Eye Ring scanner converts printed text into audio, Braille

Having trouble reading? A ring could change that. 

Source: Red Dot Design website

The Eye Ring, which won a Best of the Best Red Dot Design Award in 2013, is a page scanner designed to be worn as a ring when not in use, hence its name. 

When text needs to be converted into audio or Braille, the user places the scanner or 'top' of the ring face-down on the text to begin optical character recognition. As the ring is moved from word to word, the corresponding Braille characters are extruded on the underside of the ring, allowing someone who knows Braille to recognise the letters if a finger is placed on the underside. An audio version can be sent via Bluetooth. 

The concept by Choi Hanbyul, Choi Soyoon and Hang Jeong is described at length here.

Power for outdoor events

Power always seems to be a problem when organizing outdoor events. A China company has come up with a compact power system that generates the power from the wind and the sun. 

Source: Chengdu IDing website, featuring the Red Dot award

Called the Portable Wind Solar Complementary System and a winner of the Best of the Best Red Dot Design Awards 2013, Portable Wind Solar Complementary System harnesses wind energy and solar energy to generate power. 

The sides of the storage unit fold out to form a stable base, to which the solar panels and the wind generator are fixed. Designed by Luo WanLan, He Cheng, Peng Tao, Xiong Xiong, and Zhang WenJun of Chengdu IDing Industrial Design, the wind turbine has a rated output of 400W while the solar panels have an output of 90W. 

More details are shared here.

Submissions still open for Red Dot design award

The Red Dot Award for design concepts, one of the largest and most recognised professional design competitions for design concepts and prototypes worldwide, is now open for the standard submissions phase for the 2014 round of awards. 

The Red Dot Design Museum, Singapore

The standard submission period runs to 2 April 2014, during which submissions can be made with the advantage of pre-judging. Under standard submission, the submission fee for the second entry in a single online submission is free.
 

The pre-judging process allows design concepts to be submitted in English, Chinese, German, or Korean. Submissions shortlisted for final judging will require translation into English, and also a presentation fee; presentation fees do not have to be paid if the submission does not make it to the shortlist.
 

Late submissions are accepted from 3 April to 21 May 2014. Submissions will only be accepted in English, and both the submission fee and the presentation fee have to be paid.
 
The final judging process takes place at the Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore. Winners will be notified before the end of June 2014, and the award ceremony will be held at the museum in Singapore on 26 September 2014.

The Red Dot design award is the only international design award that has three large world class design museums to celebrate and showcase its winners.  The museum, together with the yearbook, the yearbook apps, the online exhibition, the travelling exhibitions and media coverage make the Red Dot Award for design concepts a coveted award to win.