and the Knee+ helps relieve that pain while also boosting recovery.

The Knee+ uses dual-light therapy, relying on 650nm deep red LED lights to work on the surface level, and 808nm near-infrared laser lights to travel deep into your tissues and joints for better internal healing. The infrared waves emitted by these lights help dilate blood vessels, increasing blood flow to damaged tissues while decreasing regional inflammatory cytokines. Light therapy (or photobiomodulation) also helps by enhancing mitochondrial function, regenerating damaged cells faster and more effectively to boost the healing process. The device works equally well for athletes after a strenuous workout, or people who’ve had muscle/ligament injuries or sprains, as well as for people with chronic joint pain as a result of age, weight, or even suffering from arthritis.

The Reviiv Knee+ is designed to be compact and easy to carry (it’s small enough to fit into a gym bag or even in a drawer on your bedside table. The device is modular, adjustable, and entirely wireless, using a battery-powered design and a magnetic charging dock to make using, recharging, and traveling with your Knee+ easier too. The Knee+ can be used by anyone and doesn’t require guidance from a medical expert. The device calibrates its own dosage cycles so you don’t have to, and costs under $300, giving you relief without needing to spend ten times the amount on surgery, physiotherapy, or medication.

Click Here to Buy Now: $269 $499 (46% off). Hurry, exclusive deal for YD readers only! Raised over $400,000.

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Medical Innovations from the A’ Design Award that will revolutionize human life and healthcare

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It might sound borderline unbelievable, but some of the most life-changing innovations today actually began as ideas that were considered ridiculous back in the day. Medical history is FILLED with innovations that were initially rejected on the grounds of them seeming laughable, only to then become global standards – the washing of hands comes to mind, as it helped radically reduce maternal mortality. 19th-century Hungarian surgeon Ignaz Semmelweis was labeled as crazy for proposing that doctors wash their hands before and after surgery – today, it’s a norm not just for doctors, but for any and everyone! While I’m talking about crazy medical innovations, did you know the chainsaw was originally invented to help doctors deliver babies?? Yes, the same chainsaw you use to cut down trees! And cornflakes were originally invented as a medicine to reduce sexual drives in people, long before they became a staple breakfast item! The point is, innovation and inspiration (medical or not) can sometimes go overlooked or unregarded, although it’s best when rewarded!

‘Medical Devices and Medical Equipment Design’ forms just one of the various categories of the A’ Design Award and Competition, which spans the popular categories like Architecture, Lighting, and Consumer Electronics, as well as the obscure, lesser-known categories like Cybernetics, Prosumer Products, and Safety Apparel Design. The A’ Design Award’s ultimate goal is to be an umbrella that covers good design across all disciplines, which is why it has 100 different categories for submitting design projects, and 211 jury members (comprising academics, design professionals, and press members) from all around the world collectively judging the works. Winners of the A’ Design Award don’t just secure a trophy and a certificate but receive an entire PR Campaign dedicated towards pushing their career, clout, and even their projects to newer heights. A’ Design Award’s winners and even its participants are included in its annual award book and business network, while additionally contributing to their country’s overall design ranking that paints a holistic picture of how design-centric and design-forward each country is.

The A’ Design Award is currently accepting entries for the 2022 edition of the award program, so if you’ve even got an idea for a medical product (or any other category), now’s your time to shine and change the world!

Here are some of our favorite Medical Device and Equipment Design winners from the A’ Design Award & Competition across the years. If you have a potential medical device or equipment design that you think is worthy of an award, Click here to register & participate in the A’ Design Awards 2022. Hurry, the last date for application is the 28th of February 2022!

Dab ECG Holter Patch by Adam Miklosi

Literally, the size of a quarter, Adam Miklosi’s Dab is an unobtrusive Holter ECG/EKG that rests comfortably on your chest, constantly reading your heart’s movements. Designed to be minimal, non-invasive, and simple, the Dab tries to bridge the gap between medical appliances and wearables. Its tiny yet classy design sits on your chest via a gel patch, while the electrodes capture your heart activity. The Dab’s dry-electrodes allow it to be used and reused, while they constantly measure one’s heart activity (requiring periodic charging via their wireless charging hub), and keep logs of accurate readings, quietly sitting on your chest while you absolutely forget that they’re even there in the first place!

