THE ISHU 'PRIVACY SCARF' / SAIF SIDDIQUI

// The two-toned geometric-patterned "privacy scarf," invented by 28-year-old entrepreneur Saif Siddiqui, is made up of special light-reflecting crystals that bounces back a flash at the offending camera, rendering pictures dark, grainy, and useless. (It also works with video camera lights.) 

The young creator was quoted as saying the point of his product is to make people more aware of the importance of privacy and allow us to be better in control of it. In the meantime, it's a great solution for stars who don't want to interact with the public

It’s no surprise that high-profile, constantly papped people are drawn to these scarves, but regular folks are buying them up, too. In a world where nearly everything seems to end up on social media, with or without one’s permission, it's nice to have the option to not accidentally be in somebody's selfie. While most of us don't spend our travels trying to avoid TMZ photographers camped out at LAX, there seems to be a growing interest in privacy and the internet, or at least in controlling one's own literal image. //

[ Condé Nast Traveller, The Ishu  ]

VANTABLACK / SURREY NANOSYSTEMS

//There's black, and then there's Vantablack.// 

Developed by a British company Surrey NanoSystems, Vantablack is currently the world's darkest material, absorbing up to 99.965% of light in the visible spectrum. It is so dark that the eye has difficulty understanding what it is seeing and the perception is thus limited to 2 dimensions. Vantablack ("Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Arrays") consists of a "forest" of carbon nano-tubes that are so densely packed that most of the light gets trapped inside the material.

Vantablack is mainly being used in research applications now from stealth aircraft and weaponry to calibrating space cameras and telescopes and increase their optical efficiency.

British contemporary artist Anish Kapoor has exclusive rights to use the Vantablack pigment in his art. //Vantablack seems a natural choice for Kapoor's experimental inclinations given his forays into working with stainless steel and mirrors. Kapoor's sculptures are designed to unsettle the viewer and distort their surroundings, so working with a material that functions as a portable abyss seems like a nice step up.//

[ Sources: dezeen, cool hunting, dazed digital ]

RHEI / DAMJAN STANKOVIC

Hearing the phrase //Panta rhei//, time is amongst first things that come to mind, but when a designer and an electrical engineer join forces, there comes a new way of seeing things: //Never before has a liquid substance been unveiled in its pure, unrefined form and controlled in a manner which allows it to display tangible shapes. There is a middle ground between the analog and the digital sphere, where the rules of mechanics and the laws of nature come together in order to create a liquid illusion reminiscent of a contemporary, digital form.// Behind these words hides Rhei - the prototype of an electro-mechanical clock with a liquid display. The clock has been created by designer Damjan Stankovic as a result of a year long passion project and executed in collaboration with Marko Pavlovic, electrical engineer, and //many other wonderful people.//

[ Sources: Rhei - time flows. Literally from rollercoaster on Vimeo. ]

OMOTE / NOBUMICHI ASAI

//[Omote] is a Japanese word for face, or a mask. Face is considered as [mirror] that reflects human soul, a separation between Omote (exterior) and Ura  (interior), and in Nogaku, Japan’s classical musical plays, performers use Omtoe masks to express multitude of dramatic emotions. As we spent more time on the project, we became more aware of its similarities with Nogaku’s Omote masks, and explored further possibilities through Integration of latest technology and classical Japanese art.

I always considered [face] to be the most delicate yet powerful medium for art. Make-up artist Hiroto Kuwahara said, "Face evolved with a sole purpose of conveying emotions, and it is the only body part that effectively communicates and reacts to the most subtle changes and conditions.  It’s not an exaggeration to say that face is one of the most intriguing features."  I totally agree with him, and got interested in the possibility of face mapping, its potential in expressing something extraordinary.// Nobumichi Asai

Omote is an installation that puts a virtual mask on a model's face and then carries on transforming it by projecting patterns and manipulating them in real time. Project is the result of collaboration between Japanese media artist Nobumichi Asai, makeup artist Hiroto Kuwahara and French digital image engineer Paul Lacroix.

[ designboom, Nobumichi Asai ]

POLAROID INSTANT FILM / THE IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT

IMPOSSIBLE video shows a brilliant presentation that clarifies the chemistry of analog instant film and explains the process of developing a polaroid picture.

The Impossible Project is a group of companies that produce instant film for classic Polaroid™ cameras. Aditionally they invented the Instant Lab - a device that turns your digital photos to instant analog photos.

[ The Impossible Project, Instant Lab, The Impossible Project x Gorilla vs. Bear ]