Tag Archives: safety

This Chair Looks Normal Until It Needs to Keep You Afloat in a Flood

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Flooding has gone from a rare calamity to a recurring reality for millions of households. As climate patterns grow more unpredictable, the spaces people call home have become increasingly vulnerable to forces they were never designed to withstand. Most domestic objects offer no answer to this shift, and furniture has remained stubbornly indifferent to the idea that the room it sits in might one day be underwater.

That’s the gap a team of Domus Academy Milano students decided to close. Exhibited at BASE Milano as part of the 2026 Milan Design Week, AquaForma is a transformable furniture piece designed under the theme “Conflict: Human vs Nature.” Created by Valentina Algorta, Lorenzo Gennari, and Sabrina Lounis under faculty guidance, it explores how an everyday domestic object can quietly hold the capacity to save a life.

Designers: Valentina Algorta, Lorenzo Gennari, Sabrina Lounis (Domus Academy Milano)

The starting point is a familiar one: a chair. In its default configuration, AquaForma functions as low-profile floor seating with a cushioned backrest and seat upholstered in deep burgundy fabric. A white structural shell wraps around the cushioned elements in flowing, organic curves, giving the piece a sculptural quality that sits comfortably within contemporary furniture design. Nothing about it announces its other purpose.

That other purpose becomes clear when flooding hits. The piece uses modular panels, a ratchet buckle mechanism, and buoyant materials that allow it to be reconfigured into a flotation device. The modules interlock and can be reoriented, with individual components separating and reassembling into a completely different arrangement. What sits quietly in a living room can, in theory, keep someone afloat.

The ratchet strap across the midsection does more than hold the piece together; it’s the key mechanism that allows components to be tightened, secured, and adjusted depending on the configuration the piece needs to take. This kind of dual-purpose hardware thinking keeps the design grounded in practicality. There’s no single feature here that’s gratuitous, with everything pulling double duty between the domestic and the emergency.

What makes AquaForma particularly compelling is how invisible its emergency function is in everyday life. You wouldn’t sit on it and think about rising water, and that’s precisely the point. Resilience embedded in ordinary objects doesn’t announce itself until it needs to, and that restraint is what separates a clever concept from a genuinely useful one. The designers didn’t design for a crisis; they designed around it.

AquaForma was shown as part of the UNFOLD exhibition at BASE Milano during Milan Design Week 2026, a student showcase that puts emerging design ideas at the center of one of the world’s most design-saturated weeks. It’s the kind of project that’s easy to underestimate at first glance. A chair that becomes a flotation device sounds like a design school exercise until you remember how often people need exactly that.

The post This Chair Looks Normal Until It Needs to Keep You Afloat in a Flood first appeared on Yanko Design.

HMD Terra M Can Do What Flagship Smartphones Can’t Even Handle

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Most smartphones weren’t designed with construction sites or hospital wards in mind. They crack under a single bad drop, struggle with wet or gloved fingers, and can’t survive a pressure wash. Yet these are exactly the environments where reliable communication matters most. Frontline workers are often stuck choosing between powerful devices that can’t take a beating and durable ones too basic to be of any real use.

The HMD Terra M tries to close that gap without overcomplicating things. It’s a compact, ultra-rugged feature phone designed to handle the kind of punishment that leaves most consumer devices in pieces. Beyond just surviving harsh conditions, it’s built to actually work well in them, with features tailored for people who spend their shifts outdoors or in places where a dropped call simply isn’t an option.

Designer: HMD Global

That starts with its credentials. The Terra M carries both IP68 and IP69K ratings, handling full submersion at 1.5 m for 30 minutes and high-pressure water jets at up to 100 bar and 80°C. It also meets MIL-STD-810H military standards, withstands drops from 1.8 m, and resists gasoline, industrial solvents, and medical-grade sanitizers, covering just about every hazard a field environment can throw at it.

Surviving the job site is one thing, but staying useful there is another. The Terra M has a textured, non-slip grip and large physical keys that work with gloves on, which matters when you’re in the middle of a job and can’t afford to fumble. Its 2.8-inch display reaches up to 550 nits, sits behind Corning Gorilla Glass 3, and responds to both wet fingers and gloved hands.

