Awesome Concepts

Yep, it’s from Japan. Yukai Engineering’s Qoobo is a simple robotic pillow that’s meant to provide the comfort of touching a pet animal. Its furry body vibrates when stroked enough times, and its tail will wag from time to time. This is what androids dream of.

Judge not the Tj Cruiser by its cover. Except for the driver’s seat, all of the 4×4 van’s seats can be folded down completely flat. The seat backs are covered with scratch-resistant material and have lots of tie-down points, making it one of the most versatile vehicle interiors we’ve seen.

This electric motorcycle is only a proof of concept, but Honda is keen on using its Riding Assist technology on production models. The self-balancing hardware takes up only the bike’s front end. Honda hopes to first launch it on its touring motorcycles.

Aviation International News shares an informative look at FlexSys‘ morphing wing flap technology, which improves the aerodynamics of airplanes by eliminating exposed hinges and rivets. Apparently it’s made using a carbon fiber honeycomb core and a flexible composite skin.

The Honda Urban EV Concept is an incredibly charming mix of past and future. Its squat and boxy body is tempered by a LED-lit grill that has a message board. Inside is a massive digital dash and two bench seats. A production version will be released in Europe in 2019.

Kia flexes its design muscle yet again with a concept study for a 5-door wagon variant of its tame European Cee’d hatch. There’s nothing mild about its looks, with a Lava Red body, elongated wheelbase, 20″ rims, dramatic illuminated roofline, and over-the-top interior.

BMW is gunning for the Mercedes-Benz GLS, Lexus LX and other road-hogging SUVs with the X7. It’s the most spacious BMW ever designed, and has a panoramic glass roof that stretches all the way to the back. It will be available as a hybrid with a turbocharged engine. That kidney grill tho.

Born from Formula 1 hybrid tech, the Project ONE makes over 1000 hp, with a top speed of 217 mph. Its electrically-assisted 1.6L V6 turbo engine spins up to 11,000 rpm, sending power to the rear, while two 120 kW motors drive the front axle. Goes 0-to-112 mph in less than 6s.

Microscopic computers and batteries. Wireless power. Affective computing. Isaac Arthur compares the typical day of someone from 1717, 2017 and 2077 to guess what emerging technologies will fundamentally alter our daily routines. Skip to 7:07 for the future.

While the production version of BMW’s next Z4 won’t break cover until 2018, the concept already looks phenomenal. With its aggressive styling, we hope this rear-wheel drive 2-seater is as much fun to drive as it appears – and that BMW doesn’t change the design at all.

Infiniti is known for its modern and luxurious daily drivers. But they strayed far out of their comfort zone for this gorgeous concept, inspired by the streamlined racers of the 1930s. The lightweight single-seater is powered by an advanced electric powertrain.

A fantastic concept design for a cassette player with a slick and minimal playback mechanism. Sure, the sound quality of cassettes leaves a lot to be desired, but the sheer novelty of such a player might make us dig out our old ’80s mix tapes once again.

The YARA Birkeland will be the world’s first autonomous and zero-emission container ship. It will be manned when it launches in 2018, but is expected to launch, sail and dock on its own by 2020. It will reduce YARA’s diesel truck haulage by up to 40,000 trips a year.

Unlike other LEGO space shuttles, KingsKnight’s proposal is a 1:110 model, the same scale as the recently released LEGO Apollo Saturn V set. The design includes the tank and boosters, the Canadarm, a satellite, swappable decals, and seven microfigures.

A look at the scale model of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a massive new section that will open at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort in 2019. Visitors will meet many Star Wars characters, check out a Star Destroyer hangar, and even fly the Millenium Falcon. More here.

A look at some of the presentations coming to SIGGRAPH, the annual computer graphics conference. This glimpse at the future of animation includes a synthesized voice that can be edited using text, and facial animation that copies styles from drawings in real-time.

Everything is gruesome! LEGO Ideas member Stephan Niks came up with a proposal for a unique, fun and educational set. His Anatomini is a 10:1 minifig shell with organs and a skeleton to scale. The skeleton is fully poseable and can stand on its own.

Ten Fold Engineering is working on pre-built structures that unfold within minutes on site, without the need for a foundation or even laborers. Their buildings are based on large levers that fold down to small volumes and unfold in a variety of ways.

Wraparound 360º headsets. fabric screens. Spray-on screens. Digital art and design company Universal Everything flex their 3D animation skills by imaging how screens will be integrated into objects in the future. More here.

Dani Clode’s concept for a motorized prosthetic thumb that’s controlled via pressure sensors on the user’s feet. Like the MetaLimbs, Dani hopes that we will one day consider advanced prosthetics for able-bodied people in the same way we treat eyeglasses and jewelry.

Leslie Nooteboom’s Komorebi projects soothing computer-generated light shows. While it can project anything, Leslie intends for Komorebi to display visuals that mimic natural light, such as a silhouette of a window or light bouncing off of a body of water.

Students at Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interfaces Group proposed a computer interface that is meant to be projected or displayed on a desk. Aside from responding to touch, apps or windows can also latch onto or avoid objects to maintain visibility.

In Ukiah, California, there’s a sixth-scale train set quietly ambling over a vineyard. But it’s no mere toy. It’s a proof-of-concept for Flight Rail’s Vectorr – a rail system that uses vacuum to push or pull a magnetic carriage, which in turn takes the train above with it.