Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

In the past couple of years, I’ve been closely following a technology known as the Audio Spotlight. People have devised a set of speakers that can channel their sound in the form of a beam. So basically, wherever you point the speaker, that’s where you can listen to the audio. Step out of the speaker’s range, and you won’t hear a thing. Now this tech relies on equipment that can alter the way sound waves traverse through the air, so needless to say, it’s far fetched. The Domeker, by Matthew Logan, claims to achieve something strikingly similar using existing equipment. A small speaker is positioned facing a parabolic glass bowl. The bowl works as a satellite dish, amplifying all the sound the speakers throw at it. The parabolic shape ensures all the sound projected off the glass travels in one direction. Though rudimentary (there’s probably going to be sound leakage), this little gizmo aims at doing away with personal audio playback devices like headphones. Just ditch the headphones for audio zones!

P.S. Apologies for the OneDirection joke.
I’m still quite proud of it though.

Designer: Matthew Logan

I assume babies in the twenty second century will have levitating cradles like the one here. Aptly titled Cradlev, the concept cradle uses magnetic levitation (the kind we’re beginning to see in trains, and audio equipment) to separate the baby’s bed from the base. The curved gap between the two entities is maintained by the magnetic forces between the upper and lower surface.

The Cradlev doesn’t just levitate in thin air. It rocks too! The curved surface allows the upper cradle to pivot around a center-point, making it gently rock forwards and back. Since there’s not much friction to speak of, the cradle can probably rock for minutes at an end on a single push! Now I’m jealous! My only pet peeve is I can’t help noticing that the Cradlev looks a little like a barbecue grill, but I’ll let that slide because little babies are so omnomnom!

Designer: Bilal Khan