Communication is where the Terra M earns its keep. Two programmable keys on the side give users instant, one-touch access to Push-to-Talk apps or custom shortcuts without digging through menus. The loudspeaker pushes up to 100 dB, and the microphones come with echo and noise cancellation, so you can be heard clearly even on a loud construction site or in a warehouse with heavy machinery running nearby.

The 2,510 mAh battery is rated for up to 10 days of standby, so field workers don’t have to hunt for a charger mid-shift. Better yet, the battery is user-replaceable on-site without any special tools. Pre-loaded apps include a barcode scanner, a note taker, a sound recorder, and a web browser, among others, meaning the Terra M is genuinely ready to work straight out of the box.

For organizations deploying multiple devices, an optional stackable docking station uses magnetic pogo-pin connectors to charge up to 10 units simultaneously, which suits logistics depots and shift-based teams well. Fleet management runs through Mobile Device Management, with remote OS and security patches delivered via HMD FOTA (Firmware Over The Air). HMD has also committed to five years of quarterly security updates, reducing the overhead of keeping a large deployment current and secure.

The Terra M isn’t trying to compete with the latest flagship smartphones. It’s a practical replacement for the aging two-way radios many frontline teams still rely on, offering modern 4G connectivity, eSIM support, and a proper touchscreen in a form that can take a beating. Priced at £179.99 and available through HMD Secure in select markets, it’s designed for people who simply can’t afford for their phone to fail.

The post HMD Terra M Can Do What Flagship Smartphones Can’t Even Handle first appeared on Yanko Design.

HMD Terra M Can Do What Flagship Smartphones Can’t Even Handle

Posted on by

Most smartphones weren’t designed with construction sites or hospital wards in mind. They crack under a single bad drop, struggle with wet or gloved fingers, and can’t survive a pressure wash. Yet these are exactly the environments where reliable communication matters most. Frontline workers are often stuck choosing between powerful devices that can’t take a beating and durable ones too basic to be of any real use.

The HMD Terra M tries to close that gap without overcomplicating things. It’s a compact, ultra-rugged feature phone designed to handle the kind of punishment that leaves most consumer devices in pieces. Beyond just surviving harsh conditions, it’s built to actually work well in them, with features tailored for people who spend their shifts outdoors or in places where a dropped call simply isn’t an option.

Designer: HMD Global

That starts with its credentials. The Terra M carries both IP68 and IP69K ratings, handling full submersion at 1.5 m for 30 minutes and high-pressure water jets at up to 100 bar and 80°C. It also meets MIL-STD-810H military standards, withstands drops from 1.8 m, and resists gasoline, industrial solvents, and medical-grade sanitizers, covering just about every hazard a field environment can throw at it.

Surviving the job site is one thing, but staying useful there is another. The Terra M has a textured, non-slip grip and large physical keys that work with gloves on, which matters when you’re in the middle of a job and can’t afford to fumble. Its 2.8-inch display reaches up to 550 nits, sits behind Corning Gorilla Glass 3, and responds to both wet fingers and gloved hands.

Communication is where the Terra M earns its keep. Two programmable keys on the side give users instant, one-touch access to Push-to-Talk apps or custom shortcuts without digging through menus. The loudspeaker pushes up to 100 dB, and the microphones come with echo and noise cancellation, so you can be heard clearly even on a loud construction site or in a warehouse with heavy machinery running nearby.

The 2,510 mAh battery is rated for up to 10 days of standby, so field workers don’t have to hunt for a charger mid-shift. Better yet, the battery is user-replaceable on-site without any special tools. Pre-loaded apps include a barcode scanner, a note taker, a sound recorder, and a web browser, among others, meaning the Terra M is genuinely ready to work straight out of the box.

For organizations deploying multiple devices, an optional stackable docking station uses magnetic pogo-pin connectors to charge up to 10 units simultaneously, which suits logistics depots and shift-based teams well. Fleet management runs through Mobile Device Management, with remote OS and security patches delivered via HMD FOTA (Firmware Over The Air). HMD has also committed to five years of quarterly security updates, reducing the overhead of keeping a large deployment current and secure.

The Terra M isn’t trying to compete with the latest flagship smartphones. It’s a practical replacement for the aging two-way radios many frontline teams still rely on, offering modern 4G connectivity, eSIM support, and a proper touchscreen in a form that can take a beating. Priced at £179.99 and available through HMD Secure in select markets, it’s designed for people who simply can’t afford for their phone to fail.

