Even with the advancing versatility of tablet computers, it still may feel counterintuitive to set a boiling pot or slice a juicy tomato atop one. However, technologically-inclined home chefs will be able to expand their arsenal of digital cooking tools beyond recipe apps and connected cookbooks in the not-too-distant future. As demonstrated by the below design concepts, the tablet-powered kitchen is looming.
The Almighty Board: Designer Jaewan Jeong’s Almighty Board is a multifunctional tablet that suits any kitchen. When placed flat on a counter, the double-faced concept device’s scratch-proof glass surface can be used as a cutting board. For an enhanced cooking experience, its touchscreen system will concurrently display the food’s weight, a correlating recipe, and a checklist of ingredients. The Almighty Board also will display instructional videos with step-by-step directions, making it perfect for the timid cook. The waterproof tablet even indicates whether or not it has been properly washed, thus alerting cooks to any hygienic risks such as the presence of salmonella.
Gen Ys have embraced all things outdoorsy, acquiring wilderness skills, modernizing wilderness styles, and, sometimes, even venturing into the actual wilderness. For many of them, a high-tech sleeping bag doesn’t quite seal the deal, so they turn to sites that offer a glammed up camp experience—AKA “glamping”—and allow for a cushier, if pricier, entry into the great outdoors.
Shelter Co.: The longstanding pop-up trend has left its mark on retail shops, urban landscapes, and movie venues. Now, the concept is being applied to event planning. Billing itself as a “pop-up lodging service,” Shelter Co. creates temporary, comprehensive overnight accommodations—essentially fully furnished campgrounds—for experiential events. The planners at Shelter Co. can erect a cluster of European-style tents at almost any location, customizing the outdoor experience to clients’ specific occasions and needs. Standard accommodations include carpeted floors, wood-frame beds with comfy mattresses and down comforters, and lounge vignettes for group gathering. We suspect that this inherently romantic concept might spur an uptick in camp- (or glamp-) themed weddings.
The hottest act at last month’s Coachella wasn’t one of the young artists who found neon-painted festival fame through the blogosphere, but an iconic rap star resurrected from the grave. Debates about whether the stunt was imaginative or exploitative persist, but so stirring was Hologram Tupac’s performance that rumors of other dead rock star tours have been swirling about in the weeks since. The hologram trend is not limited to concerts, however, as three-dimensional imagery is also illuminating the realms of experiential marketing, customer service, and communication.
Hologram Experience: Epcot’s Mission: SPACE ride continues to thrill the astronaut fantasies of theme park visitors, yet when it comes to the behind-the-scenes mechanizations of air travel, such simulations have remained elusive on the consumer level. As part of NYC’s Creative Week, GE collaborated with BBDO to create Throttle Up, a holographic immersion that afforded anyone the ability to experience the process of building and launching a jet engine. Staged at St. Ann’s Warehouse, the dramatic installation relied on motion-control and projection technologies to blanket the room with seemingly real 3-D engine parts, the assembly of which was gamified by Float Hybrid Entertainment.
In reaction to our increasingly techy cultural milieu, artisan craftsmanship and old-world pieces—like Kilim textiles, kiln-baked ceramics, and hand-crafted everything—are in high demand. Keeping with this trend toward tactility is a renewed interest in traditional weaving. No longer relegated to the grandmotherly shawl, woven details are making striking appearances in contemporary objects such as art and furniture and even high-performance kicks.
Destination: Mexico: The most recent focus of MoMA’s globally minded Destination: Design series is Mexico, indigenous home to the weaving tradition. Fittingly, some of the series’ most striking pieces feature a woven element with a modern slant. Elias Abadi employed a traditional Mayan technique to weave strips of recycled plastic into the Day of the Dead clutch; the Jam Collapsible side table by Rodolfo Samperio is fastened with a lace-up cotton rope hinge; and the Maria Bonita table features a hand-braided draped embellishment that suggests a loom. Elsewhere in the MoMA shop, Jessica Carnevale’s stretch chair and stool cleverly juxtapose traditional hand-woven construction with modern materials like bungee and latex cording.
The notion that the wristwatch has fallen out of favor among smartphone-reliant youth is apparently a fallacy, as a Kickstarter project to fund a modern timepiece accessory called the Pebble has raised nearly $10 million with a week still to go. (It’s funding goal? $100,000.) Indeed, the booming crowdfunding site has facilitated a wave of indie technology product development leading to several innovative new gadgets, including those below.
Digital Bolex: The ubiquity of the digital video camera has afforded the everyman the ability to test out the director’s chair, but as evidenced by about 90% of the content on YouTube, most people are more interested in capturing images like the antics of their cat than crafting thoughtfully framed narratives. For more serious filmmakers, the appealingly retro Digital Bolex may become a fundamental tool in their aesthetic arsenal. The first consumer-oriented “digital cinema camera” shoots raw images rather than compressed video, meaning that the filmmaker can alter the color and white balance, contrast, and more, without spoiling the quality of the imagery. Aaaand action!
