adidas’ new concept shoe is made from ocean trash

Now here’s a running shoe that’s hoping to make a difference. adidas, together with Parley for the Oceans, hopes to raise awareness and put a stop to plastics pollution of our water sources. And the shoe manufacturer created a new concept shoe built mostly out of plastics and deep-sea gill fishing nets from illegal fishing operations. It shows a nice nautical color to match the cause it champions. It’s still a concept at the moment but adidas plans to have some options later this year. Yes, you can own one of these environmentally-conscious running shoes pretty soon.

Source: SlashGear

Goodyear hopes to use concept tires to power electric cars

In the future even your electric car’s tires will help power the vehicle, at least that’s what Goodyear wants. The company unveiled its BH03 concept tire at the Geneva International Auto Show. It works by converting the heat it builds up while driving on the road through friction that builds up while in motion. While it’s parked though, a thermo-piezoelectic layer can also help collect heat. The small patches on the tire’s surface can draw heat directly from the sun, so if you’re parked outside on a hot summer’s day, this can also generate power.

Since this is still a concept though, details are a bit scarce. Plus, there is no mention yet how the electricity will make it way to the engine to power the car.

Source: Goodyear | Via: CNET

Swedish students develop concept to help you understand sign language without understanding signing

Students from Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm, Sweden want to help the deaf and the mute communicate with those around them better with a concept app and device. The concept imagines an app called Google Gesture to help translate sign language in real-time. The app will work with two arm bands that will be placed near the middle of the forearms. A process called electromyography will used to analyze the movements of the person signing. The signs will be interpreted by Google Gesture from a tablet or smartphone and speak this to the listener.

Source: SlashGear

Google’s PhoneBloks concept is exciting and it’s never going to work (for the mass market)

By Simon Cohen

When you love tech (sometimes just for tech’s sake), it can be pretty heady stuff to read up on the projects that Google has on the go. Consider this incomplete list, it’s really quite extraordinary:

• Android@home
• Google “X” Robots
• Driverless cars
• Space elevators
• Clean energy
• Extending human lifespan
• Android Wear

You’ve got to hand it to Larry and Sergei. When they dream, they dream big. How cool is it that a couple of guys who came up with a better way to index the web are now in a position to influence the course of human history?

But when you roll the dice on monster concepts, you’ve got to be prepared when some of them don’t pan out. Of the items on the list above, there’s a good chance that all but the space elevator and human lifespan will make it from concept to reality. Even the driverless car–an idea that we were scoffing at less than 6 years ago–is real, and it works and they’re even legal in some places.

What I like about all of these projects is that there is a strong chance that if they work out as planned, they will see mass adoption. A lot of people are going to want the benefits these projects will offer.

But I can’t say the same for Google’s most recent foray into the future: Project Ara.

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