Buick Riviera Concept (video)

At the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show Buick has revealed the new Riviera Concept, a coupe with a water-inspired exterior that previews the brand’s future design language.

Built For Cool | The BMC Lamborghini 50th Anniversary Impec Bike

Nothing says class and style but the Lamborghini brand and anything associated with it. Lamborghini’s are on everybody’s short list of dream purchases. If the car is not in reach of purchase, perhaps there’s an alternative. The BMC Lamborghini 50th Anniversary Impec bicycle comes a close second. With the union of BMC and Lamborghini comes a new baby, the Lamborghini Impec. The 50th Anniversary commemorative edition is a world class speed bike in a class by itself. The bike has all kinds of cool features.

Airblow 2050 Realizes The Concept Of An Invisible Umbrella

Our days of fighting the wind with our umbrellas might soon be over. We might actually be able to use that situation to our own advantage. You have to admit that you have at least on one occasion fought the wind with your umbrella. Sometimes it’s tough to find the right direction to hold it in order for it not to go inverted. It’s a problem that a lot of people have experienced, but there could soon be a better way. The peopleworking on a product called Airblow might just have a clever solution.

Mercedes-Benz has launched the new SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive car, costs $540,000.

Mercedes-Benz introduced its new SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive at the Paris Motor Show in a fitting electric blue color. The world’s most powerful electric car features four electric motors, which produce a combined output of 740Hp and a maximum torque of 1,000 Nm. It can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.9 seconds and its top speed is electronically limited to 155mph.

Mercedes-Benz premieres Aerodynamic Truck

If you think your average annual gas bill is expensive, imagine how much the shipping industry spends to ship all forms of goods around the globe with its fleets of massive trucks. The Mercedes-Benz Aerodynamic Truck and Trailer aims to save a little of that fuel, money and pollution.

Amazing bedroom

Manufacturing Company creates unusual aquarium, which is able not only to decorate the bedroom, but also create a real interior, where it will be cozy and comfortable. Constructive solution of this aquarium is impressive. Based part of his soars in the air and relies on bedside tables. Can you imagine, what a unique look and what kind of atmosphere around you, when you wake up in the morning and see the amazing pictures, floating fish, and all that be in the aquarium. Besides, it is so interesting in terms of a nightlight. It’s amazing, is not it? 

YO! Home at 100% Design

London Design Festival: the family home of the future will feature mechanised floors and furniture that emerge from walls, floors and ceilings at the touch of a button, according to Yo! Sushi and Yotel founder Simon Woodroffe

BMW i Pedelec Concept

BMW i has come up with an innovative two-wheeler, which acts as the perfect complement to the BMW i3 Concept and adds a new and convenient layer to personal mobility, particularly in urban areas. The new BMW i Pedelec (Pedal Electric Cycle) Concept is a compact bicycle fitted with an electric motor that tops up the rider’s muscle power with an extra dose of torque.

And that means the rider can get to other parts of town even more quickly and effortlessly – and without breaking into a sweat. The BMW i Pedelec Concept can be folded up almost in the blink of an eye and, handily, there is room for two of them in the boot of the BMW i3 Concept. Plus, their batteries can be recharged while they’re in there.

Concept solar powered car, features a dimpled roof to reduce drag and boosts car efficiency

French designer, Dimitri Bez has proposed a solar-powered concept car that showcases dimples, inspired by golf balls.

The Hexa car concept immitates the surface of a golf ball and optical cavity of its unique material. The car’s unique roof design reduces drag of the vehicle just like a surfboard or a golf ball and at the same time, promotes the efficiency of the solar powered vehicle, even on a cloudy day.

The car’s dimpled roof reduces heat transfer, allowing the vehicle to conserve solar energy.

CARTIER ID TWO CONCEPT WATCH (VIDEO)

The Cartier ID Two Concept Watch, a pure R&D timepiece not intended for production, is billed as the world’s first energy-efficient watch, which may initially sound odd as it has a mechanical movement, no batteries involved. The story is, while other mechanical watches waste 75% of their energy overcoming air resistance, the ID Two is 50% more efficient than the lot because it operates in a vacuum. The case, fabricated from a block of transparent ceramic crystal, has only two parts, crown and back, that are vacuum-sealed (no screws!), with 99.8% of air particles removed. Nanoparticles, carbon crystal, energy-storing springs for the first time ever made from glass microfiber (a cooler way of saying…fiberglass), not metal, a manufacturing tolerance of 1 micron (0.001 mm)—exotic materials and extreme engineering describe this ground-up design through and through. It is shockproof, lubricant-free, and never in need of adjustment. A stunner, right? The future of mechanical watchmaking…now!

2012 Acura NSX

Acura chose Detroit to unveil its mid-engine hybrid NSX sports car, the 2012 Acura NSX concept car. Honda confirmed that although branded a ‘concept’ at the Detroit motor show, they fully intend to put this 2012 Acura NSX concept model into production, so the hype can begin now for future potential owners. The 2012 Acura NSX is slated to be built in Ohio and features the super hybrid all wheel drive system that Honda has pioneered.

