This comes as a surprise because Sony's not known as a physical toymaker. They've just announced their forthcoming product known as Toio, a deceptively simple-looking pair of small white boxes that have wheels, sensors and a small motor inside. The boxes can both sense the other's presence and can be remote-controlled. Essentially a toy, Sony created Toio to stimulate the imaginations of children.

To do that, they've partnered with different creatives to develop kits for them that exploit Toio's seemingly simple capabilities. Remember that Pythagora Switch Japanese TV show, that educates kids about design? Here's the wicked kit that they've come up with. Watch the whole thing, you'll be amazed at the creativity:

If you're wondering what that cartridge-looking thing is…

…those confer particular capabilities on the Toio blocks. As development continues, new cartridges will be released with new behaviors/abilities.

Toio appears to be Japanese-market only, with a roll-out scheduled for December of this year. They're currently taking reservations here.

Computer monitors are like city apartments: No matter how big you think yours is, you'll fill it up with junk before you know it. But that doesn't stop me from wanting Samsung's absurdly huge, 49"-wide CHG 90 UltraWide HDR QLED Gaming Monitor.

I think I paid a grand for my now-discontinued Thunderbolt Display five years ago, so the $1,500 price point seems pretty darn affordable. The 32:9 aspect ratio means you'll be turning your head so much that you'll need to wear a silk scarf. (Fun fact: The earliest fighter pilots quickly discovered they needed to wear silk scarves, not for sartorial reasons, but because in pre-radar days you had to do a lot of head-turning in order to spot the enemy. Silk scarves prevented chafing.)

You can learn more about this monstrosity here.

Are you tired of the corporate grind or of working in dull product categories? Do you want to work in a fun and energetic environment that is laid back and non-corporate? Lifestyledesign offers all this in one of the most beautiful places is the world. Exciting projects and great clients await you here at Lifestyledesign in sunny Santa Barbara, CA.

After many patiently-executed fabrication steps, industrial designer Eric Strebel is finally ready to assemble the prototype for his mobile solar charger. Here he constructs and attaches the hinges for the protective petals, installs the electronics and, of course, makes sure the darn thing works:

Built for the elite athlete, the Forerunner 935 is a performance focused multi-sport watch. The design uses smooth surface transitions and cored-out negative space to create a dynamic form that is purpose-built for elite performance. High quality materials including fiber reinforced polymer, stainless steel, and soft silicone are used to provide a premium appearance while optimizing size, weight, and comfort.

On one of our recent reddit digs, we came across an interesting post thread involving some hot design debate. The object in question was a concept design coming from Quirky Inc dating a few years back that was never put into production. The product concept is a new rendition of the ice cube tray that appears to solve the problem of getting ice cubes out of their tray.

The Ice Cube Tube allows you to simply fill the "tray" like a water bottle and stick the tube in the fridge

The design is seemingly flawless: consisting of a silicone skeleton,  the design simply allows the user to fill up the tube, seal the case with the silicone tray/rubber gasket, fit in the freezer and voila! Flex the tray and out comes your ice. 

So how come this supposedly brilliant concept was never brought to market? Well, as designers know very well, you can't trust a product simply by the visuals—you must dig into the details. And whether or not the redditors in this feed were designers, they certainly had several valid concerns regarding material and form considerations. 

One concern brought up by a redditor with the username truh: "I think the design would be pretty neat if it wasn't for problems like ice expansion or ice sticking to the tube. With ice cube trays you have to be careful not to splash water around and make sure to put them on a flat surface."

In response to this comment, redditor Dermaseal further complicated the matter with some stats:

"Yes. Typically heating will expand things and cold will cause then to contract... However, (From the internet...) 'water is one of the few exceptions to this behavior. When liquid water is cooled, it contracts like one would expect until a temperature of approximately 4 degrees Celsius is reached. After that, it expands slightly until it reaches the freezing point, and then when it freezes it expands by approximately 9%.'"

Yet another redditor later brought up how the design would fail as soon as you try to open the frozen tray and the ice immediately sticks to the plastic, and in response one redditor in response asked, "why not make it hydrophobic?" This question prompted other readers to contest that incorporating this material is a much harder task than it may seem. All valid concerns, it's easy to see the issues that may arise with reinventing a product that initially seems so simple to rejigger.

So looking at these images, what would you say doomed this "Ice Cube Tube" from being put into production? How might you tweak the form, material, tolerances or functionality of this in order to make it work? 

We want to get the discussion going below, so send us your ideas! Thoughts and sketches are equally welcome. 

