Future Trends: Audi Introduces New E-Scooter Skateboard Concept For “Light Mobility City Exploration”

From an Audi Media Center news release:

Audi E-Scooter ConceptWith a new e-scooter concept, Audi is responding to the urban trend towards multi-modal mobility. The Audi e-tronScooter, combining the advantages of the electric scooter and the skateboard, is designed for sporty riders. To be transported by car, bus or train, the twelve-kilogram (26-pound) e-scooter can be folded up and conveniently stored in the back of the car, or if preferred pulled like a trolley. Above all, the Audi e-tron Scooter stands out thanks to its handling, which is like surfing waves. The rider has one hand free, and so is able to look around and give hand signals. Production and sales are planned for late 2020.

 

“With the Audi e-tron Scooter, we appeal to customers who are on the move in cities, sustainably and multi-modally – and for whom style and functionality are important,” says Thorsten Schrader, project manager for micro-mobility at Audi. Although riders keep one hand on the handlebar, they control the scooter like a skateboard with their feet by shifting their weight. The movable axles with four wheels allow unusually tight curves. “Of course the e-tron Scooter also moves straight ahead. But the feeling of flow only comes when you start carving on asphalt – and that is surprisingly easy with our new concept.”

To read more click on the following link: https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/press-releases/audi-combines-e-scooter-with-skateboard-11957

Theme Park Nostalgia: Disneyland’s “Victorian Era Magic” Haunted Mansion Turns 50

From a Curbed.com online article:

Disneyland Haunted Mansion Turns 50When Disney died in 1966, the mansion was still being planned as a walkthrough experience. As imagineer Rolly Crump recalled in a 2005 interview, visitors would be escorted through its rooms by a “ghost host” who would provide a backstory for the house’s mysterious hauntings.

This format would allow for meticulously timed illusions, impossible to pull off with guests moving through the attraction on a track. Crump and fellow designer Yale Gracey devised a series of clever apparitions to enthrall guests throughout the experience. Most of these relied on an old trick used by magicians and hoaxers of the Victorian era.

The Haunted Mansion was never supposed to be a ride.

The iconic Disneyland attraction, which turns 50 today, was first conceived as a walkthrough tour—somewhere between a carnival’s house of horror and a visit to San Jose’s spectacular Winchester Mystery House. Its development took nearly 20 years, and plans for the project changed constantly as designers fought over what park visitors might find within the walls of the neoclassical estate.

To read more click on following link: https://la.curbed.com/2019/8/9/20794585/disneyland-haunted-mansion-ride

Top New Creative Videos: “Mini Landscapes 2” By Clemens Wirth (2019)

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Clemens Wirth

Mini Landscapes 2 Directed by Clemens Wirth 2019

Music originally composed by the wonderful echoic studio in Bristol (echoicaudio.com)

Mini Landscapes 2 Directed by Clemens Wirth 2019

In this shortfilm I’ve tried to recreate some of the nature great events our beautiful planet has to offer, but in a much smaller scale. Every scene was carefully crafted by hand in miniature. Please see a little bonus making of at the end.

Watch original Mini Landscapes below:

 

Future of Health Care: Kite Smart Insulin Port Provides “Right Dose At Right Time” Diabetes Management Technology

From a YankoDesign.com article:

Kite Smart Insulin Port DesignImagine a smart insulin port attached to your skin, delivering the right dose, and at the right time. At the same moment, getting all information regarding your sugar levels, meds timings and health data, managed and analyzed with the accompanying app.

Kite replaces the need to pump yourself with over 30 injections a week, thanks to the soft cannula insertion. It turns any device into a ‘smart’ device, and automatically dispenses the accurate insulin dose. Designed to be affordable, a device like this can be very helpful in the lifestyle management of diabetics.

The functions of the port include: dispensing the dose, capturing data and sending to the diabetes management app. The app integrates blood sugar levels, carb intake and activity. Kate also has wireless connectivity.

Designers: Mitul Lad & Cambridge Consultants

Website: https://ifworlddesignguide.com/entry/234687-kite-smart-insulin-port

Architectural Day Trips: The Glass House Designed By Philip Johnson In New Canaan, CT (1949)

From an Architectural Digest article:

The Glass House PresentationsThe Glass House, designed by architect Philip Johnson in 1949, when floor-to-ceiling windows were a novelty even in office buildings, is a work of art in itself. But there’s much more art to be found on the lush grounds of this famous home in New Canaan, Connecticut. Amble on over to the Painting Gallery, which houses large-scale works by Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Cindy Sherman, among others, or the Sculpture Gallery, featuring works by such artists as Michael Heizer, George Segal, Frank Stella, and Bruce Nauman. 

 

http://theglasshouse.org/

Top New Travel Videos: “The Rhythm Of Mumbai” By Dennis Schmelz (2019)

Filmed and Directed by: Dennis Schmelz

The Rhythm of Mumbai - A Vibrant Megacity in India Directed by Dennis Schmelz 2019

Edited by: Tabo Hartog

The Rhythm of Mumbai - A Vibrant Megacity in India Directed by Dennis Schmelz 2019

Welcome to India: Bombay, now known as Mumbai, is home of over 12 million people. It is a thriving cosmopolitan, multi-cultural city and the heart of the Bollywood film industry. I visited this stunning metropolis in March 2018 for a commercial project and was able to capture also some B-Roll of the city life.