Gait Analysis Robot by Anri Sugihara

Here’s an idea that doctors in the 19th century would absolutely laugh at – did you know that your gait (the way you walk) could be studied to identify if you’re suffering from any diseases? It’s common knowledge that a person’s gait is so unique that they can literally be identified by them, but what this robot is attempting to do here is even more game-changing. Simply by studying and analyzing your walk, the robot can A. Detect diseases, both external and internal, and B. Track rehabilitation. It’s strange although if you think about it, maybe you subconsciously walk differently when you’ve bruised your arm or ribs, or when you’ve got a cough or an internal difficulty. The Gait Analysis robot could potentially help detect ailments and diseases using data gathered from just a 10-minute walk. Not only would it save time, it would also save a WHOLE lot of costs on expensive tests!

Espire Full Face Gas Mask by Carlos Schreib

As we enter what’s effectively our third year in this pandemic, let me be the first to say that if you wear spectacles just like I do, there’s nothing quite as annoying as an ill-fitted face mask leaking air and fogging up your glasses! The Espire Full Face Gas Mask is exactly what ALL face masks should look like. Not only does it purify the air going into your nose and mouth, it even guards your eyes against smoke, dust, and harmful chemicals. What’s more, it rather cleverly creates a barrier between the breathing zone and the viewing zone so you don’t have to worry about your visor fogging up with your breath!

Pimoji More Intuitive Pill Design by Jong Hun Choi

The concept behind the Pimoji tackles the two biggest problems of taking meds. Firstly, the ambiguity, given that almost all medicines look the same and their names are usually a complicated bunch of characters that often don’t convey anything, and secondly, the fact that the very act of taking medicines feels slightly daunting, and can often seem scary to most. The Pimoji’s solution to both those problems is simple, and between you and me, pretty innovative! Design each pill around an emoji-esque representation of the ailment they’re trying to cure. Heart meds are shaped like hearts, bone-strengthening meds are shaped like bones, toothache tablets are shaped like teeth, and the list goes on (let us know if you can correctly identify the tablet shapes!) The pills come in cute shapes that make it easy to know what medicine you’re taking, while somewhat making it feel like you’re eating fun-shaped candy, not medication!

Zhiwen Wearable Thermometer by Wei Gu And Di Wu

The Zhiwen thermometer lets you constantly monitor the temperature of its wearer using wireless technology. Designed to be small enough to permanently sit on the skin without causing much discomfort, the thermometer beams its readings to a control unit that allows you to check the wearer’s temperature, as well as the thermometer’s overall battery. When the thermometer runs out of charge, just take it off and slide it into the charging hub located right within the control unit!

Osteoid Medical Cast by Deniz Karasahin

Presenting what is essentially the future of medical rehabilitation in a nutshell, the Osteoid Medical Cast is a significant upgrade over the plaster casts still used up to today. Instead of layering wet plastered gauze onto a broken limb, the Osteoid Medical Cast proposes a neat, bespoke 3D-printed cast that’s breathable, and designed exactly to its wearer’s specifications. Using a generatively designed Voronoi surface, the new cast uses less material while still providing a strong structure, and provides openings so the skin can breathe while more importantly, allowing the patient to itch their skin!

Convenient Urine Bag by Yanqing Lan

Offering a solution that’s comfortable, convenient, and most importantly modular, the Convenient Urine Bag by Yanqing Lan straps to the wearer’s thigh, allowing them to urinate wherever they are without discomfort or pressure. The 100ml bag sports a 3-part design, with 3 individual compartments that fill up as the wearer urinates. As and when each individual bag fills up, they can be unplugged and disposed of, so the wearer/patient isn’t carrying a large sack half-filled with bodily fluids wherever they go. Each individual bag is filled with a water-absorbing polymer that can quickly solidify the urine, thereby reducing the odor and stabilizing the urine stored to prevent any unforeseen or accidental spillage.

Brave Jet Syringe by Ilmo Ahn, Jisu Kim & Juyeon Baek & SeonwooPyo

Dispelling any fear around injections, the Brave Jet Syringe gamifies the vaccination process, turning the syringe jet into a plane, allowing kids to look at it as not a pointy, fearful, medical product, but a good-guy fighter jet that kills diseases! This novel approach attaches basically to any syringe body, making kids less afraid of needles and allowing doctors to administer life-saving vaccines and treatments.

