Located in the heart of city next to the Chénghuángmiào (or City God Temple) and Bund waterfront area, Yuyuan Station is an essential transportation hub for passengers traversing Shanghai’s 2,400-square-mile area. It is especially important for delivering tourists to nearby cultural landmarks. While the busy metro station was once simply a place to wait, XING’s renovations have transformed it into an immersive, entertaining experience.

With the help of a specialized design software, the architects cut, bent, and spliced together thousands of aluminum sheets in wave patterns. They were then suspended in cascading swells, adapting their shapes to fit perfectly between support columns. The resulting undulations are reminiscent of both the waves of the neighboring City God Temple and the ripples of the Huangpu River, which flows above the metro station.

Because Yuyuan is the deepest-underground station on the line, bringing ample light to the space was crucial. The waved ceiling panels were fitted with customized LED lighting that courses through a program of colors, pulsating like the symbolic heartbeat of the city the station has come to represent. The lights ebb and flow from one bright hue to the next, moving in sync with the rhythms of passenger traffic.

The LEDs can be programmed to perform specific color and pattern sequences for special occasions and holidays. Chinese Red throbs overhead for National Day and the Spring Festival, while pinks and other floral colors flash on Valentine’s Day.

XING Design has been creating innovative designs in the realms of architecture, interiors, landscape, and urban planning since it was founded in 2016. The name has a double meaning, being both the moniker of its founder, Xing Xiong, as well as a common abbreviation for “crossing.” The studio’s work has frequently been at the intersection of different disciplines, finding inventive solutions all across the creative spectrum.

Xiong brought extensive training and experience with him to XING Design. After obtaining a bachelors and master’s degree in architecture from Tsinghua Univsersity in Beijing, he went on to earn another master’s degree in architecture from Harvard. Before founding his own firm, he worked for notable companies like Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, BIG in Copenhagen, and UNStudio in Amsterdam.

XING Design has completed numerous noteworthy urban architecture projects, but they are also well-known for their art installations. The Yuyuan metro station beautifully embodies the firm’s name with a design at the crossroads of art and functionality. It went on to be a jury winner in the 2022 Architizer A+ Awards category of Transport Interiors.

The post Shanghai’s Yuyuan Metro Station Gets a Light Show Makeover first appeared on Dornob.

Glowing Outdoor Ghosts

Illuminated from within, three spooky fabric ghosts wearing witch hats dangle from a tree, your porch roof, or wherever else you want to put them. Three modes of flashing lights let you choose between slow glow, fast glow, and steady on and off.

Skeleton Candle

Perfect for the center of your table, this fun candle features a skeleton chilling in a hot wax bath within a mini cauldron. It’s made with premium soy wax and a cotton wick, and it burns for up to 50 hours.

Creepy Spider Wreath

Spider webs and black-and-orange leaves adorn this spooky Halloween wreath. It’s made of durable materials so you can use it again year after year. The wreath measures 19 inches wide and features LED lights powered by three AA batteries.

Set of 4 Haunted Portraits

Ordinary-looking paintings transform into terrifying portraits when guests walk past them. This four-pack of 3D picture frames measuring 10 by 15 inches uses a lenticular plastic “glass” to achieve the creepy haunted effect.

Floating Candles

Whether you’re going for a Harry Potter-themed Hogwarts effect or the look of an enchanted witch’s cottage, this set of floating LED candles will give you the eerie vibe you seek. 12 taper-style candles measuring 6.7 inches tall and one inch in diameter come with a remote control and hooks for hanging, along with attached strings. Each candle requires 2 AA batteries.

Haunted Eyeball Doorbell

Guests will get a spine-tingling surprise when they ring this delightful Halloween doorbell. A glowing eye suddenly appears, glancing around as horror music plays. It’s perfect for enhancing the trick-or-treating experience.

Giant Outdoor Spider Web

Talk about bang for your buck. This massive triangular spider web gives you a whole lot of Halloween atmosphere for under $25. The web measures an incredible 200 inches across at the bottom, and it comes with both a 50-inch light up spider and a bunch of stretchy cobwebs to add to the atmosphere.

Groundbreaker Zombie with Sound and Flashing Lights

As soon as someone walks by this motion sensor zombie, the whole thing lights up and makes horrifying noises. The undead decor features a head with long gray hair, green-tinged skin, and red flashing eyes, as well as two arms to make it look like it’s crawling out of the grave.

Coffin Black Felt Letter Board

Display your party menu, haunted house instructions, or any other message you want to convey on an adorable coffin-shaped felt letter board. Wall-mounted or freestanding, it measures 17 inches by 10.5 inches and comes with more than 500 white characters, 80 spooky emojis, a wooden stand, and a sawtooth hanger.

Black Gauze

Rotted-looking black gauze is a great, inexpensive way to add a whole lot of creep factor to your decor, and it’s easy to hang. This pack from Amazon comes with five woven black cloths you can drape and cut to your liking.

