AQUA HUMAN Is a Dive Suit Concept Built Around the Body, Not the Tank

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The way divers go underwater hasn’t fundamentally changed much in decades. You strap tanks to your back, manage hoses, regulate breathing, and navigate a system of equipment that always feels bolted on rather than built in. The gear works, of course, but it keeps reminding you it’s there. Improvements have mostly been incremental, focused on making the existing system lighter, safer, or easier to manage, not rethinking it from scratch.

That’s the gap designer Ivana Nedeljkovska set out to explore with AQUA HUMAN, a conceptual underwater atmospheric diving suit that starts from a different question. Not how to make existing equipment better, but what happens when you stop treating the suit as equipment altogether. The concept pushes for diving gear that functions as a unified system, one that works with the body rather than being strapped onto it.

Designer: Ivana Nedeljkovska

The design process reflects that shift in thinking. Nedeljkovska didn’t begin with sketches of a suit; she started by studying how breathing works, how the body reacts to pressure, and where conventional gear creates friction between the diver and the water. Form followed only after function was understood, which is why the result looks less like upgraded scuba equipment and more like something the body might have grown into naturally.

The central idea is integration rather than addition. AQUA HUMAN ditches the external tanks and brings breathing, temperature regulation, and mobility into the suit’s structure itself, functioning as a single synchronized system. The suit’s multi-layered material construction handles durability, water resistance, and flexibility simultaneously, so a deep-sea researcher or rescue diver can move without the suit fighting back. There’s no cluster of components to manage, just one continuous form.

On top of that, built-in motors reduce water resistance, making movement through the ocean feel less like fighting a current and more like navigating it. An integrated AI system runs alongside all of this, continuously reading the diver’s condition and the surrounding environment. It’s a real-time feedback loop designed to catch problems before they become emergencies, which matters considerably more at depth than it does on land.

Then there’s the light strip system, which might sound like an aesthetic choice but isn’t only that. The strips running across the suit serve as a visual language, changing to signal potential danger or communicate the wearer’s condition to others nearby. Underwater, where verbal communication isn’t possible and hand signals have limits, having a suit that actively broadcasts information in real time is genuinely useful, not decorative.

Diving suits have been layered with improvements for decades without anyone seriously questioning the core architecture. AQUA HUMAN isn’t trying to sell you something new; it’s asking why we’re still building on a foundation that hasn’t changed since the tank became standard. That kind of questioning is where genuinely different solutions tend to start, even if they take a while to arrive.

The post AQUA HUMAN Is a Dive Suit Concept Built Around the Body, Not the Tank first appeared on Yanko Design.

Mililab Made a Dining Table, Got Distracted, and Made a Better Stool

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Modern furniture design has been quietly shifting priorities. Smaller homes and more deliberate interiors have created real demand for pieces that do more without taking up more space or sacrificing how they look. Stools and side tables are easy targets for this kind of dual-purpose thinking, but most of them still feel like a workaround, a compromise dressed up as a solution, rather than a genuinely well-considered object.

The Ishi stool from Japanese studio Mililab isn’t that kind of compromise. It came out of a separate project entirely, one that had nothing to do with stools, and it ended up as something that’s equal parts furniture object and quiet design statement. That accidental origin is actually central to understanding why it looks the way it does, and why it works as well as it does.

Designer: Mililab

The story starts with the studio’s own Maru dining table. While developing it, founders Livert Lim and Mengfei Wu kept drifting back to the legs, almost despite themselves. Those legs tapered inward along one unbroken curve, giving them a presence that had little to do with the tabletop above. As Mililab described it: “A shape that didn’t need the table above it.” So they separated it and let it stand alone.

Working with collaborator Djordje Cebic, they developed Ishi into a form that’s both monolithic and unexpectedly soft, something like a river-worn pebble given volume. From across the room, it appears impossibly thin; up close and under your hand, it’s substantial. That tension between visual lightness and physical solidity isn’t accidental. It’s the result of curves computed in Tokyo and then realized by hand in the workshop.