Future Cook from Electrolux (+VIDEO)

Electrolux has created an interesting futuristic kitchen concept, Future Cook. This smart counter is in fact an interactive unit that comprises a preparation area, induction cook top with integrated food processor and a washing area. The user will be able to add some peculiar features to the workstation like nutritional content of food, electronic recipes, and what not.

Gradually Unfolding Architecture: Gorki House in Moscow

Gorki House was designed by Atrium and is integrated in a beautiful natural environment atop of a hill west of Moscow. The architects were commissioned to design a contemporary residence for a young couple and their kid, while maintaining a good relationship with the surrounding pine forest landscape. The building features generous windows and a large number of terraces which make it connect well with the outdoors. Its shape is highly original, consisting of a clever and appealing game of volumes which seem to gradually unfold. According to Arch Daily, the interior design follows the “patterns” of the exterior, as “public zones flow into private areas and vice-versa”. The rooms are airy and spacious, featuring contemporary furniture arrangements and inspiring decorative details. Have a look at the architecture plans at the end of the post for a general view and let us know what you think of this project. [Photography @ Yuri Palmin, Anton Nadtochiy]

Jaguar XKX concept

Jaguar XKX concept is a new generation electric roadster by design studio Skyrill and Marin Myftiu, inspired by the legendary Jaguar E-Type (1961-75).
“The XKX Jaguar is a new generation electric roadster, aimed at pushing both performance and power efficiency to a new level. This concept tries to revive the glorious design lines of the brand, combining fresh solutions, a unique, new aerodynamics, tailored around the electrical elements of the power system as well as cutting-edge energy feedback.”

Electric Highway of The Future (video)

The eHighway concept is the electrification of trucks and select highway lanes via overhead electrified wires similar to how modern day trolleys or streetcars are powered on many city streets. However, personally I do not believe this will be widely used as inductive charging also known as non-contact charging will gain ground. At least I hope it does because having wires all along highways seems so primitive.

Beautiful and Powerful: Audi's E-Bike Wörthersee

The prototype combines a electric and muscle power.

New Mini John Cooper Works GP unveiled

Spy shots pretty much said it's coming, and here it is: the new Mini John Cooper Works GP. It's making an appearance at the Mini United Festival in France this weekend, and while Mini has yet to detail specific power numbers or show off the car's interior, it has produced a Nurburgring time: 8 minutes, 23 seconds, which, as we reported back in April, betters the last Mini GP (circa 2006) by 19 seconds.

Like its predecessor, the GP-spec hardtop loses its back seat for weight reduction, gets a full complement of power and suspension upgrades, including a race-spec suspension and brakes, and sports exclusive aero tweaks, wheels and graphics to differentiate itself from "regular" JCW models. Figure on a power figure north of the 214 horses the last GP produced (standard JCW Minis make 208 hp right now). Only 2,000 of the new Mini JCW GPs will be built and sold globally.

Given that the regular John Cooper Works models are fairly marvelous as is, the GP should be deliriously fun. No pricing yet, but since a loaded-up John Cooper Works easily runs into the high-$30K range now, we'd expect the limited-production GP to skip right past the $40,000 mark.

Saab PhoeniX concept previews future design themes for the brand

The rebirth of the Saab brand under Spyker Cars took a step forward on Tuesday with the reveal of the PhoeniX concept at the Geneva motor show.

Saab says the PhoeniX uses the platform for the next generation of the 9-3, as well as providing hints of the brand's future styling themes under design chief Jason Castroita. Saab calls the design "aeromotional."

The PhoeniX has a 0.25 coefficient of drag and uses winglets mounted on the sides to help manage airflow.

The Jets of the Future

NASA asked the world’s top aircraft engineers to solve the hardest problem in commercial aviation: how to fly cleaner, quieter and using less fuel. The prototypes they imagined may set a new standard for the next two decades of flight.


BOX WING JET, LOCKHEED MARTIN

Dubai’s underwater discus hotel lets you sleep in a high-tech aquarium

 Sleep with the fishes, dine with the sharks. Now you can literally do both when the Underwater Hotel premiers in Dubai.

Without a doubt, Dubai is one of the hottest exotic destinations with amazing skyscrapers and luxury amenities to rival even the most modern cities from the rest of the world. Now, a Polish architecture design firm has unveiled a new hotel concept that will make use of space below the ground, giving guests the ability to sleep underwater while enjoying the marine landscape.

Deep Ocean Technology (DOT)’s Underwater Hotel is shaped like a spaceship found in most sci-fi movies, except the hotel rooms plunge 21 stories underwater. The rooms will contain panoramic glass windows that offer views below the Persian Gulf, allowing guests to feel like they are sleeping inside a 24-hour aquarium with local flora and fauna right outside the other side of the wall. The windows are even equipped with special lighting and macro photography sensors so guests can zoom into even the smallest creatures for detailed look at their colors, patterns, and movements.

The hotel will also include other amenities such as a diving and water sports center, spa, helipad, and an above ground terrace should guests feel a bit claustrophobic stuck inside the discus all day. It is also located a short distance from a beach if you really prefer to feel some actual ground.