The Rhythm of Mumbai - A Vibrant Megacity in India Directed by Dennis Schmelz 2019

Website: https://dennisschmelz.de/index.php

Aging Well: Harvard Magazine Highlights Six “Exellent Predictors” To Flourish In Retired Life

From a HarvardMagazine.com online archive article:

How To Age Well - Harvard MagazineSix factors measured by age 50 were excellent predictors of those who would be in the “happy-well” group–the top quartile of the Harvard men–at age 80: a stable marriage, a mature adaptive style, no smoking, little use of alcohol, regular exercise, and maintenance of normal weight. At age 50, 106 of the men had five or six of these factors going for them, and at 80, half of this group were among the happy-well. Only eight fell into the “sad-sick” category, the bottom quarter of life outcomes. In contrast, of 66 men who had only one to three factors at age 50, not a single one was rated happy-well at 80. In addition, men with three or fewer factors, though still in good physical health at 50, were three times as likely to be dead 30 years later as those with four or more.

The book examines the lives of a group of Harvard men who have been studied from their college years all the way to retirement and, in some cases, death. Its cornerstone is the Grant Study, a longitudinal investigation conceived in 1937 and launched at Harvard in 1939. With funding from dime-store magnate W. T. Grant, researchers signed up 268 members of the classes of 1941 through 1944, in their sophomore years, for an in-depth, lifelong study of “normal” adult development.

To read more click on the following link: https://harvardmagazine.com/2019/08/the-talent-for-aging-well

Future Transportation: Optimus Ride Debuted First Public Self-Driving Shuttle In New York City

From a Futurism.com online article:

Optimus Ride - NYC’s First Self-Driving ShuttleThe car did what it was supposed to. The ride was a bit shaky, but it’s unclear whether that was because of the vehicle itself or because its AI system was constantly re-evaluating its surroundings. But it felt safe — we slowed down and swerved around a cyclist without leaving the lane. The cars had the entire route mapped out; each destination was already programmed in.

Self-driving car company Optimus Ride just debuted the first public autonomous vehicles in New York City, which will shuttle visitors around the private streets of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a historic manufacturing hub turned tech incubator. A launch event on Tuesday evening promised rides on the company’s self-driving shuttles, so I stopped by — to kick the tires and, naturally, see if the shuttles did what they were supposed to.

I listened as VP of engineering Ruijie He explained how the shuttles detect and analyze their surroundings. He described how the vehicles combine visual recordings and LIDAR into a single data stream to get more detailed and higher-resolution input from the vehicle’s surroundings.

To read more click on the following link:

https://futurism.com/nyc-self-driving-shuttle?utm_source=The+Future+Is&utm_campaign=bf7701459c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_08_08_05_06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_03cd0a26cd-bf7701459c-247461173&mc_cid=bf7701459c&mc_eid=27a7c5bde2

Top European Road Trips: Granada To Almería, Spain Is Two Weeks Of Historic And Spectacular Sights

From The Guardian online article by Sorrel Downer:

Spain Road Trip Granada to Almeria The GuardianThe Alhambra marks the start of a drive taking in historic cities, a river valley and mountains – and ends in Almería’s spaghetti western desert.

Granada is dominated by its mighty Moorish fortress, the Alhambra. Book ahead and visit early, at its least-crowded, and then spend the afternoon meandering the narrow streets and plazas of the old town – the Albaicín….

….On day six drive the spectacular route (A-319, 17km) up and over mountains into the dappled valley of the Guadalquivir River, passing La Iruela (with its castle on a crag), and down into a tranquil enclosed world, thick with birds, smelling of pine, dominated by the wide, clear, burbling river. Allow four days here as there’s so much to explore….

 

…Day 12: The drive from Guadix to Almería (A-92, 113km, around 1 hour) passes through the pink and orange peaks and ravines of spaghetti western country, the Tabernas Desert, and several theme parks recalling the glory days of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns.

Spain Road Trip Granada to Almeria The Guardian

To read more click on following link: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/aug/07/spain-road-trip-granada-alhambra-almeria-spaghetti-western

Automotive Nostalgia: 25th Annual Woodward Dream Cruise On August 17 In Detroit Will Feature Over 40,000 Classic Cars

From a Curbed.com online article:

Four Ford Thunderbirds at the 2014 Woodward Dream Cruise - ShutterstockEnthusiasts and spectators will soon be out showing off their rides for the 25th Annual Woodward Dream Cruise, which rolls through the northern suburbs along Woodward Avenue on Saturday, August 17. The world’s largest one-day automotive event is an enormous draw—last year an estimated 1.5 million people attended and 40,000 classic cars were on the roads.

While the main event takes place from Pontiac to Ferndale, Detroit also has a few offerings for visitors this year. Here’s where to go if you want to watch—or avoid—the festivities.

Time

Officially, the Woodward Dream Cruise runs Saturday, August 17 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Events have already started, and an official ribbon cutting will take place on Friday at 5 p.m. in Ferndale.

To read more click on following link: https://detroit.curbed.com/2018/8/16/17690358/woodward-dream-cruise-2019-traffic-parking-route

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious