Microsoft’s office pod creates a private working space to help you get away from the noise!

As we gradually make our way back into the office, we can’t help but miss the best parts of working alone from home. We have our favorite chairs, our home desks, and our desktop computers. You can’t beat the social element of office working, but sometimes you just need to get away from the noise. Designed for hybrid workplaces, Flowspace from Microsoft was recently recognized by Red Dot Design and given its Best of the Best Award for its innovation as an office pod for solo working in crowded offices.

Draped in gray felt, Flowspace comes with automated privacy panels that create a hybrid of a conventional desk and round pod. As currently conceptualized, each pod comes with its own desktop computer, desk, and stool. The desktop computer’s monitor spans almost the entire panel inside the pod, making it an ideal screen for heavy workloads and even presentations. The pod itself comes in two halves to combine and provide plenty of privacy amidst busy work zones. Whenever you want to get back to the WFH grind, Flowspace creates a temporary sanctuary for focus and deep work. With the so-called ‘new normal’ making its way around the globe, we’re all eager to have a little bit of both–the charm of working alone and the excitement of collaboration.

Microsoft is known for streamlining our workdays. From computer programs to actual computers, Microsoft has always designed the necessary equipment for us to get through various tasks throughout the day. Flowspace is yet another addition to Microsoft’s long catalog of office supplies that make the work grind that much easier.

Designer: Microsoft

This rare ‘Boaterhome’ from the ’80s is half-camper, half-boat hybrid designed for both land and water!

The 80s saw some pretty weird sh*t in its day. The line between analog and digital was blurring more than ever before. The 80s debuted Apple’s first Macintosh PC, introducing a new technological normal. Car manufacturers were creeping closer and closer to the hardcore punk scene born in the 80s. Acid wash jeans were a thing. The stage was set for designs to get weird. But none weirder, perhaps, than the Boaterhome, a rare half-boat, half-camper van hybrid designed by Highwave Boaterhome 2000, inc., for both land and lake.

Ridiculous Rides, a YouTube series that highlights, well, ridiculous rides, caught up with a Boaterhome owner to hear the story behind it. Modeled after Ford’s Econoline Van (E-350 series), only 21 Boaterhomes still exist today. Proud owner of one of those Boaterhomes, John, says his father saw Boaterhome in Popular Science Magazine in the early 80s and had to buy one of his own. Equipped with front-wheel drive, Boaterhome’s front end works as a sort of socket for the hulled boat to slide into like a tow.

The front end of the Boaterhome functions as a trailer for the boat to latch onto for the two parts to merge into a boat-van hybrid on a seamless boat connection. To get his boat on the water, John reverses the van to meet the shoreline and dislodges the boat, allowing it to slide easily from the van’s trailer into the body of water. Complete with a Mercury Marine 200hp DFI outboard engine, the fiberglass boat can reach speeds up to 64.3 km/h. While on the road, the van-boat hybrid maxes out at 161 km/h.

Inside, Boaterhome’s aisle takes you from the driver’s seat to the boat’s custom deck. The interior of the Boaterhome comes with all the amenities of a mobile home, including an AC unit, stove, kitchen counter, and sink, conventional oven microwave, and refrigerator. Throughout the Boaterhome, you’ll find a dining area, bathroom, shower, and plenty of versatile furniture that transforms into sleeping bunks, like a kitchen table that unfolds into a bed. In addition to his family’s Boaterhome, John plans on remodeling his own to bring it out of the 80s into the 21st-century, outfitting it with smart technology and even an upper deck for driving.

Designer: Highwave Boatorhome 2000, inc.

With a seamless boat connection, the boat easily slides onto the van’s trailer, merging the boat with the van to become one.

Segway’s hydrogen electric hybrid bike is a more chubby, Tron-esque motorbike design!





If we believe Segway, the future of mobility is going to be powered by hybrid powertrains – at least for motorbikes. And not your usual hybrid, it’s going to be a hydrogen-electric powertrain for minimal environmental impact with the maximum power output. After experimenting with the clumsy-looking electric-powered Segway Apex unveiled in 2019, Segway has again dropped a bombshell on the automotive community in the form of a Segway Apex H2 hybrid bike. The machine is going to be a hydrogen fuel cell-driven monster with a reworked frame bestowing it with a futuristic design that is rounded enough to keep it from being extremely aggressive/ edgy design with the neon rings on the wheels embodying a definite Tron vibe.

The highly combustible fuel (we are talking about hydrogen, right) is the way to go for the future, and Apex H2 wants to leverage it, just like the hydrogen fuel cell hybrid cars. The machine will have hydrogen gas stored in the tanks which will be converted into electrical energy to power the electric motors.

