This wearable device creates separation in a shared living space, giving you the focus you need

Posted on 03/07/2022 by Gaurav Sood

On the positive side, lockdowns during the pandemic have brought families together. The age-old tradition of having grandparents, parents and children live under a single roof is suddenly more widespread than ever before. That said, the idea of shared living spaces tends to pose a challenge for individuals working from home. This is why, a wearable to create a personal bubble and eliminate external pressure ensuring the user can concentrate better on work, is much required.

Shared living strengthens the family bond and has its own economic benefits. Sadly, there is a challenge to this. It is difficult to attend to individual needs and habits in such a living space. NORA, a neck wearable however is designed to tackle just this. The device allows the wearer to create their own personal cocoon, while family members can continue to live their normal life at home. Imagine, you are on a call with your manager and your kids are driving their mother crazy. You in your zero-disturbance zone created by NORA happen to be completely unaware. This is a scenario NORA eventually intends to make possible.

Designer: Niels van Gils, Yuan Hong and Heinrich Zaunschirm

The device is built with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and comes with a detachable hoodie that along with eliminating ambient noise also creates a visual separation. The hoodie creates a silent space where the user can focus or relax and simply unfold it to reduce the visual partition. For enhanced comfort, the wearable private partition to the outside world, also comes integrated with heating pads for a cozy sense and warmth.

NORA itself is dismantlable for ease of cleaning, repair and customization to your requirement. The infrared heating pads facilitate a person to have a personalized temperature setting, allowing households to save on energy otherwise necessary to heat the entire room. With its feature-packed design, NORA is made as a long-lasting solution for the privacy and comfort of all people in the house.

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Volvo, The Local Project presents a brand-new idea of travel and leisure for urban nomads

Posted on 06/06/2022 by Gaurav Sood

People are embracing tiny lifestyle far quicker and more aggressively than ever before. This movement has picked up pace especially during the pandemic when remote working has become a new normal. People are now investing in campers and tiny homes to lead a city-esque, comfortable life in remote locations. To cater to this generation of urban nomads, a designer has conceived Volvo, The Local Project.

Well, the name basically gives out a clear idea of the project being linked to automotive giant Volvo. Perhaps, the involvement is not limited to name, the designer has even drawn cues from the Swedish manufacturer to realize the interiors and optimally use the limited space available. Thriving on Volvo’s design language is one aspect, the Local Project is conceived with the vision to create a balanced lifestyle of urban and rural life. So, the contraption is packed and tailored with posh amenities to ensure residents don’t feel the change from their luxury homes and can settle in the Local Project irrespective of where it is stationed.

Designer: Oscar Holm Wastesson

The project’s divided into two elements: A light edition camper van (ideally a Volvo at the base), and a shared cabin network meant to be set up at various different locations. The idea of this compilation is simple. To allow and user to explore and understand the quality of life of wherever the journey leads to. Even though the Local Project camper van does not foray into the rugged domain of reinforced Mercedes off-road camper nor do the cabins display stripped down ergonomics of this all-back mini home; these are designed in the league of their own where things start at the exquisite wooden interiors and lead to a uniformity of lodging, ensuring – at no point in the journey – you are devoid of the city lifestyle.

To that accord, the camper has an immaculately laid out form factor with a seat for the couple in a cockpit and a luxurious double bed at the back that can conveniently flip to create an office space. This is a single room on wheels – “embodying the Volvo mission of freedom to move” – but ties the occupants to city dwelling even through their transit from home to a Local Project cabin in the countryside. At the pre-set cabin, users are aware to expect the obvious luxuries, unlike the surprises in countryside vacation rentals. With this approach to tourism, Volvo, The Local Project ensures the residents can explore the locale with utmost curiosity, least niggles and complaints about logging in the home away from home.

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Cake’s Autonomous ATV for farms and ranches keeps the delicate ecosystem unperturbed

Posted on 05/06/2022 by Gaurav Sood

We are slowly heading into a future where sustainable and responsible farming will be vital. Avenues of farming balance crucially on the biodiversity, and regenerative ranches. Keeping multi-crop fields requires avid supervision and the CAKE Kibb autonomous mobility solution aids in regenerative agriculture in already depleting soil resources.

The all-terrain ATV is designed with a priority on using natural resources wherever possible and has environmental protection etched in its DNA since it can plant and harvest crops responsibly on its own or in semi-autonomous mode. Traditionally, the machinery used on fields and farms is driven by fossil fuels which juxtaposes with the vision of taking care of the animals and surroundings without affecting the ecology of the area. This has prompted the designer to create Kibb which doesn’t impact the biodiversity of the region or damage the surroundings – rather it aids the farmers like never before.

Designer: Fanny Jonsson

Kibb in itself means, Ox in Gutniska dialect of the Swedish island Gotland. This is a representation of the strength of the vehicle while having the gentleness of the animal when it comes to nature. Driven by an electric motor, the ATV moves tenderly around the farm, and that too autonomously. Modularity is one key feature of Kibb, as the components can be swapped around to cater to the tasks required at the ranch or farm. This prevents obsolescence cycles as the parts can be updated over time.

The powerful vehicle is designed in a way to have the least possible impact without compromising the inherent capability. A holistic approach of ATV is centered on the material choices for the components. For instance, the tires are crafted from dandelions which are in plenty in the Scandinavian landscape, or the plastic used in the body is made from locally available linseed plants grown in Sweden. The frame and other vital components are made from aluminum which is a sustainable material as compared to other industrial materials – it is highly recyclable without any major material degradation.

According to the designer, the main beneficiaries of this project are the animals and the bugs living in the soil. The diverse ecosystem of all the organisms helps rejuvenate the soil’s quality over time. The electric-driven Kibb plays a vital role in this as it keeps the environment around the farm and animals untouched from any physical or chemical interference.