Tag Archives: Red Dot Awards: Product Design

Lenovo Is Secretly Building Its Metaverse Empire For The Enterprise And Industry

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Long before Apple reinvigorated the ‘spatial computing’ industry, while Meta was struggling to popularize consumer-grade VR headsets, Lenovo was hard at work, building the metaverse in its own vision. The ThinkReality VRX is a part of Lenovo’s ThinkPad ecosystem, and is targeted towards using VR (virtual reality) and XR (extended reality) to help enterprises reach their goals. The ThinkReality VRX pokes fun at Meta’s own pitch, highlighting that VR is a little too conceptually powerful to be reduced to playing games like Beat Saber. Instead, Lenovo sees the metaverse as something quite useful, to help people reimagine their workplace, to help train employees, and to help remove the barriers that screens create to usher in an immersive 3D work environment. Given that businesses are much more open to radical change than consumers are (laptops were first designed for businesses, Bluetooth headsets too), Lenovo’s new pitch may be the home run the metaverse really needs.

Designer: Lenovo

The ThinkReality VRX is Lenovo’s answer to the enterprise’s VR needs. A headset built specifically for work, productivity, meetings, and training, the ThinkReality VRX fits well into Lenovo’s ThinkPad ecosystem. Starting at $1299, the ThinkReality VRX works as a standalone device as well as plugged into your laptop or desktop for wired use. Think of it as the productivity-focused version of Meta’s Quest Pro headset… without any of Zuckerberg’s dark design pattern and data-grabbing tendencies.

The sleek, all-black design of the VRX resonates beautifully with its serious personality. The device is sleek but not flashy, and has all the features of a cutting-edge VR/XR headset. It’s got 3DoF as well as 6DoF tracking abilities, along with full-color passthrough, so your physical and virtual worlds can seamlessly combine, just like on the Quest Pro or Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro.

6 camera lenses on the front (including two perfectly lined up with your eye placement) help the VRX accurately position you in your space. The headset, relatively light for its category, weighs just 1.76 lbs (marginally heavier than the Meta Quest Pro), and straps to your face rather comfortably, with a tightening knob on the back securing it in position so it doesn’t slip around as you turn your head. On the inside, each of your eyes are treated to a 2280×2280 pixel display with a 90Hz refresh rate, immersing you in crisp, responsive, high-definition visuals.

The headset supports cloud-based rendering solutions like the NVIDIA CloudXR, however, unlike the Quest Pro or Apple Vision, the ThinkReality VRX doesn’t come with eye-tracking abilities. It has 12Gb of RAM as well as 128Gb of built-in storage, runs Android 12, and is powered by the Snapdragon® XR2+ Gen 1. Yes, you also still have handheld controllers with the VRX, although hand-tracking sounds like a software feature that could easily be integrated in the future (just like how this engineer built out a Vision Pro user interface for the Quest Pro device). The headset also comes with WiFi 6E, BlueTooth Low Energy 5.2, a USB 3.1 jack, and a 3.5mm audio input. There’s a battery pack mounted in the rear module, helping easily disperse weight on both sides of the head, but Lenovo hasn’t officially mentioned how long it lasts.

The ThinkReality VRX is currently Lenovo’s flagship offering in the enterprise VR category. Perfect for everything from executive meetings to soft-skill and hard-skill training, the VRX integrates right into your existing workflow, empowering it in the process.

However, Lenovo’s metaverse ambitions don’t just end there. The company’s also been working on hardware like the Glasses T1, a pair of consumer-grade AR glasses that create a massive virtual monitor for your work needs. For Lenovo, the metaverse pivot seems much more thought-out and planned, given their laser-like focus on particular use-cases (like the enterprise) instead of building out powerful hardware and expecting the user-base to just show up. Moreover, the company is also being explicitly clear that its metaverse hardware will be backed by Privacy, Security, and Support – Lenovo’s top priorities for its consumer base.

The Lenovo ThinkReality VRX is a Winner of the iF Design Award as well as the Best of Best Winner of the Red Dot Award: Product Design for the year 2023.