SPH Smart Prosthetic Hand by Young Jo In

The SPH, or Smart Prosthetic Hand is just practical from top to bottom. A mechanized prosthetic hand lets you go about your day to day tasks, while a smartphone is literally integrated into the back of your palm, letting you own and use a smartphone without worrying about having to occupy one hand holding one, forget/lose one, or accidentally drop one. Besides, it literally puts the power of the entire internet in your hands!

Click here to register & participate in the A’ Design Awards 2022. Hurry, the last date for application is the 28th of February 2022!

The post Medical Innovations from the A’ Design Award that will revolutionize human life and healthcare first appeared on Yanko Design.

This device turns air into pure drinking water, providing 10 liters of fresh mineral water each day

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What’s funny about the idea of progress is that it’s much more layered than we think. Sure, 30 years from now, we will have sent humans to Mars… but 30 years from now most cities will even be dealing with extreme climate change, polluted air, and scarcity of resources like running water. Sounds odd when you look at the whole picture, right? Well, we’re living in a world that’s on a path to change, and it may be prudent to stop taking things like drinking water for granted.

Meet Kara Pure, a water dispenser that basically turns air into drinking water. Designed by Cody Soodeen, Kara Pure wasn’t created in a void — Soodeen grew up in a town where the drinking water was contaminated by a strain of bacteria that had health implications for the people who consumed it. Unfit drinking water isn’t particularly rare nowadays, with groundwater tables either being infected/polluted, or being entirely depleted due to overconsumption and a lack of accounting for climate change. While Kara Pure is clearly built keeping a pretty inevitable future in mind, it’s important that Soodeen and other people like him perfect the technology now, rather than later.

Designer: Cody Soodeen

Click Here to Buy Now: $1229 $2399 (48% off). Hurry, only 1 left! Raised over $150,000.

Kara Pure extracts water from atmospheric moisture, turning it into mineral-rich alkaline drinking water that hydrates and cleanses toxins within the body. The device, which looks like a monolithic silver tower, can dispense up to 10 liters of water (2.5 gallons) each day, while also enriching it with 7 rare natural minerals and bringing it up to a pH of 9.2+. As a by-product, it also dehumidifies and purifies air, serving multiple purposes at the same time so you have fresh water to drink AND fresh air to breathe every single day.

It’s also a dehumidier.

Kara Pure’s underlying technology is perhaps its biggest innovation. Soodeen points out that other water-capture devices in its category use refrigerants to condense atmospheric moisture and turn water vapor into droplets of water – a process that’s energy-intensive, noisy, and bad for the environment. Kara Pure, on the other hand, uses a desiccant that absorbs water from the air (sort of like volcanic rock or silica gel). The air passes through this desiccant and the water is extracted and stored in Kara Pure’s storage tank.

The water then goes through a multi-stage purification system where it’s sterilized using UV light and is mineralized with Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, Lithium, Selenium, Strontium, and Metasilicic Acid, before being passed through an ionizer that alkalizes the water and a carbon filter that removes any final impurities before dispensing clean, clear drinking water that’s alkaline in nature, offering a host of health benefits. Kara Pure’s water-capture process, unlike conventional dehumidifiers and water-capture devices, doesn’t use refrigerants or chemicals that are harmful to the environment, and Kara Pure operates noise-free, providing 10 liters of water through this process every single day.

The monolithic device has an industrial aesthetic to it that combines high-end engineering with minimalist design – well within the domain of companies like Apple and Dyson. The device’s clean exteriors almost reinforce the idea of purity, and the fact that it works without generating the all-too-common whirr that other appliances like refrigerators make, just elevates its overall experience. Kara Pure’s UI is ridiculously simple too. It doesn’t really complicate the process by telling you what the machine is doing or offering you a whole variety of options to choose from. There’s just one single button that, seemingly like magic, dispenses fresh water into Kara Pure’s cavity that’s large enough for a glass, bottle, or even a carafe or jug. All Kara Pure really requires is a power source, and the relatively large contraption can easily be shifted between rooms too, without worrying about noise, water inlets, outlets, or any of the other points of failure that other similar products have today.

