Innovators don't invent all by themselves: To paraphrase Isaac Newton, great inventors see further than others because they stand on the shoulders of giants. Researchers at the Center for Technology Assessment hope to use that insight to clear out the enormous blacklog of U.S. patent applications, which is stifling American innovation simply because inventors must wait so long to get their patents approved and be assured of their intellectual property.
They argue that a social network for patents—which allows select volunteers to discuss patents and group analogous innovations—could greatly simplify the patent office's most onerous task: Identifying so-called "prior art"—all the other inventions that inform and compete with any supposed new idea. Already, the researchers have launched the "Peer-to-Patent" pilot project, outlined in the upcoming issue of the International Journal of Technolgy Transfer and Commercialisation. Similar experiments are underway in Britian and Europe.
We've written before about the nascent design philosophy of haptics. Here's a novel extension, along those lines: A squishy touchscreen display dubbed "Impress," that its creators hope will eventually lead to being able to mold and form data, just like Play-Doh.
The display isn't the product of a skunk-works lab at a billion dollar company. Rather, it was created by DIS.PLAY, a relatively tiny group of German hackers, using open-source tools: Arduino, an open-source tool for making analog computer interfaces, and Processing, that makes programming cutting-edge info graphics intuitive. (Arduino in particular is a favorite of hacker types, as a quick browse of MAKE's blog will prove.) In fact, many industry observers think that innovation is moving out of the corporate labs and into the cramped workbenches of hobbyists—a development that Impress will doubtless accelerate.
A couple years ago, the superstar designer Marc Newson set the auction record for a piece of design created by a living designer: $1.5 million for his Lockheed Lounge.
Who on earth buys these things? Last year, the BBC did a documentary on Newson, which had interviews with some of his collectors. Someone has just done everyone a great service and posted the thing on YouTube. Part Two is embedded above.
Apparently, one owner of a Lockheed lounge is Peter Brant (husband of Stephanie Seymour), who admits that the lounge is best thought of as a nice place to throw a coat. Another insists that Marc Newson's designs scream sex, which makes us think he probably needs to get out more. It would be interesting to follow-up with these collectors--as the art market bubble has burst, some suggest that the design-art market, which was just emerging, was an ephemeral fad. Post-recession, designers may have to get back to the real work of designing for mass production.
Type design goes unappreciated by most, but for designers, being all all-star in type design is a bit like being a big-wave surfer or a base jumper: It commands respect from your in-the-know peers, because the discipline is insanely difficult. Every font is a minefield of decisions, against myriad concerns like legibility, expressiveness, historical references (which are crazy, considering that many typefaces are hundreds of years old). But at the same time, a good type design can scream talent even to the layman. Here's a peak at a few nice ones, courtesy of the Type Director's Club 2009 awards, one of the most prestigious in the world.
A group of Swedish Designers, Humans Since 1982, just completed a design that's sure to draw protests: A wire-mesh lounge, supporded by the structure of a prone cross—letting you sprawl out in the same pose as Jesus on the Cross. (Direct your letters to the designers, please!)
The all-black design has the post-Apocalyptic feel of an art installation by Terrence Koh or Banks Violette. But it's also the latest in a couple recent riffs on the crucifix by product designers. One is this cross brush, by FredriksonStallard for CITIZEN:Citizen, a design distributor that specializes in cheeky, ironic wares. The idea is to wash your sins away:
Another was the bygone iBelieve, designed in 2005 by Scott Wilson. A lanyard for the early iPod shuffle, it was meant to lampoon the cult of Apple, but it reportedly was loved by Christians, sans irony:
Nike iD pioneered the idea of mass customization, offering shoes featuring color palettes that you can design. Timbuk2 advanced the story with custom messenger bags. Various jeans manufacturers will scale their denim to the size of your tush.
Shirts My Way, just launched last week, takes the trend up a couple notches: The website takes you through every aspect of the shirt, from the fit to the collar to the color of each fabric panel—what the company claims are 7 trillion option combinations. The fit can be customized with up to 11 different measurements, from cuff diameter to back length. Even the Elephant Man could probably get something to his liking. The prices start at just $59, and for now there's free-shipping world-wide.
This may be a first for guys, but women have had this option for a year or two. Shirt-makers Rebecca and Drew offer a fit customized by height and bra size, but at a much higher price point.