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Honeywell Redesigned The Barcode Scanner To Fit On Your Finger Like A Ring Wearable

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If you close your eyes and think of a barcode scanner, chances are you’re thinking of that odd alien space-gun-shaped object that emits red light when triggered, helping scan that vertical grid of lines on your Doritos packet. The barcode scanner is a great example of form following function – it’s ergonomic, and can be used comfortably for hours, making it a boon for employees who have to spend half a day scanning objects at check-out… but what happens when technological innovation makes the hardware smaller? Well, you don’t need that gun-shaped object anymore, right? The folks at Honeywell China took to redesign the barcode scanner by compressing it into something much more compact and wireless. In fact, it’s small enough to fit on your finger.

Designer: Huo Sheng Industrial Technology Co., Ltd. (Honeywell, China)

The Ring Scanner, a winner of the Red Dot Product Design Award, is a tiny finger-worn wireless wearable that allows people to scan barcodes simply by pointing at them. Point your index finger and the Ring Scanner lines up perfectly with the barcode, scanning it in less than a second. “As it consumes little power and offers IP66 protection, it is ideal for a variety of scenarios, such as logistics or production lines, says the Honeywell China team. “The ring is made of skin-friendly rubber and is very lightweight, so it can be worn for many hours.” The Red Dot jury was also impressed by how they shattered the archetype of the gun-based barcode scanner, creating a new innovative product design template. Just the way the desktop computer was made into the sleek, portable, and beautiful laptop, the Ring Scanner aims at doing the same for barcode scanners, making logistics, inventory, and checkout scenarios more streamlined.

The Ring Scanner is a Winner of the Red Dot Award: Product Design for the year 2023.

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Nothing Launches Ear (2) TWS Earbuds in Black with Hi-Res Audio, Active Noise Cancellation, and a $149 Price Tag

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Riding on the heels of the Phone (2) unveiling, Nothing has also finally announced a black variant for its flagship Ear (2) TWS earbuds, for people who want to embrace the dark side. Just like its white counterpart, the Ear (2) Black comes with Hi-Res Audio certification and LHDC 5.0 technology. The earbuds come equipped with an 11.6 mm custom driver, delivering deep, powerful bass and crystal-clear highs. The new dual chamber design enhances the overall sound quality by improving airflow. Additionally, the earbuds feature Dual Connection for seamless device switching, Personal Sound Profile for a personalized audio experience, and improved wind-proof + crowd-proof Clear Voice Technology. The Personalized Active Noise Cancellation feature adapts to the unique shape of the user’s ear canal, providing bespoke noise-canceling that’s tailor-made to your needs.

Designer: Nothing

A recent winner of the Red Dot Award: Product Design, the Ear (2) has that familiar design that we all know and love. Now in a black finish, it explores the use of transparency, glossy black plastic, and matte-black housing and ear-tips. This contrast allows the Ear (2) to stand out so wonderfully, as does its unique case, which still remains one of our favorites in the aesthetics department.

Along with the Ear (2) black variant, Nothing announced upgrades to both the Ear (2) and the Ear (stick) in the form of a new, advanced equalizer. “This new advanced equalizer gives users even more freedom to control how they want to hear their music through an intuitive and simple graphical interface,” says the Nothing team. “It allows a deep level of customization through a parametric 8-band equalizer with a real-time preview of the changes, the full Q factor, and frequency control.” Available via the Nothing X app, this new feature will also let users share their EQ profile or download others through a QR code.

The Nothing Ear (2) Black is available now via a limited drop on the Nothing.tech website and will be more widely available from 21 July.

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Lenovo’s ThinkBook KB Pro Mechanical Keyboard Delights With Its Color-Coded Functional Areas

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Designed to be serious but with a slight hint of quirkiness (the kind most creatively-inclined professionals will relate to), the Lenovo ThinkBook KB Pro mechanical keyboard pleases with its well-thought-out keyboard layout that color-codes functional areas. The keys come with a unique rectangle-to-circle design that has a retro appeal to it, reminiscent of typewriter layouts and are color-coded in a way that intuitively clubs them into functional groups that are easy to access while within your peripheral vision. Important conference functions such as volume control, locking the screen, or showing the desktop can be done at the touch of a button. Additionally, the keycaps are interchangeable, allowing users to choose between two different color schemes.

