One of my still unfulfilled dreams is to one day be able to view the seas from the deck of a luxurious yacht. I don’t have to actually own one but it would be nice to experience this if a rich friend or acquaintance would invite me to go on board and experience the “high seas”. It would also be a bonus if said yacht can actually let us sail at high speed if we want to. This concept for a hybrid yacht seems to be a good option for this dream.
Designer: Pierpaolo Lazzarini
The Palladio is a concept for a hybrid yacht that is ultra-light and can speed up to 55 knots maximum. It also looks like something out of a sci-fi movie set in water as it uses a futuristic, mouth-shaped, avant-garde design that makes it look like a pod cruising through the waters. It is made from carbon fiber and is propelled by twin Castoldi jets and driven by two FTP engines.
The 20-meter yacht is able to house 26 passengers, with 22 seated in the main cabin and four at the front section which includes the captain. The pod-looking vehicle can also have toilets or dinettes in the corners to make the passengers more comfortable. The back section can also accommodate some of the crew and also store the passengers’ luggage and belongings.
Even though the Palladio is mostly a closed vehicle, there are filtered air intakes on each side so that the passengers can still have a comfortable breathing space in this environment. I’ll definitely add this kind of hybrid yacht to my dream water transport, although this is still in the concept stage so we don’t know if it will eventually become a reality.
After years of developing some of the world’s leading aerial drones, DJI debuted the Avata last year, their first-ever ‘FPV’ racing drone… and that got designer Kim Seung-cheol asking – Why must there be separate drones for aerial photography and first-person racing? Why can’t one drone successfully do both? To that end, the DJI FPV2 does the unthinkable by being the world’s first ‘hybrid’ drone capable of FPV racing as well as stabilized aerial photo and videography, thanks to its clever design that borrows the best from both worlds.
Designer: Kim Seung-cheol
The FPV2 drone doesn’t have a radically different design, but rather relies on a few tweaks to its appearance and control system to give it the power of rapid directional flight as well as controlled hovering for stable videography. It relies on a leaning propeller format that’s ideal for FPV-style racing drones. The propellers are located at a slant and positioned diagonally, making the drone look like it’s bending forward. This is perfect for allowing the drone to lunge ahead as it takes off, giving it a significant advantage when racing with other drones or when trying to reach high speeds. However, for aerial photography and videography, the drone simply leans backwards, allowing the propellers to now be parallel to the ground. The gimbal-mounted camera makes up for this while in aerial photography mode.
As an obvious upgrade to its Avata and Mini lines, the FPV2 has a new dual-lens camera system powered by Hasselblad (a partnership continuing from their collaboration on the Mavic 3). Quite similar to the Air 3 drone, the FPV2 has a dual-lens gimbal-mounted camera that can look in all directions for filming sceneries, focusing on subjects, and racing. This doesn’t include the multiple cameras located around its periphery for tracking its environment, avoiding objects, and navigating routes.
A large, easily replaceable battery powers the FPV2, allowing you to quickly hot-swap modules to keep your FPV2 running without downtime for charging. The battery’s mass and its rear location help it counterbalance the drone’s forward-leaning stance, or rather the inverse. The drone races forward with a raised back, preventing the battery pack from dragging it down or influencing its course.
To accompany the drone, Kim Seung Cheol also designed a new set of MR goggles and a controller handle. The compact goggles come with their own pass-through cameras, and sport flip-out antennas for better signal during flight (especially FPV racing). A cushioned headrest with a built-in battery keeps the equilibrium of the headset while also ensuring you can wear it for longer hours without feeling any strain.
Given the immersive nature of the MR headset, the FPV2 also comes with its own RC Motion 2-inspired handheld control that you can intuitively use to maneuver your drone while in flight. The single handheld controller has a gyroscope that detects when it’s being tilted forward or backward, translating that into instructions for the drone to follow. A trigger lets you accelerate, while a joystick gives you more precise control. A large button on the front marked M lets you alternate between racing and aerial modes.
What really gives the FPV2 its edge is the case it comes in, which doubles as a massive battery pack for the drone, controller, and MR headset. Think TWS earbud charging case but bigger and better. Designed to hold your gear when not in use, the carrying case also juices your device batteries while giving you a battery status indicator in the bottom right corner, so you know which particular gizmo needs a recharge.