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This $99 Water Jet Remotely Cleans Your Car’s Backup Camera Without You Leaving Your Seat

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Reverse driving accounts for just 1% of all driving time, yet it’s responsible for roughly 25% of all accidents. A dirty backup camera in winter, mud season, or on dusty country roads is not a hypothetical inconvenience but a genuine safety liability, one that most drivers have resigned themselves to either living with or solving by stepping out of the car every time. Mike Klein, a Vermont-based tinkerer with a characteristically no-nonsense approach to annoying problems, got fed up enough to build a solution in his garage. What started as a Ziploc-bag-and-zip-tie prototype strapped to his license plate has turned into the Lens Lizard, a compact, self-contained, remote-controlled backup camera washer that just hit Kickstarter and has absolutely run away with its funding goal.

The concept is beautifully blunt. Lens Lizard mounts behind your license plate, sandwiched discreetly between the plate and the bumper using your car’s existing screw holes. No drilling, no wiring, no running tubing through door gaps or under trim panels. The whole install takes under five minutes with a standard screwdriver, and once it’s on, it’s invisible. The unit itself houses a fluid reservoir, a battery pack, and a high-pressure nozzle that you aim at your camera once during setup and then never have to touch again. When your backup camera gets caked in snow/ice or road salt on a grey January morning, or buried under a slush splatter from the truck overtaking you on a Vermont highway, you press a wireless remote button from inside the car and a jet of washer fluid blasts the lens clean. Sort of like a lizard or a chameleon striking its prey with a sharp, swift flick of its tongue. Except this time, it’s a concentrated jet of soapy water. Maybe a Pokémon reference would work better but I don’t want Nintendo’s lawyers sending me a cease and desist.

Designer: Mike Klein

Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $149.99 ($50.99 off) Hurry! Only 5 days left.

The engineering philosophy here is aggressively practical. Klein explicitly designed the Lens Lizard for Vermont winters, which means sub-zero temperatures, aggressive road salting, heavy snow, and the kind of freeze-thaw cycling that destroys lesser materials. The housing is sealed and built from automotive-grade materials, and the battery and fluid reservoir are sized to last four-plus months between refills and recharges, meaning you top everything up roughly once per season.

Maintenance is a non-event: open the latch, refill with washer fluid, charge via USB-C, close it back up. Klein’s origin story is worth noting too, because it gives the product a satisfying internal logic. He tried hydrophobic lens covers (they peeled), ceramic coatings (they did essentially nothing), and eventually decided to just build a scaled-down windshield washer system for his license plate. The first prototype was, by his own admission, ridiculous. But it worked, and that was enough to tell him the idea had legs.

Lens Lizard works with any vehicle where the backup camera sits above the license plate, which covers 99% of cars on the road, pickup trucks very much included. The product ships with assorted license plate screws to handle different fastener sizes, and the adjustable nozzle lets you dial in the spray angle for your specific camera position during initial setup. After that, the unit lives its entire life tucked behind the plate, completely out of sight. The wireless remote is puck-shaped and lives wherever you keep it in the cabin, a glove box, a cupholder, the center console.

The Lens Lizard starts at just $99 for the entire kit as an early bird discount off its $149 price tag. A dual bundle costs $189 if you’ve got two cars, and all bundles include the Lens Lizard unit, a wireless remote, a battery pack, and an assortment of screws to help you install the gizmo on your car. Given its specific design (and that every nation has a different license plate), the Lens Lizard only ships to the US and Canada for now, although I’m sure a more universal version is in the works. Production is slated to begin in April 2026, with shipping to backers planned for May. For drivers in cold-weather states, high-dust regions, or anywhere that sees serious road grime, it’s a hard value proposition to argue with. Certain premium vehicles have had integrated camera washers for years, quietly tucked into the bumper plumbing. Klein has simply figured out how to give everyone else the same result for under a hundred bucks, no dealer visit required.

Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $149.99 ($50.99 off) Hurry! Only 5 days left.

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Someone Finally Made a Nail Holder That Won’t Smash Your Fingers

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Hammering a nail is one of those tasks that sounds simple until you miss. The strike lands on a knuckle instead of the nail head, and a two-minute hanging job becomes a few minutes of genuine regret. It happens to beginners more than seasoned carpenters, but experience only reduces the odds rather than removing them entirely. That gap between “simple enough” and “actually safe” is what the Nailmate concept is set out to bridge.