Designer: Lenovo

Designed with a focus on functionality, the ThinkBook KB Pro features 83 keys and is built using durable and wear-resistant PBT polymer. Notably, this mechanical keyboard offers the convenience of hot-swappable keys, allowing you to customize your keyboard layout by creating color-coded zones. It supports wireless connectivity in two modes: 2.4G wireless and Bluetooth, while also providing the option for a wired connection. The keyboard is equipped with a substantial 2,400mAh battery pack, delivering a week-long battery life even with the backlight turned on. Pre-orders for the new Lenovo ThinkBook KB Pro mechanical keyboard will commence on June 9, 2023, with a price tag of 699 Yuan (approximately $98 USD).

The ThinkBook KB Pro is a winner of the Red Dot Award: Product Design for the year 2023.

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Cleverly Designed Pill-Bottle With Gumball Mechanism Will Dispense a Single Pill Every Time You Press Down

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Every memory I’ve had of opening a pill bottle (whether for vitamins, painkillers, or even a bottle of Tic Tac) has involved me shaking the bottle in my hand, dispensing way too many pills, and then putting all the excess pills back one by one. No matter how small or wide the pill bottle’s opening, you’re either struggling to open the bottle, take the pills out, or put the pills back in because the bottle vastly overestimated how many you’d need. While that isn’t really one of life’s biggest problems, it’s definitely one worth solving – even more so for people with limited control over their mobility. Designed to make dispensing pills easy every single time, the SoloPill is an award-winning pill bottle that uses a mechanism borrowed from the popular gumball machine.

Designer: Solopill Inc.

With a form factor that’s reminiscent of a pepper mill, the SoloPill comes with a unique mechanism that segregates the pills before dispensing them one by one. The mechanism is quite similar to the one you’d see on a gumball machine, and to activate it, all you do is press down on the top. A single press causes the mechanism to collect and segregate individual pills into a ratcheted rotating funnel, dropping them one by one out of the opening at the bottom and into the SoloPill’s collecting plate. Need two pills? Press twice. Simple!

While taking medicines is by no stretch a fun activity, the SoloPill makes one aspect of it easier. It’s perfect for people who struggle with pill bottles due to limited mobility or even visibility, allowing you to easily dispense the right amount of pills even in the dark or at night. While designed to be used with relative ease, the SoloPill has a built-in child lock to prevent kids from getting their hands on your medication. Its clear design makes it perfect for seeing the pills inside, so you know when you’re running low, and there’s ample space for branding or labeling, so you know which medicine you’re taking.

The SoloPill is a winner of the Red Dot Product Design Award for the year 2023.

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These marvelous fire extinguishers will make you feel like a superhero

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Very few of us probably think about being ready for fires. We might have emergency go-bags prepared for disasters like earthquakes and floods, but most of us will still be caught unprepared if a fire breaks out. Fire extinguishers are, or at least should be, a necessity in any home, but that’s hardly the case. Even those that do have one or two keep them out of sight, rendering them inaccessible in an emergency. A major reason for that might be the unsightly appearance of these cylindrical tanks that create an eyesore that makes our minds averse to their presence. Unfortunately, that may come at a price of human lives, so this new breed of fire extinguishers rethink that design and turn it into an almost literal shield that you’d actually be proud to display anywhere in your house.

Designer: Premysl Kokes

The problem with emergencies and accidents is that you never know when they will happen, which is why they’re called emergencies and accidents. That’s why we need to be prepared for any eventuality and have the tools ready to aid us. Fire extinguishers are supposed to be easy to access and easy to use, but the reality is quite the opposite. They’re often placed in hard-to-reach corners and are cumbersome to operate, adding to the panic and stress that people would have already been suffering.

