Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

By new face… I mean yours! Imagine having an avatar modeled after yourself that would help guide you every step of the way to recover from injuries. That’s the idea behind Spark – a new augmented reality system. Personalized physical therapy programs can be developed by doctors and therapists and assigned to patients based on their injuries or personal goals. Patients can train from the comfort of home or receive a technology-enhanced physical therapy session on location.

The design is comprised of 2 intelligent projectors and an infrared depth sensor that work in tandem to train as well as track movement. The floor projector will guide you through movements while the wall projector will display your personal avatar which simulates human-like movements. Both provide visual feedback to improve and correct your technique. The system will also track your progress over time, track your progress over time, and make suggestions for improvement along the way.

Designers: James Simmons, Gonzalo Gelso, Hwanghah Jeong, Dipali Bajaj, Zhaolin Cai

It’s no surprise that musical instruments, like all consumer electronics, is trying to become smaller, and more advanced with time. The Zont follows the lines of Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operator or Korg’s Mini Kaoss Pad, while a rather nifty Cartridge-based music creation and storage system finds its roots in the Gameboy. Designed to be powerful like the former, and playful like the latter, the Zont is essentially a fully functional synthesizer that allows you to generate, cue, and loop leads, basslines, drums, etc to create complex tracks and soundscapes in MIDI. It comes in a nice svelte black, paired with a complementary black and white display. To add the element of a tactile experience, it comes with a rather hands-on Olivetti Divisumma 18 inspired keyboard and even modulator knobs that allow you to precisely tweak settings to hit that audio sweet spot!

The cartridges that sit on top come in four bright colors and act as storage units, allowing you to create and share archives of your musical experiments, while even allowing you to share your work with peers and collaborate by simply swapping these cartridges. If you’re however looking for more power, the Zont even comes with a dock that allows you to connect the synth to your computer so you can use it alongside the Digital Audio Workstation you have set up on your machine. Built for the tinkerer/explorer to the seasoned musician, the Zont fits right into your pocket, allowing you to create art whenever inspiration strikes!

The Zont Synthesizer is a winner of the Red Dot Design Concept Award for the year 2017.

Designer: Pavel Golovkin

Some biologists would argue that trees weren’t really evolved to handle being kept indoors. Most trees you see are usually outdoors. Almost close to a 100% of them, actually. However, there’s this one time in a year where we bring the trees indoors to celebrate one of the biggest festivals of the year.

However, how exactly do you bring a tree indoors and keep it upright? Whatever system you use can’t be as convenient as the Eazy Treezy. Designed by a disgruntled dad who spent way too much time trying to get the tree up and upright, while keeping it watered and healthy, the Eazy Treezy simply allows you to plug a tree onto your floor with the kind of simplicity that feels easier than plugging the christmas lights in. It uses a wide base to make sure the tree doesn’t topple over, along with 5 flexible jaws that expand as you place the tree on top, using the plant’s weight to plug the tree in. The jaws ensure your tree, no matter how uneven the base, is always upright. Spikes at the bottom pierce through the base of the tree to give it an added layer of security. The Eazy Treezy was also designed to make maintaining your tree an easier job, with a platform at the bottom that you simply have to pour water into. The tree uses the water directly from the platform itself, and all you do is replenish the water when you see the level go down. Once Christmas is over, just unplug the tree by pressing open any two adjacent jaws at the base and the tree comes out with more ease than having to take down your christmas lights (did I make that reference already?). The Eazy Treezy makes installing christmas trees a breezy! Plus, it comes in the festive color combination of green and red, perfectly capturing the Yuletide spirit!

Designer: Ryan Wach

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Think you’re protected from polluted air when you’re in the comfort of home? Think again! From cooking residue to fungal spores, research has shown that indoor air can even be worse than outside… and an extreme trigger for asthma problems. Designed with this in mind, Evalo is a simplistic smart device that helps parents keep these triggers to a minimum.

Evalo monitors and identifies four distinct indoor air variables that can potentially contribute to the development of asthma symptoms including: particulate matter (PM 2.5µm³), toxic gases (VOC’s), temperature and humidity. Compact and discrete, it’s right at home on any shelf or desk top whether it’s the toy room or living room. Working in tandem with an app on the user’s smartphone, it can deliver real-time air quality results, suggest lifestyle changes for improvement, and track progress over time. The result isn’t just easy breathing for those with asthma, but a healthier environment for the entire family!

Designer: Luke Pennifold

Sit back, light your cigar, swirl your whiskey and listen to some soothing Beethoven on your Mercedes-Benz wireless speaker. Oozing with elegance and class, this wireless speaker is designed with the raw sophistication of the brand in mind. Stealing your attention from the first glance, the dominant emblem speaks on behalf of the user regarding their lifestyle.

The usability of this speaker is straightforward – using a series of 3D dots to indicate what the user is touching (volume up, volume down and turn off), the speaker does not overcomplicate the experience. Hiding behind a waterproof flap in the rear of the speaker is the charging dock unless of course, you wish to use the wireless charging pad instead. The smart choices made by the designer of the Mercedes-Benz Wireless Speaker Anshuman Kumar are that of the material and color finish here – the satin finish and rich choice of colors compliment the brass emblem and make for an expensive looking product. Going off the premium look here, I think I’d get in trouble if I asked for one for Christmas.

Designer: Anshuman Kumar