The premise is quite simple, really. Nailmate is a hand-held positioning tool made from ABS plastic with a TPU rubber gripping head. It holds a nail upright while keeping the user’s fingers well below the impact zone, with no springs, clamps, or adjustable parts to configure before the first swing. The elongated form puts meaningful distance between the hand and where the hammer lands.

Designer: Hargun Kaur

Existing nail-holding solutions have real shortcomings worth naming. Small plastic holders keep fingers close enough to still be at risk. Plier-style holders work but are bulky enough that most people leave them in a drawer. Magnetic holders struggle with heavier nails and offer no guarantee against slipping. Nailmate addresses all three failure modes by doing less mechanically and more through considered geometry.

The tool comes in three variants, each color-coded for different working conditions. The red Stable version is built for flat, open surfaces like wooden boards or wall panels, where the hammer has a full vertical swing. The teal Expanded version has a wider horizontal head that supports a nail from multiple contact points, for situations where a perfectly vertical swing is not possible. The yellow Precise version handles curved, rounded, or edge-based surfaces where standard positioning gets awkward.

The color distinction is practical rather than decorative. On a cluttered workbench, making each variant visually distinct reduces the small but real friction of grabbing the wrong tool. The TPU head grips the nail shaft without scratching it, and the angled body sits naturally in the hand while maintaining a clear line of sight to the nail tip. A hanging hole at the base keeps it on a hook near the toolbox rather than lost in a drawer.

Where the design raises questions is around the TPU head’s durability after repeated use. It sits close enough to the nail that a slightly off-center hammer strike would occasionally land on it, and how the material holds up over months of regular work is something only extended testing would confirm.

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Formula 1 ‘Closed Cockpit’ Concept shows the future of the Halo as a Safer Enclosed Canopy

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In the 2021 Italian GP, Lewis Hamilton nearly had his head crushed when Max Verstappen’s car literally climbed on top of his, with the car’s bottom grazing past his helmet and onto the protective Halo. Later on, Toto Wolff of the Mercedes team breathed a sigh of relief, also reflecting on how much he fought against the addition of the Halo to the F1 car design. This isn’t the first time a Halo has saved a life. Leclerc’s helmet showed the battle scars of Fernando Alonso’s tire from a similar incident in the Belgian GP in 2018.

The Halo has played a controversial but incredibly pivotal role in F1. Most teams hated it, but now thank its presence in the face of nearly fatal accidents. The FIA also dabbled with the idea of a closed cockpit for even safer driving, but the ideas were all shot down because a closed cockpit proved to be more harmful in the event of a bad crash. What if the driver couldn’t exit a blazing vehicle? Or get out swiftly in the middle of a race? Designer Olcay Tuncay Karabulut has a clever fix to these questions. Dubbed the ‘Canopy’, this design detail takes the Halo and gives it a set of upgrades… in a way that still makes it safe for drivers to exit vehicles.

Designer: Olcay Tuncay ‘Karabulut’

As much as the Halo obscures a driver’s vision, it’s also incredibly good at obscuring dangerous obstacles that could smack the driver at forces of nearly 10 Gs. There’s no way a helmet could protect against something that powerful. The advantage the Halo has had over most closed cockpits, is that the two sides make it easy for drivers to enter and exit vehicles. More components, more details, and more safety can often mean more time required to exit a car. The seatbelt, as safe as it’s claimed to be, has been responsible for multiple people being trapped in cars longer than they need to be. For the FIA (the regulating body for the Formula series), the closed cockpit has had the exact same set of problems.

Olcay’s ‘Canopy’ concept addresses this by borrowing from the closed cockpit designs of a jet. The canopy hinges at the front, opening and closing to allow the driver to enter and exit on demand. However, in the case of an emergency, multiple panels in the canopy can be pushed out to provide different points of egress. If the canopy ever breaks or fails, simply ditch any of the transparent panels on the top or the sides and the driver can easily make an exit, just the way they would through the Halo.