From what we see here, there isn’t any visible hub motor to actuate the rear wheel. It’s left only to the imagination that Segway might be onto something innovative here. The mean-looking suspension forks make the Apex H2 a predator on the prowl to eat down the miles of freeway. It’s kind of floating as front wheels are attached to a single-sided front swingarm (to match the one on the rear), and a well-disguised monoshock setting. The sporty aesthetics continue to the steering mechanism neatly tucked in the stellar body of the machine under the tank. Those flowing sharp lines, and the chiseled look, actually makes the Apex H2 futureproof when it finally makes it to reality – it’s so irresistible.

According to Segway, the motorbike will churn out 60KW (80 hp) of meat for an acceleration of 0-62 mph in flat four seconds. The top speed will also be right there at the sweet spot at around 93 mph. All this signals a performance machine coming our way in 2023. Yes, Segway says, they are on track to bring the Apex H2 to the motor enthusiasts for an estimated price tag of $10,700.

While the price tag might surprise you, as it’s not very high, it signals Segway’s intention to make it a practical performance road bike. Of course, having hydrogen fuel stations is one question still leaving a lot to the imagination, the bike for now is your best bet to ride an urban mean machine to enchant the crowd. It has that Cybertruck-like masculine character to make anyone go weak in the knees!

Designer: Segway-Ninebot

This stealth plane-inspired EVTOL comes with fans inside its wings, and can seat 5 people!

Science fiction would have you believe it’s pretty easy to have an aircraft that takes off vertically like a helicopter, and then suddenly sprouts wings and thrusters which let it fly like a jet. It’s an incredibly tricky maneuver that’s fuel-intensive, and it becomes doubly complicated when you’re trying to make the entire aircraft an electric machine. However, Canada’s Horizon Aircraft has a pretty interesting aircraft with a hybrid power system and a patent-pending wing design.

Just on face value, the Horizon Cavorite X5 looks like an absolute sci-fi wet-dream. It sports the aesthetic of a sleek stealth-bomber, and comes with wings that, get this, split open to reveal multiple fans underneath (yes, wings with FANS!) These fans help the EVTOL take off and land vertically (like a helicopter) on a landing pad, and the outer covers close shut to turn the X5 into a wing-based aircraft that can hit speeds of up to 350 km/h (217mph).

The Cavorite X5 comes named after a fictional super-material first mentioned in H.G> Wells’ 1901 book The First Men in the Moon, which, when cooled, can cancel out the effects of gravity. The plane takes on those very characteristics too, with its unique ability to hover vertically before flying like a normal plane. With an LS V8 engine onboard and a relatively modest battery system, the Cavorite X5 can achieve cruise speeds of up to 350 km/h, traveling as far as 500 kilometers while carrying cargo. The EVTOL has seating for 5 people and enough space for cargo to match. Without passengers or cargo, the Cavorite X5’s range gets bumped up to a much more impressive 1000 kilometers or 625 miles.

The company behind the aircraft, Horizon, is currently working on a 1:6 scale version to begin testing its systems and software, and plans to have a half-scale machine built by the end of the year, with production beginning as early as 2024.

Designer: Horizon Aicraft

Inspired by inspired by the Ferrari Berlinetta, this hair-raising EV is the peak of the past + present automotive design language

The exotic cars of the 1960s and 1970s were quite sharp in their design – so much so that you cut literally cut a paper with them (of course that’s a metaphorical statement). Designers back in that era fancied angular shapes and that had an influence in the automotive industry too. The common consensus was that the future cars were going to be pretty pointy and elongated. Concept supercars as well as production vehicles had a semblance of that definitive angular character – giving the four-wheelers a distinct charm.

The new breed of supercars might not be that pointy in their looks but still, they have that angular character – the likes of Lamborghini Veneno. Merging the past with the current future of automotive design, artist Ash Thorp and automotive CGI artist colorsponge have joined forces to create a unique concept EV that balances out the best of both worlds. They call it Evinetta, and it’s inspired by the 1970’s Ferrari Berlinetta concept car designed by Pininfarina. The stunning race car is envisioned to be driven by the Tesla Model S powertrain and an active ride suspension. Other bits of the car are adapted from the Porsche RSR – the interior in particular.

Truly this concept EV has influences of the past and the present, giving-off a very vibe that’s hard to compare. The aerodynamic design flowing from the low front to the beefy rear, makes Evinetta seem perfectly tailored for high-speed tracks, like it’s going to cut through the air and propel forward like a rocket-powered drag racer. Those fat wheels sandwiching the large motor, also reassure of superior control and grip on the corners, and the CGI movie that the duo have put together portrays it perfectly.

Designer: Ash Thorp and colorsponge

Ram is working on an electric version of its popular pickup truck

Ram is working on an electrified version of its pickup. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) CEO Mike Manley confirmed during an earnings call the automaker is moving into that market alongside the likes of Ford, Tesla, GMC and Rivian.Manley didn't offer...