Cocoon Corpse

Scare visitors out of their skins with a life-sized prop that looks like a corpse hanging upside-down in the cocoon of a monstrous spider. This unfortunate guy measures 72 inches long and will flash his red eyes and emit horrible screams when anyone comes near.

Vintage Halloween Party Kit

This variety pack of paper lanterns, decorative fans, and honeycomb balls will bring a festive atmosphere to your Halloween event, even if your plan is just to settle in for some horror movies and popcorn. This vintage-style 15-piece set comes with a “Happy Halloween” garland and various ornaments in black, white, and orange.

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The post 12 Halloween Decorations for a Scary Good Time first appeared on Dornob.

The Eiffel Tower is currently illuminated by 20,000 exterior LED light bulbs that use approximately 7.8 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. Until September 23rd, the world-famous landmark glowed from dusk until 1 am, putting on a special flickering light show for five minutes every hour. Lightbulbs flash on and off in random patterns to mimic the effect of a fireworks display for visitors.

More recently, The Paris city council decided to turn the lights off every night at 11:45 pm, potentially saving up to four percent of the tower’s annual energy consumption. Originally constructed in 1887, the Eiffel tower was first illuminated by 10,000 gas lights and external spotlights projecting from the base. It was updated to more modern lightning in 1985, with the sparkle effect being added to ring in the millennial year 2000.

Gas and Oil Shortage

The Eiffel Tower’s light restriction comes in response to the growing energy crisis across Europe caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before the war, Russia had supplied roughly 40 percent of all of the European Union’s gas needs, but now only provides nine percent, causing skyrocketing prices and fuel shortages across the continent. Even those countries that were not heavily reliant on Russia for their energy needs are now feeling the pinch. For example, Germany depended on Russia for 55 percent of its gas needs in the past, but is currently buying more from Norway, reducing the amount available for other faithful customers like Great Britain.

What Else is Being Done?

In addition to dimming the tower lights a littler earlier, the City of Paris is also instituting several other energy-saving measures. For starters, all city-managed buildings will have their temperatures lowered from 19 to 18 degrees Celsius (roughly from 66 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit), except for in elderly care homes and baby day care facilities. Public pools will lower their water temperature from 27 to 26 degrees Celsius (from about 80 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit), and lighting on all public monuments will be turned off at 10 pm.

Around Europe, other countries are taking their own measures to cut energy usage. Germany is turning off spotlights on its over 200 public monuments and government buildings at night, shutting down fountains, requiring all state employees to wash their hands with cold water only, and even cancelling the traditional Christmas lighting along Berlin’s glitzy shopping district.

Spain has put limits on air conditioning and heating temperatures for all shops, offices, and other commercial venues. The Netherlands and Denmark are urging their citizens to take short showers to save on gas. And to ease the burden for their residents, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France have all set caps on electricity and gas prices. Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, average household energy costs have jumped to nearly five times their previous level.

Even if the Eiffel Tower light reduction is largely symbolic in nature, it shows solidarity with people across Europe who are having to cut back on energy use. Despite the latest measures, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has assured the public that nation’s capital “will always be the City of Light.”

The post Paris Pulls the Plug on Eiffel Tower Lights to Ease Energy Crisis first appeared on Dornob.

Taking the traditional flat screen and turning it on its head, the new Xeneon Flex gaming monitor from Corsair is mind and screen-bending tech at its finest. A flexible OLED screen that literally curves to create a more immersive gaming experience, the Xeneon Flex isn’t the first of its kind. However, it seems to have worked out the kinks of its predecessors by developing a way to allow the user to bend the screen (and flatten it again) whenever they want.

Again, this is not a new idea. LG unveiled a prototype of a similar design at CES 2021, an appropriate platform for such a boon to the gaming world. But despite its promise, LG’s version was problematic. Consisting of a 48-inch OLED screen that was incredibly bendable, that display was theoretically able to create a gentle curve that granted players better peripheral vision at the push of a button. Unfortunately, the mechanism behind this monitor magic presented problems in terms of both cost (more expensive) and durability.

To ameliorate these obstacles, Corsair has taken things a step further with the Xeneon Flex, eliminating the use of motors entirely. But how does the screen move if it’s not mechanized?

The answer is strangely simple: users simply have to grab the screen and pull it to their desired curvature, a grab and yank maneuver that may lack elegance, but makes up for it with its effectiveness. Just grab the screen on either end, give it a good pull, and voila! A completely customizable gaming experience. Practicality aside, the design also allows the screen to have a different level of curvature on each side, adding a level of freedom that would most likely be impossible with a motor.

