Futuristic ring lamp uses a levitating metal ball to control it

Most of the lamps we have on desks and shelves take on a mostly vertical form to save space. If that isn’t an issue, however, then there’s ample opportunity for more memorable and mind-blowing designs. This ring lamp, for example, looks like a Dyson-esque product that turns the hollow space inside a circle into something like an art form. That, however, isn’t its main feature, which is a unique design that eschews almost all kinds of traditional physical controls and instead employs a seemingly magical levitating orb that not only adds an air of mystery to the product but also brings a more satisfying form of interaction every time you push down that ball to control the lamp.

Designer: Inovaxion

Levitating spheres are, of course, nothing new, and truth be told, they can be unreliable once the magnetism starts to weaken or, worse, wear off. It is still a source of fascination and the simple technology has been used to great effect in producing designs like a levitating Death Star, the Moon, or even a 360-degree speaker. The Levitos Ring Lamp isn’t as complicated as those, however, but it is able to utilize that gimmick in a more practical yet still delightful manner.

As a ring lamp, Levitos isn’t exactly that remarkable. In fact, some might feel that it’s rather limited since it only has two modes. One gives a soft yet steady white glow, while the other mode slowly cycles through different colors. The ring itself is pretty bare, connected to a similarly simple circular base, and its light is bright yet just as plain. In fact, the design is so simple that you won’t find any button, switch, or dial, and the only way you can control it is through its biggest trick.

The Assembly comes with a small metal orb that you carefully place in the middle of that base using a specially designed cork disc. Once properly oriented, you simply lift the cork and behold the metal sphere hovering and spinning in place. To turn the lamp on, you push the ball down lightly. Another light push switches the lamp to the multicolor cycling mode. Another tap switches the mode again, so you have to double-tap the ball to turn it off.

1

The ring lamp comes with a much larger metal ball as an alternative, one that mimics the appearance of the moon. It has the exact same function but gives the lamp a different flavor, especially when the light bounces off the small moon. The design is admittedly gimmicky and probably not that reliable in the long run, as there will be no easy way to control the lamp when the magnet starts to fail, but it’s definitely fun and mesmerizing while it lasts.

The post Futuristic ring lamp uses a levitating metal ball to control it first appeared on Yanko Design.

Futuristic ring lamp uses a levitating metal ball to control it

Most of the lamps we have on desks and shelves take on a mostly vertical form to save space. If that isn’t an issue, however, then there’s ample opportunity for more memorable and mind-blowing designs. This ring lamp, for example, looks like a Dyson-esque product that turns the hollow space inside a circle into something like an art form. That, however, isn’t its main feature, which is a unique design that eschews almost all kinds of traditional physical controls and instead employs a seemingly magical levitating orb that not only adds an air of mystery to the product but also brings a more satisfying form of interaction every time you push down that ball to control the lamp.

Designer: Inovaxion

Levitating spheres are, of course, nothing new, and truth be told, they can be unreliable once the magnetism starts to weaken or, worse, wear off. It is still a source of fascination and the simple technology has been used to great effect in producing designs like a levitating Death Star, the Moon, or even a 360-degree speaker. The Levitos Ring Lamp isn’t as complicated as those, however, but it is able to utilize that gimmick in a more practical yet still delightful manner.

As a ring lamp, Levitos isn’t exactly that remarkable. In fact, some might feel that it’s rather limited since it only has two modes. One gives a soft yet steady white glow, while the other mode slowly cycles through different colors. The ring itself is pretty bare, connected to a similarly simple circular base, and its light is bright yet just as plain. In fact, the design is so simple that you won’t find any button, switch, or dial, and the only way you can control it is through its biggest trick.

The Assembly comes with a small metal orb that you carefully place in the middle of that base using a specially designed cork disc. Once properly oriented, you simply lift the cork and behold the metal sphere hovering and spinning in place. To turn the lamp on, you push the ball down lightly. Another light push switches the lamp to the multicolor cycling mode. Another tap switches the mode again, so you have to double-tap the ball to turn it off.

