Tag Archives: Technology

Future Of Smaller Homes: “Bumblebee Spaces” Stores Bed, Wardrobe On Ceiling Freeing Up Small Rooms

From an 1843.com online article:

Bumblebee Spaces website home space savingsA startup called Bumblebee Spaces is trying to make micro apartments more appealing by adding movable furniture. Beds, wardrobe and drawers are stored up on the ceiling, to be lowered quietly on white suspension cords at the touch of a tablet, like a scene change on a theatre stage. In theory this frees up floor space. Once he’s raised his bed in the morning, Dabdoub sometimes does yoga and meditation. In the evening, he can sit on the couch and project Netflix onto a blank wall, which would otherwise be occupied by the bed’s headboard.Bumblebee Spaces website home space savings bed

Bumblebee is putting a new twist on the Murphy bed, a mattress that folds down from the wall. That bed was named after another inventor in San Francisco, William Lawrence Murphy, who was living in a tiny one-room apartment in the early 1900s. According to lore, he was trying to woo an opera singer who refused to come to his bedroom. So he devised a way to fold up his mattress into the wall and convert the bedroom into a lounge. Lust fuelled innovation.

https://www.bumblebeespaces.com/

To read more click on the following link: https://www.1843magazine.com/upfront/postcard-from-silicon-valley/how-robotic-furniture-will-improve-our-lives

MIT AgeLab: Consumer Product Companies Need To Make Older Adults A “Core Constituency”

From an MIT Technology Review article by Joseph F. Coughlin:

MIT Technology Review Old Age Is Over October 2019Technologists, particularly those who make consumer products, will have a strong influence over how we’ll live tomorrow. By treating older adults not as an ancillary market but as a core constituency, the tech sector can do much of the work required to redefine old age. But tech workplaces also skew infamously young. Asking young designers to merely step into the shoes of older consumers (and we at the MIT AgeLab have literally developed a physiological aging simulation suit for that purpose) is a good start, but it is not enough to give them true insight into the desires of older consumers. Luckily there’s a simpler route: hire older workers.

Of all the wrenching changes humanity knows it will face in the next few decades—climate change, the rise of AI, the gene-editing revolution—none is nearly as predictable in its effects as global aging. Life expectancy in industrialized economies has gained more than 30 years since 1900, and for the first time in human history there are now more people over 65 than under 5—all thanks to a combination of increasing longevity, diminished fertility, and an aging Baby Boom cohort. We’ve watched these trends develop for generations; demographers can chart them decades in advance.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614155/old-age-is-made-upand-this-concept-is-hurting-everyone/

Future Of Travel: AirPortr.com Checks Bags At Your Home, You Pick Them Up At The Airport

From a Skift.com online article:

Airportr shippingHere’s how Airport’s service works: A passenger checks in online. The company collects the bags from their doorstep after confirming the person’s identity. The driver puts the bag in a coded, tamperproof, and trackable security bag, the company said. The driver delivers the luggage to the airport, where they check in the bag.

AirPortr has handled 113,251 bag shipments. Two years ago, the startup landed British Airways as a customer. It also works with Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, and other carriers. This year, EasyJet began offering the AirPortr service at London’s Luton airport.

“Business is seeing really good year-over-year growth,” said founder and CEO Randel Darby. “This year we expect airline revenues to double. We plan to scale the product to become a network proposition with our airline partners.”

AirPortr has 15 workers at its London headquarters. It has about 30 others handling operations, customer support, and logistics.

 

To read more click on the following link: https://skift.com/2019/08/16/airportr-raises-8-6-million-for-luggage-delivery-travel-startup-funding-this-week/?utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75749779&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8DsKrqf5KFyRUzu0E7UjVF6Y3ZXR7IRTOphrsZ06Vv4jDIQc5Zqfbzh3Eqv2NwxAj0kCAcaXwsjvyzTchwYmBDwdRYcA&_hsmi=75749779

Luxury Trailers: The 2020 Living Vehicle Is A Refined Net-Zero Mobile Space

From an online 2020 Living Vehicle news release:

2020 Living Vehicle InteriorThe difference is simple. There is nothing else like Living Vehicle. Every inch is designed and built without compromise. Our mission is to create a Net-Zero vehicle capable of supporting the best possible human life. No energy in, no waste out. We are guided by this vision and grow closer to this goal every single day. 

Living Vehicle Layout

2020 Living Vehicle Interior Kitchen DeckGoing far beyond industry standards, 2020 introduces a Living Vehicle with unprecedented capabilities. We’ve partnered with the most advanced and innovative products from the military, disaster relief and marine sectors and now have several patents pending. From being able to power the AC with solar to technologies that create life sustaining resources, the 2020 model is a true functional work of art. 