If this seems like magic, that could be because it’s as close to magic as gaming screens get. The Xeneon Flex boasts a 45-inch OLED display that not only has a surprisingly generous aspect ratio (21:9) but also has a resolution and brightness whose peak performance makes for an undeniably immersive gaming experience. The Xeneon is also tops on compatibility, working with both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Free Sync Premium. And don’t worry, it’s loaded up with plenty of connectivity ports, too.

While Corsair has yet to announce the pricing and availability for the Xeneon Flex, we’re sure gamers everywhere will be waiting with bated breath for the chance to bend their screens and immerse themselves a little deeper into their favorites.

The post Corsair’s Curved OLED Monitor Lets You Shape Your Gaming Experience first appeared on Dornob.

All-in-One Vertical Wall Planter

Mars Green is made of clay to emulate soil, making it easy to grow vertically. That clay is also capable of absorbing a lot of water — up to 1800 milliliters (60 ounces) at a time. And the LED light ring isn’t just decorative. It actually provides your plants with the light they need to thrive. The grow light has virtually endless programmable configurations, not just in a rainbow of hues, but also strobing, shifting, and flickering patterns (the creators claim there are 16 million options).The idea is to create a miniature self-contained habitat similar to what we might need to turn the real Mars green.

“We discovered that unglazed clay has great water absorption properties, which is how we came up with the idea to make a 3D planter as opposed to a regular pot,” the creators explain. “Many versions and a lot of trial and error led us to the perfect process to create clay that’s as fertile as soil. What makes Mars Green easy to set up and maintain is the special clay mixture and the many pores created during the baking process.”

How It Works

The red ore used as the base is rich in trace elements like iron, manganese, and potassium, which are essential to most plants’ growth. Its porosity also makes it extremely water-permeable. It’s capable of supporting many types of plants, including ferns, lichen, mosses, ivy, creeping Jenny, tillandsia, peperomia, creeping fig, and more.

Exactly how do you plant into a hard surface? There are a few different methods depending on which plants you choose. Gather ferns and spread their spores on the surface, apply powdered moss, or stick bits of lichen and seeds into the tiny cracks. Add water, and they’ll spring to life. If your plants need support growing from the vertical surface, strands of elastic cord are included.

Kickstarter backers get early-bird pricing on the Mars Green vertical wall-hanging planter, just $59 each. You can also snag two planters for $98. Orders will ship this September. When this round of crowdfunding is over, the price of each unit will rise to $99, and the designers will make the product available to the public later this year.

About the Designers

In their own words, “YAT is a team of technology enthusiasts and designers. We specialize in the development and design of highly innovative products. We love to create our space with greenery, and we’re also loyal RGB players, and we love the tech-savvy home atmosphere. In 2019, our studio moved to Dehua, where ceramic products are famous all over the world, and we learned a lot about the possibilities of clay creation. After two years of polishing, Mars Green is finally on the market, hoping that it will bring more fun to your life.”

The post Mars Reimagined: Glowing Wall Planter Turns the Red Planet Green first appeared on Dornob.

Not only does the Tower of Light make this industrial facility a lot more beautiful on the outside, it puts on light shows by day and by night in two very different ways. When the sun shines on it, polished reflectors inside it move in the wind, reflecting patterns of light into the tower’s chambers to create a natural sparkling effect. After dark, LED lights directed at the reflectors amp up the drama with animated, programmed light sequences every 15 minutes to mark the passage of time.

The tower’s unusual form derives from “Shell Lace Structure,” a biomimetic structural technique developed by Tonkin Liu in collaboration with engineers at Arup. This innovative technique uses digital design, engineering analysis, and advanced manufacturing tools to achieve complex organic shapes without compromising structural stability. The technique is inspired by the structures of mollusk shells, which gain their strength from optimized curvilinear geometry. Strategically placed perforations give the shell a lightweight quality while spreading loads in multiple directions. The Tower of Light is now the largest Shell Lace Structure ever built.

“The Shell Lace Structure technique represents an adaptive approach to architecture that allows for enhanced means of expression as well as additional opportunities to respond to site, structure, and climatic requirements,” say the architects. “The technique is multi-faceted and by involving both the hand and the machine in its design process, Shell Lace Structure enables us to regain intuition whilst wielding the speed, craft, and precision inherent in digital tools.”

The architects call the street facade enclosing the new energy center “Wall of Energy.” Visually complementing the tower, this facade features glazed ceramic tiles to reflect light and movement from clouds in the sky as well as human activity on the street to give it an ever-changing appearance. The shape of the tiles is inspired by “the dynamic energy of earth’s movements, as seen in patterns left in the sand by ocean waves,” Tonkin Liu explains.

The energy center itself is known as the Civic Quarter Heat Network (CQHN) and Energy Center, providing the neighborhood with low-carbon energy. It’s powered by an engine and two gas boilers, and designed so that future energy technologies can add or adapt to the power supply without disrupting the flow of electricity. Heat from the power-generating engine is harnessed to create hot water, which then runs through insulated district pipework across the city network, improving energy efficiency by as much as 45 percent.

