Despite the advancements of artificial intelligence, not many people can get their hands on such expensive tech. Computers and cloud systems powering A.I. with powers such as instantaneous translation, image, and verbal recognition, and stronger decision-making capabilities can cost businesses quite the pretty penny. The Jetson Nano is Nvidia’s response to this issue of pricey…

Nike sure loves celebrating its Air Max designs. After giving sole searchers a look at the design process of the original Air Max and their new Air Max 720 shoes, the global shoe company is launching a new 3D Builder and partnered with designer Heron Preston in April for a 3D Builder workshop experience that…

After working with Magic Leap on the Spacebridge interactive workspace, Wacom is going back to what it does best: making kickass graphic tablets and the accessories that go with them. As we all know, 3D professionals have delicate emotions hands – not that they don’t know hard work, but it’s not quite the coal mines.…

If you have access to a shop, it makes perfect sense to jump at the opportunity to upcycle discarded materials into entirely new designs when creativity strikes. For woodworker Alex Fang, this came in the form of creating a sleek paper tray using scrap wood from his past projects. After picking out the scraps that…

There are an infinite number of uses for the traditional LEGO brick, but using the plastic toys for teaching robotics through STEM curriculums in the classroom has surged in popularity in the last decade—and the applications keep getting better and better. With the introduction of the SPIKE Prime LEGO kit, the company aims to provide…

After the release of the Tesla Model Y in 2018, Tesla CEO, visionary, and (some would say) eccentric, Elon Musk took to Twitter and asked people what they would like from a Tesla pickup truck. *Pause for gasp from crowd* Based on the few snippets of information he provided, the truck would have built-in power…

Back in October 2018, Adobe announced the tentatively titled “Project Gemini” – their latest mobile app made specifically for drawing and painting. Using what they learned from previous creative software endeavors—such as Photoshop’s brush tools and engine—Project Gemini focuses on adding even more painting tools including watercolor and live oil brushes to a stripped-down interface…

Swedish designer Love Hulténn is no stranger to video game nostalgia. After making countless homages such as a handmade arcade wall cabinet and a glass-encased Nintendo console shrine, one can only wonder how Hultén could top his penchant for the machines of yesteryear. Enter the Yesterday Vision—his latest handmade wooden enclosure built to play emulated…

Purchasing a traditional home may be physical proof that you’ve officially made it as an adult. Making a custom “micro-home” or heated backyard workshop, however, may be physical proof of your dedication to relatively complex weekend projects. During the winter months of 2014, Jim Howard took to his backyard and decided to build his own…

ZBrush 2019 is Pixologic’s latest iteration of their popular digital sculpting software. From the new Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR) system to a completely revised folder organization system, this update to the popular all-in-one digital sculpting solution has more new toys to tinker with than you can shake a digital pen at. Let’s take a look. The…

Consider the humble smartphone case for a second. It’s something that many users may not feel an emotional attachment to, but these cases generate billions of dollars per year for large brands who mass produce these “computer bumpers” daily. So how can an independent “smartphone case designer” like Bailey Hikawa make a name for herself…

Hardware giant Acer just announced their newest product line aimed at professional creators and those who aspire to be one. The “ConceptD Collection” consists of two desktops, three notebook PCs, two UHD monitors, and a mixed reality headset, all of which are focused on increasing productivity with multiple video editing and CAD software programs. Starting…

Ever since it was announced last year, most people have been skeptical about the Galaxy Fold, Samsung’s new folding smartphone/ tablet hybrid. And why shouldn’t they be? When your smartphone’s main feature is to near-seamlessly fold out into a tablet with no apparent split in the screen, you begin to wonder just how long the…

Another fiscal year, another chart showcasing a company’s earnings. The fiscal year 2018 proved to be another high-earning era for Autodesk, as the CAD company reported in its most recent yearly earnings report. The biggest highlights of the report include a Q4 2018 revenue of $737.3 million and 2018 fiscal year earnings worth $2.57 billion.…

Ask any knowledgeable person about what they think IDEO is and you’ll likely get different—albeit similar—answers: “It’s one of the original modern design firms.” “It’s a do-it-all design agency.” “It’s a problem-solving company.” Luckily for those answering, all of these are correct in their own way. But to get to the ultimate answer of who…

If you thought the age-old craft of metalworking couldn’t get any more precise, well think again. In a recent semi-viral Twitter post from Singaporean news service Mothership.sg, engineers demonstrate how to cut metal so precisely that you can’t even see the grooves between the pieces when they are put back together. This manufacturing process is…

