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dish bunny

here

man eater

hetty rose shoes

beautiful, but really expensive
made from vintage kimonos

a photo a day for 8 years

watches

Sea Hope: Flash Me with Your LED
13 Aug 2007 Category: Features, Japan, Products, Fashion

Sea Hope: Flash Me with Your LED
Such LED beauty - wanna have! Deserving of its name, the "Pimp" boasts about the time with its 72 LED elements, providing you with an awesome spiral light show. Developed by Yokohama-based watchmaker Sea Hope. Photo by Martin Holtkamp.

Who said we want a watch to tell us the time? We want something that gleams in the dark like Knight Rider could so fabulously! Even more since fancy LEDs serve not only as club decor and artsy design, like the LED table by Ingo Maurer or the 700,000 lights facade of Peter Marino’s Chanel Building in Ginza. Being small, versatile and luminescent, LED elements are ideal - on our wrists! Take Japanese design firm Sea Hope: Since ten years, their watches have abandoned traditional hands, showing the time artful encoded in LEDs, LCDs or analogue patterns you’d have to solve. PingMag was overdue in heading over to Yokohama to get our flash from Sea Hope founder Yasushi Kimura.

Written by Vicente Gutierrez

Sea Hope founder Yasushi Kimura wearing one of the first watches he made, an “EleeNo 001.” Photo by Martin Holtkamp.

Old-school analogue in a sleek new guise: the analogue “EleeNo Orbit.” Image courtesy of Tokyoflash.

When and how did you start making watches?

I was living in London for three years while I was working for SEGA. One day, I came across a guitar-shaped watch in a small shop in London - and ended up contacting the manufacturer about the parts. Then, I wanted to start designing my own watches around the concept of not using traditional hands to display the time, and started to in 1997. It’s been ten years and by now we are an international company.

Geometric patterns galore as LED! Its name is “JLr7″ after its top row – Tilt your head 90 degrees to the right and you will see that. Credits: Sea Hope.

So, what were your first watches like?

Our first was an analogue model, the EleeNo 001, and our first LED watch was the Pimp1 with red, green and yellow LED elements. At that time, red, green and yellow LEDs comprised about 80 percent of LED products and blue and white LED lights had just become available. So, the next Pimp models were embedded with blue and white LEDs. These ended up being really successful…

Sea Hope’s very first watch, without hands: artful analogue art with the “EleeNo 001.” Image courtesy of Tokyoflash.

No wonder! Who isn’t intrigued by LEDs? What’s your personal fascination with it?

Simply put, people like light and illuminations - it just enhances any accessory; especially in Japan, where it gets dark so early. For example, mobiles are just so part of our daily lives now and they have become very accessorised in trying to be unique and user-friendly with their displays. I think watches are just another accessory and LED lights give off an illumination everyone enjoys. The lights are like those small insects in the night, those bugs that can light up. They are fascinating little lights.

THE Scope: for your next sci-fi fantasy. This one was inspired by a movie, but Yasushi didn’t tell which one. Try to guess! Photo by Martin Holtkamp.

New LCD display, inspired by sci-fi movies and car audio stereo displays: the “Alien DNA.” Photo by Martin Holtkamp.

Glowworms! Are you more into Analogue or LED?

I feel a push and pull between complex and simple watch design. People love the latest technology but still want something simple. The watch market is so trendy, but as trends are always moving and changing, I feel the market is coming back toward analogue watches recently. However, LED watches peak in popularity about every ten years or so, but you can feel the sales pressure. Even though my market is really small, frankly speaking it’s easier to make and sell analogue watches. But I just want to make analogue ones in my own way, without hands.

Who cares about the time anyway, when you look at the LEDs of this super hip “Equalizer”? Image courtesy of Tokyoflash.

Where do you find inspiration to make a watch from a stereo equaliser or a Radio Active model or the military-themed Scope?

I’m always thinking about everyday items and ways to make them into interactive watches: Sometimes it comes from light and interface designs in mobile phones or cars. Other times, I see movies or TV commercials and something catches my eye. For example, the idea for the Scope came from a sci-fi movie I saw. It plays a short illumination when it searches, then the two lines focus on the time. The Scope watch illustrates well what people want and we are now in the process of making the Scope 2 with new LCD technology.

