Creative people use a lot of tools to get their jobs done, but keyboards and mice are limited in their functionality. Neither are very intuitive, and they can be maddeningly imprecise. The Senic Flow controller is a wireless, programmable, gesture-controlled tool that can operate all of the tools you use to interact with the digital world.

The small round controller operates with three distinct input technologies for ultimate flexibility: hand gesture recognition, touch, and precise haptics. It has a rotating ring around its perimeter that gives you 360 degrees of movement freedom as well as touch-free gesture controls and intuitive touch controls. What you do with these features is entirely up to you because the Flow is completely programmable.

The design team’s goal was to create a single controller that would be compatible with all of the most commonly used creative programs. They built in compatibility with Photoshop, Arduino, Youtube, Soundcloud, Spotify, and around 30 more. They are planning to build in even more compatibility, and since Flow is open source, programmers can build in functionality for every program they use.

According to Berlin-based Senic, the Flow was meant to be seamless and inconspicuous, fitting into your environment comfortably and easily with a minimum of visual disruption. It’s small enough to slip into a pocket so you can take it with you when you commute between work and home, and its programmed functions can be useful in both environments.

The first working prototype of the Flow is compatible with Mac devices; Senic is working on building in compatibility with iOS devices, Android, Linux, and Windows. It connects to your devices via Bluetooth Low Energy, but the company doesn’t say how long a single battery charge lasts. Flow’s IndieGoGo project has sailed past its funding goal and Senic plans to ship the first wave of Flows in summer 2015.

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To most people, building your own car means hours of labor stretching out over weeks, months or even years. Condense this time span down to about an hour and you’d have enough to build the TABBY, an open source electric vehicle.

Italian alternative vehicle company OSVehicle is the creator of the TABBY. The company’s website describes TABBY very simply as “an open source framework for vehicles.” Its short assembly time doesn’t mean you have to completely sacrifice car building’s freedom to customize. The TABBY’s engine is available in traditional combustion, hybrid or fully-integrated electronic form.

Making your TABBY street-legal, however, does require special instructions. That’s where the Urban TABBY comes in. Called “the road legal evolution of TABBY,” it’s a special kit that you would apply to the chassis. OSVehicle’s website includes downloadable building instructions and a forum where you can upload and discuss your personal mods. Fully-built models run anywhere from $5,445 to $8,168, a reasonable price tag when you consider what some people will put into an old junker.

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The promising possibilities of 3D printing have extended from rapid prototyping of new products and home manufacturing to the realm of space travel. NASA recently provided a Small Business Innovation Research contract to Anjan Contractor, a mechanical engineer who has been testing the feasibility of using 3D printed food to keep astronauts on long-haul missions fed and healthy.

The first meal in the planning is a 3D printed pizza. Using powdered ingredients with shelf lives of up to 30 years, the 3D printer will lay down a base of dough first which will be instantly baked by a heated plate. The tomato sauce comes next – a powder mixed with water and oil. The final layer is a “protein layer,” which could be made of material obtained from plants, animals or even insects. Apparently, in space, no one can hear you scream for cheese and pepperoni.

Contractor is using the open-source Rep Rap Mendel 3D printer as the basis for his project. The above video is one of his food-printing trials, laying a layer of chocolate onto a cookie. The software he develops will be open-source as well. The food cartridges he creates will have to comply with NASA’s guidelines for meeting astronauts’ nutritional needs for extremely long journeys, such as manned trips to Mars. There’s no telling whether the creations will actually taste like food, but they’ll at least provide the nutrients to keep future space explorers alive on their missions.

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For many years now, every time a new handheld device or fancy phone hits the market, it’s hailed as the “iPhone killer.” The media have adopted this term and use it liberally, despite most of us being utterly sick of it. Designer Ronen Kadushin has developed the first open-source product that is very literally meant to kill the iPhone.

The mallet is 1.6kg of steel attached to a wooden handle and meant to be used to smash every annoyingly over-priced iPhone that gets in its way. The free and open-source design can be downloaded from the designer’s website, and makers are even encouraged to adapt the design.

Unlike iPhone accessories, the iPhonekiller is guaranteed to be compatible with all past and future versions of the iPhone. As an added bonus, it also works with the iPad – and even non-Apple cell phones. The design, says Kadushin, is his response to the media’s and public’s seeming reverence of Apple gadgets. The tongue-in-cheek creation goes to show that some people can’t live without their iPhones…and others just wish they would go away already.

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