designboom 2012 top ten: technology

designboom’s 2012 TOP 10 technology features

 technology has had a big impact on the development of humanity in terms of the way we have communicate with one another, as well as how we interact with the tangible, and intangible for that matter. we’ve come a long way, and 2012 continued to give us a glimpseat what our connected future could look like, but at the same time saw the redevelopment of many old devices and technologiesas a sort of resistance to our rapidly changing existence. designboom brings you a survey of the top ten tech stories of 2012.

1. MIT researchers capture light travel at one trillion frames per second

researchers at the MIT media lab in america have developed a new camera system that processes visual data at a rate of one trillion frames per second. the technology is capable of detecting light travel, producing images that can track the individual movement of light photons through slow motion video captures.

2. the microsoft surface tablet

microsoft entered the hardware market with its first tablet, the microsoft ‘surface‘, a consistent design scheme across two models of technical specifications delivering the company’s operating system and software in a 10.6-inch screen tablet.

3. solar powered roads by scott brusaw

american electrical engineer scott brusaw has developed a system of solar powered roads as an initiative to change the face of national highways. his project ‘solar roadways’ aims to re-purpose existing concrete and asphalt surfaces that are exposed to the sun with solar road panels.

4. spherical glass solar energy generator by andre rawlemon

german born, barcelona-based architect andré broessel has sent us images of his latest development of a spherical glass solar energy generator. the project uses the advantageous strategy of implementing a ball lens and specific geometrical structure to improve energy efficiency by 35%.

5. where the internet lives: behind the scenes look at google’s data centers

photographed for google’s new website, ‘where the internet lives’, images capture a never before seen behind-the-scenes glimpse into their high-tech data centers. the pictures demonstrate the complexities involved in securing and hosting data for the world’s largest search engine browser.

6. london underground circuit maps by yuri suzuki

responding to ‘thrift’ as a theme, japanese designer yuri suzuki explores communication systems in consumer electronics. a printed circuit board (PCB) is used as a precedent for developing a electrical circuit influenced by harry beck’s iconic london underground map diagrams.

image © hitomi kai yoda

7. docomo celebrates 20 years of cellphone existence

japanese communications company NTT docomo celebrates its 20th anniversary with an exhibition showcasing the evolution of mobile phone culture starting from 1987 to the present day. the extensive chronological display of cell phones on view at tokyo designers’ week, offers a visual documentation of the progress made in terms of size.

image © designboom

8. rescue dogs learn how to drive a MINI countryman

mini cooper new zealand, the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA) and the engineering team of ikon engineering have teamed up to teach three rescue dogs how to drive – in the process hoping to dispel the idea that abandoned pets are less worthy and increase animal adoption.

9. the world’s longest wind turbine blade by siemens

siemens is a wind turbine producer, and a lot has changed over the past 30 years since they presented their first commercial model which had a capacity of 30kW and five meter long blades (10 meter rotor diameter). their latest turbine generation consists of the ‘quantum blade’ the world’s longest wind turbine blade measuring 75 meters in length.

image © siemens AG, munich/berlin

10. ARART augmented reality app brings paintings to life

‘ARART‘, the augmented reality application developed by japanese artists kei shiratori, takeshi mukai and younghyo bak, takes well-known paintings or drawings and translates them into real-time virtual animations. by viewing these iconic creations via the pre-configured software, the app will re-create a scene using AR, bringing the characters to life.