The “Radio Active:” Do the math to figure out the time by counting flashing LED lights! Image courtesy of Tokyoflash.

So watch making is also about new technology…

We are always looking for new technology to use in our watches. People want newer and newer things so we have to stay ahead because that’s the way for us to survive. Though we could never compete with big watchmakers like Seiko and Casio, we still can try: As a result, my watches turn out to be quite different. For example, the idea to use LCDs came from car audio stereo displays: They show more detailed graphics and display the time constantly, while LED models display the time only after pressing a button. For the new Scope, we are using LCDs for the display as we did with the Alien DNA model. That was also an idea drawn from a sci-fi movie…

The making of the “EleeNo EG3:” from first sketches…

… to a dummy - still without the LCD display. Photos by Martin Holtkamp.

The sophisticated time concept of the “EleeNo EG3:” The hours are displayed by twelve blocks in the first row. Ten-minute blocks of each hour are symbolised one of the six blocks in the second row. The third row is divided in ten blocks for the display of each minute. Photo by Martin Holtkamp.

The earlier version of the “EleeNo EG,” an instant classic.

Also from the inside, your watches seem to be complexly built. When you design with LED and LCD elements, what challenges do you face?

I have space limitations: It’s like being an engineer because I have to fit in certain parts, like the battery and grid of lights, in a certain fixed space. But from a designer’s viewpoint, sometimes I want to make them bigger or wider but I still have to adhere to some size or capacity standards. Sometimes, it’s not even possible to make what I drew. The technology can set a limit and goes against what I want to do so I’m always working to find the midway.

Hit me with your equaliser: the “High Frequency 2″ with a 3D style LED display - looks like the Tron movie! Credits: Sea Hope.

Now we want to know all of the details: What’s the process of making one of your fabulous watches?

The next elegant release: the “Jekyll and Hyde,” analogue, again. Photo by Martin Holtkamp.

Our average LED watch takes one to two years to produce, whereas an analogue watch takes just about five months. First, I start drawing in my sketchbook whatever enters my mind and conceptualise what I want to do. Then, I lay it out on my computer. Afterwards there are a few steps I can’t show you, sorry… But then I begin to make a few dummy models, going back and forth in refining the design and changing the materials - until we get to the final product.

Interesting! Now, what will the future timepieces be like?

Right now we are in the middle of making a new line. Apart from LCD elements, we are beginning to look into chargeable watches, like a mobile: You can wear it out, and in your downtime, you charge it. Sorry, I can’t show you the new prototypes yet - but here is a new analogue model we are about to release, the Jekyll and Hyde.

Many thanks to Yasushi Kimura of Sea Hope, we look forward to seeing what clever timepieces you come up with next! For all of you global LED lovers: If you haven’t done it yet, head over to Tokyoflash for their international site.

USB lightbulb

David Elsewhere Kollaboration

this is the kind of stuff that i LOVE

so, it's an old boombox, modded to make an ipod stereo. combines retro flavour (yum), music, recycling, fun electronics and hardware projects. i love it. instructions here

A Cartogram of the Worlds Population

i've posted something like this before, but this one is prettier

e cards

some really great e-cards

measuring lights

sophie should like this

key rings kiel mead

here

Grilliput

band-aid rings by Kai Eppi Nölke

mutatoes

Being a collection of non-standard fruits, roots and vegetables found at Berlins farmers markets, the Mutato-Project serves to document and archive these last survivors of biological variety.

how to remove unwanted people from photographs

great

dreamed chandelier

by atelierbbb

Felix de Pass

here

i understand what this post is about, and i think it's really funny

1. Kashumpa-roomping with an Albanian giza-girl

2. Two Chapman sweeties tag-team shla-ping-ing me whilst we supped mightily on some English what-nots

3. Telepho-kinetic rousting of my wanger-giblets amidst a group of a hundred or more untutored ragamuffins

4. Cellophane Mary and I indulging in sea-salt remedies for twelve hours

5. 9-volt battery-tongue-teasing by animated characters as they boned their groins against the gymnasium set legs

threadless

i want tony blair

Oscar the Cat Predicts Patients' Deaths

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.