The material process behind that solidity gets genuinely obsessive. The stool is made from North American white oak, selected for grain consistency, kiln-dried, hand-shaped, then kiln-dried again, because the glue introduced during assembly brings moisture back into the wood. Most workshops skip that second drying. Mililab doesn’t. It’s sealed immediately after, locking in a 10% moisture content, the exact point at which white oak is most dimensionally stable.

The cushion on top, available in Kvadrat Savanna, Dedar fabric, or Italian leather, looks fully integrated with the oak base. It isn’t, of course, which is the point. Pull it off, flip it over, and the flat underside becomes a surface, turning the stool into a side table. It works just as well beside a sofa at home as it does in a hotel lobby or a studio apartment. At 430mm, the height was chosen deliberately. It’s low enough to pair with a lounge chair, yet also tall enough to sit beside a dining table or vanity desk.

There’s something refreshing about a piece of furniture that arrived this way, not from a brief or a market gap, but from genuine distraction. Lim and Wu were supposed to be designing a dining table and kept staring at the legs instead. It’s not a narrative most furniture studios would lead with, but it does explain why the Ishi stool feels like something they simply couldn’t help making.

The post Mililab Made a Dining Table, Got Distracted, and Made a Better Stool first appeared on Yanko Design.

Godzilla goes to New York in ‘Minus Zero’ teaser trailer

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Japanese entertainment company Toho has released a teaser video for Godzilla Minus Zero, the upcoming sequel to the award-winning film Godzilla Minus One. The teaser shows the famous monster next to the Statue of Liberty as it rampages across New York. Godzilla Minus Zero is set in 1949, two years after the events of the first film, and will be a direct sequel. You’ll see familiar faces from Minus One in the short trailer, as well, namely Koichi Shikishima and Noriko Oishi, two of the first movie’s main characters.

The kaiju flick was filmed specifically for IMAX with high-definition digital cameras. Even its audio was optimized for the massive screen’s immersive cinema experience. Minus One won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, so expectations are high for this sequel. The good news is that this movie is also helmed by Takashi Yamazaki, who wrote, directed and oversaw the visual effects for Minus One. Godzilla Minus Zero is heading to cinemas in Japan on November 3 and in the United States on November 6 this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/godzilla-goes-to-new-york-in-minus-zero-teaser-trailer-015029346.html?src=rss

Godzilla goes to New York in ‘Minus Zero’ teaser trailer

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Japanese entertainment company Toho has released a teaser video for Godzilla Minus Zero, the upcoming sequel to the award-winning film Godzilla Minus One. The teaser shows the famous monster next to the Statue of Liberty as it rampages across New York. Godzilla Minus Zero is set in 1949, two years after the events of the first film, and will be a direct sequel. You’ll see familiar faces from Minus One in the short trailer, as well, namely Koichi Shikishima and Noriko Oishi, two of the first movie’s main characters.

The kaiju flick was filmed specifically for IMAX with high-definition digital cameras. Even its audio was optimized for the massive screen’s immersive cinema experience. Minus One won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, so expectations are high for this sequel. The good news is that this movie is also helmed by Takashi Yamazaki, who wrote, directed and oversaw the visual effects for Minus One. Godzilla Minus Zero is heading to cinemas in Japan on November 3 and in the United States on November 6 this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/godzilla-goes-to-new-york-in-minus-zero-teaser-trailer-015029346.html?src=rss

This ‘Immortal’ EDC Pen Spent 24 Hours Underwater, And Still Wrote Continuously For 1,500 Meters

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Thomas Slim immersed their new EDC fountain pen in water for 24 hours, pulled it out, and it wrote immediately. They dropped both the fountain pen and rollerball versions fifteen times from one metre onto concrete, and aside from minor ink on the nib face, both kept writing without issue. They machined the internal grip length specifically to prevent cartridge movement under impact, added capillary channels inside the cap to manage ink overflow during sudden movement, and spec’d nitrile rings at key junctions for water resistance. None of this makes the pen indestructible, but it does make it the kind of tool you can carry without concern.

