Making it to the semifinals was tough enough, but here they are – 8 finalists that were finally chosen from 1,300 hopefuls. They will present their concepts at the Business Design Centre, London on September 7th 2011. Electrolux Design Lab.
Spot Cleaner
Country: Slovakia
Designer: Adrian Mankovecky
School: Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava
Ideal for outdoor enthusiasts or business travelers, the small portable Spot Cleaner uses physics to clean. You need to separate the two components, then place them on either side of the dirty garment and simply choose the suitable cleaning program. Negative Ions and steam refresh clothing and remove stains. Powered with a sugar crystal battery, you can use this cleaner practically anywhere.
Mobile Induction Plate
Country: Finland
Designer: Tommi Moilanen,
School: Aalto University School of Art and Design
Compact solution for those on the go, the heat plate can be placed wherever you want and pair it with your smart-phone for a child-proof remote control. The smart-phone app is designed to be used with intelligent food packaging where NFC-tags provide instructions on how to heat the food properly. The smart-phone app also comes with a memory that intuitively remembers how you previously cooked.
Portable Microwave
Country: USA
Designer: Matthew Schwartz
School: California State University Long Beach
The Onda portable microwave oven is slid on to the packaging and the aluminum contained within the interior of the handheld device creates a circuit connection when the seal of the packaging is broken. Paper batteries are used to produce energy, making the Onda both smart and Eco-friendly. Comes in a range of different colors.
Ribbon
Country: Australia
Designer: Enzo Kocak
School: Monash University
This is a portable multi-purpose heater and cooler. With its unique shape and flexibility you can wrap Ribbon around a vessel that contains food or drink for heating or chilling. The black side provides heat, whereas the white cools. You can curl it up, take it with you, fold out and even puzzle together to use as a hotplate. Controls placed on the side facilitate easy use. The chargeable thermoelectric cell battery can also reverse the charging process while not in use the cells convert excess heat back into electricity.
Bagel Toaster
Country: Canada
Designer: Kent Madden
School: Carleton University
This portable bagel toaster is designed for those on the go. Place a bagel in the toaster and it will automatically start rotating. When happy with the color of the freshly toasted bagel, simply remove and enjoy. The toaster is very energy efficient being run on sugar crystal batteries or recharged on a ceramic dock using induction.
Cell Cooker
Country: Hungary
Designer: Adam Miklosi
School: University of West Hungary – Institute of Applied Arts
The Sous-vide helps you cook delicious healthy food at pre-indicated times. Personalised Internet and smart-phone software helps plan your food menu a week ahead and aids in buying the necessary ingredients. Ingredients are sealed in airtight plastic bags and held within a water bath at precise temperature and much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 60°C or 140°F. The intention is to maintain the integrity of ingredients and achieve very precise control of cooking.
Smoobo
Country: New Zealand
Designer: Roseanne de Bruin
School: Massey University
The Smoobo blender is enjoyable and easy to use. Simply open the blender, put the ingredients inside and bounce. Each bounce activates the kinetic batteries, which in turn power the rotary blades to create a perfectly blended smoothie that can be enjoyed by opening the pouring cap.
Robo TAP vacuum cleaner
Country: South Korea
Designer: Gyu Ha Choi
School: Handong Global University
Equipped with Indoor Positioning System which is aligned with a simple remote control is attached to the shoe or slipper of the user. Two taps on a dirty spot directs the Robo TAP to the precise area for cleaning. Two more taps will cancel the order and three taps returns the vacuum cleaner to its automatic program.