Dream Paper Concept – 4D Paper Printing Technology

When you have something you want to make with paper, you cut/fold paper to make the shape.
I wish however, there were paper and ink that do the ‘folding’ and ‘cutting’ automatically. You send the data of the shape you want to make from your computer/mobile to the printer. The paper you printed out automatically starts to cut and fold itself!

If that really happens, you’d be able to make various complicated paper models with no efforts. It’d be even cool if you could download 3D data from a gallery like Google 3D Warehouse, print it out and you get it in your hand. You download a physical thing!

But wait! If you could even control not only where and how far to fold but also when to fold via bluetooth or wifi, it means you could move paper as you like without touching it. (It’s like embedding Javascript in paper!)

And the shape-shifting concepts like the below one wouldn’t need any complicated mechanisms if such paper technology were available.

Future Mobile Device Sketches – URSLA & BERTHA

URSLA is a future pendant that emits 3D projections in the air.
Synced with the mobile phone, notifications such as emails, phone calls, schedule reminders, etc. appear right in front of you for a few seconds.

BERTHA is a future mobile phone that works with URSLA.
3D projections from the pendant can be ‘captured’ in the air with this phone to see what the notification is about in detail on the screen. Yes, just like getting an item box in Mario Kart!

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/27232096]

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Dew – Future Wearable Mobile Device Concept

Like one of my previous posts (Cobalto), I was picturing sci-fi movies when I thought of this wearable mobile phone. It’s something I want to see used in a futuristic scene.

The ball works as a controller and an indicator changing colors. It can slide anywhere on the surface.

Of course it’d be fun to watch 3D hologram on it.

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Desktop Calendar Wallpaper: September 2009

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Sorry it took so much.
This is one of my favorite quotes that my teacher taught me when I was in 5th grade of elementary school. In Japanese it says like “No genius can compete with someone who’s making continuous efforts”. Since I knew that quote, I try to do what I want to be good at little by little but every single day.

3D Desktop Concept

I’m back! Thank you so much for all the get-well messages and comments. As I wrote on Twitter, the operation went OK and I’m 90% back to normal. I drew some sketches in my Moleskine while I was in the hospital, and this is one of them.

This 3D hologram video just makes me want to have a desktop like this.

When you’re not using it, it works as a desk lamp.

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Bring the black curtain down so that the hologram can be seen more clearly in front of you.
There are tiny projectors installed, giving off 3D hologram in front of the curtain.

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A browser window can be resized by actually “pinching” and dragging the tab at bottom right.

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It would be fun if a document could be made as if you were using a typewriter. The curled paper hologram comes out of the keyboard.

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Touching the 3D objects would be really fun. Dragging, throwing, resizing, etc., but crushing paper to dispose it would be the most interesting.

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You have to adjust the “depth” of the cursor on screen, so how about a mouse like this? By pressing the mouse body downwards, the cursor sinks (goes deeper) on screen. When you release it, it goes back to the default position (front).

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See also a related post.

Desktop Calendar Wallpaper: June&July 2009

Sorry for the slow update. In June we have a rainy season in Japan, so the theme is water this time.

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Those who see my Twitter might have already heard, but I was really really sick for more than a week with the severest-ever pain that lasted for a few days. The doctor told me to stop working too hard and to take it easy for a while. Recently I’ve been talked to by many people for very interesting projects and I had never been so busy in my life in the last few months. (Come to think of it, I also took part in some design competitions.) But I decided to get relaxed with much fewer projects than now. (I just remember that a designer also needs some white space in her life.) So please forgive me for declining some of the offers.

Unfortunately, there were a few people I’ve contacted for one project who took advantage of my designs, which I won’t elaborate on, so it might be a good timing to slow down.

Lifenote Personal Tablet

Lifenote Personal Tablet (PT)

Now I can tell one of the announcements I mentioned at the end of 2008.

Lifenote is an innovative technology development company based in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 2008 by two UCLA graduates who dreamed of a world free from paper clutter, and a learning environment that is more intuitive, productive, and collaborative.
They approached me for help in 3D molding last year, and I helped out mainly with the 3D mock designs, initial modeling and rendering of the Lifenote Personal Tablet, which is specialized for digital writing and viewing electronic documents. They were in CES 2009 to introduce this tablet as well as other great products, so some of you who visited CES might have known it already.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun creating mock designs of a REAL gadget. I hope I can do it again.

Lifenote Personal Tablet (PT)

Lifenote Personal Tablet (PT)

Please note that the copyright belongs to Lifenote, not me. So if you want to use the above image/s, please contact Lifenote.