They say walking on fresh grass increases your blood circulation; I can’t vouch for that! Anyways, it is a reason to get going to the nearest park, remove your expensive Jimmy Choo’s and prance around. The Moss Carpet looks at getting the grass to your feet, and that too in your loo! Made from imputrescible foam called plastazote, the mat includes ball moss, island moss and forest moss. The humidity of the bathroom ensures that the mosses thrive. And that’s why you need to place it there and not anywhere else. Little gnomes not included.

Designer: Nguyen La Chanh

Many of us are finicky about the source of our drinking water; the privileged lot downs Kona Nigari or Evian while the rest of us are happy with any odd brand. Although countries like U.S. and U.K. assure safe water from the kitchen tap, not everyone consumes it. One of the reasons we should be looking at this source is, the amount of waste generated from the bottled water. Efforts have to be made to adopt concepts like the Aqua Mineralis, to sustain and protect our environment.

Crystallized icicles that are made from concentrated mineral water, is the healthy alternative being offered here. Picture yourself pouring purified tap water into the specialized decanter, with the mineral water crystal sitting atop the neck funnel. Trickle by trickle the two mix to tango at the bottom of the pitcher.

The end result: you consume one less plastic bottle and get high on H2O!

Designer: Jenny Lundgren

Grid mosaic lamps are nothing new but custom ones unique to each person are. The Peel Off Light by Sehwan Oh enables each person to take home a mass produced lamp that can be customized by peeling off the pre-scored tiles. Your mosaic can reflect your design aesthetic and/or how much illumination you want. Will we see more of these customizable mass produced products? They seem to make a comeback every year before disappearing to the dead trends wastebasket.

Designer: Sehwan Oh

The Cherry produces no pollution, has all electric drive, plug-in battery, adjustable driving positions, collapses for storage and could be the next generation in personal transportation… maybe. The gel padded seat hides the plug-in battery and cushions your bum. Steering is controlled by leaning - motorcycle style. Those arm rests control braking and the entire drive engine sits inside the massive front wheel. The reduced number of parts saves money and makes it easy to customize. I’ll take a Hello Kitty one please.

Designer: Alican Yilmaz

You new punk rockers and your graffiti skateboards! New wave, you say? No way. This skateboard is a strait up wild-style NYC modernist skateboard design. It’s an art-board, inspired by New York City “Wild Style” graffiti, but it’s also functional. Its unique shape provides lots of gawkers along with new bends, twists, and banks you’ve never broken your neck with before.

Designer Loren Kulesus describes the unique skate experience you’d have riding the “IPSVM” board to be comparable to a convertible car. One who is used to driving a “normal” car finds driving a convertible totally wild: they’ll find the same to be true of the IPSVM board. The same is true, Kulesus says, about the trucks specifically. Take a peek at them, skateboard enthusiasts, and say specifically how nice you’d be able to turn.

And about these banks… What kind of banks we talking about, Loren? The banks are totally amazing I bet.

Totally amazing banks.

Designer: Loren Kulesus

You new punk rockers and your graffiti skateboards! New wave, you say? No way. This skateboard is a strait up wild-style NYC modernist skateboard design. It’s an art-board, inspired by New York City “Wild Style” graffiti, but it’s also functional. Its unique shape provides lots of gawkers along with new bends, twists, and banks you’ve never broken your neck with before.

Designer Loren Kulesus describes the unique skate experience you’d have riding the “IPSVM” board to be comparable to a convertible car. One who is used to driving a “normal” car finds driving a convertible totally wild: they’ll find the same to be true of the IPSVM board. The same is true, Kulesus says, about the trucks specifically. Take a peek at them, skateboard enthusiasts, and say specifically how nice you’d be able to turn.

And about these banks… What kind of banks we talking about, Loren? The banks are totally amazing I bet.

Totally amazing banks.

Designer: Loren Kulesus

Let me give this to you straight…. not all of us are Edmund Hillary to climb high mountains and neither are we adept enough to traverse every nook and crevice to gather data for research. Carbon Emissions and greenhouse gases are environmental issues that keep hounding us. We need to monitor our glaciers in order to predict our eco-future. Tribot offers a safe alternative to keeping a tab on them and researchers can catch the action from a secure distance.

The Tribot is agile and resourceful thanks to the tetrahedral geometry applied to its construction. It relies on the shifting its balance points to move ahead. In essence there is no up-down or left-right for this bot. Since the sides of the tetrahedron are varied, the balance-point shifts and the Tribot tilts to the side and hence moves forth.

Armed with highly specialized sensors, Tribot collects data from the glaciers and research teams work on this info to predict future climatic changes.

Designers: Jonathan Herrle, Josef Niedermeier & Ralf Kittmann

Are your children addicted to online video games? Don’t worry! They soon will be. Designer Tamer Nakisci’s “Smartground” is a playground connected to the internet. Once a child steps onto the playing field, they are in the online battleground with every other child on the planet. Fighting for their lives! Or just points.

As each child enters play, their network is notified: gadgets, keychains, pendants, of their friends and opponents light up, challenging them to also come play at a Smartground site.

Games are played with the different 3-D pieces available at each Smartground site in conjunction with touch-sensitive LEDs. The entire playground encourages children to be with the whole world all by themselves!

This is just like what Kevin Kelly said would happen!

AHHH!

Designer: Tamer Nakisci

Your no-wino-am-I-oh-me-oh-my-oh worries are over, Heidi!
The glass is now the bottle. As the designer, Mister Edouard Larmaraud, (a Frenchmen, of course,) says: the gesture of “drinking straight from the bottle” become less vulgar when the bottle is made for the drinking. Add this to the Industrial Design shelf of things that everyone wants but noone would dare use.

This bottle, the “Orgiastic Carafe,” is blown glass, and is very real. It was never meant to go into production, but if you do so dare, you’d better ring up Laramaud first!

Designer: Edouard Larmaraud

Certainly not an early runner for this years Most Complicated Design Award, Studio KG brings us what’s called the “Read-In-Peace.” A deadly title, yes? This book stand stands for sitters, quite simply. While most book stands are made for those who inspect them standing up, the RIP allows the reader to sit nicely.

Made for all weathers, KG says, bench, sofa, or toilet.

A little folding action and I’ll take the whole bundle!

Designer: Studio Kawamura Ganjavian