The post Manchester’s Tessellated Tower of Light Puts on LED Light Shows to Tell Time first appeared on Dornob.

The size isn’t the only thing that changed in the 2022 update to The Wall. Samsung’s new MicroLED technology also supports 20-bit grayscale depth, which means it can express the tiniest details in a scene, offering unprecedented control with over one million degrees of brightness and color levels. It also expresses 100 percent of DCI and Adobe RGB color gamut for a spectrum of incredibly lifelike colors that’s rare in any display.

“Art mode” is another update, which lets customers turn what could be a massive eyesore on their wall into a giant piece of art when it’s not in use. “Multi view” lets users view content from four different sources simultaneously in 4K resolution at up to 120 frames per second, and Dolby Atmos delivers an immersive audio experience with top, side, and bottom channel speakers for multidimensional sound. Ultra-low reflection black technology keeps the colors true.

People will certainly use these enormous TVs in their multi-million dollar mansions, but Samsung envisions them appearing much more commonly in places like automotive showrooms and corporate boardrooms as well as government, hospitality, retail, and healthcare settings. The Wall can also be custom-ordered in all kinds of shapes to fit existing environments.

Here’s a breakdown of what makes MicroLED TVs so pricey, other than the sheer size. All modern televisions are lit by light-emitting diodes in some form, usually a series of hundreds or thousands of LED lights behind or on the edges of an LCD screen. The LCD actually creates the image using color filters of quantum dots on some TVs. OLEDs work a little differently with pixels made of a material that glows when powered up with electricity; these electroluminescent materials are the organic compounds that give the “O” to OLED. The amount of energy sent to each pixel changes its intensity. MicroLEDs, on the other hand, eliminate the need for an LCD layer all together, creating the color and light with all those tiny, expensive LEDs instead.

Someday soon, MicroLED will likely eclipse OLED as the standard display technology on higher-end televisions and become more affordable. In the meantime, we’ll be seeing absolutely wild price tags over $100K for offerings like The Wall and other MicroLED TVs by brands like LG and Sony. If a television that costs almost as much as a starter home in a small city sounds crazy to you, you probably haven’t heard of LG’s DVLED wall-sized TVs measuring up to 325 inches wide, some of which will set you back a whopping $1 million dollars.

The post Samsung’s The Wall: Here’s What a $150,000 TV Looks Like first appeared on Dornob.

The good news is, today’s TVs are finding the ideal balance between size and picture clarity, upping the ante with OLED technology that makes for the ultimate viewing experience every time.

What Makes OLED the Cream of the Crop?

OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) technology is at the top of its class in the television world because it quite simply offers the best color and display imaginable. Because OLED requires no backlight, each individual pixel is maximized for the optimum colors, angles, response times (aka reduced blurring), and overall viewing experience out there. Most experts agree that OLED is the new gold standard, and some bigger brands like Samsung and Sony have even taken it a step further with QD-OLED technology that promises even better color and viewing angles.

The New Kid on the Block

While Samsung may be the top-selling TV brand overall, its OLED TVs have never been quite as popular as those by other brands like LG. But all that may be about to change after the mega brand introduced their new QD Display TV into the mix during this year’s CES event in Las Vegas.

Making a splash as a 2022 Best of Innovation award winner at one of the most influential tech conferences in the world is a pretty good way to make a statement, and Samsung’s new 65-inch QD-Display TV definitely delivers. According an official awards statement, the company’s new offering is “the world’s first true RGB [red, green, blue] self-emitting Quantum Dot OLED display…combining the contrast levels of RGB OLED with the color and brightness of quantum dots.” In plain English, the color is next-level. Unlike anything we’ve seen before in the world of OLED TV technology, it’s guaranteed to shake things up among its competitors. While further details about the QD-Display TV (including its name) remain shrouded in mystery, it was confirmed at CES that new Samsung models will also boast four HDMI 2.1 inputs; a 144Hz refresh rate; a “Neo Quantum Processor,” and immersive audio experiences.

But what does this announcement mean for the consumer, besides the obvious better picture, brighter colors, faster processing, and more epic sound quality?

According to a recent article on CNET, it could, in fact, spell lower prices overall for those looking to upgrade but have thus far been unable to afford the sometimes hefty price tag associated with OLED models. The reason? The availability of more OLED TVs equals increased competition among brands fighting for attention of consumers, inevitably leading to lower prices. And while other brands like Sony plan to introduce their own QD-OLED TVs later this year, Samsung definitely beat them to the punch with their CES award-winner.

The post Samsung’s Next-Gen QD OLED TV Shines at CES 2022 first appeared on Dornob.

