Adventures abound this week's gallery. Take a walk (or ride) on the wild side.
1. Glacier Skywalk
A new tourist attraction in Canada is creating a lot of excitement. The Glacier Skywalk at the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre in Banff is a transparent walkway that suspends visitors 918 feet above the ground. The breathtaking view includes glacier-carved valleys and rushing waterfalls.
2. Life in a Cloud
You're data is in the cloud, but isn't time you went there, too? University of Art and Design students Jordi Iranzo, Stefanie Rittler and Nadine Kesting created an interactive and translucent art installation named Cumulus, A Space for Calm, that allows people to experience life in a cloud. The structure, suspended from the trees, has a permeable fabric that allows moisture and diffused light to seep inside.
3. Block-Long LED Screen in NYC
The screens just keep getting bigger. This week, a single, block-long LED sign installed on the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square in New York was tested. It replaced a number of smaller signs that just simply wouldn't do.
4. VR Gear
Samsung announced that its virtual reality headset, the Gear VR, will ship in early December. Its high-res screen actually comes from a Galaxy Note 4 smartphone, which users need to snap into the headset. The upside is that now you have a place to keep that big phone, since it doesn't fit in any of your pockets; the downside is that you can never upgrade your phone, unless Samsung makes newer versions that are the exact same size and have the same VR capability.
5. 3D-Printed Moon Base
The European Space Agency and London-based architectural firm, Foster + Partners, released a video this week demonstrating a 3D-printed moon base. The construction material would come from lunar soil mixed with magnesium oxide, a process that would produce a paper-thin material that could be printed around an inflatable habitat dome. Earth-bound experiments in Italy using volcanic soil have already proven the feasibility. [Video]
6. Starry Night Bike Path
Inspired by Van Gogh’s iconic Starry Night painting, designer Daan Roosegaarde in collaboration with Heijmans Infrastructure created the Van Gogh-Roosegaarde bicycle path, which opened to the public this week in the Dutch town of Nuenen, where Van Gogh lived in 1883. The path is made of thousands of stones that absorb sunlight during the day and then glow at night.
7. Bienville Legacy Motorcycle
This custom motorcycle from master designer J.T. Nesbitt was built for entrepreneur Jim Jacoby as a flagship product for Jacoby's new enterprise, American Design and Master Craft Initiative. Three bikes were crafted from wood, brass and leather to make up Bienville Legacy. Each beautifully houses 300 horses of power and craftsmanship to last a lifetime.
8. Atmos LED Lamp
French designer Arturo Erbsman presented his Atmos LED lamp at Salone Satellite during 2014 Milan design week. The bulb is made from hand-blown glass and contains a small pool of water that evaporates as the bulb warms. Droplets condense on the inner walls and as they grow larger, slide back down into the pool - microcosm of planet Earth's own water cycle. The lamp won the Salone Satellite Award Winner of Interieur Award.
9. Eurostar's e320 Fleet
Eurostar's brand new e320 fleet of high-speed rail was unveiled this week in London. The e320 - a name that comes from its maximum speed, 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph) - connects London with Brussels and Paris.
10. Storm-Absorbing Sidewalks
New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection announced that over the next year, 2,000 sidewalks in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens will be getting an upgrade. Engineers will install bioswales - rainwater-absorbing gardens - designed to divert four million gallons of stormwater from city sewers. The concrete jungle will have more greenery and less overflow.
Top image: Van Gogh-Roosegaarde bicycle path. Credit: Hollandse Hoogte/Corbis.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please adhere to proper blog etiquette when posting your comments. This blog owner will exercise his absolution discretion in allowing or rejecting any comments that are deemed seditious, defamatory, libelous, racist, vulgar, insulting, and other remarks that exhibit similar characteristics. If you insist on using anonymous comments, please write your name or other IDs at the end of your message.