The Thomas Slim EDC Pocket Pen comes built by the eponymously named London studio with over twenty years of experience manufacturing precision accessories for European luxury houses. Machined from 304 stainless steel and IP plated for durability, it weighs 36 grams and measures 84mm capped without the optional key-loop. Available as both a fountain pen (with a polished Schmidt nib) and a rollerball (with Schmidt feed that wrote over 1,500 metres continuously in testing), both versions share the same cartridge system and the same obsessive engineering. Three finishes available: steel, gold, and dark gunmetal.

Designer: Thomas Slim

Click Here to Buy Now: $51 (Ships Internationally) Hurry! Only 29 days left. Raised $11,000 in just 3 hours

Both the fountain pen and rollerball versions use the same cartridge system, which keeps them flexible and economical to maintain over time. Thomas Slim developed an internal cap insert with capillary channels that manages excess ink during sudden movement, the kind of jostling that happens when a pen lives in a pocket or gets tossed into a bag. The grip section secures the cartridge firmly under impact, solving the problem most cartridge pens face when they hit pavement. The fountain pen uses a Schmidt nib, polished in-house for smoothness, which matters if you’re writing more than a quick note. The rollerball uses a precision Schmidt feed, and in testing it wrote over 1,500 metres continuously without interruption or feed starvation. That’s the kind of reliability you need when the pen is your daily carry and you can’t afford to have it skip mid-sentence during a meeting.

Every component is CNC machined in Thomas Slim’s workshops on sliding head lathes to highly specific tolerances. The body is 304 stainless steel, and the gold and graphite versions are IP plated for durability, giving it robust scratch resistance . Anodised aluminium sleeves support the feed, and are compatible with many European feeds, allowing you to swap the nib for your favourite one should you wish. Nylon inserts regulate thread engagement and house the internal ink-overflow system, the part that keeps ink from leaking into the cap when the pen takes a hit. Nitrile rings assist with water resistance at key junctions, which explains how the pen survived 24 hours underwater and wrote immediately after. Machined to within a tolerance of 30 microns, the pen threads engage smoothly, the cap posts securely, and nothing rattles or feels loose in hand.

Barley is a traditional engine-turned pattern long used on items to be handled often, and each small facet catches light at a slightly different angle. The pattern improves grip, especially in wet conditions, and adds a quiet tactile feel while remaining comfortable. Thomas Slim applied the barley detailing to the grip section and the cap threading, the two areas where your fingers make contact most. Three finish options are available, and the gold and graphite versions use Ionic Plating, a surface treatment that bonds to stainless steel for exceptional hardness and durability. The steel finish keeps the raw metal look, the gold adds warmth without looking gaudy, and the dark gunmetal sits somewhere between tactical and refined.

Each pen is individually numbered on the grip section thread and features a mother-of-pearl insert, which can be engraved with a personal monogram. Customers may choose the pen with or without a loop depending on intended use, and for those selecting the loop option, five cord colours are available, each finished with metallic end components to improve durability and prevent fraying. The loop turns the pen into a keychain carry, which works if you want it always accessible but don’t want it rattling loose in a pocket. For those who prefer a more understated look, a leather case is available as an accessory. Without the loop, the pen measures 84mm capped and 131mm uncapped, putting it in compact territory without feeling cramped when posted. The barrel diameter sits at 13mm, with the grip tapering to 10.5mm, a comfortable size for extended writing sessions.