Since founding Tools for Working Wood, it's always been my philosophy to look to the past for direction, then push forward using the advantages we have today. When it comes to creating hand tools, 19th-Century manufacturers did a great job of industrializing the process to wring the most performance from human-powered machinery. We modern-day makers of tools, all of us, are using new materials and manufacturing techniques to advance tool performance and tool appearance. And innovation in hand tool design still exists, ranging from tweaks to completely new approaches.

Four years ago at a tool show, we got a chance to see a real Montague-Woodrough handsaw. The saw, made by a small competitor of the giant saw companies of the time (Disston, Atkins & Simmonds), had an innovative tooth design that ripped brilliantly, crosscut smoothly in hardwood, and while looking bizarre, was no more difficult to sharpen by hand than any other good saw.

Then it failed in the marketplace. Why? Probably due to its lack of distribution, and the difficulty of sharpening it using the machines available at the time.

That didn't scare us off. After a lot of study, careful design, manufacturing trials and testing, two years later we released the Brooklyn Tool & Craft Hardware Store Saw with our own version of the Montague-Woodrough tooth pattern.

"Our own version" means it was inspired by but isn't identical to the Montague-Woodrough tooth pattern. We have the benefit of studying what the previous manufacturer did, so we can evolve a step further. We did a lot of prototyping and we think our tooth pattern has some advantages over the original. We also added a few other 19th century innovations.

The result is that the saw cuts like a demon, and also functions as a pretty accurate square; ruler; protractor; layout guide for dovetails; and many other tools. The idea of using a saw for layout is of course a 19th-Century idea, but it never caught on much and was hard to manufacture reliably. The graphic details on the saw are inspired by the mid-20th-Century machine tools in our workshop and the background texture (you can't really etch a flat surface evenly, and it would wear too fast too) takes its original design from an 18th-Century leather instrument case.

But this is a high tech 21st-Century saw. Really. The detailed etches on each side of the saw are accurate and clear to read. The black color of the etch is below the surface of the saw and will last for years. In the 19th century, makers could not effectively etch that amount of detail. In the 20th century, the shallow electro-etch that was popular rarely had the detail needed, and would wear off over time. In the 21st century, we use a state-of-the-art etching mask, lots of computer time and precision in punching to register the blade and pattern correctly from each side of the saw. Unlike the fancy square saws of the 1900's, these saws can be made to a precise standard at reasonable, if not rock-bottom, price. And in the USA.

We feel we've created a saw that you would want around the house or shop. A saw that you might take with you on the road. A saw with a comfortable full sized wood handle, that cuts fast but is short enough (16" cutting length) to carry around without damage. A toolbox kit, an all-around saw, a household saw. You know that saw your dad had, that he got from his dad, who got it at the local hardware store a long time ago. The saw that he used for everything. You just wish it was a better saw. This one is. We also wanted to make it versatile so you don't have to go around with a kit of tools just to cut a square line or measure off a few inches on a board or cut at an angle.

(About the name: When we were first discussing the concept for this saw, we referred to it as "the hardware store saw" because that was our frame of reference: the useful saw you get at any hardware store. We figured we'd call it something different later on, but the name stuck, so Hardware Store Saw it is.)

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This "Tools & Craft" section is provided courtesy of Joel Moskowitz, founder of Tools for Working Wood, the Brooklyn-based catalog retailer of everything from hand tools to Festool; check out their online shop here. Joel also founded Gramercy Tools, the award-winning boutique manufacturer of hand tools made the old-fashioned way: Built to work and built to last.

In every History of Industrial Design class, you look at slide after slide of the hits, the successes, the breakthroughs. But couldn't we also learn something about successful design by studying the failures?

Dr. Samuel West believes so. As Director of the Museum of Failures in Helsingborg, Sweden, West presides over exhibitions of both notable and obscure product design fails, from Apple flops to ill-conceived beautification gadgets to redundant technological devices. The point is not to pillory, but to learn. Take a look at these and tell me you wouldn't visit:

Presentations are conducted in both Swedish and English, with German soon to be added. Intriguingly, West also has his eye on expanding beyond objects:

We are planning to host evening activities related to failure. How about a failed gourmet tasting menu at a fancy restaurant? A tasting of failed brews from regional microbreweries? Or a world-renowned classic pianist giving a concert of failed music? Fuck-up-night talks? We welcome any further suggestions. The crazier the better…

You can learn more, or arrange a visit, here.

