Turn each dial to cycle through 464 possible colors across a wall of bright lights, a magnet of introverts, conversation piece for extroverts and all-around insurance that there will always be something to do at the party.

Everbright comes with default animations to keep things interesting, a push-button reset for any time you want to start from scratch, and a smoother interface than its historic cousin, the Lite-Brite (a plug-and-play toy with a tendency toward piece loss).

Based in San Francisco, the Hero Design team is selling these to the public, but targeting them to places where some added interaction would be helpful, like hotel lobbies, office waiting rooms and children’s museums.

Hard to verify their claims, but they even say this will make workplaces more productive: “Solve hard problems faster. Everbright refreshes hard-working brains. Unconscious minds are free to work through hard problems as hands tinker with this screen-free, device-free, interruption-free, tactile toy. It’s like a giant “refresh” button for the brain.”

The post Everbright: Giant Interactive Lite-Brite Wall for Adults first appeared on Gajitz.

Every parent has had the privilege of being the unofficial playground for their tots. Kids just love to climb all over grownups, regardless of how painful a poorly-placed little foot can be. Designer Atsushi Shiraishi at Tama Art University created the Athletitti Vest, a wearable device that turns you into a playground for your little one.

The Athletitti Vest is meant to strengthen the bonds between parent and child, to encourage interactive play and, we assume, to give your kids appropriate places to put their fists and feet.

It looks a little like a primitive torture device: a narrow leather vest held together with thick black rope. It ties around the front, effectively caging in the parent’s torso.

The ropes are sturdy handholds for small children, and because the vest is secured tightly on the body, Junior can climb, hang and swing all he wants. We can’t imagine it would be great for a parent’s back, but it’s a novel way to interact with your littlest kiddos while keeping them super-close.

The post Saddle Up! Vest is a Wearable Jungle Gym For Your Kids first appeared on Gajitz.

Professional shippers and innocent bystanders may rejoice, but others are up in arms about the announcement of a new form of Bubble Wrap designed not to pop, and thus also fail to create that distinctive sound we all know and love (or hate).

American company Sealed Air created iBubble Wrap with interlinked columns of trapped air rather than individual bubbles, allowing contents to squeeze over rather than bursting. Another advantage: unlike its traditional counterparts, this new version will be inflated on-site, making it cheaper and greener to ship to those using it for packaging on a mass scale. The company is also exploring alternative uses, as shown in some of the images here and reflecting the unusual origins of the material (it was designed as a wall covering then repurposed as packing material).

After outbursts on social media, Sealed Air stepped in to reassure consumers who enjoy alternative functions provided by bubble wrap, like scaring siblings or stress relief: “Fear not fans of ‪#‎BubbleWrap‬ and its famous pop! We are excited to expand our Bubble Wrap family to include iBubble Wrap, but the original version you love to pop isn’t going anywhere.”

Still, it is hard to imagine that if this new type works better it won’t naturally replace the original over time as more commercial users adopt and distribute it: “We want to protect what matters most to you, and a version of Bubble Wrap that doesn’t pop (less air loss means more long-lasting protection against damage during shipment) is just one of the ways we can do that.”

The post Pop-Free Bubble Wrap: Redesign Eliminates Noise (& Fun) first appeared on Gajitz.

When you have a dream, no matter how impossible or illogical it sounds, you just have to go for it. Ryan Craven had a seemingly impossible dream: to build an affordable, fun, practical, working hoverboard by the end of 2014. He spent the entire year creating and refining more than a dozen designs before he came up with one that met all of his criteria. He calls it Mr. Hoverboard.

The working prototype consists of two round wooden platforms and part of an old wooden ski he found on the side of the road. Four leaf blowers provide the air which fills up a skirt with strategically placed holes. The air rushing through those holes creates a small cushion between the hoverboard and the ground, allowing you to glide around on any flat surface.

The resulting craft is loud – really loud. Craven says that future versions of Mr. Hoverboard will hopefully be quieter as he improves the air flow functionality. Another goal is to make it work over water as well as hard surfaces. As it is at the moment, it looks pretty amazing and Craven says it’s crazy fun to ride.

The next step in bringing his highly unusual dream to life is getting together other hoverboard enthusiasts in Austin, Texas, where Craven lives. He hopes that he can tap into the hive mind to build a better hoverboard that anyone can ride. Until then, makers and DIYers can build their own for about $250-$500 (depending on the materials you use) from the plans on the Mr. Hoverboard site.

The post We’ll All Float On: DIY Hoverboard With Leaf Blower Power first appeared on Gajitz.

We’ve spent years babying our iPhones and countless dollars on better cases to keep them safe (usually after breaking one and then replacing it). It seems odd, then, that we should be so intrigued by the iPhone Trick Cover from Japanese company Nitto. The cover, only available for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, makes you look like a slick ninja whenever you take your phone out.

The “trick” in the trick cover is its unique flipping motion. With a flick of your wrist, you can shake that bad boy up like a pair of nunchuks to slide out your phone. Shake it and slide it again and your phone’s screen is protected. Then it’s up to you whether you want to keep playing with it or actually use it to be productive. Judging from how fun it looks, we’d probably never get anything done ever again.

But the case isn’t all flash; it also stores your credit cards, ID, and transport passes like a lot of other wallet-type phone cases. When you’re done playing with it, the case becomes a stand for your phone so you can set it down securely on a flat surface. It’ll probably need to rest after all of that ninja-style tricking, anyway.

You can also just use your hand to slide the phone case open and closed if you, like us, are terrified of your phone flying out of your hands when you’re trying to look cool. You can buy the iPhone Trick Cover for around $30 at Nitto’s online shop.

The post Nunchuk-Inspired Case Gives You Mad iPhone Ninja Skills first appeared on Gajitz.