Aster lucie

[asterlucie-blog]

USING IS THE NEW HAVING // WHY BUY IF YOU CAN SHARE

We don't really need products anymore to show others. We also want to make the world a better place. These two combined show us: sharing! Why would you buy everything if you can also share stuff. I think sharing doesn’t only saves costs but also has a social aspect. It brings you in touch with people you otherwise maybe wouldn’t meet. To me this is a good thing, because we all are so busy with our smartphones we sometimes forget about the real contact with people. When you start sharing more, you will have a better social life and help a sort of recycling! I found a few cool things which will help you with the sharing.

The Umbrella Here is a light you can put on your umbrella. It’s controlled by an app. When people open this app they can see where is an umbrella available for sharing. When you see an Umbrella Here, you can see if you’re welcome to share the umbrella by the light which will be on or off. 

An other sharing platform I found is Breather. Breather makes it available to find a space to work, meet or relax. Via this platform you can book practical spaces wherever you are, whenever you need. In this way you unlock hidden spaced in your own city, or another one. Why leave a room empty, while you can make someone else happy with it?

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Also interesting within this subject: - http://umbracity.com - https://www.lyft.com - https://www.provenance.org/about

http://umbrellahere.com https://breather.com photo: http://crescentmoon06666.tumblr.com/post/71825487561 photo: http://www.startupshk.com/umbrella-here-profile/ photo: http://renx.ca/breather-app-enables-convenient-affordable-meeting-spaces/

#leisure #living #sharing #using #recycle #sustainability #technologization

[asterlucie-blog]

FUTURE FASHION // THE FUTURE OF FASHION IS TECH

Fashion has a broad understanding and there are so many designers. Echt of them have their own vision and want to tell their own story. But there is one subject within fashion that passed by a couple of times. It’s technology. If you think about the future of fashion you could think about which colors or patterns we’ll be seeing, but you can also think about greater developments. I saw some very cool developments that has to do with technology.

Iris van Herpen is a kind of futuristic designer who uses special materials for her collections. For her Magnetic Motion collection she used 3d-printing as a special technique. These ‘hard’ materials gives the collection a futuristic but also a clean look. I think it’s very cool to uses techniques that already exist in a different industry than what they’re developed for. This shows a cool technology which could be used more in the future.

Pauline van Dongen designed a coat which can charge your phone by the use of solar panels. The pockets contain solar panels that can charge your phone in two hours. The coat itself also is made from recycled denim. It’s made for rangers and tour-guide to stay connected with others in all time. So a cool invention cause you can charge your phone with energy created in your pocket, but also a good thing for rangers who spent a lot of time in nature, to keep connected in all time. 

Hussein Chalayan had a very impressed part of his show in Paris. There were two girls standing on the catwalk on blocks and there was hanging a shower above them. They were wearing white blouse-coats. Suddenly there showers went on and the coats the model we wearing, started to dissolve and fall away like they were made of tissues. Underneath suddenly dressed revealed and the models start walking the catwalk. This kind of technology used in fashion really impresses me. It’s not just a new pattern but a whole new technique you used in your show.  This is the link of a video of Hussein Chalayans show: http://www.dezeen.com/2015/10/02/clothes-disintegrate-on-catwalk-hussein-chalayans-spring-summer-2016-show-paris-fashion-week/

I think these technological developments in the fashion industry are very interesting. There developments bring, to me, fashion to a whole new level. With inventions like these, there are so much more options to use while making fashion. 

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Also interesting within this subject: - http://whyzat.com/cool-dresses-that-light-up-when-you-stare-at-them/ - http://www.dezeen.com/2014/02/12/movie-biocouture-microbes-clothing-wearable-futures/ - http://www.techtimes.com/articles/7106/20140517/chromosonic- is-a-new-fabric-that-can-turn-you-into-chameleon-heres-how.htm - http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/living-materials-research-could-pave- way-self-repairing-clothes-1443763 

http://www.irisvanherpen.com/womenswear#magnetic-motion http://www.psfk.com/2015/09/solar-powered-parka-solar-parka-unesco-dutch-wadden-sea-society.html photo: http://www.ecouterre.com/iris-van-herpens-3d-printed-ice-dress-is-a-frozen-fans-dream/ photo: http://www.ecouterre.com/pauline-van-dongens-solar-powered-parka-thrives-among-natures-elements/ photo: http://www.dezeen.com/2015/10/02/clothes-disintegrate-on-catwalk-hussein-chalayans-spring-summer-2016-show-paris-fashion-week/