Imagine working for a company with a mission you can truly believe in, a playful and energetic culture, a talented team of coworkers, and a bright future! Melissa & Doug, the toy company committed to nurturing childhood wonder, is looking for a Furniture Designer. In this role, you’ll

This is well worth the watch. Houston-based architect Zui Ng used a host of brilliant principles, intelligent design choices and practical money-saving techniques to build a home for himself and his family. From ensuring that he is "a good neighbor," architecturally speaking, to creating extra living space that's non-taxable, to knocking $180,000 off of the cost by subcontracting himself, Ng has thought of everything for this "Chameleon Shotgun house." Watch and learn:

Ki ecobe is a modular shoe that uses no adhesives and comes in separate pieces, which the end user assembles, making the manufacturing process much less labor intensive.

The modular design eliminates the need for glue, which is a nasty manufacturing process, and makes shoes very difficult to disassemble and recycle.

Ki ecobe is super customizable with over 10,000 possible color combinations. It also functions as both a shoe and slipper. Instead of replacing the entire shoe, separate parts can be replaced as needed.

I hate the imperial measurement system, and can confidently say that anyone who doesn't recognize the superiority of metric is a freaking idiot. How nice it must be for you Aussies, Germans and Koreans to drill an 8mm hole, realize you need it a smidgen bigger, and yell down the ladder for a 9mm bit. Versus us Yankees drilling a 7/32 hole, then having to do an equation in your head to calculate if you need a 3/16 or a 1/4.

The topic of shop set-up and design is an exhaustive one that is mostly personal. Hobbyist woodworkers obsess over their shops. Professional designer/builders might obsess too, but the focus is on the finished product, which pays the mortgage.

We hobby guys, however, love to agonize over workflow and bells and whistles that amount to nothing more than creature comforts. We create ingenious solutions to limited space, and sometimes just hang out in the shop doing nothing but moving tools around from one spot to the other. It's almost like a clubhouse.

Our shops also evolve over the years as we slap band-aids onto one area or the other. Rarely do we get to start over with a blank slate.

However, recently I was in Maine helping my in-laws move in to their new vacation home. There is talk of it becoming a year-round retirement home soon, so there is much to do to get it up to snuff. There is a detached two-car garage that I am told can be used as a shop when I come to visit and for use in helping with some of the around-the-house DIY stuff.

While I won't be turning this garage into a full-blown wood shop like if the house were mine, I will be stocking it with some tools and a bench in the coming years. For now, it is essentially a blank slate. It begs the question, what would you do with a shop knowing what you know now? I have been working in my current shop for more than 10 years and have made quite a few changes. If I were to strip it bare and start over, I think there would be some major changes.

First, there would be no fixed cabinets on the floor. Anything taking up floor space must be moveable. It doesn't have to be easy to move (like my 400 lb bench) but it must be able to be re-arranged when the need arises. The shop layout will never be perfect and if you can't change it, you are severely limiting your future self.

The interior of the Maine garage. Those two windows look right out onto the ocean!

Second, walls should have the ability to take a screw anywhere. That means sheathing the stud walls (or whatever) with 3/4? solid wood or plywood. There are too many times when something needs to be hung and the perfect space is just a flimsy sheet of drywall. I've overcome this with french cleats spanning the studs, but think how much easier things would be with solid wall material.

Third, floors must be comfortable. While the shop is bare it is much easier to install a comfortable floor. A forgiving floor is worth 3 or 4 shiny, life changing tools and I would much rather get that right before sinking money into tooling.

Fourth, windows, windows, windows. Good lighting is nice for casting your projects in the proper light, but I believe it is good for the soul as well. There are many times when I shut off my overhead lights and throw open the garage door so I can just work in natural light. In this Maine shop it helps that the two windows look right out onto the ocean!

Frankly everything else is just details. Number of power outlets can be a big deal for you power tools guys so that may make it onto your list of essentials, but I think everything else gets into personal situations about how you work and what tools you use.

One personal thing for me is that I think I could plan a new shop using half of what I currently own in tools and work surfaces. The more I work, the more I get by with fewer tools. Some things just aren't worth walking across the shop to get a different tool and you get around it by extending the tool in your hand. Whether through skill or altering the tool, you get it done with less. I also would not store any lumber inside my shop other than what I'm currently using for a build. Lumber has a tendency to overtake your shop, it collects dust and cobwebs, and I think it just clutters up the space making it less enjoyable to work in the space. I think my new "fantasy" shop would have an awful lot of empty space.

If you had a blank slate, what would be most important to you?

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This "Hand Tool School" series is provided courtesy of Shannon Rogers, a/k/a The Renaissance Woodworker. Rogers is founder of The Hand Tool School, which provides members with an online apprenticeship that teaches them how to use hand tools and to build furniture with traditional methods.