The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third- floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill

She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near.

Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.

Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.

No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.

Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa's article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying.

If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it's also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person, Dodman said.

Nursing home staffers aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying.

Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his "compassionate hospice care."

t-shirts

potato salad

tay zonday "chocolate rain"

high

great news

p.m.k SONNTAG, 22. 07. 20.00 hosted by lovegoat

BRANT BJORK & THE BROS
with ALFREDO HERNANDEZ on the drums (KYUSS, FU MANCHU, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MONDO GENERATOR)

Staubtrockene Beats liefern die Grundlage für den wohl relaxtesten Groove des aktuellen Rockgeschehens. BRANT BJORK schüttelt locker-flockige Easy-Listening Songs genauso leicht aus dem Ärmel wie tief-treibende Rockkracher. Die Entwicklung, die Brant von "JALAMANTA" (erstes Solo Album auf MAN�S RUIN) bis zum jetztigen Juwel "SOMERA SOL" duchgemacht hat, ist beachtlich.
Der ehemalige Drummer von KYUSS und FU MANCHU ist jetzt seit einiger Zeit schon solo bzw mit seinen BROS auf dem Weg von Bühne zu Bühne. Brant rief mit JOSH HOMME zusammen die DESERT SESSIONS ins Leben und ist gerngesehener Gast auf der RANCHO DE LA LUNA wo er mit Mario Lalli von FATSO JETSON einige Songs aufnahm.
An den Drums wird Brant diesmal von ALFREDO HERNANDEZ, der auch schon bei CHE, QOTSA und bei KYUSS die Felle prügelte, unterstützt. Diese seltene Gelegenheit BRANT BJORK und seinen Freund ALFREDO HERNANDEZ gemeinsam auf der Bühne zu sehen, sollte sich niemand entgehen lassen. Durch den Abend führt mit weiteren "Emissiones del Desierto" ergebenst ihr HOWLIN� BASTARD.
DUNA RECORDS

Hans Rosling/Trendalyzer

In a follow-up to his now-legendary TED2006 presentation, Hans Rosling demonstrates how developing countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. He shows us the next generation of his Trendalyzer software -- which analyzes and displays data in amazingly accessible ways, allowing people to see patterns previously hidden behind mountains of stats. (Just days after this talk, he announced a deal with Google to acquire the software.) He also demos Dollar Street, a program that lets you peer in the windows of typical families worldwide living at different income levels. Be sure to watch straight through to the (literally) jaw-dropping finale.

severe complications of a brazilian bikini wax

A 20-year-old Australian woman with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes presented with life-threatening Streptococcus pyogenes and Herpes simplex infection of her external genitalia following a routine perineal "Brazilian" bikini wax. Extensive pubic hair removal is now common among young adults in Australia and elsewhere. However, the infectious risks of these practices, particularly among immunosuppressed individuals, are often underappreciated.

really un-pc, but so funny

makeup tutorials

this girl has some good tutorials

gorgeous agent provocateur bikini

ripped a picture of this (on a nice curvy model) out of a magazine at the gym. god i love agent provocateur. i would love to wear this bikini. €216

amazing mosaic table

an incredibly painful person

i spent about 10 hours, six of them in a car, with someone who drives me crazy. i think i am going to try to never see this person again.
let's see exactly what makes me mad:
- this guy knows everything better than you. except he doesn't
- he can talk with complete confidence and authority about things he has no experience with
- he's really comfortable making broad sweeping generalizations that are just wrong
- he thinks he's very worldly, but doesn't actually know shit about the real world
- he lives in an internet world, and can't really talk to anyone in real life
- he complains constantly about how shit his work colleagues are, and how his previous place of work (years ago), was so much better, did everything better, etc. yet he doesn't really produce any work
- he's obsessed with being "cool", but it's even more pathetic because he's old enough that he shouldn't care about this shit
- living for more than two years in europe, he's done almost zero travel, and learnt almost zero of the local language
- he's just too cool to do anything. everything here is lame. this town is boring. everything is boring. it's all crap. guess what - you're crap too.
- he's really obsessed with his physics networking. every second phrase "do you know..." ah - how about no? what little anecdote do you have? i'm really, really interested

more miss van