In case you’re not familiar with the device, a chorded keyboard has fewer keys – the user presses multiple keys at once to enter a single command or character. This not only leads to a smaller device but makes it possible to type with one hand. Entering the patterns on such a device is similar to playing chords on a piano, hence the name. This is an example of a chorded keyboard. I’m not sure if the Kee4 Keyboard also qualifies as a chorded keyboard, but it does work in a similar way.

As for Teague Labs’ app, it uses five virtual buttons which appear when the user places all five fingers on the screen. Theoretically, it addresses the three weaknesses of traditional on-screen keyboards. The buttons are large. If you can memorize the patterns for characters, then you don’t need tactile feedback. Finally, the buttons go away when you lift your fingers off of the tablet’s screen; they can also be dragged in another area of the screen. Then again they take up the whole screen while you’re typing. Here’s the app in action:

If you have an iPad or Android tablet, fire up your tablet’s browser and go to this page to try out Teague Labs’ chorded keyboard prototype. Note that the app doesn’t allow for punctuation marks – those will be included in the second set of buttons, which are still in development. It’s a nice concept but I think I’ll stick to the default keyboard on my iPad. I don’t do a lot of typing on it anyway and I’m already looking at the screen when I’m typing so I don’t need to touch type.

What I really want is for Apple to include a numpad-style button, similar to the ones available on older cellphones. Years of owning Nokia phones have burned the memory of that interface to my thumbs. Also, I’m not sure if the guys at Teague Labs are aware of this, but there are already virtual chorded keyboard apps for both the iPad and for Android tablets, although the ones I saw are designed for use with two thumbs.

[Teague Labs via Hack A Day]

Now, I know a bunch of you tech geeks are going to comment in the comment section about how this idea doesn’t make business sense, since the iPhone is already Apple’s camera, and that there’s no need to create a product that is solely a camera when you can have a phone and a camera in the same device. I have recognized your side, and I may even agree with it – but the Apple QuickTake Camera Concept is cool nonetheless. Take it for what it is: a concept. And don’t take my ice cream at all, because then I’ll RAGE.

Designer Josephy Dumary’s Apple QuickTake Camera Concept has some pretty unrealistic specifications, but I’m sure that if Apple were to make a camera, the capabilities would be pretty high. 32 MP photos? Seems a bit unreasonable to me – besides, nobody really needs that much definition – we stopped reading dictionaries years ago. Also, most people just keep their photos on the computer and don’t print them, so they don’t need crazy resolutions.

The concept also has a rather frivolous 360-degree swiveling feature that would only serve to have children break your expensive camera because they’re spinning it like a toy. The automatic red eye removal is a neat idea though, as are the possibilities with Wi-Fi capabilities, automatic syncing, and on-screen photo editing. There’s a lot that Apple could do with a concept like this – and why not? They’d profit off of fanboys who buy anything produced by Apple regardless of whether or not they really need it, so I’d say it’s a safe venture. Plus, they should start an Apple clothing line before I have to EVER go back into Abercrombie and have my brains blown out by their loud alternative music.

If you were able to take a pinch of happiness from this geeky concept, you’ll want to check out other cool concepts like the Apple Hairband Headphone Concept and the Off Door Handle Concept.

Contributor Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a blog that rants about random geeky products.

This interesting concept comes from Körös Benedek and features three analog bands that travel 360 degrees around it’s surface. Individual bands have the hour, minute and seconds on them. You get the correct time by reading the break in the middle of the bracelet as the bands move into position.

Should it ever become a reality, it would be made from materials like stainless steel, plastic, and rubber. Too bad we can’t buy one right now. I’m sure they would sell very well.

[via Yanko Design]

Gymbot is a concept robot was designed by Massimo Battaglia of givingshape. The robot will basically be on your case 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Think of him as more of a drill Sergeant overseeing your life. This humanoid robot features articulated joints that mimic human movement, speed and precision. It is equipped with a 3D video camera with a scanner and thermal camera and using a microphone, it will measure your heart rate and blood pressure, while it ignores your pleas for a rest.

This personal trainer ‘bot will also calculate your body fat index, which is just what none of us want to hear about. The touchscreen on Gymbot’s chest will show you the exercises to do. It seems like a lot of trouble and a huge expense to get you to exercise, but it will probably make some company rich someday.

[via Tuvie]

Perhaps if the iDesk is ever produced, it will be more affordable than Surface, but I have my doubts. Regardless, operating a multitouch display desk like this sounds pretty sweet, since it would be capable of not only running apps of its own, but providing you with virtual input devices for your laptop and mobile devices, including keyboards and touch-input surfaces.

Will Apple ever make something like the iDesk? There are certainly rumors that the next version of the iMac might have a touchscreen, but that’s not been confirmed. If they do, maybe they’ll be able to scale touchscreens successfully larger screens in time, and eventually drive the prices down to make something like this affordable. For now. We just get to look at a pretty concept.

[via MacLife]

In a similar (or not so?) similar fashion, you could have your very own park bench – in as little as ten minutes, in fact, if you’re super strong and have a couple of people helping you out while you set it up.