In this modern age of everything-looks-the-same DIY furniture, it makes sense that some people want to make something unique to stand out from their friends’ IKEA apartment fixtures. While you could spend hours searching a thrift store for something out of the ordinary, the best way to find something one of a kind is to…well,…

Word pairings and associations can be everything; Peanut Butter and Jelly. Peas and Carrots. Meat and Potatoes. Nike and…Air. To provide further insight for shoe nerds and design geeks into the making of one of the company’s most iconic shoe technologies, the Nike team released ‘A Brief History of Nike Air’ – a consolidated history…

These days, women are making increasingly profound strides in the business and executive world at levels that might have been unheard of even 30 years ago. Daniella Paredes Fuentes, co-founder of the Gravity Sketch VR 3D modeling tool, is one of these modern-day renegades. Daniella was one of nine women leaders who won the recent…

Many kids are told to never play with mud. In the case of a team of designers from London’s Royal College of Art, however, playing with mud is a foundation for making the world a better place. Bauxite residue, also known as “red mud,” is a byproduct of the creation of aluminum. By refining bauxite…

For those who aren’t fans of the dark, Dyson recently announced its new line of Lightcycle desk and floor lamps that—according to them—will last you for the better part of your life. At $599.99 for the company’s new Lightcycle desk lamp and $899.99 for the new Lightcycle floor lamp, these light fixtures are a far…

Having started with two founders, a single 3D printer and a bicycle in Amsterdam, 3D Hubs sure has come a long way. Thanks to their ability to interconnect a network of on-demand manufacturers and provide a near-seamless user experience, 3D Hubs has amassed a ton of data on the 3D printing market. Trends, transaction data,…

Flow by Moleskine is a new digital app that turns your iPhone or iPad into a digital sketch or notebook. Unlike other digital sketching apps, however, Flow wears its notebook origins on its shoulders— going so far as incorporating different paper types and colors, as well as the ability to customize your drawing tools in…

Known famously for their ready-to-assemble flat pack furniture, Swedish manufacturer IKEA isn’t exactly famous for being user-friendly for people with disabilities. Not only do you have to set up the products yourself, but some of the company’s lamps and cabinets have small switches or handles which are too difficult to work with for someone with…

Even though it has official successors by way of the Game Boy SP and Game Boy Advance, no other handheld console hits you with nostalgia quite like the original Game Boy. Released in 1989 by Nintendo, this chunky block was what you brought around in the 90s whenever you were forced to go outside without…

While humankind has made great strides in creating Terminator-like robotic appendages, we’re still a ways from an artificial arm that moves and acts precisely like a flesh-and-blood appendage. Yet, a team of MIT technologists recently created a robot gripper that might help pave the path for one. The Origami Robot Gripper is a robotic arm…

Life is too short to be sitting on an uncomfortably hard bench— most would rather be spending it on a nice leather chair instead. But what if you could bring that bum-conforming comfort to a wood bench? Heck — how would you even start…no pillows allowed? Such is the premise behind the BEND Bench. Created by…

While most people outgrow making model airplanes at an early age, others soldier on well into their adult lives; even going so far as to create a sport out of it. Airplane modeling began as early as 1871, where a Frenchman named Alphonse Penaud invented a rubber band-powered airplane. Though it would be more than…

For some designers and engineers, 3D scanning physical objects to use as reference models can be the ultimate time-saver. Industrial Designer Eric Strebel is one such design professional—and as always, he has some insightful tips for fellow designers and engineers out there who want to kickstart their 3D scanning game—aka, photogrammetry. Photogrammetry is a process…

We’ve seen our fair share of modular desk organizers; each with their own unique features and gimmicks designed to make organizing your desk an easier and more personalized experience. So what makes the Stealtho Organizer stand out from the rest? Where most people nowadays use their laptops and phones for the majority of their work,…

For many, half the fun of owning a Nintendo Switch portable gaming console is playing video games—while the other half is spent personalizing the hardware itself. Nintendo gets this; the video game company has put out tons of accessories for the Switch, ranging from various carrying cases to the cardboard-based Nintendo Labo. The number of…

Toys for little girls have come a long way. Instead of gangly, mobility-limited figurines with zero capabilities, young ladies can now opt for an awkward, less mobility-limited, learning, talking, facial expression recognizing robot friend to do their bidding. Its name is Little Sophia. Mixing A.I. technology with traditional toy design, this robot doll is a…

Get ready to shelve your disgusting earplugs because this one is a doozy. Researchers Xin Zhang, Reza Ghaffarivardavagh, Jacob Nikolajczyk, and Stephan Anderson, along with their team of engineers from Boston University recently conducted an experiment which involved blasting a loudspeaker through a standard PVC pipe. But instead of hearing the funneled sounds of dubstep…