Entitled “STAR/KL,” this starburst made of 111 individual piece of LED ropes, acrylic tubes, and steel was created by Malaysian artist Jun Ong as part of the city’s annual “Art in the City” event. It’s a follow-up art installation to Ong’s 2015 breakthrough light piece, a 12-sided star that appeared to pierce through the floor and ceiling of a concrete building in Butterworth, Panang.

This reincarnation began its life on November 26th, 2021, and will flash and flicker each night to an ambient soundscape through March 26th, 2022. Over that period of time, the lights will gradually fade until extinct.

“‘Star’ exists as a wormhole for us to experience beyond our realities. It is a metaphorical monument that will and should disappear, leaving behind only thoughts and reflections,” said the artist in a documentary video. “…Like all organic matters, the decay of ‘Star’ is celebrated. Over time, its illumination is reduced, ‘Star’ dissipates and lives on in hyperspace till it finds a new host.”

Soon the only recollection of Ong’s creation will be photographs and videos that live on through humanity’s collective memory, the internet.

In an interview with a local media outlet, Ong shared that “I have always been making art but I also enjoy the many different ways we as humans can inhabit and experience a space. For me, light is an exciting medium to work with as it is both predictable and unpredictable. My works sit in between these two realms, and it is the process of making it materialize that excites me.”

Ong originally studied architecture at the University of Melbourne and the University of Westminster, but has since turned his sights to light art. He’s previously teamed up on installations and projects with brands such as Nike, Adidas, Gucci, and Philips Lighting. Together with partner Kyle E., he co-founded POW Ideas, a spatial design studio based in Malayasia, but his work has taken him all around the globe.

“I have been working on many light installation projects in different parts of the world with some of the most talented collaborators,” adds Ong. “Right before the pandemic, I was also offered a teaching position for lighting design at Sunway University which allowed me to create a research think tank on the innovative applications of lighting and its impact on human psychology.”

At the same time, light poses a challenge for Ong in his everyday life. “Ironically I have thin corneas, meaning my eyes are very sensitive to glare,” he notes. Hence my [apartment] is usually dark with only a few eye-level/low ambient lamps. I never turn on my ceiling lights. For me, my abode is my retreat. I start with darkness and then slowly use light to unravel the darkness.”

The STAR/KL project is open to the public daily from 6 to 10 PM until it finally meets its interstellar demise in March, giving us “new facets of thinking as terrestrial, cosmic, and human beings.”

The post Jun Ong’s “Star” Bursts Out of an Old Warehouse in Kuala Lumpur first appeared on Dornob.

Titled “21’ Abandon Darkness,” referencing a new Anglepoise brand slogan, Akhtar’s reinvention of the task light takes inspiration from Anglepoise lamps’ “ability to illuminate and demarcate, something we have all needed help with this past year, as work, study, and leisure have all bled into one.” Her version starts with what looks like a ceramic jug, adding a swiveling strip of LED lights perfect for illuminating a work surface.

Akhtar started with a plaster model “made to get a sense of shape and visualize ideas,” she explains. “At this point, the discussion into how the light source will work within the product began to develop. 21 is the next generation of iconic Anglepoise lamp, revamped and reimagined to encourage deep productive work and support well-being.”

The Staffordshire University graduate created the lamp as part of her final school projects. In the past, she has experimented with different shapes that give her ceramics a variety of moods, like Brutalist forms crafted on a plaster lathe and simple ceramic spheres pierced with holes to act as the base of a small table. But Akhtar’s ceramics are perhaps at their most interesting when they embrace irregularity, softness, and asymmetrical shapes, as with the bases for her Wedgwood lighting project.

The Wedgwood series is a modular lighting concept Akhtar has been working on since 2019. She was invited, along with two other students in the 3D Design Maker degree course, to propose concepts for functional wares and lighting that focus on the theme of well-being for Wedgwood, a British fine china and porcelain company known for being one of the largest manufacturers of Staffordshire pottery.

“Knowing that Wedgwood wanted to continue with my lighting design and believed that it fits well with their brand, has given me a [boost] of confidence in myself as a designer-maker,” Akhtar told Ceramic Review. “It felt rewarding to know that I was able to design a product with a specific live brief.”

Ahktar took inspiration from traditional Wedgwood ceramic designs and her research into contemporary lighting, looking specifically at stackable shapes that would ultimately give her design its modularity. After modernizing the shapes she found in old Wedgwood catalogs, the designer crafted her unique table lamps that glow softly from within the ceramic forms. Akhtar’s Instagram provides a fun inside look at her process, from early sketches to the final finished objects.

“Design made me think in a methodical and rational way,” Akhtar told Wallpaper. “It also stimulated my thinking and got the cogs spinning – I love it when that happens, and I like the practical side. In the past year I’ve come to appreciate ‘thinking through making.’”

The post Soyida Akhtar Reimagines Classic British Lamps with a Contemporary Twist first appeared on Dornob.

