designbivouac

More BMW Motorrad Innovations on the Horizon

Yes please. The sooner the better.

 

Witty Knitting

Vík Prjónsdóttir is a collective of Icelandic designers that one day decided to start collaborating with an old knitting factory in the countryside of Iceland. View more here. http://www.vikprjonsdottir.com/

BMW Breaks New Barriers with Entry Level M Model

BMW has long been breaking performance barriers with each successive model in their M range and the new 1 Series M is no exception. In this nicely choreographed video they take things to a new level which would no doubt make Tanner proud.

 

 

An Empathy Exercise for Those That Really Build Things

For those that could swear that their car had to have been built late on a Friday afternoon or clearly bought a pure lemon, try building an 8070 in a weekend. The latest super car from Lego Group's Technic division includes a free floating differential, a visible 8 cylinder engine with working pistons tied in to the transmission, double wishbone suspension components and various power goodies.

Putting one of these together sans a bunch of spare parts lying around once the job is done is a nice accomplishment. It's also a great empathy exercise to help us realize, even if on a much smaller scale, some of what a day is like for those putting together the things that move us every day. A special thanks goes out to you, the builders of the world.

Automobile Manufacturers Lighten Things Up

As evidenced by many new carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) parts on display at BMW Group's Innovation Day 2011 event, car manufacturers are going to great lengths to reduce the weight of their vehicles. Diet programs include innovative techniques for removing the core of wheels which are traditionally solid metal and replacing them with new, lighter, high-strength materials as seen in BMW's Naturecore wheels. For BMW, no doubt much of what was on display will find its way into their new BMW i Division of vehicles. Fore more visit World Car Fans.

BMW Concept C Focuses on Crowded Urban Commuting

As featured on TopSpeed, BMW revealed the new Concept C at the EICMA Show in Milan. The Concept C is BMW’s vision of the big scooter with the C in the name standing for "commuter." It is aimed a alleviating some of the crowding on urban streets associated with shorter daily errand running and shorter commuting routes. This concept is BMW’s response to that increasing traffic situation. They say the Concept C represents "the prospect of an innovative, sporty big scooter for the future premium segment." The concept is enhanced by several innovations to the scooter market, including video camera rear-view monitors.

BMW Motorrad Factory Video

Catch a rare glimpse of what goes into making something like the new K1660GT motorcycle through this unique on-the-line video from BMW Motorrad's Berlin production plant. An impressive balance of assembly technology and good, old-fashioned hand building to be sure.

 

Getting Creative with the iPhone

The Hitchcock Mobile Storyboard Composer by Cinemek is a great example of a wave of new content creation tools (versus content consumption only apps) that we hope to continue to see being released for the iPhone and iPad. The application allows for those visualizing storyboards to use photos and markup icons as an alternative to sketching.

Hitchcock Mobile Storyboard Composer from cinemek / Hitchcock on Vimeo.

 

Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept: Small is the Next Big Thing in Luxury

 
Cadillac's Urban Luxury Concept which debuted this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show is just the kind of product that will continue to fuel General Motor's emergence from bankruptcy. For those that took part in a fairly strong IPO this week, this is another encouraging sign of solid design thinking taking place at GM these days. With room for four, estimated fuel economy ratings of 56 mpg city/65 mpg highway, and a number of innovative features in store beyond the scissor-style doors, the bivouac says bring this to market ASAP! This is "Art and Science" that's great for both the senses and the planet. See more photos via World Car Fans.

TikTok+LunaTik: Ideas Whose Time Has Come

In a classic example of building on the ideas of others, Scott Wilson has come up with an elegant solution that transforms Apple's iPod Nano into a multitouch watch. You can help fund his project via Kickstarter.

The Warmth of Great Ideas

While perhaps not entirely ideal in that BioLite still draws on buring wood as a source of fuel, it is nonetheless a revolutionary stove that makes cooking on wood as clean, safe and easy as modern fuels while generating electricity to provide illumination and cell phone connectivity to those that are off-grid.

Like other carefully designed stoves using fans to blow air into the fire, BioLite dramatically improves combustion. However, other stoves require small amounts of electricity to power their fans. BioLite stoves solve this problem by converting a fraction of the fire’s thermal energy into electricity to power our combustion improvement system. Excess electricity is made available to users for charging small electronic devices such as Cell phones and LED lights. A bright idea indeed.

The New Face of BMW Motorrad...Yes Please!

A recent study indicates that people love cars with angry faces. This finding has long been recognized by automotive designers. In fact, shaping the faces of vehicles to make a statement has been an important aspect of the design process for many car companies over the years. With the release of the K1600GT and K1600GTL, BMW is migrating some of the most recognizable "facial" elements from its automobile division to its motorcycle group.

