KIDS LOVE STICKS
After a friend’s kid got hurt while playing with a stick, we had an idea. Why not make a safe stick? All kids love sticks, right?! SofStick is that safe stick. Made from elastomeric bead foam (think that molded packing foam that protects your new iMac), Sofstick provides all the fun of a real stick without the stabbing risk. Also, SofSticks float so can easily be a replacement for a foam pool noodle and be an all season toy. We designed a 46″long sword size SofStick and a thicker SofLog version.
ABOM wanted to extend run time for their unfoggable goggles for the endurance athlete and those that engage in expedition activities. This meant designing an external power pack with a larger lithium ion battery.
We made the design fit the body with a gentle curve like a nice flask. We were sensitive to the potential for disconnection and keeping the pack weatherproof should the skier/snowboarder/snowshoer/ explorer take a spill. Beyond the industrial design, FUSE added convenient, logical features like a flashlight and additional USB port for charging a cell phone or other accessories.
GRASS MASTER
FUSE had done alot ot work with FISKARS’ Gerber knife and tool division and then Gerber’s president became the head of FISKARS US operation where they did all the School, Office, Craft (SOC) and Garden products under the FISKARS brand. We were tasked with designing a few SOC products but we had this notion that FISKARS garden division needed to do a Mower. Not just any Mower but a fitness Mower. We’ve all have had experience with these crappy steel mowers that seem to be rusted after only one season and thought: what if we could marry the technology of thermoplastic composites to the simple reel mower. Sort of a TREK OCLV of mowers. FUSE Designer Ahren Laurinate had a good idea of making the mower self-fertilize the lawn by grinding and spreading compost while mowing. This would make the lawn grow faster and thus, you’d need to mow more – perfect for a Fitness Mower. Tory restyled this concept and Lori Katz did the Alias model. What’s shown here is what was presented. FISKARS liked but was afraid of the cost.
ACCESS CONTROL
GE’s Supra division is the leader in providing access control in residential real estate and they came to FUSE to update their realtor’s keybox. FUSE provided industrial design solutions and this was the design chosen and recommended. We worked hand in hand with Supra’s engineering team to integrate the mechanical features with our new design. We’re told this model had sales over 2,000,000 units.
Pulse Health had a way to measure key biomarkers non-invasively. They were able to measure this biomarker in exhaled human breath and had a small personal device in their stable but now wanted a clinical version.They came to FUSE for help with this device. FUSE took them all the way through prototyping.
One of our key contributions beyond the industrial design was we created user model scenarios to help the team understand how the device would be used. Once we showed a few of these graphic storyboards the team came alive to determine how best the device would be used.
After the Herman Miller RED Orbiter project, we had this idea about a way to better the Ready To Assemble / IKEA idea. I mean, who really wants to spend the time building furniture if you don’t have to? How cool would it be if you could still flat pack that piece of furniture,but then its already assemble and all you need to do is “pose it” and then just lock it down? It would be not only flat packable but also transforming and poseable into different postures. We thought it would be really cool and started with a chair- the Arma Chair like “armature” – get it?! Clever, right?
An orthodontist came to FUSE with an idea that can speed orthodontia. The problem is an orthodondist will generally guess at the size of the band he or she needs to use on a particular tooth. More experienced orthodontists are more likely to get this right but they often get this wrong as well. This takes time and wastes bands or these wrong ones need to be autoclaved. Our client wanted a way to measure teeth that would work for an unlimited number of patients. This Orthodontist’s plan was to sell the eventual product to a large orthodontic supplier like Ormco.
We came up with what we called the BandIt. The Bandit was a simple one handed electromechanical device that used a consumable stainless steel loop that would wrap around the tooth and provide a measurement and recommend a particular size band on its built in LCD display.
Wall-E!
HP came to FUSE with a prototype of what they were calling a “Video Boombox”. This was a digital projector with a built in DVD player and speakers all in one compact device. HP was looking for physical concepts based on different markets and usage scenarios. FUSE provided 2D concepts, renderings and physical models.
IN TOWN BROWN
TruckTrike , a company that makes a human powered cargo transport vehicle was approached by global logistics leader UPS to provide a bicycle based delivery vehicle. Truck Trike already makes an electric assist trike capable of moving 600 lbs and now they needed a proposal to excite UPS to get the contract.Truck Trike came to FUSE with this problem. With a very short deadline FUSE developed an industrial design for a lightweight minimal canopy that would meet a large cargo box complete with interior illuminating transparent roof. We rendered the model in UPS brown with the requisite graphics to help UPS imagine this greener future.
We are happy to report the proposal was successful and UPS is currently trialing modified Truck Trikes in Portland , Oregon.
DIY Plumbing in the house of the future.
GE Plastics built a conceptual house utilizing the thermoplastics and their latest thinking in terms of sustainability. GE was way ahead of the game back in the 90’s. They knew thermoplastics could be recycled and reused. Their plan was to have manufacturers use engineering grade thermoplastic in applications that required virgin materials like food and medical and then cascade down into automotive , then finally into building and construction where they could live for a longer period of time before obsolescence
One virgin application FUSE principal Tory worked on straight out of school was this blow molded plumbing panel dubbed the Aquaduct. The idea was this panel replaced all the measuring and cutting of copper. Quick fit connectors would be used so plumbing this sort of common sink installation job could be a snap!