Kara Pure literally turns air into water – a feat that’s worth marveling just on its own. Soodeen mentions that Kara Pure is ideal for areas that don’t have access to the purest of drinking water. The fact that Kara Pure works without relying on groundwater means that it can effectively work practically anywhere on earth and all it really needs is a periodic $100 filter replacement every year.

Click Here to Buy Now: $1229 $2399 (48% off). Hurry, only 1 left! Raised over $150,000.

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Meet the world’s first TWS Earbuds designed with noise cancellation that actually “protects” your hearing

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Up until recently, the definition of ‘noise canceling’ was limited to removing undesirable sounds to enable clear calling, voice recording, and music listening. What the dBud U does is extend that definition to also cancel sounds that may harm your ears. Designed as the world’s first TWS earbuds with OSHA-certified ‘noise protection’, the dBuds U do more than just answer calls and play music and podcasts… they actually protect your ears from the harsh sounds around you, like the rumbling of a jet, the roaring of a vacuum cleaner, the deafening noise of construction and traffic, or that imbecile next door on the drum set.

Designer: EarLabs

Click Here to Buy Now: $169 $295 (42% off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left!

Coming from the folks at EarLabs, the dBud U builds on their catalog of products designed to protect hearing. Its mission is a pretty strong and unique one – to give you the TWS experience while focusing on ear health – something I’ve personally been quite passionate about since I developed tinnitus. Sure, they’re like most TWS earbuds in the way they work, but they also provide an extra blanket of features that ensure that you can block out unwanted sounds that may affect your focus, your listening experience, or your hearing abilities in the long run. Additionally, they’re also designed to augment certain sounds like voices of those around you – perhaps a coworker informing you of a meeting, a barista calling your name, or your partner asking you where to order takeout from.

On the design front, the dBud U are indistinguishable from your top-of-the-line TWS earbuds. They sport a comfortably compact design that fits snugly into your ears, with silicone tips creating that tight seal to prevent noise from leaking in. There aren’t any ear-stems like in AirPods too, which makes them less fiddly, while giving both the earbuds as well their case a rather petite size that’s perfect for all sorts of pockets. On the inside, the dBud U earphones are equipped with high-fidelity graphene drivers that deliver crisp audio with a balanced sound that’s perfect for music and vocals, and fine-tuned to deliver crisp audio on all your media consumption platforms including Netflix, Spotify, Audible, YouTube, Disney+, HBO, Apple Podcasts and a range of other popular apps.

However, what sets the dBud U apart from the ocean of TWS earbuds on the internet is their intent. Touted as the world’s first (and only) earphones certified for hearing protection by OSHA, the dBud U combines active noise canceling, passive noise reduction, and dynamic range compression to keep your ears safe at all times. These features are bundled into 3 modes that serve different users and scenarios – a Protect mode turns the earphones into smart earplugs that heavily reduce the impact of loud noises around you, safeguarding your eardrums against damage, an Augmented mode that improves hearing and situational awareness with low-latency audio input to ensure you hear important sounds around you like traffic, conversations, horns, alarms, etc., and finally, a Focus mode that puts the world around you on mute, so you can meditate, exercise, or work without distractions. Collectively, the three modes cover a wide variety of cases, whether you’re in a factory or using power tools at home, whether you’re traveling or in social situations, or whether you’re deep in concentration while working or working out.

Functionally, the dBud U TWS earbuds offer everything you’d expect from a high-end audio device. The graphene drivers, active noise-cancellation algorithms, and dual hybrid ANC MEMS microphones (in each earbud) make the earphones perfect for music, calls, and even voice commands. The earbuds have actual physical controls, which means you can use them with gloves on too – a highly understated feature for people working with safety gear or while outdoors in winter apparel. The earphones pair with your smart device via Bluetooth 5.1, offering a strong, low-latency connection, while the dBud smartphone app lets you even fiddle around with the equalizer to adjust the audio to perfectly suit your needs. They come IPX4 rated to be sweat and splash-proof, and the earbuds boast of a 7-hour battery life, brought up to a full 28-hours with the charging case. The case can quick-charge the buds, offering 90 minutes of playback with just 5 minutes of charging, and as icing on the cake, the case supports wireless charging too. The dBud U make a pretty compelling purchase, given their capabilities and the earlybird price of under $215. They ship in 3 colors and begin deliveries as early as April 2022. “Sounds” pretty good, eh?

Click Here to Buy Now: $169 $295 (42% off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left!

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