These Tree Benches are a part of Utrecht-based spatial designer Rogier Martens‘ ”Aandeboom” series, which translates to something like “attached to trees.” Martens came up with these benches after the Dutch city of Amersfoort invited him to design a temporary bench for a local park.

All you need to set up the benches is a strong and sturdy tree trunk. The suspension system makes it quick and easy to “fasten” the bench onto the tree, so to speak.

These Tree Benches would be great to add additional seating to parks and other public areas during huge events or concerts. You should contact Rogier if you want to inquire about the pricing on his benches, in case you want one for yourself.

[via Pop Up City]

Designed by Matheus de Luca, Moreira Pinto, and Porto Alegre, Sólo basically a traffic light and emergency light system in one. It’s a modular device that can be disassembled easily and converted from a traffic light to a portable warning system.

One sample use is when there’s an accident and traffic would need to be redirected to another route. Or there could be road repairs being done, and the lights could be taken down and used to signal where the incoming traffic should pass.

It’s a neat idea that lets technicians and designated personnel spring into action quickly without needing additional tools or supplies when they’re already on location, though it might make traffic signals more susceptible to vandalism or theft.

[via Yanko Design]

Korean designer Sang Hwa Lee came up with this ingenious concept which turns your headphone cable into a bumper for your gadget when not in use. By using a flat tangle-proof rubber ribbon cable for the headphone cord, they simply wrap around the perimeter of your device when not in use. The three layers of rubber even provide added protection when the cord is stowed. It’s not 100% clear from these images, but it looks like the earbuds themselves would be fairly low profile, and snap into a groove placed on the headphone line itself along the edge of the device.

I’m still not completely sure of how the cable would stay put, but that could probably be achieved by pairing the headphones with a matching case with clips built in to hold it. While it’s definitely not ready for production, the concept seems like it’s on the right track to finally solving this annoying and challenging problem. Kickstarter, anyone?

[via reddot]

With this in mind, René Lee set off to work on designing a revolutionary printer with the busy office in mind. After spending a lot of time doing research and drawing up initial designs, Lee came up with the Arc Printer.

It’s basically a round printer that stacks printouts from different documents accordingly in a circle. Users can just walk up to the printer, find their stack, have a quick chat or say hello to the others who are also grabbing their documents, and go.

With this design, Lee has managed to transform the printer “from a heavy utilitarian equipment into something more elegant and emotional.”

I’d definitely love to see one of these at my office.

[via Utilitarian Things]

So if you happen to have an office yourself and keep a lot of people waiting for minutes (or worse, hours) on end, then it might be a smart idea to invest in these Paperclip armrests. They could also come in handy on airplanes, trains and long bus rides. That is, if they’ll ever get made.

I gather it’s named “paperclip” because it does look like that inner portion of the paperclip. This way, two elbows or arms can rest on the same armrest: one takes top position, while the other rests on the little nook below. A perfect solution to a universal problem, right?

The Paperclip armrest was a recent red dot design concept winner, and was designed by James Lee.

Eeven with all the other kitchen timers I have, I still forget to set them when I leave the room. Hence, a lot of burnt and wasted food, and a whole lot of Chinese takeout. So I definitely see the need for the Time Me, which is simply a pot lid with a timer built in.

I mean, I think a lot of forgetful people in the kitchen would be bound to remember to set it, now that it’s literally right under their noses (and on top of the pot!) Plus, the design is simple enough that it could be sold as a replacement knob for the top of your already existing pots. About the only challenge with this thing is how it could be built to be dishwasher safe, since you shouldn’t have to remove it every time you wash your pots.

The Time Me is a design by Wu Yi-chen , Wan Ru-yi, Liu Xiaoming, Xie Yan-cong and Zhou Zhou.

[via Yanko Design]

The idea is that the windows would be transparent screens which could display all sorts of content from game apps for kids to navigation details for the driver or passenger. I really like the idea of navigation content being projected onto the windshield. That way you don’t need to take your eyes off the road for directions.

The apps for kids though are the ones that will likely get the most attention. The prototype apps let kids finger paint, and interact with characters who react to the speed of the vehicle. For the big kids, there are apps for navigation as well as streaming music and social networking.

GM notes that it has no current plans to use the window tech in a production vehicle, and there is no indication when this tech will leave concept and come to the real world. Hopefully it’s not that far off.

Imagine how much harder it is for those who don’t, or who don’t anymore. But to make things more organized and a whole lot safer, there’s these Braille Electric Plug Tags, designed by Shuwen Chen. These tags would be made from hard fabrics with Braille letters, device icons and abbreviations embossed onto them. Each tag would have Velcro sewn onto the back, making them easy to put on and remove from cords as needed.

The Braille Electric Plug Tags are yet another winner of the 2011 red dot design concept competition.

[via Yanko Design]

They’re usually bulky appliances, those irons are. But not for long – that is, if Bernardo Bajana has his way with his 360 Iron concept design.

