Technabob » dot

Pixel Drink Coasters: Punch Out Your Own Art

Technabob — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:40:37 +0000

These fun drink coasters may just look like an abstract dot pattern on the surface, but thanks to some cleverly placed perforations, you can actually make your own custom pixel creations out of them.

Each coaster is made up of 110 individual 1cm square “pixels” which are perfed in a way that lets you selectively remove blocks from each square. Through what sort of amounts to “pixel sculpting”, you can create your own personalized designs.

They come in a stack of 50 coasters, which start out conjoined into a 500cm (almost 200″) long chain which can be broken apart into individual pieces. Each square has a random arrangement of color shades, so each coaster is just a little different from the next one.

They’re made from a resilient paper fiber that should hold up to the condensation you might get on the bottom of your cup, or the occasional spill. In addition to the blue palette (which I prefer), there’s also a hot pink version if you’re looking for something a bit more girly.

At this point Pixel Coasters are only available from Taiwanese design retailer 25togo, I’m hoping somebody eventually imports these to the States. A pack of 50 coasters sells for 260 Taiwan Dollars, or just about $8 bucks.

Fusion Dt1 Digital Watch: Surprisingly Easy to Read

Technabob — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:31:43 +0000

I’ve written about so many modern digital watches that sacrifice ease of use for cool design (I’m talking to you, TokyoFlash). So it’s a breath of fresh air to see a modern digital that manages to balance looks with ease-of-use.

The Fusion DT1 is actually pretty easy to figure out after a quick read of the instruction sheet. That’s because each dot is at basically the same position that hands would appear on a conventional analog watch face.

The watch displays the time using a circular pattern of green LED dots. Each circle on the outer ring represents an hour, while each of 60 tiny dots on the inner ring indicates a minute. In lieu of a second hand, small square dots in the center light up. I count 30 squares, so I’d bet each one indicates 2 seconds, not 10 seconds as the product description says.

In addition to telling time, the DT1 also features day/date and alarm functionality. The Fusion DT1 comes in either a stainless steel or sleek black finish, and can be found at AudioCubes for $149.

Metro Retro LED Dot Clocks

Technabob — Mon, 07 May 2007 22:46:58 +0000

These retro/mod LED clocks use an array of individual LEDs to form each digit on their display.

Available from Japan’s ZakkaShop, the Metro LED DOT clock series comes in red, green or amber varieties. Available in either horizontal desktop or vertical wall mount versions, the clocks retail for ¥7,800 (appx. $64 USD) each.

Dot Creator: Make Your Own Pixel Animations

Technabob — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:04:09 +0000

This electronic toy out of Japan lets you create your own pixel art animations. The Dot Creator from U-Mate has a small 21 x 21 pixel LCD grid on which you can draw your own animated art and then record frame by frame animations.

It can store 3 animations of up to 19 frames each in its static memory. The Dot Creator can be found online for

Retro Mod Round Dot LED Clocks From I.D.E.a.

Technabob — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:55:44 +0000

Cool LED clocks keep popping up on the radar lately, and this week I came across these nifty round LED alarm clocks out of Japan.

Designed for I.D.E.A., the clocks feature round LED pixel dots instead of traditional segments, and look great in either brilliant blue or green variants (they also come in traditional red if you prefer.)

For those of you who don’t feel like setting your own time, the clocks feature automatic time-setting via radio broadcast signal (although I’m not sure this feature will work in all countries.) They can be found at online retailer Rakuten for