I would die quickly in a post-apocalyptic world, because these kinds of MacGyver-like survival tips would never occur to me. Grant Thompson, a/k/a the King of Random, shows you how you can start a fire without matches or a firestarter. All you need is a plastic bag and some water:

POSITION SUMMARY Flexjet, a luxury private jet travel provider, is currently seeking a Graphic Designer to assist with the execution of creative marketing and communication design needs within their in-house creative team, Studio One. The ideal candidate will be a motivated, innovative individual with 2-3 years of professional in-house

So you say you're ready to start sketchnoting. Maybe you're not much of a sketcher but you take a lot of notes, and are interested in making them more meaningful and interesting, but you're afraid your drawings are too crude. For you, it's important to stress that sketchnotes—although they are inherently a visual medium—do not require drawing ability of any kind.

Shard is a fresh take on exercising and ambient lighting bundled up in one visually stimulating experience. Shard is a concept that aims to create a focused workout experience by creating a non intrusive, immersive environment. With haloed lighting around the cyclist, shard transforms from a functional object to a standalone artistic light installation when needed.

To create this immersive experience, the UX moves away from the prevalence of screen and number based interface systems to biofeedback interaction designs. Shard influences behavior through ambient light that does not demand direct attention for consumption of information In both of its working modes—cycling and standby. Using ambient light to guide interactions based on input from sensors on the bike, data is also collected from the mobile app in the absence of key inputs thus ensuring a complete data driven exercise regime.

Shard Banner Image

Credit: Artifact Design Studio

Shard Hero Image

Credit: Artifact Design Studio

Shard- Pristine Material

Credit: Artifact Design Studio

Shard- UX Research Findings

Credit: Artifact Design Studio

Shard - In the Making

Credit: Artifact Design Studio

Shard - Mobile Interface

Credit: Artifact Design Studio

Very rarely do people buy office chairs simply for the look of them—this type of seating belongs more to the office supplies department than it does furniture design. "Office chairs look like machines. They always look slightly aggressive. It's a bit like car design these days... [the chairs are] overtly saying, 'this is what I do, this is what I can deliver, these functions,'" says Edward Barber, partner of Jay Osgerby who together make up the design studio Barber & Osgerby. 

The duo have just debuted their first task chair in collaboration with Vitra, and hope its simple yet functional silhouette can help diversify world of office chairs by providing something more sleek to the design-saavy crowd. The team notes, "we were just trying to do something that looked completely different."

The final design, called the Pacific Chair (which recently won in the Core77 Design Awards Furniture & Lighting category), indeed does look more simple than your tricked-out Aeron Chair, but the ultimate wow-factors lie in the subtle detailing and complex internal machinery that makes this chair so intuitive. There's the back, which can adjust according to your height, bottom seat adjustment, and of course, basic height adjustment. Barber & Osgerby promised such elemental functions are really all you need: "All people really do is they do the height adjustment and that's it. And they sit in a different chair and go, 'Oh that's about right,' and you get on with it."

Consisting of 146 internal parts, each mechanism within the machine works so the chair operates with the body as intuitively as possible. For one, there's the chair back, which adjusts to the weight of each person who sits in it. When I leaned back in the chair myself, I noticed the reclining motion to be very smooth yet firm enough to make me feel like I won't fall back in a jarring manner. Barber added to this by saying "if you're more heavyset, the mechanism stiffens up so that when you lean back it restricts the amount of pressure...It becomes harder to push the back because it knows that your bodyweight is such that it will easily push it back."

So how long does it take to make an impeccably engineered, foolproof task chair? According to the duo, year and years. In development for four years, the Pacific Chair underwent strict lab testing for almost an entire year after prototypes were put into production. "Everything you see here is controlled by regulations," Barber emphasized.

Thanks to all the testing and time spent looking at what was available on the market, Vitra and the Barber & Osgerby were able to finally manufacture an office chair that matches the regulatory criterion of a proper task chair while offering up something different, more intuitive and certainly more sleek. "Overall, we were trying to design something that's completely calm, completely simple, [where] all that function is sort of buried within the chair," said the designers. Engineering such simplicity proves to be much harder than it looks. 

Great products meet the user's expectations and their circumstances. Every designer can tell you how understanding user needs requires lots of direct observations and interviews. DtM has learned that the most valuable feedback requires something more than the standard research toolkit. This short video explains why we go back to some of our favorite hospitals overseas again and again.

With bonus footage from Otter testing in Vietnam!

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This "Design Experience that Matters" series is provided courtesy of Timothy Prestero and the team at Design that Matters (DtM). As a nonprofit, DtM collaborates with leading social entrepreneurs and hundreds of volunteers to design new medical technologies for the poor in developing countries. DtM's Firefly infant phototherapy device is treating thousands of newborns in 21 counties from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. In 2012, DtM was named the winner of the National Design Award.