1

The ring lamp comes with a much larger metal ball as an alternative, one that mimics the appearance of the moon. It has the exact same function but gives the lamp a different flavor, especially when the light bounces off the small moon. The design is admittedly gimmicky and probably not that reliable in the long run, as there will be no easy way to control the lamp when the magnet starts to fail, but it’s definitely fun and mesmerizing while it lasts.

The post Futuristic ring lamp uses a levitating metal ball to control it first appeared on Yanko Design.

This levitating box-cutter and paperclip holder are by far the coolest tabletop stationery money can buy

Designed by the maker of the Levitating Pen from a little over a year ago, Novium returns with some more gravity-defying office instruments. The two new pieces of space-inspired stationery are the Edge, a hovering box-cutter, letter-opener, and scale, and the Shuttleport, a similar gravity-defying paperclip holder. With a design that’s a unique combination of practical and utterly fascinating, the Edge and Shuttleport bring a sense of futurism and whimsy to your tabletop. They compel you to look away from your screen once in a while and just stare in wonder at them as they float. Suspended using a set of precisely positioned magnets, the Edge and Shuttleport make for rather engaging fidget toys too, as they bob up and down when gently nudged.

Designer: Novium

Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $134 (26% Off) Hurry! Just 5 more days left!

The Novium Edge is a multipurpose tool that effortlessly hovers above its magnetic base, making it an eye-catching addition to any desk. The levitating box cutter, letter-opener, and scale comes with an edgy, future-friendly design that’s simultaneously also ergonomic, intuitive, and safe to use. When docked, the Edge rests reliably on its anti-gravity base, hovering at a precise 12° angle that makes it easy to grab whenever you want.

The Edge’s design visually splits into its three broad functions. At the very tip is the box-cutter, made from stainless steel with a 1mm-wide safety tip that lets you pierce through boxes but not hurt or harm skin. The Edge’s anodized aluminum grip has a notched upper surface that serves as a precision scale, and a semi-sharp bottom surface that’s perfectly dull enough to cut through envelopes and packages to reveal the contents within.

The Edge sits at a 12° angle against its magnetic base, with the handle hovering in mid-air for you to easily grab onto. Docking the Edge is satisfying too as it instantly grabs its position with a click.

The Edge weighs a mere 25 grams, and despite its angular grip, is incredibly comfortable to hold and use. Its weighted mid-section gives it a sense of reliability as you grip it, and the blunt-tipped box cutter is safe enough to hold without hurting yourself. It’s notoriously effective against boxes, though, so points for that. The Edge’s base, on the other hand, is made from zinc (with powerful built-in rare-earth magnets) and weighs a sizeable 130 grams. This makes it an effective docking station for the Edge because it remains in its place as you engage or disengage the magnetic system while you’re lifting or docking the Edge. The heavy base also makes it a pretty wonderful paperweight, adding to the Edge’s list of impressive features.

The Edge’s rocking motion makes it a brilliant fidget-toy to constantly play with

While magnetic paper-clip holders have been around for decades, none are as impressive as the Shuttleport. With a design that actually glorifies the paper clip, the Shuttleport comes with a split-arc form factor that’s filled with visual drama, and its matte-black color simply serves to guide your eye to the hovering silver paperclip located at its center. The Shuttleport comes with two kinds of clips, the bent-wire kind and the sheet-metal kind. Both the clips sport an angular paper-plane-inspired design (giving legitimacy to the word Shuttle in Shuttleport), although one is well suited for binding papers together into documents, and the other acts as a metallic bookmark, marking pages for you to go back to.

The Shuttleport’s anti-gravity base comes with a platform for docking one levitating clip, and a dedicated storage area on the side for keeping the rest of the clips handy just when you need them. The anti-gravity base looks a lot like the one seen on the company’s levitating HoverPen series, although this one’s designed to work with paper-clips instead. The clips rest at a precarious angle, pointing towards the sky, while their plane/jet-inspired design just feels like a wonderful extra design detail that is bound to grab anyone’s attention even when the clips aren’t on their levitating docking station.

Simply pinch the clip and lift it off its anti-gravity base to un-dock it. Once you’ve used the clip, return it to the base and it automatically aligns with the magnets.

