Hey, That's a Great Idea » technology http://heythatsagreatidea.com Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:53:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Spherical Robot http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/04/spherical-robot/ http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/04/spherical-robot/#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:19:22 +0000 the idea collector http://heythatsagreatidea.com/?p=404 Inventor/Mechanical genius Greg Schroll’s take on an all-terrain robot – put the robot inside of a big ball:

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]]> http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/04/spherical-robot/feed/ 1 Extended Interview with Gary Hustwit – Dwell Blog – dwell.com http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/02/extended-interview-with-gary-hustwit-dwell-blog-dwellcom/ http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/02/extended-interview-with-gary-hustwit-dwell-blog-dwellcom/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:57:08 +0000 the idea collector http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/02/extended-interview-with-gary-hustwit-dwell-blog-dwellcom/

More on the forthcoming Objectified documentary; this time an interview with the director, Gary Hustwit:

Extended Interview with Gary Hustwit – Dwell Blog – dwell.com

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]]> http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/02/extended-interview-with-gary-hustwit-dwell-blog-dwellcom/feed/ 0 Objectified Movie Screenings Announced http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/02/objectified-movie-screenings-announced/ http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/02/objectified-movie-screenings-announced/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:23:56 +0000 the idea collector http://heythatsagreatidea.com/?p=368 Tickets are available online:

Objectified Screenings.

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]]> http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/02/objectified-movie-screenings-announced/feed/ 0 Nature Podcast – More on Flexible Electronics http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/nature-podcast-more-on-flexible-electronics/ http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/nature-podcast-more-on-flexible-electronics/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:06:33 +0000 the idea collector http://heythatsagreatidea.com/?p=360 More discussion on the organic transistors enabling the flexible electronics I wrote about yesterday on the Nature Podcast this week:

Download this episode of the Podcast
Nature Podcast on iTunes

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]]> http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/nature-podcast-more-on-flexible-electronics/feed/ 0 Flexible Thin-film Electronics http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/flexible-thin-film-electronics/ http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/flexible-thin-film-electronics/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:12:10 +0000 the idea collector http://heythatsagreatidea.com/?p=358 The New York Times is running a story about a new flexible electronics technology.

Graphene is a single-layer sheet of carbon atoms (the building block, in fact, of the graphite used in pencils) and has properties that make electronics engineers swoon.

…

In addition to being nearly transparent and having excellent electrical characteristics, the films are unaffected by bending or stretching.

This will make product design engineers swoon as well. Flexible electronics could mean the end of the single-plane constraint on PCBs that we have been designing around.

The NYT story is here:  With an Ultrathin Film, a Big Step Forward for Flexible Electronics

Originally published in Nature.

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]]> http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/flexible-thin-film-electronics/feed/ 0 IDEO/BUG Concepts Posted http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/ideobug-concepts-posted/ http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/ideobug-concepts-posted/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:50:15 +0000 the idea collector http://heythatsagreatidea.com/?p=350 Yesterday IDEO posted some very well presented in-process concepts for BUG UI design opportunities. They started by presenting some Mid-Project Concept Sketches. Download the PDF. Seriously, it’s inspiring.

They followed up with a post on each proposed concept:

  1. Concept 1 – e-Ink over Tactile Switches
  2. Concept 2 – Color LCD w/ Capacitive Touch
  3. Concept 3 – Monochrome Matrix LCD with Segmented Multicolor Backlight
  4. Concept 4 – Customizable Illuminated Buttons w/ Side Status Panel
  5. Concept 5 – NTE (Near-To-Eye) Micro-Display with Trackball

Very interesting concepts and very well presented. So well, in fact, that IDEO acknowledged the polished appearance and posted a few photos of the work-in-progress. Extra points for prototyping ePaper graphics on a Kindle.

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]]> http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/ideobug-concepts-posted/feed/ 0 IDEO Product UI Design Process Will Be Public http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/ideo-product-ui-design-process-will-be-public/ http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/ideo-product-ui-design-process-will-be-public/#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:45:25 +0000 the idea collector http://heythatsagreatidea.com/?p=342
  • Frustration Free Packaging Certification from Amazon A year ago Amazon announced Frustration Free Packaging; no more...
    • ]]>     The modular DIY gadget platform, BUG, has teamed with IDEO to redesign the BUG user interface. IDEO has agreed to BUG’s request to do the project in the open, soliciting feedback from the user community along the way. I’m not aware of a design effort of this magnitude, with a firm of this stature, happening in such a public manner.

    Here’s what IDEO has to say about the project:

    …We’re thrilled to be working with Bug Labs to make this great product even better. We are also prototyping a new, open way of working that we hope will combine the expertise of Bug Labs engineers, IDEO designers, and the BUG community throughout the design process.

    This is a quick project with a focused objective: re-envision the interaction with the BUGbase, specifically the display and buttons. We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts about the current BUGbase interface and your ideas for making it better. How are you using your BUGbase interface? How do you wish you could use it? In return for your feedback, we’ll be regularly posting updates on our progress, as well as the end results. We, of course, welcome your thoughts at any point. …

    Follow along on the BUG Blogger website and the BUG Community.

    The whole point of this exercise is to continue to push the boundaries of how we innovate, not just on the BUGbase UI, but on all things related to BUG. We take pride in thinking our designs are good, but we also know they are exponentially better when the community gets involved.

    Related posts:

    1. Frustration Free Packaging Certification from Amazon A year ago Amazon announced Frustration Free Packaging; no more...

    ]]>     http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/ideo-product-ui-design-process-will-be-public/feed/ 0     Lifehacker Posts their Top 10 CES and Macworld Announcements http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/lifehacker-posts-their-top-10-ces-and-macworld-announcements/ http://heythatsagreatidea.com/2009/01/lifehacker-posts-their-top-10-ces-and-macworld-announcements/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:44:26 +0000 the idea collector http://heythatsagreatidea.com/?p=291 I don’t necessarily agree with all of these, but interesting nonetheless.


    10. iLife/iWork new features and tweaks
    9. Apple/Jobs won’t dominate Macworld anymore
    8. Palm is back in the game
    7. Built-in media streaming on TVs, DVD players
    6. Better laptop batteries
    5. Smarter voice-activated car systems
    4. Wireless charging, for real
    3. Picasa for Macs—FINALLY
    2. Windows 7 Beta announced
    1. iTunes frees its music (and yours)

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