Designed by architect and fire survivor Přemysl Kokeš, the Hussechuck and Shield fire extinguishers completely redefine what you thought fire extinguishers should look like. While there’s very little to be done for the weight, simply changing its shape and manner of use can drastically improve its usability. In this case, turning the device into a circle like a giant steering wheel or shield frees one hand for other things and offers some protection for your body as well.

Whether it’s the basic Hussechuck or the covered Shield, the way you use it is the same. You slip your left arm into the strap and use a trigger to release the fire retardant from the front opening hole. There’s also a short hose for those times when you really need to use it like a traditional extinguisher. Otherwise, it can all be used with a single arm, freeing your other arm to support it or hold something else. It also makes you look cool, like a firefighting superhero donning a veritable shield.

Although the Hussechuck itself is already more presentable than a conventional tank, the Shield and Shield Plus add even more reasons for you to show it off on your walls. These two offer a variety of stylish covers, including some with a self-extinguishing textile surface, that turn them into decorative pieces for your interiors. With this redesign, you have fewer reasons to forget where you placed that life-saving device and even get to look a little cool under literal fire.

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Award-winning Smart Guitar comes with a foldable design and a beginner-friendly interface

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A winner of both the Red Dot Product Design and iF Design Awards, the U-Lab 001 isn’t your average guitar. Sure, if you glanced at it, you’d recognize it as one, but the U-Lab 001 is far from the traditional Spanish-style guitar you’ve come to love. For starters, it has a hollow cutout, doesn’t have any strings, and folds in half on demand. The reason why the U-Lab 001 does all these things is because it’s designed not on the principle of acoustics or electromagnetics (in the case of an electric guitar), but rather on the framework of a smart electronic music device.

Designer: inDare Design Strategy Ltd. for Unknown Galaxy Ltd.

Designed for novices with little formal training in guitar-playing,  the U-Lab 001 provides the perfect launchpad in strumming, chords, finger-picking, and all-around musical theory. For starters, it comes with an impressive folding design that allows it to occupy 1/3rd of its original space when closed down (made possible thanks to the absence of strings). Open it up, however, and the U-Lab 001 becomes a blank canvas for you to sonically paint on with your left and right hands. The right hand rests on two rocker switches that emulate the act of strumming all strings or picking on individual strings, while the fretboard under the left hand comes with a touch-sensitive light-up surface that teaches notes, chords, and overall music theory, along with a companion smartphone app.

The U-Lab 001, being an electronic device, also comes with a built-in speaker that plays back the audio, allowing you to listen in on your performance without needing an amp. A rotary knob above the speaker lets you control volume, and instead of tuning keys at the end of the fretboard, a single knob lets you change your guitar’s scale on command. Want to practice/jam solo? There’s even a headphone jack built into the U-Lab 001 for silent jamming!

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This origami-style fashionable helmet folds flat like paper to be stored conveniently in the backpack

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Another day, another folding helmet!

Foldable helmets have grown into a trend we’re constantly following – as helmets become necessary for bikers and electric kickboarders in almost all countries across the globe – yet nothing really tends to stick to the mind as a definite solution. As a biker, you would have seen this helmet that collapses in two halves to save space or this one that folds to a 50 percent smaller size than the original volume.

Now there is another entrant coming in from a South Korean company called Nature Mobility, which intends to disrupt a biker’s daily life. From how it appears, the Raba helmet is meant to fold flat, like a sheet of paper, to be placed in the handbag. Making life exceptionally convenient for daily commuters who struggle with their helmets after locking up their bikes at the stand. With the stylish Raba, you’ll not have to think. The decision is made the moment you put it on: when you take it off, simply fold the hive structured helmet flat and pop it conveniently into your backpack.

Designer: Nature Mobility

As transportable as it can get, the easy-to-store Raba helmet is also as comfortable and substantially protective. The helmet inspired by the honeycomb structure features individual components supporting each other to fold down flat without a twitch. Nature Mobility introduced the foldable helmet on the crowdfunding platform Wadiz but it was the recognition at the Red Design Awards that propelled Raba’s international fanfare as a complete foldable helmet that gives both the wearing type and the folding type helmets stiff competition.

