It is hard to say which would be scarier: waking up to an earthquake, or to being trapped inside of a jumbo coffin-like contraption containing your bed and emergency supplies.

Wang Wenxi developed and patented this bizarre panic-room bed prototype, which drops a top and side on your snuggly shelter when disaster strikes (or, in certain variants: drops you down into a solid shell, with the lid folding over the top after your fall).

Food, water, masks and fire extinguishers are contained in the bed frame as well, and the structure itself is designed to take a beating as well as loads from above. Of course, there are a lot of criticisms one could level at this design, including: it would be difficult to move the bed inside of a home to begin with, and one could be injured by the closing operation (say you like to sleep with your feet hanging off the edge).

Then, assuming one survives, how long will the air inside last, or will you slowly suffocate your in your modern sarcophagus to be found years or centuries later by curious archeologists? If all else fails, perhaps the patent holder will find success at a different scale, designing animal traps instead of human shelters.

The post Vault 101: Freaky Earthquake-Proof Bed Locks You Inside first appeared on Gajitz.

The best part of waking up is usually not actually have to, but a close second may be: rising to the rousing smell of a freshly-brewed cup of coffee sitting right next to your bed.

A combination alarm clock and coffee maker, The Barisieur by Joshua Renouf uses steel balls to generate both sound (as they move) and heat (through induction), helping create your fresh hot drink and wake you at the same time.

A small refrigeration unit keeps the milk cool overnight as well, though an non-dairy alternative might make the design a bit more cost-effective.

A nighttime ritual of preparation is required, once that hopefully helps get you ready to go to bed in the first place, but once you have the beans, sugar and milk in place, the rest takes care of itself, and by the time you find yourself groggily reaching to turn it off you will find a coffee in your hand.

The post Coffee-Making Alarm Clock: Wake Up with a Fresh-Brewed Cup first appeared on Gajitz.

The things in our homes seem to be getting smarter by the day. Appliances like washing machines, always sort of dumb before, are now equipped with “brains” to help them communicate. It seems that this technology is now carrying over to the non-appliance objects that we live with every day…things like blankets. Wait, blankets?

Studio NMinusOne says that a smart blanket could be an astoundingly useful tool. Just think of how much time we spend under blankets – for most people, it’s about a third of our lives. A blanket that collects data about our sleeping patterns and communicates that data to a dedicated IP address could provide an important glimpse into that lost third of every day.

The IM Blanky, as the Studio NMinusOne project is called, is kind of like a big, soft, flexible circuit board. Which admittedly sounds quite uncomfortable, but it drapes just like a regular blanket. It has 104 tilt sensors along with lots of other small sensors built into the fabric, all of which manage to look like a very attractive floral pattern. An Arduino processor turns all of the sensor data into a real-time 3D map and then sends the info to the internet.

It might seem a bit odd at first, but the idea actually makes a lot of sense. The blanket could be used to monitor vital signs in the ill or elderly, or it could provide daily feedback for people who have trouble sleeping. It could count the cuddles shared by a new couple or provide a hugging sensation for lonely folks. On a more sinister note, it could even keep track of lazy house guests who are really napping when they claim to be job hunting…or even tattle on philandering spouses.

The post Space-Age Snuggie: Blankets Become High-Tech Babysitters first appeared on Gajitz.