Olcay’s design relies on a robust canopy built using Carbon-Ti, a strong carbon-fiber, titanium, and aluminum alloy known for its ability to withstand pretty much any sort of abuse. Unlike the Halo which is Y-shaped, the Canopy is H-shaped, with panels on the front, top, and the sides. The front panel acts as a windshield, while the top and side panels can be ejected during an emergency exit.

Is the Canopy better than a Halo? Well, yes and no. Sure, a closed cockpit is way more secure than an open one. We all remember Felipe Massa getting struck by a loose spring in the 2009 Brazilian GP. A canopy would absorb that impact, shielding the driver from damage. However, that impact would also crack the glass, obscuring the driver’s vision and probably making them less safe. In the rain or in muddy conditions, drivers keep their vision clean by simply peeling away protective film from their helmet visors whenever it gets dirty. There’s really no way to peel mud or water away from a canopy, so this would be a nightmare in rainy races… provided the sheer force of wind pushes any dirt or debris away from the clear glass. We’re also completely sidestepping the potential worst-case scenario where the Canopy along with its ejectable panels fail to open, trapping the driver in a nightmare situation with really no exit until someone intervenes.

Olcay’s justification for designing the canopy is to protect the driver from any form of tiny debris that the Halo would miss. Sure, the Halo keeps the driver safe the way a car’s roll cage keeps drivers safe in regular vehicles. But the Halo would do nothing to stop shrapnel from the car in front of you flying towards your face or body. The enclosed design of the Canopy provides 360° cover, although yes, it needs to be sufficiently tested.

The Canopy tech was conceptualized for the year 2030, with 4 more years to test out the system. Current cars still use the Halo, and F1’s changes more or less revolve around the car’s power-train, moving from mainly fuel-based to an equal use of fuel and electric systems. Will we see something akin to this in future F1 cars? Well, Olcay’s work is entirely conceptual, but it bases itself in a stark reality that F1 still has ways to go when it comes to driver safety. After all, the Halo wouldn’t be able to stop what happened to Felipe Massa in 2009. Only a Canopy would.

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This Walking Cane Also Hooks Bags and Grips Tables With a Hidden Ring

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Every day balance moments don’t usually look dramatic. Standing up from a low chair after a long meal, stepping off a curb while carrying bags, and steadying yourself in a narrow hallway without anything to grab are the small transitions that feel minor until they don’t. Safety gear tends to be designed for bigger problems, but the real friction lives in these frequent, unremarkable moments that add up over the course of a day.

SafeGrip is a modular safety handle designed to offer a versatile solution to exactly those “micro safety issues,” particularly for elderly individuals and anyone who needs balance support in daily life. The tagline is “Grip life with confidence,” and the design backs that up by turning a single compact object into a walking cane, a carry hook, and a furniture anchor point, depending on what the moment requires.

Designer: Batuhan Duran

As a cane, the handle shape does a lot of quiet work. The large grip opening and soft, rounded edges allow different hand sizes and grip styles, so it doesn’t demand a precise hold. That gentler geometry reduces pressure on arthritic or tired hands, and the clean, non-clinical look means it’s the kind of thing you’d keep by the door or beside a chair rather than hiding it away, which matters more than most cane designers seem to realize.

Carrying bags while walking is one of those everyday tasks that throws off balance in ways that accumulate slowly. The built-in hook function lets SafeGrip carry shopping loads, taking the pull off the wrist and keeping the user steadier. At a doorway, elevator, or checkout counter, having the bags on the cane instead of dangling from a hand changes how the body distributes weight, even slightly, which counts when stability is already a concern.

The mechanical retractable ring system is the feature that makes furniture anchoring possible. The ring extends to create a secure loop that can grip onto a table edge or chair, turning the nearest piece of furniture into a temporary grab rail. That makes the sit-to-stand transition, one of the most commonly risky daily movements, feel more controlled without requiring any installed hardware or home modifications.

A telescopic height adjustment mechanism at the neck of the handle allows incremental length changes through nesting profiles, with numbered level indicators so users can identify and return to the right height reliably. That repeatability matters when the cane is used by more than one person or when it’s stored and reset regularly throughout the day.

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SafeGrip treats stability as an everyday design problem rather than a medical category. It combines three helpful roles without adding complexity, and it looks like a considered product rather than hospital equipment. The best safety tools are usually the ones people actually keep nearby, and a handle that fits into daily life instead of announcing its purpose makes that a lot more likely.