Here's hoping that this new face of motorrad propegates throughout BMW's motorcycle lineup. Not only is it distinctive and instantly associated with the power the brand has had on offer for decades, but it also brings welcomed innovation to the motorcycle industry in the form of the world's first adaptive headlamp for motorycles. Critics might feel this new look is a bit too agressive but when you are moving down a dark and rainy pacific coast highway, one is hard pressed to think of a better way to ward of any potential threats lurking in the darkness.

Shown above is the new facia of the K1600GTL. Illuminating even in full daylight from a design perspective.

 

BMW 6 Cylinder Legend Finds its Way to Touring Bikes

It's on the way...and ready for the touring motorcycle of the future. Anxious to see what they wrap around what seems to be an impressive bit of engineering.

 

More Details Surface Regarding BMW's Megacity Electric Vehicle

Looks like progress continues on BMW's Megacity electric vehicle which is likely to launch under a yet to be named sub-brand some time in 2013. For more details and photos revealing some new manufacturing techniques being explored, including extruded aluminum subframe components and extensive usage of carbon fiber, visit worldcarfans.

Beauty is More Than Skin Deep

For motorcyclists, the image below might set the mind wondering about just what is it that you are riding. Looking somewhat like those circulatory diagrams outlining how blood flows through the body, the image highlights the lightweight integral anti-lock braking system (integrated ABS) and automatic stability control (ASC) system which BMW has continued to refine for its motorcycles.

Although as BMW states, no system can mitigate all road condition risks, it is inspiring to see a company care so much about safety and to see how beautiful (and intelligent) the systems are from an engineering perspective...even if they really are not intended to be seen.

To learn more, see webbikeworld's overview of BMW's Integral ABS and ASC systems. Very informative.

2011 BMW K1600GT - K1600GTL Adaptive Headlight official video

Alas, let there be light (where it is needed) for those journeying forth on two wheels.

iPad, meet Hypercard

Clearly folks are hungry for a way to leverage Apple's newest mix of technology and artistry to CREATE as well as consume content. Dale Dougherty makes a case for the fact that the iPad could benefit from the equivalent of yesteryear's highly accessible Hypercard programming environment. Such synergy would allow a broader range of folks, beyond application developers, to create and shape content in rich new ways.Applications like A Story Before Bed portent the power of a new wave of multimedia content creation. However, developer's applications force users to work within the limits of the application rather than leverage a more free-form, powerful, yet still accessible creation environment. Even the Newton OS eventually got a version of HyperCard called NewtCard. Perhaps a little old school content creation, the kind that moves beyond making playlists, photo albums and email, mixed in with the latest delightful wave of technology is in the cards. Only time will tell.

A New Perspective

Sometimes the essential functionality of an object is best revealed from angles seldom seen. Take the redesigned 2010 R1200RT for example. Seen from the side, the bike appears familiar... a fine design iteration of the venerable long distance tourer.

However, the true genius and dynamics of the design are best revealed from a eagle's-eye view. From above, affordances for generous wind protection and ways to obtain comfort for miles on end really stand out. Undoubtedly this type of "form follows function" creativity is stirred up during long hours spent shaping the design in a wind tunnel. Regardless of how it came into being, the bivouac is once again blown away by the refinements taking place in motorrad land. Perhaps you too are thinking about your designs from all angles?

BMW Strives to Keep it Simple with New Simple Concept

Perhaps leveraging lessons gained from the C1 program years ago, BMW is exploring a new variant of a vehicle that mixes the best from the automotive and motorcycle design...something a company like BMW is ideally positioned to do. Let's hope they keep leaning into this concept...so to speak...and move beyond research and development for this new vehicle segment.

BMW C1-E Possibly Headed to a Sidewalk Near You

BMW looks set to resurrect the C1 vehicle genre with a revised variant that could be electrically powered. While once perhaps ahead of its time, this may well mark the return of a intriguing vehicle form factor give the renewed focus on sustainable transportation solutions, rising fuel prices and urban crowding. We may all finally have the pleasure of seeing one C1 near us soon.

Refinement in the Marketplace

In today's economy, many companies may not be in a position to introduce entirely new offerings. However, though holding to core principles and applying their passion toward incremental improvements, companies might well be shaping iconic product lines with lasting impact.

Companies that are passionate about their offerings can be found continually improving their products or services openly in the marketplace. Take the BMW GS line of motorcycles. BMW was clearly in a position a few years ago to just hold in place with the design of what was arguably the finest adventure touring motorcycle on the market. And yet, the company continued listening to riders and dealers. Each year they made some subtle and not-so-subtle ergonomic, stylistic and performance enhancements as they refined the GS line. To be sure, some years brought more refinements than others but overall the pace of refinement was notable. Despite all of the refinements, BMW actually managed to reduce the weight of the GS as well, evidence of another notable trait. The ability to balance principled design thinking with passion. In this case they enthusiastically introduced new refinements while holding themselves to what is undoubtedly one of their core principles of "rideability."

