Stair Rover: Smooth-Ride Skateboard Glides Down Steps

If you thought biking down stairs was hard, try skating a stairwell – or better yet: don’t. At least not without this nifty device, that is. Designed by Po-Chih Lai (movie by Juriaan Booij), this next-generation skateboard slots an extra set of wheels alongside the existing ones with a flexible chassis to bend from one step to the next.
But such ideas are hardly born and built overnight – the prototyping process is in many ways as fascinating as the final design product, including various multi-wheel attempts to maximum stability and broad functionality.

Its purpose? “The piece aims to expanding the capability and possibility of extreme sports as we understand them. Inherited from our natural instincts, sliding as children and snowboarding as adults, the focus is on one of the most influential and stimulating sports – skateboading, aiming to push the boundaries further.”

Its Context? “The sub-culture of graffiti, free-running, skateboarding, street dance, and extreme sports are now accepted and a valid and valuable influence on our generation.” In short, with all of these becoming both accepted and broadly accessible, one could say the Stair Rover provides training wheels for the less adept – perhaps at least saving a broken leg or two, here and there.

The machine is on display at this year’s Show RCA – its creator, a recent graduate of the Royal College of Art, hopes to expand the notion of skateboarding as well as the places that can be accessed by its practitioners  - hopefully, pedestrians will understand

Must…Have…This… Bag!!

Totally had one of those “are you kidding me?” moments when I saw this! The redesigned Solid Gray backpack is a more rigid version of it’s slack counterparts. The futuristic, stealth-style folding bag is made out of PP-C and is extremely light and strong but is also flexible enough to conform to the wearers back. With clever compartments, secure spots for a laptop or tablet, and durability that will last a lifetime, it’s the only backpack you’ll ever need. Not to mention… it’s f&@%ing sexy!
Designer: Lijmbach, Leeuw & Vormgeving

When The Stork Gets The Wrong Address…

Chaos can ensue. Like that time an elephant was delivered to a mouse – the baby was frightened of its mouse mom!
Fortunately for these rare Amur tiger cubs, Cleopatra, the Shar Pei mom, took them in like they were her own.


Cleo’s Shar Pei puppies are happy to have their new littermates, Clyopa and Plyusha.






The stork gets to keep his job (for now) and you can get the whole story and a peek at a few more photos of the blended family at SF Gate.

Über-Functional iPhone Case

I’m sure you’ve picked up on the trend of iPhone cases that do more than just protect the device- we’ve seen designs with kickstands and others with compartments for headphones. Finally, here’s one that has both! The Ö Case features a multifunctional component that stores ear-buds and also doubles as a stand to prop up the device. It’s still compact enough that the user won’t notice a difference in size.
Designer: Loyto Esineiden

It’s All About Being On Facebook

Monday morning and I’m sharp with a cup full of freshly brewed coffee, crisp toast and a farm-fresh Facebook Phone! Pardon me, but the Blue Experience is utterly fascinating and an odyssey of newly developed Facebook Apps that work beautifully on a dedicated FB phone. Love the instant Instagram button and minimal tech-specs. Enclosed in a blue saturated aluminum casing (17.5 cm x 5.5cm) and designed in as a wedge, the display is easily viewable even when the phone is flat on a table.
Boasting of a gorgeous display with its size and aspect ratio optimized for the new Facebook core app OS, the phone promises to be a social networking delight. Basically the concept is all about connecting, communicating and sharing.
Features:

• On the top there is a message income notification element combined as a button to access your messaging center directly.
• There is an internal speaker output and a headphone connection.
• On the front, there is the Like-Button.
• The ear-speaker phone and micro is at the back so you have to turn the phone to make calls.
• At the back there is a new developed camera button with LED-flash.
• Spotify is embedded into the system with a dedicated button on the left side.

Designer: Tolga Tuncer

Skur! Ah Waja Ten Ma Fung Maba, Ah Wu Cwafng Peena.

This is why table manners are so important, Amy S.

Incredible: 10 New Images of Dubai Underwater Hotel Design

Looming above the surface of the sea like a spaceship, the Water Discus Underwater Hotel is a futuristic wonder that is actually set to be constructed in Dubai. The luxurious resort features a support column connecting the upper discs to additional volumes underwater, with stairs and an elevator whisking guests up and down.


Deep Ocean Technology has released images of the planned hotel, which may be reproduced elsewhere in the Middle East. The Water Discus Underwater Hotel can work as an independent structure or be joined with additional modules to create a larger complex.



Not only does the underwater section of the hotel boast glass-walled rooms, but guests can actually manipulate a special lighting system to illuminate the water outside their windows, getting a better look at the sea life that emerges at night. For those who want to venture out into the water, there’s an underwater dive center.


Within the disc that hovers above the surface of the water is a restaurant, spa, recreation area and a lobby built inside a massive swimming pool that’s accessible from the roof. The deep pool enables guests to dive down into this disc and swim around the enclosed restaurant.


And this may just be the coolest part: if there’s any danger, like a severe weather event, the underwater disc will automatically rise to the surface. The small size of each disc also makes them easy to transport if “environmental or economic conditions” make it necessary. See more images at ArchDaily.