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This Pen Flashlight Is Thinner Than an iPhone and Blasts 500 Lumens

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Most people don’t carry a flashlight, which is something they only realize when they’re already crammed under a sink, squinting at a fuse box, or trying to read a label in a poorly lit corner of a garage. Cylindrical lights are bulky, they roll off surfaces, and they feel overbuilt for the kind of everyday moments where you just need a quick, reliable beam. So they get left at home, and your phone flashlight ends up doing all the work.

The Wedge SL is a USB-C rechargeable inspection light with a sleek, modern design built to actually stay in a pocket. The ultra-thin unibody construction puts the dimensions closer to a pen than a flashlight, 5.65 inches long, 0.28 inches thick, and about 1.14 oz light, which means it doesn’t fight for space with keys and a wallet. A stainless steel injection-molded pocket clip also lets it ride on a shirt pocket or tool pouch without bouncing around.

Designer: Streamlight

One-handed operation was clearly part of the brief. The tail switch handles momentary or constant-on use, so one hand can hold a panel, a wire bundle, or an awkward hatch while the other hand aims the light exactly where it needs to go. TEN-TAP programmable switch lets users choose whether constant-on defaults to High or Low intensity, which means the light can match your habits rather than forcing you to cycle through modes every time you switch on.

For an inspection light, the available modes are spot on, pardon the pun. Constant-on High runs at 100 lumens for 1.75 hours, Low drops to 50 lumens for 3.5 hours, and THRO (Temporarily Heightened Regulated Output) mode pushes 500 lumens with an 80m beam when you need maximum brightness fast. THRO is activated by a 3-second press, which keeps it from firing accidentally during sustained work while still making it quick to trigger when a tight space needs a real burst of light.

The battery side holds up well. USB-C charging and a four-level LED battery status indicator with charge alerts mean you always know roughly how much is left, without deciphering blink codes. A full charge takes about four hours. The field serviceable, user-replaceable lithium polymer battery is also worth calling out, since many rechargeable lights eventually become e-waste once the cell degrades inside a sealed body.

Durability gets the same careful treatment, as the extruded aluminum alloy case comes with a Type II MIL-Spec anodized finish. The lens is also unbreakable acrylic, and the light is IPX4-rated with 1m impact resistance testing. A bite boot is also included, which lets you grip it with your teeth during two-handed work without scratching the finish or the inside of your mouth.

The Streamlight Wedge SL earns pocket space by being thin, predictable, and quick to operate instead of trying to be a tactical statement piece. A flashlight that’s actually on you is always going to matter more than one that performs better on a spec sheet but gets left on the workbench because it’s too big to bother carrying every day.

The post This Pen Flashlight Is Thinner Than an iPhone and Blasts 500 Lumens first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Kid-Safe Drone Looks Like a Frog and Hides Spinning Blades

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Most consumer drones look and feel intimidating to a child. They’re loud, angular, full of exposed propellers, and packed with complex controls adults barely understand. Kids want to see the world from above, but parents see spinning blades and fragile arms that cost too much to replace. The mix of fascination and fear turns what could be fun into something closer to borrowing a grown-up’s expensive, breakable toy.

Aeroleap is a kid-friendly drone concept that tries to lower that barrier. Designed for children aged six to twelve, it uses soft, organic form language and clear visual cues to communicate safety and balance. The design draws inspiration from a frog’s stance, so the drone feels stable and approachable rather than mechanical or aggressive, more like a small creature ready to hop than a tiny aircraft ready to crash.

Designer: Anuja Deshpande

A child in a backyard holds a controller that feels like a gamepad, watching a bright green drone lift off without exposed blades buzzing near fingers. The integrated propeller rings and rounded body make it clear where it’s safe to touch, and the frog-like stance on the ground helps it read as balanced and ready, not twitchy or fragile like hobby drones that need constant correction just to hover.

The frog metaphor shows up in the geometry. A central body sits low with four limbs ending in circular rings that fully enclose the propellers. Those rings add protection during low-height play, reducing injury risk and damage when the drone bumps into walls or trees. The rounded guards and soft transitions do the safety work without needing extra cages or add-on bumpers that make everything heavier.

