Huddle around the computer a little bit, your digital detox is a farce! How can you stay away from great stuff that you can read and chew on … mentally that is! We got you covered, while you were away, busy with your digital detox diet. Don’t be shy, take a look at the week that was, right here on SolidSmack. Cause we are ROCKIN! The Future of Work: Telepresence Robots Finally Get Interesting Though a remotely-controlled telepresence robot on wheels with your face on it may help assert one’s presence in a meeting room on the other side of the world, there’s no denying that the people on the…

Do you know what’s cooler than watching a YouTube video of a person build something? Being there yourself as the artist makes their creation, that’s what. Thanks to a collaboration with Oculus and Tested (a website run by Adam Savage dedicated to showing off his works as well as those of other creators), owners of Oculus Quest and Oculus Go headsets can get a front-row seat to their favorite creators as they work on their latest projects in Tested VR. Upon starting the app, you choose from among several episodes; each featuring a different workshop and creator. The creator then gives you an intimate step-by-step guide on their work ethic and process as…

When it comes to sketching and communicating your ideas well, nothing beats a good old-fashioned pencil and a keen sense of perspective. That said, adding simple depth to your form sketches with light and shadow is a natural next step in taking your sketches to the next level. And when it comes time to cranking ideas out fast, our favorite go-to is a fistful of 2-3 Sketching Grays from Copic that give us great contrast. These ultra-blendable, low odor, alcohol-based inks deliver rich and smooth strokes that are ideal for quickly communicating product concepts. And unlike water-based inks, which tend to pill and oversoak paper while blending, Copics mix on…

Ever since Elon Musk took to Twitter to ask his followers what they would like from a Tesla pickup truck, the world has waited with bated breath. Of course, this was back in 2018, and as we all know, he never really followed up on his promise—yet. This left a lot of Tesla fans hungry for the infamous ‘model P’; so much so that some of them have actually started making their own designs for the pickup truck. While most of these are high-level concept proposals—such as Istanbul designer Emre Husmen’s CAD design concepts—maker and robotics enthusiast Simone Giertz (along with some friends) made a fully-functioning Tesla truck: Cleverly dubbed…

LEGO tie-ins with upcoming vehicles are nothing new, and the Jaguar 2020 Land Rover Defender is no exception. While the real thing will be out sometime next Spring (and it looks to be awesome), you can get the LEGO version as soon as next week. Made in partnership with Jaguar/Land Rover, the LEGO Technic Land Rover Defender is everything you would expect a miniature block version of the vehicle to be: The jaw-dropping scale model features an incredibly detailed exterior featuring authentic rims, tires, body panels and a removable roof rack with extra accessories, but the interior is where it’s really at. As with all LEGO Technic vehicles, you can open the…

Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week on SolidSmack Radio we’re getting things rolling with the classic “Windowlicker” from Aphex Twin. From there, we’ll follow up with a grab bag of chilled out tracks including those from Four Tet, Massive Attack, YACHT, and others before wrapping…