Electrolux Design Lab: Products of the Future
Image source: electrolux design lab
Recently, Electrolux—an appliance manufacturer–held their annual Electrolux Design Lab competition, in which design students have a chance to show off their product ideas for the future. This year, the designs were rather unique, and here is a list of some of them. You can click on the design titles to view videos of them in use on YouTube.
Winner:
Cocoon – fish and meat maker
This design uses radio frequency identification (RFID) signals to identify muscle cells in meat dishes, and then suggests cooking times. What is even more interesting about this gadget is that its concept is to “grow” meat and fish from different packets, much like how popcorn is made in a microwave.
Finalists:
Water Catcher: flying rain catcher and water purifier
This nifty, little device sends small, flying balls into the air to catch raindrops, which will then be purified. Once purified, the balls then take the water directly to a person in order to satisfy their thirst. Another cool feature of this is the homing tray from where the balls are launched, is capable of reading fingerprints to determine what additives should be included in the purified water to ensure the drink receiver optimizes their health!
Naturewash: the waterless washing machine
Tired of wasting water on washing your clothes, or paying the outrageous prices for detergent? Then check this out. This washer cleans nano-coated fabric clothing by using negative ions. It comes with 3 settings for cleaning your clothes: clean, grass scent or flower scent. And it also doubles as a lounge chair when not in use.
Image source: electrolux design lab
Moleculaire: a 3D molecular food printer
Yes, with this invention, at some point in the future you will be able to print your food.
By using a layer-by-layer printing technique, you can insert a pack of ingredients, press a button, and within minutes a delicious meal or dessert will be printed out. This can be very useful for both gourmet chefs and those who are new to cooking.
Le Petit Prince: robotic greenhouse for Mars
This cute, little gizmo was designed to help with the exploration—and possible population expansion—of Mars. Not only will it be able to retain data, it can also carry and take good care of plants within its glass container. It has the capabilities of finding the best nutrients for the plant, and can also communicate developmental data with its fellow greenhouse robots through a wireless transmitter.
Teleport Fridge: a fridge that teleports food!
Trips to the grocery store are a thing of the past with this design. Using touch-screen technology, a person can select the food they want, and it will be teleported directly from the market to the refrigerator’s compartments, within seconds. This will eliminate the time wasted scouring markets and grocery shelves for the best food deals, and also the unnecessary need for weekly grocery trips.
Renew: the smart steamer
Made of recycled aluminum and glass, this clothing steamer uses RFID (radio frequency identification) to gather information about clothes through specifically designed tags. It then “blasts” the clothes clean with two steam blades. The steamer automatically disables if an unidentified object (anything that is not clothing) is detected. This design is also a quarter of the size of a regular washing machine, so it conserves space, water and energy.
Bifoliate: a wall-mounted double dishwasher
This design really does not have much use, unless you either live in a very compact space, or are extremely lazy. The double dishwasher has 2 compartments; one compartment is for washing the dishes. The other is for putting the dishes away. Yes, instead of putting your clean dishes back into their usual drawers, cabinets or other spaces, you simply move them from one side of this dishwasher to the other. On the plus side, apart from saving space (and minimal effort on the person’s part), it cleans the dishes with ultrasonic wave technology, which makes it more eco-friendly than other dishwashers.
I don’t know when these designs will end up on the market, but I know I certainly wouldn’t pass up the chance to use something as neat as a food teleporter or waterless washing machine!
By Heidi Marshall
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Tags: design, Electrolux, products of the future
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