The result is the ASB Nautilus, which the company calls “the world’s first whirlpool made entirely out of glass.” The design is as simple as can be: just four sides made of transparent glass and a solid floor. That allows it to virtually disappear during the day, so you barely even notice it’s there. But at night, it “becomes the protagonist at the touch of a button,” as built-in lighting turns it into a visual focal point even when it’s not in use.

That means instead of tucking it away in a corner or sinking it into the ground so it’s less of an eyesore, you can put it on full display. Measuring about six by six feet wide and three feet tall, it offers a minimalist silhouette framed with stainless steel and features an array of lighting schemes that start simple in the MK I model and get more complex with the MK II and MK III versions. The MK I has an RGB LED strip running around the perimeter of the tub, the MK II can be illuminated across the whole surface of the floor, and the MK III has a full LED screen with video content to offer “an incredibly immersive spa experience.”

All three models can be programmed to light up in your preferred colors, but the MK III gives you the most options. You can even livestream to the screen if you want, watching programming through the water. The company imagines this feature being particularly valuable for logos and other brand content. It’s kind of weird to imagine trying to watch anything more than some ambient visuals, but it could be cool to project custom creations for parties and events, too.

The Nautilus hot tub also comes with a heating system that can be placed as far as 15 feet away from the tub and three easy-fix pipes that supply water and air. The connections are hidden beneath steps providing access to the tub on all sides. The standard tub heats up by one to two degrees Celsius per hour, taking up to eight hours to be ready to enjoy, while the premium version heats up in half the time. The premium versions also include a high-end UV cleaning system, and every tub comes with an insulated cover in your choice of color.

Some users might miss the molded plastic seating that makes standard hot tubs comfortable to sit in. The Nautilus doesn’t have jets, either. “We believe that the concept of limiting the user to present seating configurations takes away from the experience the Nautilus is designed to provide,” the company explains. “An experience much closer to the Japanese Onsen culture where one floats in hot water admiring the view or relaxing the weary body along the way. It is a ritual of indulgence and immersive-ness. For this reason we believe the lighting aspects of the Nautilus are of superior nature over the gimmicky massage jets and plastic benches.”

The ASB Nautilus is currently custom-made to order, so you have to contact the company if you want to purchase one.

The post ASB Nautilus: The World’s First All-Glass Hot Tub first appeared on Dornob.

Designed by Bumblebee Spaces, a San Francisco-based startup founded by former Tesla and Apple engineers, this robotic system hides a bed, a desk, and even storage within a ceiling compartment, making the 470-square-foot studio units feel a lot more livable. Mounted to a grid capable of holding several tons of weight, the system also responds to voice commands, so you can simply ask it to move the furniture around at your whims. No need to open an app or even press a button.

Made of stylish light-colored wood, the system blends right into the contemporary style of the apartment interior and boasts built-in LED lighting. When the components are lowered, the surprisingly narrow supports are visible in each corner, maintaining a light and open feel. Taking the automation of the room even further, the system uses artificial intelligence to recognize various objects and remember where you put them. Lost your keys or sunglasses? Just ask. It’ll also learn your daily routine, and can be set to shape-shift at certain times of the day without being prompted.

Another cool feature is the system’s ability to photograph and catalog the contents of the storage bins that retreat into the ceiling on all sides of the bed (an add-on for which you can choose two, four, or six compartments). The Bumblebee app lets you preview your boxes so you know exactly which one you need to access instead of lowering each one and physically sorting through them. Built-in sensors and other safety features ensure the kinetic components won’t put any people or pets in danger.

The studio apartment itself features nine-foot ceilings made of exposed concrete, floor to ceiling windows, and monolithic resin floors, as well as several spacious closets, Italian stainless steel cabinets in the kitchen, and a stainless steel suite of appliances. Needless to say, it’s rare for rentals to have features like the $12,000 to $30,000 Bumblebee system, especially at a rent price that’s not too far from average in New York City. These five apartments will rent for $3,550 a month, and with four months free in a 16-month lease, they average out to even less. The building’s market-rate rentals will go for about $2,056 a month, and the affordable units, which make up about a third of the building, are even less.

BIG’s design for The Smile is a response to New York City’s 1916 zoning resolution, which calls for “stepped facade” towers to allow sufficient light and air to filter down to street level. Other unusual amenities in the building include a game room, co-working studio, demo kitchen, fitness center with Peloton bikes, yoga room, steam room, dry sauna, and “sensory experience showers.”

The post BIG’s NYC “Smile” Features Robotic Shape-Shifting Studio Apartments first appeared on Dornob.

During the recent Giga Fest at Tesla’s Giga Berlin plant, the company provided a demo of the new lights, showing off their precision and power by having them project the word “TESLA” on a wall inside the factory.

In response to a twitter post from Tesla fan Paul Kelly, the company’s founder and CEO Elon Musk replied, “Yeah, headlights are precision LED, so they can be bright without blinding oncoming traffic, pedestrians, and cyclists.”

