Electronics as Product Design Elements

PCB, a printed circuit board, is where the electronic components inside your daily gadgets reside. You have seen one before and it was most likely in green color. Lately I broke some ground in China by making custom color boards. No one has done this before because the PCB is not necessarily a design element. Well, I made it one. Here are some of my new PCBs with matching LEDs inside a clear housing game controller.

What We Play?

I was playing with my newly acquired software NPD data and wanted to see which game genres are selling the most. It wasn't surprising to see the music genre being on top with almost 1.2billion in sales thanks to Guitar Hero & Rock Band, or the FPS in the second. What is sad to see is that the old huge genres such as Racing or Fighting are the bottom of barrel now. Then again; this is the year of GT as well as Street Fighter is making a big come back. Let's see how will these will effect the bars.

Is this Apple's gaming Normandy?

Apple just applied for trademark protection for handheld devices that play electronic games. Patent classified as follows:
"toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games."

With Apple's recent patents on multi touch interface for gaming devices; this is enough proof that we should be expecting a gaming handheld from Apple pretty soon. Just don't call it iPippen.

SneakBook for PSP or DSL

Reading is good for you kids; but video games are even better for you! They improve your analitical thinking and help you make quick decisions under pressure. For example: look at this perfect justification I just came up with. The fact is that video games will teach you stuff you'll definately need once you grow up. Your parents or your teachers will not embrace this truth so quickly. So, let them think you're reading with this cool invention. You can rock your handheld games with this playthru "case" and keep your games and accessories safe from harm. Optional sleeves include Mein Kampf, Idiot's Guide to Video Games & Thomas More's Utopia

UPDATE: Well, I got some bad news; we blatantly pitched this concept in a product development meeting and it got shot down like a Kurdish chopper in Northern Iraq. We've even dreamed up a stylus in disguise of a highlighter for the Nintendo DS version. O well, it's not going to be a mass market item just yet; not every author was understood from get go; maybe it was the book covers that turned the execs off; hmm; now kids; while we figure out a way to re-pitch this; find a book and an exacto knife, you'll know what to do next.

Paper Thin Lighting

Check out this electroluminescent light module and imagine the possibilities. The way it glows is that each cell has a phosphor ink compound and you apply a certain current.

A good application could be to make a funky dance pad for DDR to light up your dance floor 70s disco style. The below pad is from carbon Flux and it does light up yes but also sets you back $500 plus it's one ginormous pad.