Five Killer Concepts We Wish Were Real

Our favorite internet inventors create products we wish would pop up at Brookstone already!

By RACHEL RACZKA

Updated 2:45 PM EST, Tue, Oct 27, 2009

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sdesignunit

We love the mysterious creatress behind the website, Luxirare, where she not only shares her avant garde clothing and accessory inventions but her culinary creations, too, taking a stab at the misconception that fashion folk don't eat. Shot against her dramatically minimalist white screen, her webzine posts read more like fashion editorial pieces with carefully crafted, absolutely beautiful subjects. We particularly like her kitchen work, including gelled agar agar cocktail shots (so this is what kids at art school do on the weekend...) and pure black truffle ice cream, later served on a platter to a pooch. However, our favorite remains the Luxirare Crisp. While the author admits that her personal favorite remains convenience store favorite, Sour Cream and Onion Baked Lays, she tackled her medium of choice... one lucky potato. Among the results were prosciutto peppercorn and cilantro infused strips of crisps in their own Luxirare packaging, much too lovely to eat!
The Electrolux Design Lab brings out the innovative and imaginative side in all of us when the best of the best inventions come to play. Among this year's finalists was from Rickard Hederstierna, of the Lund Institute in Sweden and his product, the Cocoon, a food grower. What? Yes. A food grower. While it just looks like a giant pod dehydrator, the Cocoon uses the opposite effect, using powder packets of muscle cells and nutrients to literally grow food within it's chambers. No more over the counter meats, within minutes the Cocoon will emerge with a plump pouch full of meat... but is it cooked? Does it taste like the real thing? Those answers we don't know, but we're more interested in what the vegan opinion of this product will be.
Yanko Design is a great site packed with fantastic modern designs aimed to make every day a little more fundamentally functional than before. One of our favorite pieces comes from Hyun Choi and the Scent of Time clock, which plays off butterflies' ability to be more alert of what time it is by the scent of blooming roses, which signifies noon and lunchtime. For his human version, a simple disc is actually a scent emitting screen with customizable on-the-hour scent capsules. For example, the smell of toast and hazelnut in the morning signifies that it's to get up. For us? Our internal time clock tells us that the smell of bacon dawns at 9AM and gin signifies 9PM, now how can we make this happen?
Seoul's own SDesignUnit has a number of creative (and cost-conscious) designs that we just love. However, our most favorite is his ever practical yet ingenious, Party Tray. A lot more simple than it sounds, a piece of cardboard that fits around your drink cup provides a small tray for hosting canapes and quiche. While it was originally constructed for the Opening Reception for "Design Undesigned," we'd like to see this cheap fix available at cocktail and gallery gatherings worldwide, sooner rather than later.
Petit Invention has taken the future of the internet search to the next level with the Looking Glass. Modeled around the general concept of the ever-popular and user-intuitive iPhone, it pushes the limits of seamless digital integration into our lives, and to the exclusion of the right to privacy for the rest of the world. A crystal clear touch screen table with built-in wifi, search, camera, and a scanner, the Looking Glass is just how it sounds. Put it up to a building, tap a floor, and it not only tells you the building name and address, but what company and particular employee(s) are working there... and their current status ("Mr. Smith is in until 17:00.") Additionally, place over a book and tap words to find definitions, peer at food and get their nutritional values, tap and shop for the wardrobes of those street style mavens you love. And that's just the tip of the iceberg but it still puts the Apple Tablet to shame. Finally, for the warm and fuzzy, the best feature might be Speech Bubbles for the hearing impaired, watch life like a movie with subtitles, no hearing aid required.