The Thomas Slim EDC Pocket Pen starts at a discounted price of £37 ($48.77 USD). Three finishes will be available: steel, gold, and graphite, and buyers can configure the pen as either a fountain pen or rollerball. Additional rollerball nibs and cartridges are available as optional add-ons but also on Amazon. Thomas Slim sells directly, workshop to customer, with fully biodegradable FSC-certified packaging designed specifically for efficient small-parcel shipping. Tooling is complete, and the first production run is ready to begin in May with shipping as early as July 2026.

Click Here to Buy Now: $51 (Ships Internationally) Hurry! Only 29 days left. Raised $11,000 in just 3 hours

The post This ‘Immortal’ EDC Pen Spent 24 Hours Underwater, And Still Wrote Continuously For 1,500 Meters first appeared on Yanko Design.

This ‘Immortal’ EDC Pen Spent 24 Hours Underwater, And Still Wrote Continuously For 1,500 Meters

Posted on by

Thomas Slim immersed their new EDC fountain pen in water for 24 hours, pulled it out, and it wrote immediately. They dropped both the fountain pen and rollerball versions fifteen times from one metre onto concrete, and aside from minor ink on the nib face, both kept writing without issue. They machined the internal grip length specifically to prevent cartridge movement under impact, added capillary channels inside the cap to manage ink overflow during sudden movement, and spec’d nitrile rings at key junctions for water resistance. None of this makes the pen indestructible, but it does make it the kind of tool you can carry without concern.

The Thomas Slim EDC Pocket Pen comes built by the eponymously named London studio with over twenty years of experience manufacturing precision accessories for European luxury houses. Machined from 304 stainless steel and IP plated for durability, it weighs 36 grams and measures 84mm capped without the optional key-loop. Available as both a fountain pen (with a polished Schmidt nib) and a rollerball (with Schmidt feed that wrote over 1,500 metres continuously in testing), both versions share the same cartridge system and the same obsessive engineering. Three finishes available: steel, gold, and dark gunmetal.

Designer: Thomas Slim

Click Here to Buy Now: $51 (Ships Internationally) Hurry! Only 29 days left. Raised $11,000 in just 3 hours

Both the fountain pen and rollerball versions use the same cartridge system, which keeps them flexible and economical to maintain over time. Thomas Slim developed an internal cap insert with capillary channels that manages excess ink during sudden movement, the kind of jostling that happens when a pen lives in a pocket or gets tossed into a bag. The grip section secures the cartridge firmly under impact, solving the problem most cartridge pens face when they hit pavement. The fountain pen uses a Schmidt nib, polished in-house for smoothness, which matters if you’re writing more than a quick note. The rollerball uses a precision Schmidt feed, and in testing it wrote over 1,500 metres continuously without interruption or feed starvation. That’s the kind of reliability you need when the pen is your daily carry and you can’t afford to have it skip mid-sentence during a meeting.

Every component is CNC machined in Thomas Slim’s workshops on sliding head lathes to highly specific tolerances. The body is 304 stainless steel, and the gold and graphite versions are IP plated for durability, giving it robust scratch resistance . Anodised aluminium sleeves support the feed, and are compatible with many European feeds, allowing you to swap the nib for your favourite one should you wish. Nylon inserts regulate thread engagement and house the internal ink-overflow system, the part that keeps ink from leaking into the cap when the pen takes a hit. Nitrile rings assist with water resistance at key junctions, which explains how the pen survived 24 hours underwater and wrote immediately after. Machined to within a tolerance of 30 microns, the pen threads engage smoothly, the cap posts securely, and nothing rattles or feels loose in hand.

Barley is a traditional engine-turned pattern long used on items to be handled often, and each small facet catches light at a slightly different angle. The pattern improves grip, especially in wet conditions, and adds a quiet tactile feel while remaining comfortable. Thomas Slim applied the barley detailing to the grip section and the cap threading, the two areas where your fingers make contact most. Three finish options are available, and the gold and graphite versions use Ionic Plating, a surface treatment that bonds to stainless steel for exceptional hardness and durability. The steel finish keeps the raw metal look, the gold adds warmth without looking gaudy, and the dark gunmetal sits somewhere between tactical and refined.