The paper clip and bookmark both come with a paper-plane-inspired design

Both the Novium Edge and Shuttleport are made from high-quality materials, ensuring durability and longevity. The aluminum, steel, and zinc construction gives them a premium feel while being lightweight and easy to handle. The weighted magnetic bases provide a stable foundation for these levitating marvels, ensuring that they stay in place and function flawlessly.

The Edge comes in Space Black and Starlight Silver color options, whereas the Shuttleport has a single Space Black variant. Launched as Novium’s fourth campaign on Kickstarter, the Edge starts at a discounted $69 while the Shuttleport is priced at a discounted $39. If you want to grab both of them, you can for just $99, making them a wonderful addition to your office or WFH tabletop, or an absolutely stellar gift for a special someone. The Novium Edge and Shuttleport begin shipping in August 2023.

Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $134 (26% Off) Hurry! Just 5 more days left!

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This eerie desk pen holder makes it look like aliens are coming after your pens

Most of us have a favorite writing instrument, be it a specific brand and grade of pencil or, more likely, a specific kind of pen. More avid writers also favor a particular pen design, often of the more luxurious bent, that they put on display on their desks when not in use. Such pen stands and holders are designed to put the focus on the pen itself, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be attention-grabbing themselves. This pen holder design, for example, is truly out of this world, literally and figuratively, as it suspends your favorite writing instrument in mid-air as if caught in a tug-of-war between the Earth’s gravity and an alien spaceship’s tractor beam.

Designer: Hesham El-sheikh

We might have different reasons for putting a pen on a pedestal, whether it’s for ease of reach or simply for display. Most of those simply involves a piece of metal or wood that holds the pen upright, sometimes at an angle. It’s a convenient and efficient way to show off a pen and only the pen, but it’s also a rather boring one, especially compared to this.

The UFO Desk Pen Holder leaves no room for guessing what it does but leaves the “how” a complete mystery. The pen still stands upright, which makes it easy to grab it when you need it. Given how it’s levitating in the air, you can definitely grab it easily, though your brain might have second thoughts lest you risk losing parts of your hand to some molecular transportation device. It’s all a trick of the mind, of course, being that there is no real alien technology at work, or so we presume.

The top of the pen holder is your stereotypical alien spaceship in the shape of a flying saucer. Why extraterrestrials would choose such a design is anyone’s guess, but it is a familiar form and a practical one for this purpose. You could put the USS Enterprise or a Star Destroyer, too, but its irregular shape would break the illusion and remove a bit of the eerie atmosphere surrounding this design.

The saucer also serves as a desk lamp of some sort, its light providing both illumination as well as the suggestion of some retro sci-fi tractor beam. The pen hangs directly below it, of course, though it’s not clear whether it’s coming from or going toward the UFO. How it’s floating without any evident support is even more mysterious. Ironically, the UFO itself is supported by a pillar rather than hovering in the air as well.

It’s definitely possible to pull this off using some transparent support since it would be impossible to keep a pen float using only magnets, at least not with design. We do have “hoverpens” that meet that requirement, though those don’t have the same “retro punk” appeal as a UFO that’s trying to steal your favorite pen away.

The post This eerie desk pen holder makes it look like aliens are coming after your pens first appeared on Yanko Design.

Magnetic Levitating UFO Bluetooth Speaker


This is for sure one of the coolest speakers we’ve seen. It’s literally floating. Or least the top half is. If you can bet the bottom part to float too, call us, we’ve got a proposal for ya, probably not that illegal. This Levitating Bluetooth Speaker uses the magical and mysterious power of magnets (how do they work?) to make the speaker float in mid-air. Meanwhile it can also spin around like an alien carousel full of little aliens riding cows around in a circle. Why do aliens like cows so much anyway?

So the speaker, yeah, the speaker connects to your phone or whatnot (probably your phone though) via bluetooth and pumps out that bassy bass with 5W audio drivers. Feel the earth move under your feet, because this speaker won’t feel the earth at all since it’s floating. There is a rechargeable battery in there since we’ve yet to develop anything better. Perhaps some actual aliens could help us out a bit on that front? Please? We’ll give you more cows.