Guided by the design virtues of quality, functionality and beauty, our goal is to create a travel and living experience that is uniquely yours, in the most advanced, luxurious and capable vehicle on earth.

Brochure: https://www.paperturn-view.com/living-vehicle/2020-brochure?pid=NTM53129&v=8

Website: https://www.livingvehicle.com/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=1st-order-yours#Story

Living Vehicle Legend

Health Care Technology: Human Voice Sound Wave Analysis Detects Disease Onset, Checks Depression

From a Wall Street Journal online article by Sarah Krouse:

In medicine, measuring slight changes in voice is starting to help doctors detect the onset of diseases like Parkinson’s or more quickly measure the efficacy of treatments for illnesses like depression, researchers say.

Human voice technology Photo by Ellen Winstein for the Wall Street JournalSlower speech, for example, could indicate fatigue or sorrow at one point in time, but over longer periods could signal something more severe, co-founder Jim Harper said.

That voice-based data isn’t yet robust enough to base medical decisions on alone, but is being used alongside clinical trials for drugs to treat depression, Mr. Harper said.

The sound of your voice is becoming a new type of fingerprint.

Increasingly sophisticated technology that detects nuances in sound inaudible to humans is capturing clues about people’s likely locations, medical conditions and even physical features.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-your-voice-reveals-about-you-11565716426

Future Of Homebuilding: Module Design’s Lastest Prefab “Zero Energy Ready Home” In Pittsburgh

Module Design announced its latest project (a partnership with the URA & Bloomfield Module Design Homes Energy EfficiencyGarfield Corporation), a 4-unit mixed income development in Pittsburgh’s East End. One home, located at 5454 Black Street, is 3 bedrooms2.5 baths and 1,280 square feet + 640 square feet of expandable space.

Fabricated off-site with the dependability of 21st century manufacturing. The home is a Zero Energy Ready Home, which “represents a whole new level of home performance, with rigorous requirements that ensure outstanding levels of energy savings, comfort, health, and durability.”

Module Design Homes floor plan 2nd

Module Design Homes floor plan 1st

Module Design Homes Materials & Finish

Basically, these homes must all have six key components:

  1. A high-performance thermal enclosure
  2. Whole house water protection
  3. A high-performance comfort system
  4. High-efficiency components
  5. Whole house health protection
  6. Enhanced quality assurance

 

To read more click on following link: https://modulehousing.com/projects/build-ready-projects/5452-black-st-2/?utm_campaign=Module%20%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75668184&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_UYzanQ20trjPwZljM1BiFEb99IZ6eQA1VwuPQakLB1xbR0qeOdSeB-IiXmy8FEr3NaolfJ9M0fLQK7nm1cGAojs9_EA&_hsmi=75668184

Boomers Retirement: Senior Planet Aims To Be “Tech-Savviest Retirement Community On Earth”

From an MIT Technology Review online article:

Senior Planet Founder Tom Kamber photo by Adrienne Grunwald 2019That’s why Kamber created Senior Planet, a tech-themed community center that preps seniors to hack their way through a world conspiring to keep them sidelined. The glass door reads “Aging with Attitude.” With its sleek grays and wood tables, it rivals the WeWork next door in the Chelsea district of Manhattan.

Kamber is pretty exciting, but the place itself is a beehive. By the time he and I sat down to talk, I’d already bought some fingerless gloves from one of its graduates, Madelyn Rich, a fiber artist and entrepreneur who’d paid for her recent Caribbean cruise with her holiday glove sales, mostly online. In a computer lab, a class was learning to use Google Calendar and Google Hangouts. Rachel Roth, a white-haired sophisticate in aviator glasses, wheeled in a cart of her sea-salt-dusted chocolate almonds called Opera Nuts—she hawks them online and through West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Williams Sonoma—and doled out some samples to the staffers in her signature Chinese-takeout-box packaging.

To read more click on following link: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614076/next-generation-entrepreneurs-senior-planet/?utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75583596&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_BF-0OylrzYeKbDveAED9EcrZW1pM54hDXRdCY_nW4wCiGV6r4i8uuf-wNyHYDnIVksgwR0vqA5fYUAHMo2yN-Rq0RWA&_hsmi=75583596

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

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

Top News Podcasts: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter Discuss Gun Control Policy (PBS)

20190805_politicsmonday3-1024x576NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including reaction from Congress and President Trump after another series of mass shootings, how Democratic and Republican views on gun control policy have evolved since the 1990s and potential implications for the 2020 presidential race.