The 410g helmet uses PC/ABS material construction on the exterior and nice foam cushioning on the inside, which makes it comfortable and really protective. The exterior is impact and heat resistant and it has the same safety certification as traditional bicycle helmets. Durability is a concern with foldable helmets, the makers seem to have perfected the design for long shelf like: according to Nature Mobility, it has gone through 59 different prototypes over three years before arriving at the perfect design. This reflects in Raba’s ability to unfold within seconds to reduce its volume by 35 percent of its original stout self.

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The Autel EVO Nano+ is a US-made pocket-sized consumer drone with a cinematic 4K camera

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There’s a new sheriff in town. The homegrown American robotics brand released a tiny 4K drone that directly fires shots at DJI.

The EVO Nano+ from Autel is impressive for a lot of reasons – its most significant one being that it’s a stellar 4K drone that proudly says ‘Made in USA’ on its label. The award-winning drone also weighs under 250 grams but still packs a 48 Megapixel camera that comes with a 1/1.28-inch sensor. The camera, capable of HDR 4K video, sits on a 3-axis gimbal for smooth stabilized footage. It’s also equipped with object detection and collision avoidance protocols, can track subjects and shoot them in a variety of styles, and simultaneously beam footage to your smartphone from as far away as 6.2 miles… and when you’re done, the Autel EVO Nano+ folds down and slides right into your pocket.

The Autel EVO Nano+ is a winner of the Red Dot Product Design Award for the year 2022.

Designer: Autel Robotics

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The tiny pocket-sized drone takes on its China-based rival by being well under 250 grams but still packing a tonne of features, along with a one-of-its-kind 3-way collision detection system. Its 1/1.28″ CMOS sensor has a modest 86° FOV and is capable of shooting 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. The camera has the ability to track fast-moving subjects (animals, humans, and vehicles) with incredible precision through PDAF + CDAF autofocus system, and can even retroactively apply a portrait blur on humans!

The EVO Nano+ comes with a unique 3-way sensor array that helps it maneuver around obstacles and even air-brake to avoid collisions. It can either be controlled via the remote controller that comes along with the bundle, or even through Autel’s own Autel Sky app. The app lets you program the drone, set subjects, flight paths, and even edit the footage your drone captures. The EVO Nano+ has a max flight distance of a whopping 16.8 kilometers (10 miles), although the remote controller has a transmission distance of 10 kilometers or 6.2 miles. Data captured by the EVO Nano+ can be transmitted to the app over a distance of 6.2 miles too, and once you’ve captured footage, the drone can automatically do a video dump to your phone simply by bringing the two of them close together. The app is available on both iOS as well as Android smartphones.

The EVO Nano+ can fly continuously for nearly 30 minutes, which means plenty of time to experiment with creative angles and dream up inventive shots. To charge it, a USB-C port on the drone lets you hook it to a power bank or socket.

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Meet the Blossom, an award-winning ceiling fan with a minimalist flower-inspired aesthetic

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Ceiling fans never got their ‘Dyson’ moment… for the most part, they’re still the same boring-looking bladed structures that spin from your ceiling. The Blossom challenges their age-old aesthetic with fresh, nature-driven inspiration.

Titled Blossom, for the way it looks like a blossoming flower in the center of your ceiling, this fan + lamp was designed for the discerning Indian market that’s currently saturated with ‘boring’ fans that look like ‘engineered appliances’ that hang from your ceiling. The Blossom adds a breath of fresh air (quite literally) to the category, by creating a fan that’s just as aesthetic as it’s functional.

The Blossom Fan is a winner of the Red Dot Product Design Award for the year 2022.

Designer: Ticket Design for Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals

The Blossom fan replaces the traditional blade with a more organic petal-inspired form that still drives air efficiently. There are no engineering details, no rivets, no fixtures in sight. The entire fan takes on the role of a kinetic sculpture, with a dimmable light right at the center. On the inside, a quiet brushless DC motor powers the appliance, giving the entire experience a complete upgrade.

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