What the DJI FPV2 proposes isn’t too radical. Some drones are built for racing, others for stabilized content creation… so why not build a drone that can do both? It’s not like the hardware is massively different between the two drone types, and as far as the overall design goes, I’m sure both functions can be achieved within a specially tuned form factor. Maybe DJI is working on something like this, it’s difficult to tell. The company hasn’t debuted a Gen-2 of its Avata FPV drone, so we’re due for an updated racing drone from the consumer/professional-grade UAV manufacturer.
Just look at this two-wheeled ride that’s a mashup of a funky electric bike, an electric car and a space capsule. Electric four-wheeler I say because it has four sets of wheels – two at the front and two at the back in close proximity. Something akin to the wheel configurations of a truck’s rear wheels.
Here the hubless wheels provide extra stability on the tarmac and also help in the cornering speed of the bike. They have an independent wishbone suspension system for each of the wheels that further helps in the stability. The whole setup of Karver Cyle Concept K1 is tuned for performance-oriented travel on freeways and metropolis.
Designer: Kip Kubisz
The secure cabin surrounded by panoramic glass panels gives the rider 180-degree freedom of viewing. Step inside and you have a sporty and ergonomic seating configuration tailored for speed. That F1 steering wheel-like configuration has a much-simplified interface to show all the vital telemetry. Beyond it lies the stylish dashboard showing the current speed, electric motor heat levels and other vital driving data.
The K1 concept is propelled forward by a hybrid electric–hydrogen motor churning out loads of torque. This gives the vehicle top-notch acceleration from a standing position. However, don’t expect it to break any land speed records. Fins on both the rear ends provide aerodynamic stability and keep it glued to the road for maximum traction. Such is the stance of the bike that provides one with maximum confidence to put the foot to the metal.
At heart the Karver Cyle Concept K1 is a sports car given its exhaust design and the flowing, aerodynamic shape – but it is a two-wheeler. One can say it gets the best of both worlds – the secure housing of a car with the thrill of a bike.
Just look at this two-wheeled ride that’s a mashup of a funky electric bike, an electric car and a space capsule. Electric four-wheeler I say because it has four sets of wheels – two at the front and two at the back in close proximity. Something akin to the wheel configurations of a truck’s rear wheels.
Here the hubless wheels provide extra stability on the tarmac and also help in the cornering speed of the bike. They have an independent wishbone suspension system for each of the wheels that further helps in the stability. The whole setup of Karver Cyle Concept K1 is tuned for performance-oriented travel on freeways and metropolis.
Designer: Kip Kubisz
The secure cabin surrounded by panoramic glass panels gives the rider 180-degree freedom of viewing. Step inside and you have a sporty and ergonomic seating configuration tailored for speed. That F1 steering wheel-like configuration has a much-simplified interface to show all the vital telemetry. Beyond it lies the stylish dashboard showing the current speed, electric motor heat levels and other vital driving data.
The K1 concept is propelled forward by a hybrid electric–hydrogen motor churning out loads of torque. This gives the vehicle top-notch acceleration from a standing position. However, don’t expect it to break any land speed records. Fins on both the rear ends provide aerodynamic stability and keep it glued to the road for maximum traction. Such is the stance of the bike that provides one with maximum confidence to put the foot to the metal.
At heart the Karver Cyle Concept K1 is a sports car given its exhaust design and the flowing, aerodynamic shape – but it is a two-wheeler. One can say it gets the best of both worlds – the secure housing of a car with the thrill of a bike.
Hybrid digital cameras are a great alternative to smart phone cameras for two reasons: you can theoretically store more digital photos on an SD or micro SD card, and you can print your digital photos out like a polaroid camera. The newly announced Leica Sofort 2 competes against some of the best hybrid digital cameras around, like the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo, thanks to its versatile set of features – including built-in connectivity with Leica’s FOTOS smartphone app for seamless photo transfer between devices.