BMW R1150GS Adventure

BMW R1200GS Adventure

This kind of subtle improvement year-over-year impresses and inspires. And the beauty of it is that companies stick to it, they can find themselves with loyal followers that are secure in the journey they are taking with the company. They know that changes in the product will be well thought out and align with their passions.

Once an offering reaches a certain level of success, it is often all too easy to hold off on further refinement due to either economic pressures or what sometimes proves to be a paralyzing fear of not wanting to "mess with success". The fact that companies like BMW remain committed to constant product improvement guided by underlying guiding principles of design that allow them to refine and stay on course, shows just how important a role that both passion for riding and design thinking has in their culture.

As they nurture an offering, they can take comfort in the fact that they will be able to look back at a series of world-class offerings that, taken together as a whole, leave a greater impression on the market place than many initially hot selling offerings that either are innovated past by their creators or fade into obscurity over time due to a lack of persistence in the marketplace.

One can see a similar balance of passion and principled design thinking with Apple's iPhone refinement. The experience of the original iPhone was largely translated seamlessly into the 3G unit while new features were introduced, including location awareness enhancements. One important factor here is that while new features are certainly marketed, the nuances are left to be discovered in the context of use. Prompts for the iPhone to use location services are initially encountered naturally within the maps application leaving users with a nice discovery at a moment of maximum emotional potential rather than burdening them with some extended step-by-step set up wizard sequence. Similar moments of delight are undoubtedly experienced by GS riders when they realize while at freeway riding speeds that they have a sixth deeper gear they can shift to.

In this era where innovation is constantly being touted as the way forward, we could do well to remember that incremental refinement also has its merits, especially when it comes to generating a loyal following and providing users with the confidence to come along on a rewarding ride.

Can you think of other products that show evidence of inspired refinement or companies that are doing a great job of prototyping and refining in the marketplace?

BMW Concept 5 Grand Turismo

BMW provides a grand tour of its Concept 5 Grand Turismo model via its informative film format website. Take a closer look both inside and out at this new category of vehicle. View the Concept 5 Grand Turismo website

Pure Visual Searching Goodness

Keen to add a visual element or some serendipity to your web searching? Try oskope.

Getting Smarter

With the Smart fortwo becoming available in the United States, perhaps more sustainable attitudes towards transport will shift into a higher gear. Who knows, maybe we will see a new generation of innovative modes of moving designs like BMW's C1 coming into the marketplace . It won't be easy to overcome significant challenges, as evidenced by the Smart fortwo vs. Hummer H2 size comparison image below. However, with new advances in active and passive safety coming to the market each year, perhaps we can find smarter alternative modes of movement before gasoline hits the $5.00 mark.

Sony Launches Xperia

Sony's Xperia X1 appears poised to compete strongly with the hipster while incorporating a large touch screen like the Apple iPhone. For those who are all thumbs, the X1's Arc slider design and QUERTY keypad may be just the thing they have been waiting to get their hands on.

Seiko and Final Fantasy

This is an addendum to a previous post about the notable interaction design featured in the computer generated feature length film "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within". Seiko apparently produced a limited edition of watches similar in appearance to the one Dr. Aki Ross wore in the film. Kudos to Seiko for pushing the edge a bit on this one and getting something unique out there in the market. Now if only the film had a slightly better story line. Oh, yeah, and a holographic display on the watch would be cool too.

Back to the Future

Not sure just what is going on over at Cadillac headquarters these days but let's hope they keep it up! Ed Welburn and his design team continue to successfully explore the edged aesthetic reminiscent of some of Syd Mead's vehicle designs which inspired so many to think about what the future of vehicle design might hold. The CTS Coupe concept is another successful design exercise in that regard. Thanks to the folks at Cadillac for bringing back that feeling of future think once again. Now, if we could just start seeing more vehicles like this on the road...ideally with a hybrid power plant.

Lamborghini Reventon

Inspired by military aviation and the stealth aesthetic, the Lamborghini Reventon is admirable for its purity of statement. Not a bad performer either as evidenced by its recent run against an Italian Air Force Tornado. View more here.

Sony Rolly

Regardless of how it strikes you from the perspective of an organization investing time and development resources into a product like this, the Sony Rolly is captivating to watch. A candidate for the bivouac's notable products category for sure. Thanks to Nicholas for the heads up.

One Laptop Per Child

Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time in North America. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home. If you're interested in Give 1 Get 1, visit www.xogiving.org and get giving.