From floating bonsai trees to levitating gadgets, hovering household items is all the rage, and now you can lift your smartphone with a similarly elevated form of design (and all while it charges!).

The OvRcharge floats your device using magnets, and has magnetic cases available for phones that would not float on their own devices.  As you phone charges, it hovers and spins slowly over the stand.

To be fair, this is absolutely a functionally useless gimmick, but you can’t have function without fun, so for fans of floating ‘stuff’ it can be a dynamic addition to your decor collection. The makers seem to have worked out both the wireless charging and magnetization issues.

“Wireless power transfer is around for years, wireless energy transmitted to  electrical load from a base or transmitter. Energy is sent through waves and on other end  an inductive coupling to electrical device, which can then use that energy to charge batteries or run the device. There are some drawbacks are in this technology like power loss and distance limitations but still that’s enough for the magic.”

“The two primary issues involved in magnetic levitation are lifting forces: providing an upward force sufficient to counteract gravity, and stability: ensuring that the system does not spontaneously slide or flip into a configuration where the lift is neutralized.” No smoke nor mirrors, just good old fashion wireless charging and magnets.

The post Magnetic Floating Phone Charger Hovers Devices in Midair first appeared on Gajitz.

Pyramidal and otherworldly in its shape, this concept yacht is not as impossible as it appears, seeming to lift almost entirely off the water in the design renderings by Jonathan Schwinge. More than just an aesthetic ideal, the resulting experience would be faster and smoother for passengers.

The Tetra yacht (short for tetrahedron), uses foils for lift, it begins from the water as it increases speed, ultimately reducing drag from the surface and allowing the vessel to cruise faster, then setting back down on its main hull when stopped or slowed.

A narrow strut is dropped as the vehicle lifts, then retracted as it comes down. From an engineering standpoint, the design does not require new technologies, just dynamic redeployment of existing structural approaches, transforming to each configuration of use.

From the team behind the Tetra: “The design is instigated by the re-thinking of the form, superstructure and propulsion of the modern superyacht into a radically simple enclosure and an elevated mode of travel above the water line. The concept design of this HYSWAS craft is based upon an existing hull design that has been developed by several companies, notably the Maritime Applied Physics Corporation in America.”

The post Gravity-Defying Superyacht Lifts Off With Hydrofoil Tech first appeared on Gajitz.

Hair dryers provide the driving force behind this mesmerizing set of simple-but-beautiful installation art projects by Antoine Terrieux, a magician and juggler with an eye for repurposing everyday objects.

Presented last year at the Maison Des Jonglages (House of Juggling) in La Courneuve, France, this series of kinetic pieces shows how simple materials can create experiential art that lasts effectively forever. Paper airplanes circle over a series of blowers in one scene, a record spins and bounces endlessly in another while a string dances in the air in yet another.

His performances, light on drama and heavy on humor, incorporate similar elements, in illustrated in one of his stage shows, segments of which are shown above. The outfits alone make the video worth watching, so at least skip through some scenes to see for yourself!

The post Perpetual Motion: Kinetic Artworks Driven by Hair Dryers first appeared on Gajitz.

Life preservers are the seatbelts of swimming: we all know we should wear them, but some of us refuse, no matter how dangerous that refusal might be. Instead of debating over wearing the big orange life vest, Kingii offers an unobtrusive way to stay safe at the beach.

The little device fits on your wrist; one component is a bit larger than a pack of bubble gum while the other component is roughly the size of a can of pepper spray. They’re mounted on a waterproof wrist band and the whole thing allows for a full range of movement when worn. A built-in compass on the wristband can help you find your way back to shore, and a whistle makes you more easily findable to rescue workers.

If you get into trouble in the water and need a lift, all it takes is a simple pull of a lever. A CO2 cartridge quickly inflates a buoyant orange pouch that carries you right up to the surface of the water. After you use it, Kingii is fully rechargeable; just fold up the balloon and tuck it into its pocket, then put a new CO2 cartridge in place.

The Kingii’s inventor, Tom Agapiades, was inspired to create the device after a close friend drowned in a lake. The project raised hundreds of times its fundraising goal on Indiegogo; after its initial run it will retail for $89.99 on Amazon and elsewhere.

The post Instant Life Lift: Wrist-Mounted Inflatable Life Preserver first appeared on Gajitz.

Using magnetic fields to hover a small LED disk, this little flying saucer lamp lights up when you slide the disk into place, then dims when you remove it. Functional for sure, the real draw of this design is probably in the wow-factor – impress your guests with science bordering on magic.

The LUNALUXX lamp by Elivatix is sleek and minimal, a curved steel bar connecting the white shade piece above and the lamp base below, but the real magic lies in between – current pulsing through the system at 1,000 times per second to keep the disk in place and lit. You can poke and prod the disk and it will return to its default position in midair unless dislodged manually by physically grabbing and removing it.

From the designers: “It is truly the first of its kind featuring a minimalistic design, generating a smooth atmospheric light with a futuristic touch.
 By combining both magnetic suspension and remote-phosphor lightning technologies, a light emitting disc is freely suspended in mid air!”

More on the technology: “The design also uses remote phosphor technology to administer its light through two LEDs. In the base of the lamp, a blue LED shines up onto the LED disk, which is layered with phosphor. When the beam hits the layer on the disk, the blue light is absorbed and the disk radiates white. This twofold technology allows for a high energy efficiency, with the blue LED consuming only 2-3 watts of power, whilst the LED disk seems to glow with 15-20 watts of light.”

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