Each pen is individually numbered on the grip section thread and features a mother-of-pearl insert, which can be engraved with a personal monogram. Customers may choose the pen with or without a loop depending on intended use, and for those selecting the loop option, five cord colours are available, each finished with metallic end components to improve durability and prevent fraying. The loop turns the pen into a keychain carry, which works if you want it always accessible but don’t want it rattling loose in a pocket. For those who prefer a more understated look, a leather case is available as an accessory. Without the loop, the pen measures 84mm capped and 131mm uncapped, putting it in compact territory without feeling cramped when posted. The barrel diameter sits at 13mm, with the grip tapering to 10.5mm, a comfortable size for extended writing sessions.

The Thomas Slim EDC Pocket Pen starts at a discounted price of £37 ($48.77 USD). Three finishes will be available: steel, gold, and graphite, and buyers can configure the pen as either a fountain pen or rollerball. Additional rollerball nibs and cartridges are available as optional add-ons but also on Amazon. Thomas Slim sells directly, workshop to customer, with fully biodegradable FSC-certified packaging designed specifically for efficient small-parcel shipping. Tooling is complete, and the first production run is ready to begin in May with shipping as early as July 2026.

Click Here to Buy Now: $51 (Ships Internationally) Hurry! Only 29 days left. Raised $11,000 in just 3 hours

The post This ‘Immortal’ EDC Pen Spent 24 Hours Underwater, And Still Wrote Continuously For 1,500 Meters first appeared on Yanko Design.

ANBERNIC RG Rotate handheld with swivelling display doubles as a music player

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Handheld gaming has just exploded in the last year or so with players like Ayaneo, Analouge, ANBERNIC and Retroid catching the pulse of handheld gamers. There’s one for every type of gamer, whether someone who likes things arcade, retro modern, or a demanding nerd who wants to have a compact console to play AAA titles.

ANBERNIC has been in the news lately due to their rumoured handheld with a rotating screen, and now things are official. Their next retro gaming handheld, called RG Rotate, looks somewhat like the Motorola FlipOut phone, which was released way back in mid-2010. The idea here is to emulate classic console titles and also double as a music player since the device can play MP3 files.

Designer: ANBERNIC

Building on the success of the RG Slide and the exciting prospect of the RG DS, the brand was confident enough to introduce a rotating-screen handheld to its gaming community. The result is an Android handheld that is compact enough to fit in a pocket yet powerful enough to play demanding arcade classics without breaking a sweat. This device has a peculiar pivoting square display that hides the D-pad and the buttons.

This rotating action relies on the proprietary ultra-thin alloy hinge mechanism, which should be durable enough to take on the constant movement that gamers are going to put it through. After all, it has gone through high durability testing, even though it was an engineering challenge for the brand. The confidence of a successful hinge mechanism and the constant movement on the RG DS should have brought enough input to go with this form factor.

The RG Rotate comes with swappable in-line L2 and R2 buttons to toggle the height of the shoulder buttons as per liking. This handheld also comes with a single USB-C port and a microSD card, but surprisingly, it doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack, given that it has built-in capability to play MP3 files. The only option left is to play music via the Type-C port. The aluminium screen frame handheld comes in two color options: Polar Black and Aurora Silver, which both have different body builds. One has an aluminum body frame, while the other has an ABS plastic body.

There is no word yet about the pricing or the availability of the rotating screen handheld. Also, there is no confirmation whether the two different body frame options will be released together or at different times.

The post ANBERNIC RG Rotate handheld with swivelling display doubles as a music player first appeared on Yanko Design.

Georgia Is Building a Chess Palace That Looks Exactly Like a Chessboard

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Georgia has a claim on chess culture that goes deeper than most countries appreciate. The nation has produced grandmasters at a rate disproportionate to its size, and the game is woven into its educational and cultural identity in ways that feel genuinely foundational rather than ornamental. Given that context, the decision to build a dedicated Chess Palace in Batumi reads as overdue rather than extravagant, the kind of civic investment that a country with this relationship to the game probably should have made a generation ago.