And while there were no details released about the adaptive headlights, it is assumed that they were showcased in the Made-in-Germany (MIG) Model Y during the factory opening tour because they will be a standard feature of the car when it comes out of production, possibly as early as the end of November 2021.

Adaptive driving beam headlights, or ADB lights, are smart technology that far surpasses even systems that automatically switch between high and low beams. They provide a constant light to the driver that’s as bright as a traditional high beam headlight. To make sure they don’t blind other drivers though, they have special light units that can alter the brightness, direction, and even shape of the beam as needed. The system knows how and when to change the light due to a host of sensors that are built into the car. When an oncoming vehicle approaches, the smart lights will cast a shadow in certain directions while still providing the driver with a bright, pinpoint-accurate beam.

There are several European automakers already incorporating this smart tech into their vehicles. ADB lights are available in the Audi e-tron, Cadillac XT6, Polestar 2, and the Lexus RX.

In some versions of ADB lights, the beams can also shift direction as the vehicle goes around curves. This is particularly essential to helping cars become autonomous as they need the light to follow any curve for best performance.

But before Tesla can realize its dreams of going fully automated with its cars in the U.S., it will have to lobby for the repeal of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, a government regulation dating back to 1967 that prohibits headlights that can operate both low and high beams at the same time. Back then, it was intended to reduce traffic accidents, but it’s obviously based on antiquated technology, as today’s ADB lights would help with safety and prevent more collisions than today’s standard headlights.

American car manufacturers currently self-certify their compliance with the law, adding a Department of Transportation symbol to all their lights and reflectors. However, over the past few years the U.S. Automotive Alliance has called the half-century-old regulation “overly stringent and not based on modern headlight systems.”

Until enough pressure is applied on the government to overturn the existing rule, U.S. consumers will have to sit on the sidelines and watch as Europe and Asia move into the future with smart headlights in Tesla and other car brands.

The post Tesla Model Y Gets Smart Headlight Updates in Europe That Are Still Illegal in U.S. first appeared on Dornob.

Taking the Bentley brand as his inspiration, Alexis Poncelet, a member of the exterior design team for VW Future Center Europe, has imagined an autonomous electric limousine that maintains the opulence and style of the famous car while incorporating sleeker and more aerodynamic structure.

In a concept he calls “The Monument,” Poncelet pays tribute to the signature flat-nosed Bentley front-end but switches out the classic grill for dotted metal wraps, spaced out to reveal four vertical LED headlights.

The rear of the car was designed as “a flat cut-out for aero efficiency,” he says on his Behance page, in an attempt to provide longer mileage range from a single charge. Not a fan of trendy rear LED stripes, Poncelet instead adds taillight modules that allow nearby vehicles to gauge the Monument’s brake intensity. This would allow the self-driving car to “communicate with other road users in a smart and elegant way.”

The top is crafted to give the feeling of one continuous curve of glass from front to back, providing passengers with an almost 360-degree view of their surroundings while those outside the car get a paparazzi-like glimpse into the occupant’s life of luxury.

Being chauffeured around by the most advanced artificial intelligence is also on-brand for the British car company’s ultra-wealthy clientele, with an interior that features sumptuous leather seating, ample leg room, and a platform that bisects the car down the middle, doubling as the perfect drink table. And although the Monument is intended for autonomous driving, it does include a steering wheel for the times when an affluent owner might want to take control for nostalgia’s sake.

The car body is long and low, creating a smooth and streamlined image. Poncelet calls it “just a soft and proud British limousine in the main lines,” adding that by incorporating larger surfaces, fewer unique parts, and greenhouse gas-countering abilities, the car would become a “mechanical jewel.”

While he doesn’t include any specs on batteries or electrical systems, drafting an electric vehicle body for the posh brand is a very shrewd design move, as just last year Bentley announced its Beyond 100 plan: a commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2023 and switching to a completely electric fleet by 2030.

That plan may be reaching for the stars, as the company currently only has two hybrid models, and its first all-electric vehicle is not expected to hit the market until 2025. As it rolls forward on those plans, Bentley may appreciate having an innovative design in their pocket, especially one from someone on the staff of its parent company Volkswagen.

And Poncelet has plenty of ideas. His Instagram posts run the gamut of vehicle mock-ups, from a Star Wars-esque angular transport and a moon-ready Porsche to a hot dog-shaped hotrod.

A native of France, Poncelet is a 2020 graduate from Rubika, a French school of design, and specializes in ultramodern transport concepts.

The post VW Designer Alexis Poncelet Imagines the Future of Autonomous Bentley Limousines first appeared on Dornob.

“We are living in sci-fi times,” will.i.am told the New York Times, adding that “[The pandemic] is straight out of a friggin’ movie, but we are wearing masks from yesterday’s movie. So, I wanted to make a mask to fit the era that we’re in.”

