The New MG concept car explores with leather on the exterior too!

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Sun. Wind. Action. Three words describe Arash Shahbaz’s roadster concept design for MG. The car comes at a perfect time, along with the brand’s renewal after being one of the most promising carmakers of the yesteryears. With a rather playful design meant for easy riding, paired with a carefree lifestyle, The New MG concept by Arash is cute, but not too cute. It looks like it could take a challenge, and comes with an aesthetic that even die-hard gearheads would fall in love with.

At just 4 meters, the new MG isn’t particularly long, but the designer makes great use horizontal lines to make the car feel long, rather than compact. The circular headlights are fitted within the car’s outer frame, doing a hat-tip to retro circular headlamps, but being modern nevertheless. The taillights scream unique and modern too. The most interesting detail, however, is the usage of leather straps to fasten the bonnet and the boot. Rather than relying on clip-based push-button systems, the new MG makes an executive decision to keep things old-school, with the leather strap that weaves through the outer body of the car, holding the bonnet and boot closed. Opening them would mean manually undoing the leather strap. The designer believes it’s interactions like these that make one feel more involved, and form an emotional bond with the car… something that’s lacking in today’s ultra-flashy touchscreen control panel dashboards.

The New MG aims at echoing the brand’s journey. It wants to stick to its heritage while reviving itself with a fresh set of rules and features. I’d say it does exactly that!

Designer: Arash Shahbaz

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Meet the drone that flies without propellers

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Every drone on the market (or even a DIY one) has one iconic detail. The propeller that gives it vertical lift-off. The propeller is pretty much the most important part of the drone, but it’s also the most vulnerable. The minute even one propeller snags a tree branch or catches the corner of a building, the drone plummets downwards and begins flailing around like an injured bird. To overcome this, some drones come with propeller guards. Other, more advanced drones come with obstacle detection and collision avoidance technology… but RCA student Marcus Kung may have the most creative solution yet. Ditch the propellers altogether.

Marcus Kung’s Impeller Drone sort of gives away the secret in the name itself. Rather than using an axial fan, or a propeller, Kung’s drone uses centrifugal fans, or impellers. The kind found in leaf blowers and hair dryers, impellers pull air from the back and instead of pushing it out the front like a regular fan, push the air out sideways. The Impeller Drone, therefore, uses centrifugal fans arranged the way wheels on a car are. The air is pulled from the sides, and pushed downwards, thanks to the housing around the fan that directs the air-flow. The housing additionally protects the impeller from making contact with anything outside, and the air inlet itself remains guarded by a grill.

The advantages of an impeller setup are that your drone is much safer from object collision and irreversible damage to crucial components. The impeller housing also allows air to be pushed out with more force through the outlet, allowing drones to fly higher with lesser power. The only disadvantage is that just like a leaf-blower or a hairdryer, the Impeller Drone is going to make a great deal of noise… but that’s just a small price to pay for a drone that’s more robust and sturdy, right?

Designer: Marcus Kung

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Everyone could soon have the powers of Doctor Octopus

Doctor Otto Octavius may have been a power-mad scientist bent on world domination and the utter ruin of his nemesis, Spider-Man, but the guy had some surprisingly cogent thoughts on prosthetics development. And although mind-controlled supernumerary...

Everyone could soon have the powers of Doctor Octopus

Doctor Otto Octavius may have been a power-mad scientist bent on world domination and the utter ruin of his nemesis, Spider-Man, but the guy had some surprisingly cogent thoughts on prosthetics development. And although mind-controlled supernumerary...

You’ll never see a suspension system like this.

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The Jaguar Freerunner could just be that one bit of innovation we were looking for in transport to shake up the market. Ever sat in a ride-simulator at an amusement park? You see stuff on a screen and your chair swings from left to right in coordination with the visuals making it look like you’re in the ride? That’s what the Freerunner is about. It enhances the driving experience by having a cabin that is capable of twisting to the e=left or right, giving you that centrifugal boost, making your ride feel like the journey of a lifetime!

Designers: Ari Nikulin, Minwoo Choi and Frederik Vanden Borre (Royal College of Art)

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