You think you need drugs to experience some out of this world hallucination? Sure, if you are in the Netherlands, you might want to use a bit of mescaline, which should be legal, but what about us people from the other countries? Isn’t there something similar that can open the doors of perception to a whole new Universe? You bet! Check out this video:


NOTCOT at GLOW: Usman Haque's Primal Source from Jean Aw on Vimeo

This clip was filmed in Santa Monica, CA, at Glow ‘08. Glow is an annual art and music festival with a bunch of cool events and attractions, and this year’s coolest event has been the "Primal Source," a gigantic fountain with projections on it built by Usman Haque. It looks like a gigantic drug-induced hallucination. Projecting laser stuff on walls would have been outdated, but projecting hallucinatory light patterns on veils of water is something you don’t see every day. The agglomeration of psychedelic lights really confuses and adds to the impression you’re being stoned.

Apparently, there was some pot and acid available for the people on the beach, but the light show on its own was enough to drive most of the people crazy. You can hear some of them reacting pretty weird to the psychedelic lights.

Most of the times, PC gamers are left to fight their way through games armed only with their trusty mouse and keyboard. Sure, many PC games don’t require anything else, the problem arises only when you want to have some more fun with some other friends, playing on the same PC. Since everybody went crazy about the Wiimote, why shouldn’t PC gamers be able to use something similar with their rigs?

GoLive2, the independent gaming division of Playhut, Inc., came up with Stix, a new line of wireless, motion-sensing gaming controllers for the PC and Internet. The new controllers will allow PC gamers to play thousands of free Web-based games as well as Games for Windows titles with an active, motion-sensing play pattern. So PC gamers too can become more active, exercising and interacting with the digital world in a that was practically exclusive to Nintendo consoles.

"Stix will completely change the way people experience online and PC gaming," said Brian Zheng, President, Plahut. "At purchase, Stix will be compatible with thousands of free online and retail games, and we're adding more games to that list daily. The fun is endless with Stix, and the wide-range of free, supported games makes this product perfect for every member of the family."

GoLive2 will ready three Stix versions by launch time: Stix 100, Stix 200 and Stix 400. Stix 100 is a simple starter pack and aims to familiarize players with the basic commands. Stix 200 is specifically designed for casual gamers, adding active gameplay to 2D online gaming. Stix 400 is a more advanced version, being compatible with both 2D and 3D environments for the ultimate online and Games for Windows gaming experience.

No info about pricing, but be sure to check the GoLive2 website for more details.

Chess still remains one of the best strategic turn-based games ever invented. Over the years, though, nobody dared to change or update the rules of this game. Maybe the rules are so perfect that they don’t need to be changed. Instead, we could work on improving the way we interact with the game pieces. One step has already been made with the magnetic/digital combo sets. A new way to enhance not only chess skills, but also attention skills comes in the form of chess pieces stored in special glassy cylinders.

DVice explains that this new concept is inspired by Lewis Caroll’s “Through the Looking Glass”. As previously mentioned, all the chess pieces are each contained in a cylinder that turns opaque, as if pulling an invisible cloack on them when they are removed from the board. The pieces turn transparent again as soon as they make contact with the special board.

One of the ideas behind this chess set is to show that chess pieces have no real value for the players, unless they're in play. Another more pragmatic idea is to actually baffle players with bad attention skills since they'll most likely forget which piece is in their hand after they pick it up. That will force players to thoroughly concentrate on the game, paying more attention to the strategic moves.

The design is signed by Yasmin Sethi.

Most of the car concepts I see today tend to adopt a more aerodynamic shape. But in order to provide enough power to make a car go as fast as possible, you need to use some sort of fossil fuel. However, car constructors are trying to provide alternative ways to power your car, as the green house effect leading to global warming has become an important issue. For instance, in a hydrogen-powered car, fuel cells turn hydrogen into electricity, so that they completely do away with the use of fossil fuels. Moreover, these hydrogen-based engines are unbelievably efficient as well as clean and safe. One of the latest “green” cars conceptualized by Peugeot is the Ozone car, not your aerodynamic fast car anymore, but it's a peculiar concept nonetheless.

Gizmodo tells us that this hydrogen powered fuel cell transportation vehicle seems to be addressing kids, rather than adults. The whole barrel-like structure is encased between two giant wheels that are controlled by two separate electric motor powered by fuel cells.

The car comes with only two seats and it can be controlled via a joystick panel in the dashboard. Although it seems awkward at first, the design with a semi transparent glass casing offers a great interior volume and exterior view. In case you want to get in or out of it, all you need is to activate the huge glass doors that slide 360 degrees into the symmetric metal body.

Are you some kind of manager or team leader who’s having problems with finding ways to improve team work and brainstorming? Guess what? Somebody has been thinking about you and come up with an interesting interactive table that is supposed to stimulate constructive thinking among your team members. This somebody is known as Jason Chang, an industrial designer that presents his latest concept – the S.P.I.C.E interactive table.

<-125x125 Button - left->S.P.I.C.E is actually an acronym for ‘stimulating play inspires creative expression’. OK, that might seem a bit superfluous but Jason wants us to understand that this interactive table is actually an ideation game that is intended to spark creativity in strategic project development by integrating brainstorming processes and the concept of play. This is just a concept, but if Jason manages to commercialize this as a product, it will practically add spice to the gatherings and will engage people in game activities that aim to optimize creativity by conditioning one’s perspective to identify patterns or relationships in random contexts. Apparently, this is an interesting gaming concept, but without a demo clip or some relevant information on the actual mechanics of play, I can’t quite figure out if it’s of any help for managers.