New Tech Reviews Just another NEW TECH NEWS

Nay, these are not Air Jordans. They do not make you fly. They help you when you’re already flying. This project is a footwear design made for NASA airmen flying around in zero gravity. What would they do with specialized footwear? Why, attach to things, of course! They’d have an extra appendage to pick things up (of course, if they had big toes like your humble narrator, they’d need no such thing,) and a sassy design across the whole!

Atop the foot there is padding since quite often a floating fellow holds himself in place with the top part, hooking the whole foot under a guide pole. The artificial opposable thumb could help offer a new way of hanging on to poles, but why not have protection for both?

The most interesting thing about this project (believe it or not) is the description provided by the designer. I am totally suspicious about it, since it lists things that aren’t supposed to be happening yet – is he a space traveler? My guess is yes! Check out this excerpt from the project description:

The revolutionary design, which began with consideration of an existing ergonomic and health problem in space travelers, results in reduced foot discomfort and injury, and will improve a spacefarer’s ability to compensate for the loss of gravity. They could be manufactured with many existing fabrics and materials, and can be shipped to orbit, to a growing population of space tourists and workers.

Totally futuristic!

Designer: Edward L Howell

Source:yankodesign.com

So you’ve got a pair of shoes for the sun, right? Do you have a pair of shoes for when it’s raining so much you’ve got to slosh through the puddles? Oh you do? Well how about a pair of shoes that are BOTH of those things upon a quick adjustment? A cool designer by the name of REN Fangying has a design like that. It’s called “Sunny and Rain” and it works both as a pair or regular shoes AND as a pair of overshoes, whichever you need!

Hey guess what? These could be super fashionable. Just give a pair to Lady Gaga and watch them explode. Michelle Obama could do with a pair as well if you’d like the world to love em. And me? You’d give me a pair and the whole world would say uh oh, I missed the fashion craze if Chris Burns already has a pair!

Designer: REN Fangying

Source:yankodesign.com

Of all the footwear dryers in the world, boy oh boy, this seems to me to be the best one I’ve seen all year. I don’t have that much experience with shoe thawers or dryers, but I do remember putting my boots on the heater when I was a kid to dry off all the snow. That I remember. I also remember that when they were put on the heater, they’d get mostly dry, but there’d always be that little pocket of squish left over. Nasty. This “Orbicle” we’re talking about here has no squish.

Designer Seo Jin Hyeon informs us that most of the shoe dryers in the world are basically unhygienic. I believe it! Shoes can get pretty nasty, especially if they’re getting wet all the time. Fungus grows in there down by your toes, and that’s gross. With this shoe dryer by the name of Orbicle, you can check on your shoes as they dry from the inside out. Get yourself either the single sphere or the triple threat!

I bet the big one’s for people who’ve got a daycare with lots of kids who get into the snow on a regular basis.

Designer: Seo jin hyeon

Source:yankodesign.com

God help you if you live by the coast where drainage sucks, it’s puring like crazy and its high tide as well! To top it off, citizens callously litter the streets, which end up clogging the gutters! Sounds familiar to me coz Ive lived through one of the worst city floods due to all of the above, hence the Smooth Cover for city drains sounds fantastic! The cover has slanted slits that are narrow enough to let the rain water pass through but keeps away the trash. And as you can see, they are perfect for those stiletto beauties, no more clipped heels for them! Hurray!

Smooth Cover is an iF Concept Design 2010 winner!

Designers: Yan-Ting Chen & Hsin Yeh

Source:yankodesign.com

This is the fattest of all the iPhone covers. If you know of a fatter one, I challenge it to a duel! This project/product is called ARKHIPPO and is from the ARK system of coverups, this one dealing specifically in iPhone covering and protecting and standing up. Yes ineedy! Not only does this huge hunk of resin protect your fragile bit of technology, it allows it to both stand on its own and sit in the crook of your neck for easy phonecall use. See the pic for this classic phone pose lost to most modern ’smarts.

All the colors you desire, lovingly produced to huge proportions, and if you find yourself stranded on a desert island, acts as a pillow for your rock-weary head. Survival gear ho!

Dimension: Height 170, Width 83, and Depth 50
Material: Proprietary closed cell resin / similar to Crocs Shoes
Accessibility: Dock connector access window

Designer: HaA Design

Source:yankodesign.com

Do you have a fast life? Do your feet stink? Would you like to be center of attention in a room? Does your foot odor make your social situation poop out at parties? Well check it out! There’s totally something you can do about it now. You don’t have to buy a new pair of shoes everyday anymore. This right here’s the “UV Blower,” a machine that’ll keep your sneakers and business loafers smelling fresh every morning!

This UV Blower, as designed by Bhagvanji M Sonagra, seems like a fantastic idea to me. People that wear shoes on the regular know they’ve got a smelly situation on their feet. It just is. Everyone’s feet smell terrible when they’ve been in shoes for 8 hours of the day. Stick them on this thing right here. The UV Blower uses ultraviolet germicidal control and forced air to blow out all the nastiness and dry the shoes out. A UV light then shines from within to kill all the microorganisms that your feet have been growing all day long. You know what that means?

It means healthier feet and less foot odor. Simply.

Designers: Bhagvanji M Sonagra

Source:yankodesign.com

Le Parkour is an extreme sport where the participant keeps moving from point A to B in a rapid fluid motion, overcoming obstacles like concrete walls, stairways, rooftops etc. Since a limited people practice this urban sport (not all of us can move our tub of lard with such agility), finding appropriate footwear is always a problem. The 980 TATOU is a specialized shoe designed for this sport that offers better customization than normal running shoes. It’s not for your lemon-spoon race!

Here are the details:

• 980 TATOU consists of several parts, which can be easily changed and its several detachable parts allow for easy exchange, washing, and customization.
• Its structure responds to the unique movements performed in the sport.
• One part is the outer sole a combination of the sole with the upper parts of the shoe, which offers grip on the sides as well as the sole. This is needed for jumping onto or from walls.
• The parts of the shoe that suffer from the most impact and abrasion have been given a greater sole or wall thickness.
• The gaps in the outer sole preserve excellent flexibility.
• When the outer sole does wear out, it can be changed without the need to replace the whole shoe.
• Another important element of 980 TATOU is the separate inner shoe. It allows the user to practice with a barefoot feeling and a high sensitivity for what lies underfoot.
• It can also be removed and changed, so the wearer can have different inner shoes for different applications.
• It is washable, so smelly shoes can be avoided!
• Insoles are an optional extra for 980 TATOU, and they come with three different absorption levels. They can be used to customize the shoe for ones own personal preferences, depending on the application.
• Instead of shoelaces, 980 TATOU uses a new method of fastening which also enables the wearer to customize the shoe. Elastic bands in three different lengths are applied to the bottom and upper part of the shoe. Altogether, a maximum of seven bands in twenty different color choices can be attached to ten possible locations on the upper shoe. Thus, there are a multitude of possible lacing combinations.

The 980 TATOU won the Gold Prize at IDEA Design 2010.

Designer: Annika Lber

Source:yankodesign.com