What makes the Batumi Chess Palace architecturally compelling is that Irakli Emiridze of Alpha Architecture refused to treat chess as mere decoration. The entire building is organized around the game’s visual logic. Its form references an unfolded chessboard, its facades use perforated solar shading to animate a black and white grid pattern with real-time light and shadow, and a dramatic sculptural installation marks the entrance as both functional threshold and symbolic statement. The two-story, 60-meter-deep structure is due for completion in 2027, housing a tournament hall, chess library, hotel rooms, exhibition spaces, a gym, and study rooms.

Designer: Irakli Emiridze, Alpha Architecture

Perforated solar shades wrap all four elevations in a dense, pixelated black and white grid that shifts in depth and shadow as the sun moves across it. In still photography, the building reads as a graphic object, clean and immediate. Experienced over the course of a day, the surface behaves more like a living board mid-game, its apparent pattern changing with conditions outside any designer’s control. That quality, the way the building changes without changing, separates a strong concept from a merely clever one. The HPL panel system that underlies the shading adds durability to what could have been a purely cosmetic gesture.

Emiridze has extended the chessboard geometry across the entire site rather than limiting it to the elevations. From above, the rooftop alternates planted green squares against glazed skylights in a grid that mirrors the facade pattern. The ground plane continues in oversized alternating light and dark paving squares that push the building’s visual field outward into the surrounding landscape. Every vantage point, aerial, street level, interior looking out, returns the same binary rhythm, a level of conceptual commitment that most thematic buildings abandon the moment it becomes structurally inconvenient.

Rather than placing a literal chess piece at the entrance, Emiridze commissioned a tall, twisting corten-steel installation, two interlocking curved fins spiraling upward into a form that hovers between abstraction and figuration. It suggests a chess piece without depicting one, which is the more intelligent move. A literal rook or knight would have read as theme-park signage. This form reads as architecture, and the warm oxide tone of the corten against the monochrome facade gives the building’s street presence a focal point that earns its scale.

The program signals serious ambition for chess tourism. Beyond the tournament hall and study rooms, the building incorporates a chess library, exhibition space, conference facilities, a sports shop, a food facility, hotel rooms with two adapted for disabled visitors, and a gym. That breadth positions Batumi as a potential international destination for the chess world, a place where a grandmaster could arrive, compete, study, eat, and sleep without leaving the building. Alpha Architecture won this commission through a governmental competition, which means the Chess Palace carries public accountability alongside its conceptual ambition. The real test arrives in 2027, when Batumi either gets a landmark that genuinely serves its chess community, or a building that performed better on screen than on the ground. The bones are strong enough to be optimistic.

The post Georgia Is Building a Chess Palace That Looks Exactly Like a Chessboard first appeared on Yanko Design.

Sony is nerfing its Bravia TVs’ program guide

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Sony is removing some features from its TV guide and program guide displays for channels received by an over the air TV antenna on select models of Bravia televisions from 2023-2025. Cord Cutters News reported on the changes, which will take effect in late May.

Channel logos and thumbnail images in program descriptions are going away from the built-in TV Guide for antenna TV channels. Only programs from recently watched channels will be shown in the guide, and depending on the channel, program information may not be displayed. Change is also coming for set top box users, with the dedicated Set Top Box TV menu being removed and replaced by a Control menu. This setup will also not show program thumbnail images any longer. 

This is an admittedly narrow use case in the age of both streaming and cable TV, but Sony didn't provide any reason for making the change. And for those people who are impacted, this could be an unpleasant surprise next month that makes the TV guide and program guide much less helpful.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/sony-is-nerfing-its-bravia-tvs-program-guide-225640797.html?src=rss