If you suspend the science behind it, the act of soldering is a work of magic. By heating a filler metal, one can join two or more materials which would otherwise not fit together (like pizza and pineapple, for example). Barb Noren is a self-described maker who also sees soldering as a magical process. So…

Remember when you were a kid, and the coolest talents your friends had were blowing bubblegum and making paper planes? Yeah, those were the days. As we grow older, it becomes easy to lose that sense of magic from childhood and instead, find entertainment elsewhere—like Netflix or loud nightclubs. But one thing remains constant: making…

Those who have watched their fair share of cartoons may have seen one or two scenarios where characters accidentally fall into an automated car wash. After going through the water jets, scrub rolls, and automated detergent dispensers, these unfortunate souls find themselves on the other side all dazed and confused—but squeaky clean nonetheless. Humanwash by…

Frequently when you hear about a revolutionary new product idea, it’s usually something great with the potential to benefit all of humanity. Television, penicillin, the iPod; the introduction of these inventions into our world helped make it the better place that is today. But what about all of the failed inventions – the ones that…

In today’s sea of design, only a select few are truly capable of standing out as thought leaders and changing how we perceive the modern world around us. To further explore how today’s leading designers perceive design, New York City-based design firm Doberman interviewed 20 designers from leading companies around the world to share what…

There’s a good chance you have a fire extinguisher somewhere in your vicinity (most building codes require it after all). If not, consider this a friendly reminder to maybe get that check out. Filled with chemicals made for dousing small fires, these silent guardians spend most of the time getting hit by your foot due…

3D printing is as lucrative as it has ever been, with various industries harnessing the technology to further improve our lives. We can create furniture from recycled plastics, conceptualize roller coaster designs, and are very close to 3D printed motorcycles. The 3D printing landscape is ever-changing, and everyone is waiting to see what innovators using…

Designing products for clients on your own is fun—but it’s not without risks. For one, there’s the time pressure that comes from working for a company or client; while you have the creative freedom to work with vague guidelines, having to start from scratch can be a daunting challenge for the uninitiated. Second, with great…

If you had told me back in the 90s that the “cellular phones” in 20 years would be as thin as a wafer, I’d call you on your bluff. However, here we are— with phones that not only fit seamlessly into our pockets but allow us to stream videos or do our taxes. So why…

WhLike a true creative, when he’s not working on a project for a client, industrial designer Eric Strebel likes to create improvements to his own toolset. In the past, he’s made sketchbooks, dust masks, resin casting boxes. This time around, he’s working on a tablet stand for his 16-inch Wacom Cintiq Pro to position it…

Those without cars often face a common predicament when going to work: “Will I take the bus or the train?” For citizens living in Adelaide, South Australia, there doesn’t seem to be much difference. Check out Adelaide’s O-Bahn Busway: Ever since its first passenger ride in 1986, the O-Bahn Busway has confounded both passengers and…

As someone who works from home, I can attest to dumping my belongings on my laptop like a food tray if I ever decide to move between rooms. When the working location I’m moving to is outside of the house, I simply throw all that stuff in a bag. It’s a messy way to go…

Yes, yes, you might’ve heard smartphone accessory companies brag about how their wireless chargers are the thinnest in all the land. But, if you find a wireless charger thinner than 0.11 inches, it’s either made from some undiscovered material or an entirely bogus claim. The environmentally-conscious Xpad universal charger from Australian company PlusUs, however, is…

While his day job has him designing engines for the Ford Motor Company (not a bad job in its own right), systems engineer Matt Schmotzer spends his free time creating 3D printed replicas of real-life roller coasters using his breadth of SOLIDWORKS knowledge and 3D printing techniques. His first 3D printed roller coaster is a…

Using a series of post-processing techniques like sanding, painting, gluing, and mold-forming, you can easily make your 3D printed projects look just like their store-bought counterparts — ideal for when presenting realistic “looks like” prototypes to clients or coworkers. From sanding and gluing all the way to crafting different molds and finally painting the objects, MakerBot’s…

Though many don’t mind a cluttered work area, there are a few who can’t resume working unless their desk resembles the pinnacle of orderliness. The Re:ease desk organizer was made for these select neat freaks. Created by product designer Marc Stüber and engineer Laurent Hartmann, this modular desk organizer is made up of 6 compact…

Last year, we got an inkling on Magic Leap’s plans to partner with like-minded companies like Onshape to create more interactive 3D work environments using their not-quite-so-cheap AR/VR headset. By allowing multiple users to see and interact with 3D models in a real-world context simultaneously, working on models for engineering, product design, video games, and…