#appearance #fashion #technologization #technique #energy #power #print

[asterlucie-blog]

DIGITAL DIET // BREAK THE TECH ADDICTION

We all go to school or have a job and besides that, we want to go to the gym, do fun things with friends, start our own business, need to cook and clean, and so on. And then, we also want to check our mail, Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We kinda live in a stress society. People of all ages suffer from stress and the age of people with breakdowns and burn outs is getting younger. If we would be less busy with all the social media, I think this stress would become less and we would have more time to actually rest. I found two things that could actually help you with this.

NoPhone is just no phone. I personally need to admit, that most of the times my smartphone is in my hand and it just feels save to have it with me. Many times I’m just scrolling through social media without even reading or sometimes without even looking at my phone. I found out it’s just holding the phones is what makes me comfortable and save. For people like me, NoPhone is a wonderful thing. NoPhone is just a plastic thing in the shape of a smartphone. Is has: no camera, no screen, no music. So it has nothing, which makes it no phone. I thought this is a awesome product which might help people to get rid of their smartphone addiction! NoPhone user: “With the NoPhone, my eye-contact skills have improved 73%.”

Ringly instead, let’s you keep your smartphone, but let’s you check it less. Since for all kind of incoming things on your phone, you get notifications which make you curious and makes you check your phone. Ringly is an actual ring to put on your finger. It makes you control where to get notifications from. You just download the app and connect the ring with your phone. Than you select the notifications which you want to receive. There are different colors and vibrations to customize your notifications. By now, only the important notifications will be showed by your ring. Which gives you rest from all the other less important notifications!  Ringly user: “At work I can keep my phone away without missing anything important.”

As I already said, in my opinion great and cool designed inventions which could help us with our digital diet and get rid of our phone addictions. 

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Also interesting within this subject: - http://flipdapp.co - http://www.fastcoexist.com/3051937/in-san-franciscos-new-no- tech-zones-if-you-use-your-phone-you-could-get-a-fake-fine - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/10971991/Digital-detox-technology-belongs-outside-the-bedroom.html

http://www.thenophone.com https://ringly.com photo: https://www.etsy.com/listing/253708872/luxury-poster-print-typography-art?ref=fp_item&aref=56847464093 photo: http://www.bustle.com/articles/39959-meet-the-nophone-the-prehistoric-prop-that-might-just-change-your-life photo: http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/10/ringly-introduces-new-iphone-connected-smart-ring/

#health #digitaldiet #stresssociety #technologization #socialweb #metime

[asterlucie-blog]

OFFICE RELIEVE // LESS STRESS AT THE OFFICE 

Since workload and pressure are a know subject the last years, there are getting more solutions to get less stressed out. This stress-society is a big problem for many people and their health is getting worse. A found a few solutions, one more serious than the other.

The first one is, of course, a Japanese invention. It’s a anti-slouching appendage by the company Thanko. This tool can be bent in all directions. In this way it either straightens the users back or you can use it as a pillow for a little nap. 

Then there is Ubimeet, an app which makes you more productive. It provides structure and support and will give you a better workflow. As they say: “Don’t let meetings run you”.

Notifly is a product to put on your desk. It let’s you know when you’re having a meeting. It won’t let you know by an annoying vibration or ringtone, it shows you in a very calm way. It blows a bubble! This way of notification is more playful and will let you smile for a moment. 

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http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/posture-support https://betalist.com/startups/ubimeet http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/ideo-ny-notify-popup-bubble-alert photo: http://blog.freepeople.com/2014/02/morning-ritual/ photo: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/112528/20151201/invasive-plastic-hand-will-stop-slouching.htm photo: https://betalist.com/startups/ubimeet photo: http://www.ufunk.net/en/gadgets/notifly/

#health #work #office #nostress #stresssociety #technologization

[asterlucie-blog]

 BLIND PEOPLE // MAKE THEM EXPERIENCE MORE

I see many inspiring initiatives for people with a disability. And in some way, I saw more and more initiatives for blind people so I decided to share a few. 