Bells and whistles aside, Leica is notorious for developing durable cameras that are easy to operate, yet produce images which immediately look great without any extra color balancing, contrast boosting, or general tweaking. At an MSRP of $389, the Sofort 2 may seem pricy compared to other hybrid digital cameras, but its secret weapon – aside from the aforementioned FOTOS app, which lets you instantly print your smartphone photos out of the Sofort 2’s built-in 86×54 mm printer – is Leica’s signature lenses that are known to produce an incredible mix of contrast, sharpness, and bokeh out of the box.
Designer: Leica
The Sofort 2 is designed for a balance of convenience and quality, thanks to its lightweight and compact design rated to weigh no more than 320 grams – or 0.7 lbs. It also features a decent array of manual controls and buttons for an intuitive, even nostalgic, analog user experience. There are dials for digital flash and optical zoom, but there’s also a manual print lever that should make the instant photo printing experience more authentic.
Its Leica Summar 2.4 f/2 lens is rated to include a solid aperture range of f2 to f16, its shutter speeds can range between 1/4s to a blazing fast 1/8000s, and its 5 megapixel 1.5″ CMOS sensor is designed to produce 2560×1920 sRGB photos – taking up about 1.2 megabytes per shot. Its internal memory can contain about 45 photos taken by the Sofort 2 (though larger photos transferred via the FOTOS app may take more space), but that can be expanded with a micro SD or micro SDHC card, letting you store up to 850 photos internally per 1GB of external SD storage.
Despite its balance of high-quality features and ease of use, regular users of hybrid digital cameras have been openly skeptical of the Leica Sofort 2’s design on forums like Reddit – mainly because of its similarities to comparable hybrid digital cameras from competing brands like Fujifilm and Polaroid. It doesn’t help that Leica’s instant film pack costs $15 per 10 exposures on its official store, whereas it can be much cheaper to buy film for other instant cameras.
Skeptics do still seem to love the FOTOS app, which is known for being well-designed from a UX standpoint, conveniently allowing transfer between Leica cameras and any modern smartphone. This means you can post your Leica Sofort 2 photos to social media instead, or you can even download photos off of other devices or directly from social media and print them via the Sofort 2’s built-in printer.
The Leica Sofort 2 comes in three color variations: black, red, and white. All look compact and stylish, so you can’t go wrong. It also seems like important peripherals like a USB-C charging cable and carry strap are bundled with the camera itself. However, it looks like you’ll need to shell out extra for any carrying bags – an accessory you may want (for peace of mind) if you’re afraid of damaging your new camera by storing it with other items in the same bag.
You can currently pre-order the Sofort 2 and any accessories you’d like, including the aforementioned carry bags and any extra carrying straps, from the Leica web store. Pre-orders end on November 9 when the new camera begins shipping out to customers across the globe.
Parties with DJs spinning aren’t exactly my cup of tea. I prefer to listen to a band or to have the music just be in the background while I get to talk and relax with people. But of course there are a lot of people who prefer to have a DJ spin some tunes and dance along to various songs that they’re mixing. Nowadays, most DJs prefer using digital tools and platforms but there are still some that prefer the feel and sound of analog tools. What if you could have the best of both worlds in one device?
Designer: Pioneer
Pioneer has been a, well, pioneer in the DJ world with its various turntables and analog decks. Even with the advent of digital tools, they’re still pushing analog turntables but now they’re also adding something to the mix, so to speak. The PLX-CRSS12 is a hybrid turntable that brings the best of both worlds with its digital-analog option. It is actually the world’s first turntable that offers analog record playback as well as tone-arm-free DVS control. These are important features for DJs who want to still use “old school” vinyls but also some of the convenience that digital platforms employ.
When a DJ uses the Digital Vinyl mode, the Magvel clamp holds the record in place so you won’t scratch the record and at the same time control the digital music file. They say that the experience is actually similar to using the other vinyl platforms that Pioneer offers. You can also adjust the “weight” of the record without having to change slip mats or slip sheets, which is convenient if you’re in the middle of mixing or spinning.
The PLX-CRSS12 has a lot of other features that should be useful for the DJ who wants both analog and digital. You get things like a switch to adjust the timing of the turntable when you press stop, built-in MIDI-mappable Performance Pads, built-in OLED display, and high-quality sound reproduction. It comes in a matte black color with some color details in the buttons. It looks pretty classy and cool and has several customizable features as well so it should match what the DJ needs and what he would like his system to look like.
