None of them actually work! I don’t know if this study is believable or not. Placebo buttons have been used on devices such as office thermostats, pedestrian crosswalks and elevators to allude to a control that users don’t actually possess.
The crosswalk button you press to trigger the ‘cross now’ indicator; most likely not working due to computer controlled traffic signals if you are pushing it in a big city.
The thermostat that is twisted with the utmost precision by office employees who enjoy a personal comfort level; most likely a dummy switch, accented with an accompanying white noise device to fool you.
Waiting for the elevator door to close takes too long, so pressing the button with the arrows pointing at each other takes care of that, huh; well, actually it doesn’t. Once again, a placebo button used to instill a sense of control for those who need power at their fingertips. Wow, it appears that some user interfaces have an ugly side.
Growing up as a fan of Transformers and Mask, this Toyota concept car really hits home. The colors and features stir my imagination. Slide-out seating, large screen monitors, bike rack, energy drink dispenser; everything screams overkill.
Small spaces can engender the best of designs. So many designs have been centered around tight quarters, but not like this. A company called Spiral Cellars has found a niche market servicing the wealthy wine aficionado.
Using a cut-out hole in the floor beneath common areas in the home, these guys create spiral staircases that lead to small depths; so small in fact, that you can do no more than grab a bottle of wine. A cool factor, indeed, to have such a cool hidden cellar, but at what cost? Plenty, I am sure.
Wow. These interactive portal shirts are really cool. Each shirt has a pinhole camera and a high resolution LCD TFT display screen with 2190mAh Lithium-Ion battery belt to power it. The pinhole camera sends the image wirelessly to the blue shirt for displaying and vice versa. Great for… well, I don’t know what. You can display these state of the art shirts yourself for a hefty $100 each. Removable parts make it washable and composite video inputs make it compatible with video games, too. I’m sure you could find a good use for one.