The interaction layer stays simple. A controller holds a phone that shows a live camera view from the drone, focusing on essentials like battery and connection. The physical controls stay familiar and tactile, so kids get the thrill of seeing their surroundings from above while parents can glance at the same feed. Nobody has to decode a cockpit full of tiny icons just to enjoy a short flight.

The project is grounded in research with kids, parents, and tech educators, who all flagged fragile builds, complex controls, and unsafe-feeling devices as major turn-offs. Aeroleap responds by keeping functionality simple and robust, focusing on how the product is held and understood at first glance instead of layering on autonomous modes that might confuse more than they help when you’re nine years old.

Aeroleap explores how industrial design alone can shape a child’s confidence around new technology. By softening the form, enclosing the dangerous bits, and making the controller feel familiar, it invites kids to be curious about flight without scaring parents off. Sometimes the difference between intimidating and inviting isn’t a feature list but the way an object looks and moves the first time you meet it, and a drone shaped like a friendly frog feels like it’s already smiling before it leaves the ground.

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Your Dog Can Now Turn On the Lights (No, Really)

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We’re living through a strange moment where our refrigerators are smarter than ever, our thermostats learn our habits, and now, apparently, dogs can control household appliances. The Dogosophy Button, developed by researchers at The Open University’s Animal-Computer Interaction Laboratory, is a wireless switch designed specifically for canine use. Think of it as a smart home device, but instead of asking Alexa, you’re teaching your golden retriever.

This isn’t some novelty gadget cooked up to go viral on TikTok. The button is the result of years of serious research led by Professor Clara Mancini, who runs the ACI Lab. Initially created for assistance dogs who need to help their owners turn on lights, fans, or kettles, the button has now been launched to the public for any dog owner who wants to give their pet a bit more agency. The philosophy behind it, called “Dogosophy,” centers on designing technology around how dogs actually experience the world, rather than forcing them to adapt to our human habits.

Designer: The Open University’s Animal-Computer Interaction Laboratory

So what makes this button dog-friendly? Start with color. Dogs see the world differently than we do, and blue happens to be one of the colors they can recognize most clearly. The button’s push pad is a bright blue, set against a white casing that creates high contrast, making it easier to spot against floors, walls, or furniture. The slightly curved, raised shape means dogs can press it from various angles without needing pinpoint accuracy, which anyone who’s watched a dog enthusiastically miss their water bowl can appreciate.

The button itself is built to handle the reality of being used by an animal. The outer casing is sturdy plastic designed to withstand repeated nose-booping and paw-whacking. The push pad has a textured surface that helps dogs grip without slipping, whether they’re using their snout or paw. Inside, a small light flashes when the button is pressed, soft enough not to hurt their eyes but clear enough to confirm the action worked. It’s the kind of thoughtful design that comes from actually studying how dogs interact with objects, not just shrinking human tech down to pet size.

The system is refreshingly simple. Each set includes the button, a receiver, and basic mounting hardware. The receiver plugs into whatever appliance you want your dog to control, from a lamp to a fan to a kettle. The button connects wirelessly up to 40 meters away, giving you flexibility in where you place it. Press the button once, the appliance turns on. Press it again, it turns off. No app required, no monthly subscription, no “please update your firmware” notifications.

For assistance dogs, this kind of tool is genuinely useful. A dog trained to help someone with mobility issues could turn on a light when their owner enters a dark room or switch on a fan during hot weather. But the public release opens up more playful possibilities. Your dog could theoretically learn to turn on a fan when they’re overheated, activate a toy dispenser when they’re bored, or signal when they want attention by flipping a lamp on and off like a furry poltergeist.

Of course, training matters. Professor Mancini tested the button with her own husky, Kara, noting that huskies are notoriously stubborn compared to more biddable breeds like Labradors. The button works if your dog is motivated and you’re patient. This isn’t plug-and-play; it’s more like plug-and-train-with-treats-and-repetition.

The Dogosophy Button is priced at £96 (including VAT) and is currently available through retailers like Story & Sons. Whether it becomes a legitimate tool for pet owners or just an interesting experiment in animal-computer interaction remains to be seen. But there’s something appealing about the idea of designing technology that considers more than just human needs. Professor Mancini puts it plainly: humans have built a world measured for ourselves, often pushing other species out. A button that meets dogs on their terms feels like a small step toward sharing space more thoughtfully.

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