Product Remix: Bender Mini Cooler
I saw this mini cooler and I thought, neat - it’s shaped like a Coke can. Its cylinder shape and door however reminded me of Futurama’s Bender. The foul-mouthed robot uses that compartment for millions of different things, but mostly beer.
While not the perfect shape, this Coke cooler is about 90% ideal for Bender’s torso. The drawbacks being that the door opens the opposite way, and the top of the can has that lip shape (might be able to remove it though).
This would make for a great DIY project. Paint the cooler and affix robot limbs and head. I wouldn’t know where to begin to build Bender’s parts, but the legs would need to support a level platform for the cooler to sit on. Bender would stand roughly 3-feet tall, which is not life-size, but not small either.
If this were to become an actual product, it would likely be purposed for sodie-pop (as Bender would say), as a show like Futurama would not likely align itself with booze. At least, I think so. People would put beer in it regardless.
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Door Peephole Mask Idea
Are you an extroverted geek who is looking for a way to announce to your apartment neighbors CAUTION a GEEK lives here! Well look no further than this DIY idea, where you dress-up the peephole on your front door with a robot. You are essentially turning the peephole into an eye for the robot.
As you can see it works pretty well with R2-D2 here. You could also enlist WALL-E, the NES ROB, an Xbox 360 Kinect, a Portal Turret, Johnny-5, and on and on. Ideally a robot, but you could enlist a monocled human or something of that nature - whatever allows for the peephole to blend in to the image.
If you’d like the R2-D2 template shown above, please read on. Read the rest of this entry
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Superman Cape Towel
One of the first items I designed for my “Geeky IKEA” series was a desk based on the Fortress of Solitude. In truth, that idea was far less ambitious than I originally envisioned. What I wanted was a WHOLE bathroom based on the Fortress, one that would feature a sink that looked like the crystal control panel, a shower cabinet which resembled the chamber that turned Superman into a human (Superman II), lots of frosted glass - the whole nine yards. The topper was some towels that were plain blue, and one that looked like Superman’s cape.
I abandoned that idea because I felt it was too ambitious and I didn’t want to deal with a toilet ruining the concept! So I just went with the desk.
Then I remembered the cool towels. And just like the previous post, I am surprised these don’t exist! It just makes sense that geeks — well, men in general — would love to have the cape hanging there when not in use. As if to announce hey I am Superman, just gotta hang up my cape while I wash-up. And yes, many ladies would like to be Supergirl too.
This only works with Superman/Supergirl, as they were the only heroes to have a logo prominently on the cape. I suppose you could do a black Batman cape with multiple pointed ends, but it is nowhere near as iconic-looking as this.
Like I said these aren’t available at all, but you could easily have these made wherever they personalize towels. The logo would need to sit near the middle, like the above example (a long towel folded over a rack).
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Duracell Battery Coffee Thermos Container
I post lots of ideas, but once in a while I am shocked - shocked - that a particular item doesn’t already exist. Case in point: this thermos/beverage container fashioned after a Duracell coppertop. Considering our dependency on coffee as a source of energy, it makes perfect sense. It also helps that the design of the battery closely resembles your typical thermos.
It might look a little alarming to a passerby to see someone open a giant battery and casually drink its contents, but that is part of the charm of this design. I can also envision people asking to be ‘recharged’ when they fill this up at a Dunkin’ Donuts/Tim Hortons.
This design would only work with Duracell batteries as they are iconic and immediately recognizable. Plus the coppertop makes for the perfect partition between the cup and container.
One thing I couldn’t get my head around was that protruding contact at the top of the battery, because the cup needed to sit flat. So I just designed the contact to sink into a cavity when the cup is resting on a surface. An internal spring would keep the contact pressed outward, to maintain the appearance of a battery when the cup is affixed to the thermos.
Other posts you might dig: Kool-Aid water bottle, McDonald’s lunch box, Superman Ziploc bags, Super Mario Toaster, and my greatest food idea ever.
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Thinkgeek Remix Part 3: Electronic Goldfish In A Bowl
Now we take a look at the “Electronic Goldfish in a Bowl” item from Thinkgeek (above left), which much like the electronic firefly in a jar, features a fake fish tethered to the lid of a goldfish bowl. The fish swims around in the water repetitively, mimicking the movements of an actual goldfish. With this product you never have to worry about the goldfish keeling-over and being transferred to the toilet bowl.
Thinkgeek carries a ton of Star Trek items, so it would seem natural that they convert this item into a wall-mounted aquarium, much like the one seen in Jean Luc Picard’s office in Star Trek: TNG. Read the rest of this entry
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Thinkgeek Remix Part 2: Air Swimmers R/C Flying Fish
I really dig these radio-controlled flying fish from Thinkgeek. Not only do these helium balloons look convincing at a glance, but their swimming movement also looks realistic. Check out the video: Read the rest of this entry
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Thinkgeek Remix Part 1: Firefly Jar
This is a ‘what-if’ series where I apply my spin on actual products available from Thinkgeek.
Ah, Thinkgeek. Home to many cool and creative products. Every so often I will browse their wares and see what cool toys they have for discriminating geeks like myself. Once in awhile I’ll see something they’re selling and think, hey wouldn’t it be cool if…? Well I thought I’d share some of my musings, because that’s what I do.
First up we have the ‘Electronic Firefly in a Jar‘, which is a neat simulation of a real firefly trapped in a jar (video at the link). The fake firefly ‘flies’ around (it’s tethered to the lid), emits light, and sometimes parks itself on the side of the jar, where it reacts to your tapping. It flaps its wings too. Cool beans.
I’d just swap out the firefly for Zelda’s Navi, the true antagonist of Ocarina of Time (Ganondorf had nothing on her). The hapless Navi would still fly around and emit light, in addition I would also add a sound chip to the inside of the lid, allowing Navi to emit her famous phrases. And this would be brilliant because most sound chips have poor-sounding quality, but inside the jar it would sound muffled and mostly inaudible*.
If I had one of these on my desk, I would wring my hands and laugh maniacally every time I heard the faintest protest coming from Navi. It would be glorious.
There would need to be a switch where the frequency of her voice phrases could be determined (once every half hour would be ideal). I’d also add an on-demand button on the lid to trigger a line of dialogue too.
I’d try to make the jar look Zelda-ish too (above example was a stock photo). I think this would make for a nice ambient lamp as well.
If you like this product idea, I suggest you bug Thinkgeek about it. Get it? Bug?
*I suppose if you wanted to hear her you could crack the lid open a bit.