The 360 Iron looks smooth, compact, and is ergonomically designed. It takes care of the issue of stiff wrists when ironing because of the flexible joint that lets you move the iron this way or that.

The 360 Iron is also one futuristic device, as it comes with a touchscreen display where you can set what type of fabric you’re ironing to optimize settings such as the temperature of the hot plate.

As this is yet another concept device, there’s no current plan to put it into production, but maybe it will come to fruition in the future.

[via Yanko Design]

Watch designs featured by Tokyoflash are usually extremely complicated, which makes reading the time off of them – which happens to be the main purpose of watches, by the way – more difficult than necessary. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I chanced upon the Trax MkII Concept Watch.

The watch was designed by Peter Fletcher from the UK, and draws on obvious military themes as its inspiration. That’s pretty much apparent as it uses tank-like treads to tell the time. Unlike other watch displays that flash a series of LED lights and leave all the time reading interpretation up to you, the Trax MkII tells it like it is: with good, old-fashioned digits.

As the time changes, the numbered treads move into position. Just read the numbers found between the LED illuminated brackets in the middle to know what time of day it is – in military time, of course.

On the design, Peter explains: “I wanted to come up with a watch design based on driven belts. The first thought that popped into my head when thinking about belts was caterpillar tracks and what caterpillar tracks are usually attached too. So I decided to use tanks as an inspiration for this watch concept.”

Execution of this particular design will require a fairly complex mechanism to be built, but if you’d like to see it produced some day, be sure to cast your vote over on the Tokyoflash design blog.

[via Ubergizmo via Geeky Gadgets]

Technically, the bOne isn’t even DIY because it already comes with a metal frame and pre-formed upholstery blocks that come in a bright green color. Instead of hammering out your own chair, all you’ve got to do with the bOne is bend the legs and back into position, squish the upholstery into the holes, and sit.

Sounds easy, but I think stuffing those cylindrical pieces of upholstery in might be a little harder than you think.

The bOne Chair was designed by JDF Raum und Kunst, and according to the firm, the bOne is “a chair with a playful air for people with a sense of humor. Its support structure mimics our bone structure, its upholstery our skin cells, and just like these cells the seat, too, conforms – like the rhytm of inhaling and exhaling – to the individual’s unique ergonomics.”

It’s pretty clever. I certainly never thought of a chair like that. No word on if the bOne chair will ever become a product you can buy, or if it’s just a design concept though.

[via Beautiful Life via Gadgets Matrix]

Just in case you can’t tell, the FOUR watch design is all about the number four. It was submitted by Firdaus from Malaysia, who said: “I was influenced by many Japanese Tokusatsu and most of them featured henshin gadget that are very futuristic and stylish. Inspired by the shape of digit “4″ and Japanese “つ” (tsu), I came up with this watch design.”

On the watch, the time is displayed on lines of LEDs in the following groups: 12×1 hour, 5×10 minutes and 1×9 minutes alongside the “4″ shape face and part of the strap, as illustrated by this image:

It took me a couple of minutes to understand how the FOUR watch face above was supposed to read 8:21. The trick is to look for the darkened LED segments and then count up from the bottom of the watch.

While I admit it’s a pretty cool and definitely futuristic timepiece to have, the way it tells time is way too complicated for me. Still, if you like the design, head on over to the Tokyoflash design blog and vote for it now.

It’s probably with all of these considerations in mind that Elodie Delassus came up with the Cocoon Pillow concept. It’s a curved pillow that will cradle the baby’s head gently while providing extra protection from dirt and noise, thanks to state-of-the-art noise-canceling technology, a HEPA air filtration system, and an air particle ionizer that’s been incorporated into the pillow.

Now if only Elodie could design one for adults who value silence and clean air, too…

[via Yanko Design]

Aside from that, it’s also the device they commonly turn to when they’re bored (to play games and stream media) or when they’re lonely (to chat and connect on social networks.)

And the humanized devices are coming, one after the other. First it was the Modai concept phone, and now it’s Sang Hoon Lee’s Heartbeat mobile phone concept. The former is more completely thought-out when it comes to features and how it would work. On the other hand, the Heartbeat phone is basically a phone with a heartbeat.

Thankfully, its heart doesn’t beat to signal that it’s alive, because that would just make the concept creepier than it already is. Rather, the device alerts you to incoming calls, new messages, and other notifications by beating. And not just with the sound of a heart beat, but with actual inflating and deflating action on the surface of the phone.

The heartbeat can also indicate the emotional state of the person on the other end of the line. I’d prefer to have my own actual heart do the beating. No thank you very much to the Heartbeat mobile phone concept.

[via Yanko Design]

The idea behind Alex Jantschke’s concept called Megacity Aviation is that in crowded cities, the flying machine could fly around and reduce the congestion on the roads. The personal aircraft would be made from reinforced bio-plastic and have a hollow frame like a bird’s bones.

The dual coaxial rotors would be hydraulically operated. The designer figures the real deal would be about the size of a Mini Cooper and get you to your destination about twice as fast. Sign me up. I want one.

[via YankoDesign]