Shirts My Way is cheaper, but there may be some tradeoffs: The fabrics look a bit rough, if the picture (above) is any indication. We wonder what's next. What other products scream for mass customization? Your thoughts?
Over the past several years, SWISS has been overhauling its brand, and amping up its high-design bonafides. The airline's latest salvo is a swank new first-class cabin that's nicer than all but the nicest of New York apartments. Designed by Priestman Goode, the new seats aren't really seats at all, but rather cubicles that can convert between a two-top table set-up, a full bed, and a reclining seat. Each cubicle gets a flat-screen TV. The design itself is oh-so Swiss: Handsome and serene. There's a virtual tour here.
Of course, luxury like this comes at a price. First class airfare from New York to Geneva, Switzerland starts at $5,567.68. The folks back in steerage class will pay $420.18 for the same ride, minus the posh accommodations and the haute cuisine dining experience ("You and you alone decide when the kitchen opens," SWISS's first class site promises. "Whether you fancy a seven course meal shortly after take-off, or a freshly-brewed espresso accompanied by a chocolate truffle, SWISS meets all your culinary needs.")
Still, as GM's pampered execs demonstrated (before they were taken to the woodshed by Congress), even flying first class is a come down if you're accustomed to a private jet.
There's a fascinating new story in SEED, the science magazine, about what it's like behind the scenes at the cavernous, awe-inspiring, and sometimes creepily quiet American Museum of Natural History. As science journalist Carl Zimmer writes:
It was the first of many journeys I've since taken to the other side of museums. Scientists love to show off their collections by pulling drawers open at random, the way Kellner did--exposing me to an army of flies from Peru neatly pinned to slips of paper, or a flock of lyrebirds lying on their backs as if dozing in a collective nap. I've gawked at fossil whale feet and jars of tapeworms, at leeches and Mesozoic ferns.
But definitely don't take Zimmer's word for it: SEED has also posted an amazing photo essay by Justine Cooper, complete with narration. Best story of the week!
Anyone trying to wade through a site like TechCrunch, hoping for a bird's eye view of start-up activity, has probably left unsatisfied. There's simply too much unsorted information. YouNoodle aims to change that, and it just released a ranking of 25,000 startups.
When the site fist launched last year, it assigned each startup a quantitative score based on the backgrounds, track records, and social connections of its founders. But this new ranking is different: The ranks are created by tracking media mentions, as well as shout-outs on sites such as Technorati and CrunchBase. It's a prediction market for startups—somewhat similar to the Industry Standard or Killer Startups.
Could the so-called wisdom of crowds beat out the best guesses from sage venture capitalists? Critics say that start-up success is inherently unpredictable, and that the blunt data points available to YouNoodle underestimate the intangibles that make start-ups succeed. Meanwhile, YouNoodle has an interesting business model: It wants to license more in-depth data to VC's and investors, who are apt to be lured by the promise of quantitative measures of buzz. But are there enough of them, and is the data good enough, to create meaningful revenues? Stay tuned.
For a few years now, professors have been experimenting with iPods in the classroom, supplementing their lessons with podcasts. And Apple has helped the trend by introducing iTunes University. But no one really considered podcasts as a legitimate replacement for classtime. Until now: Psychologists studied if students tested better after attending a lecture or listening to a podcast, and the podcast won. The difference was significant: 61 for the lecture group, and 72 for the podcasters. Students who listened to the podcast multiple times scored, on average, a 77.
Researchers now aim to study podcast use across an entire semester. But it makes you wonder: Why did this happen? Is it that the experience of listening over headphones leads to better concentration? Are lecture halls intrinsically inefficient for learning? Perhaps it's the latter: As anyone who has managed to fulfill requirements for a degree can attest, listening to a professor drone on about, say, physics is infinitely less interesting than texting friends, oogling a crush, or just drawing in your notebook.
On a business note, it's interesting to speculate if, just like with future-forward textbooks, this widespread use of podcasts might actually do two things: Make top-quality lectures available to all, while radically changing the economics of higher education. Both seem intriguing, since education costs are rising at alarming rates, while professors are usually tenured based on their research and not their teaching. Having sat through courses taught by a number of famous professors, we can testify that most are lousy teachers.