He also wanted to solve a functional issue. “What I saw out there in the world was people had loose-fitted masks, and they had earbuds,” he told USA Today. “When they got phone calls, they took the mask off and the earbuds fell on the floor, then the mask fell on the floor, and then the whole point was pointless because everything got dirty.”

The Xupermask (pronounced “supermask”) is a collaboration between the musician and Fortune 100 company Honeywell, a business that already knows plenty about personal protective gear and air purifiers.

“When we were confronted with this idea of partnering with a world-renowned innovator to solve a very specific consumer problem around having a great performing and fashionable mask that you could use for the whole day, it was just an obvious fit,” says John Waldron, president and CEO of Safety and Product Solutions at Honeywell.

The Xupermask features dual three-speed ventilation fans and HEPA filters that can be replaced every 30 days. Made from silicone and athletic mesh fabric, it creates a seal around the face that keeps glasses from fogging and fits most sizes. The embedded noise-cancelling earbuds connect to devices via 5.0 Bluetooth and are designed to magnetically dock at the sides of the mask when not in use. The LED day glow lights, earphones, and microphone have a seven-hour battery life, but the components can also be charged while you wear them.

In true will.i.am fashion, the face covering was made to give the wearer that sleek “boom, boom, pow” look. In an interview with Complex, the rapper explained, “if you’re designing masks to inspire and encourage sneaker culture, a fabric mask is a flip-flop and this is a Jordan 3.”

He worked with Hollywood costume designer Jose Fernandez to create a covering that resembled a space-age, dystopian gas mask – the type of thing you might expect to see on the Black Eyed Pea’s next album cover. Fernandez is well-known for his work on iconic superhero costumes for movies like Batman and Spider-Man, as well as the spacesuits he created for Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 crew.

“Most of the things you wear feel very clinical, medicinal,” Fernandez said in an interview with CNET. “This one I think has that cool factor.”

will.i.am’s high-tech COVID-19 shield is not the first of its kind. Gaming company Razer is making a transparent, LED-lighted face covering that uses audio-processing algorithms to make your voice sound clear on the outside, and LG has announced a mask with battery-powered, built-in air purifiers. The Xupermask is the first to be on the market, though.

However, with a price tag of $299, excited fans may be asking “where is the love?” But apparently consumers are ready to “get it started,” as both mask styles sold out quickly on their April 8th release date.

The post Will.i.am Debuts High-Tech “Xupermask” Facemask first appeared on Dornob.

Both items debuted on April 1st, prompting many to wonder whether they were actually real or just an April Fool’s Day joke. But despite their tongue-in-cheek nature, these things are fully functional. Designed by Japanese firm Gelchop for IKEA’s Art Event 2021, the LED table lamp (€39/$46 USD) aims to encourage viewers to question “an object’s ‘true’ purpose in the world,” according to a press release. It’s designed to lay flat on a surface, charges via USB, and consists of aluminum and plastic. The accompanying LED torch (€25/$30 USD) comes in blue or silver and is hilariously oversized.

“The inspiration for our ideas comes from everyday experiences and objects that, with a different approach, we transform into new, fun, and playful works of art and everyday gadgets,” says Gelchop. “IKEA ART EVENT 2021 table lamp and torches are a great example of how we work. So many people associate the Allen key with IKEA, yet it has a completely different function here with our interpretation. It’s something that we hope will even be appreciated by those who are not fans of assembling furniture.”

IKEA’s sixth annual Art Event is a limited collection blurring the line between art and functional design. The brand selected five artists and designers to create pieces that capture the imagination while doubling as useful household items. The other items in the 2021 range include a dramatic black and white tabletop clock by Daniel Arsham, a slitted round wall light by Sabine Marcelis, a framed drone collection by the firm Humans since 1982, and a glass vase and blanket printed with graphic lettering by Stefan Marx.

Many people see art as something to gaze at from a respectful distance in a museum or gallery, but IKEA hopes the event will help democratize art by removing some of those boundaries and encouraging physical interaction. Truly, each one of these pieces has its own story to tell.

An official company statement on the collection reads: “Driven by curiosity, these visionaries take recognizable objects and add their unique artistic spin, shifting our view of what a simple clock or lamp, flashlight or throw, vase or picture is. Each of these pieces has a vision of its own, elevating the ordinary into the extraordinary. IKEA ART EVENT 2021 showcases the future of living with art — where it can be picked up and used as well as thoughtfully reflected upon. There are no boundaries in IKEA’s new vision; art every day for everyone.”

If you like these quirky items, you should snap them up right away, because they’ll only be available for purchase in select stores or for delivery via IKEA-USA.com through May 2021.

The post IKEA Pays Homage to Its Most Iconic Tool with a Fun Allen Key Lamp first appeared on Dornob.