This speaker looks pretty sleek, and has a modern look with it’s glowing light. It’s an instant party, just like aliens like to do. Party with cows. You can also just use the UFO top part on it’s own with the base, but what fun would that be?

Magnetic Levitating UFO Bluetooth Speaker

Levitos, A Levitating Indoor Planter: Garden in the Sky

Because in the future, everything will levitate, some genius has created the $121 Levitos Plant Pot, a small planter that levitates above its base so your favorite houseplant can admire the view from above. The levitating planter operates via electromagnetic induction powered by an AC adapter and hovers about 2 cm above the walnut finish base. Your plant never had it so good!

Not only does the planter hover, but it’s also designed to rotate slowly, ensuring your plant gets sunlight from all angles for lush, uniform growth. Plus, I think we can all agree; it looks even cooler rotating. “Whee!” I imagine your plant thinking as it rotates, just before getting motion sickness.

So, what do you think the next levitating product to hit the market will be? I’m hoping for a levitating bed. When levitating beds are the norm, that’s when we’ll really know we’re living in the future. Right now? Right now, we might as well be sleeping in caves and getting mauled to death by sabertooth tigers trying to hunt wooly mammoths. And where the heck are the x-ray glasses we were promised?!

Float Levitating Lamp Looks Like a Tiny Hot Air Balloon

These days, all kinds of desktop playthings take advantage of magnetic levitation, from speakers, to gadget chargers, to clocks. Now, you can have your own personal hot air balloon that uses magnets, not hot air to float. The aptly-named Float lamp looks just like a miniature hot air balloon as it floats there above its magnetic and inductive charging base.

The lamp hovers about 3/4″ of an inch above its hardwood base, spinning with the slightest push or breeze. It’s not very bright, since it’s lit by just a single warm yellow LED, but it still looks pretty spiffy, and it’s dim enough to work as a nightlight.

The early bird price for the Float levitating lamp is £130 (~$170 USD), and after those sell out, the next batch jumps up to £145 (~$189 USD). There’s also a version with a golden colored shade that sells for £150 (~$196). You’ve got until 10/15/2017 to participate in the Kickstarter campaign, so climb aboard and take flight before it’s too late!

Levitating Rotating Planter


Take your plant game up a level with a hovering planter. Floating plants- not just for astronauts anymore. The Lyfe Planter is a levitating 12-sided geodesic molded silicon planter. It sits above a solid rectangular oak base (which has six sides, I counted, twice). It doesn’t sit on the base, it’s above it. High above. Floating above. How does it work? Magnets. (Magnets, how do they work?)

Designed in Sweden, because of course it was, by a group called Flyte, Lyfe has an embedded electromagnetic coil in the oak base. A magnet in the bottom of the planter keeps it afloat. But wait, there’s more. No longer does the back side of your plants need to suffer from a lack of light and hurt feelings because nobody ever sees that side. Problem solved- this thing also rotates. Well the top planter part does anyway, the base stays… planted.

The planter is not particularly large at around 4″ diameter but look how freakin’ cool it looks when you get a few of them lined up. Imagine sitting in a circular room completely surrounded by floating plants, doing some weird yoga pose for your Instagram account. Exhale. You do need to plug each one in, so maybe get the surge protector ready. We’re living in the golden age of levitation my friends. It’s the astronaut ice cream of the botany world.

Levitating Rotating Planter
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This Guy Made a Levitating Millennium Falcon

Sure, we’ve all got our Millennium Falcon toys, but this ship is even cooler when it levitates. Star Wars fan and model builder @HanakiMasatoshi has built a very cool floating mini-model of the Millennium Falcon to celebrate the release of Rogue One in Japan. Now if he can only get it to travel in hyperspace.


That isn’t the force making it levitate, but a magnetic system designed by Dutch company Crealev. The system allows an object of up to 20 pounds to hover. It’s most impressive. Check it out in action in the videos below.

[via Rocketnews24 via Nerd Approved]