I first saw 3d art made for blind people. The art is 3d-printed, in this way people can touch the art en feel it and in this way imagine what the art looks like. When initiatives like this will grow, maybe eventually blind people will go to galleries, which they don’t do now.

There now is also a braille smartwatch; dot. With use of bluetooth, the watch will display text messages in braille. The makers of Dot try to say: "We strive to reduce the invisible discrimination against people living with blindness in information accessibility". Which I think is a beautiful message to the 285 million visually impaired people around the world. 

The last one is an app, which I think is really beautiful. This one really impressed me. The app is called Be My Eyes. Blind people download the app, but also people who can see. There are many things blind people can do by themselves, but sometimes there are small struggled. For example check if you milk didn’t pass the date. By then you open the app and ask for help. Someone who can see gets a notification and can accept this. With a live connection there will be a video chat. The person who needs help films the milk and you can tell if it’s still ok. To me this app shows that when everybody helps a little bit, it can make the world a better place. 

These three examples also show the good side of technology. Without the technology of 3d-printing, smartwatches and apps, these products were never possible. By this technologies blind peoples live can become prettier or easier. 

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http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/11/unseen-art-3d-printing-classical-paintings-for-the-blind/ http://fingerson.strikingly.com http://www.bemyeyes.org photo: http://www.espritsciencemetaphysiques.com/4-signes-qui-indiquent-que-ce-nest-pas-votre-premiere-vie-sur-terre.html photo:http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/meet-dot-an-active-braille-smartwatch-that-could-revolutionise-how-the-visually-challenged-learn-289924.html photo: http://hypebeast.com/2015/11/unseen-art-3d-art-mona-lisa-blind-crowdfund

#leisure #blindpeople #experience #noracism #technologization

[asterlucie-blog]

WHAT IS WASTE // GIVE WASTE A VALUE

At what point is something waste, garbage? Since we developed many technologies, when do you call something garbage? We can recycle many things or give it a new function so actually there is almost no real garbage. These were things I was thinking when I found few things that make it possible to give waste a new value.

URB is a herb garden which used the ‘waste’ from coffee shops. This makes it sustainable and eco-friendly. They use a lot from the coffee shops, the cups, discarded food and of course grounds. The food and grounds change into compost and the cups turn into vessels. So this gives waste a new value but also makes urban gardening accessible. 

Biogas system is a system for at home, which turns you waste into clean energy! You put all your waste in the Biogas machine, and you can use the gas for example for cooking. 

I think those are two examples which show that sustainability doesn’t have to be hard or boring, it can be very easy and done in cool designs. It think initiatives like this make recycling more accessible.

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https://www.behance.net/gallery/29319971/URB-Sustainable-Home-Herb-Garden http://www.homebiogas.com photo: https://pandawhale.com/post/68938/the-urb-is-foremost-a-small-herb-garden-for-your-living-space photo: http://homebiogas.dor7.com

#food #sustainability #biogas #green 

[asterlucie-blog]

FUNCTIONAL APPEARANCES // COOL WITH A FUNCTION

Lately I’ve noticed a few fashion-related products which don’t only will add something to your look, but also have another function. I think this has to do with the functionalism of products. It’s cool when something gives you a better look, but it’s cooler when it adds other value. I have a few examples.

My favorite one is the Sponge Suit. This bikini doesn’t only look stunning, but also helps cleaning the ocean! While you are swimming, the bikini will be cleaning the sea. This gives swimming an extra experience.

Also I saw on make online resources, a new thing called tech tattoos. These tattoos wil be placed on your skin and consist sensors with your skin as interface. The tattoo can monitor you health but it also locates you. 

Last is the Crown & Flint’s color therapy glasses. These glasses have different colors which will change your mood and better your experiences. Every color will change you, like orange will add creativity or blue will make you calm. 

I think this is a cool subject because all of the examples will add something to the way you look, but will also do somethings else with you. Wether it’s make you feel better cause you’re making the world a better place or it’s making you feel better because it get’s you creative. 

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http://www.youreshape.com/9au7/  http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/25/temp-tech-tattoos/ http://www.crownflint.com/pages/about-us photo: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20151013-sponge-suit-3d-printed-bikini-with-clean-tech-material-cleans-water-as-you-swim.html

#appearance #look #functional #sustainability #health #technologization

[asterlucie-blog]

FASHION // NO GENDER - RECYCLED - EXPRESSION 

At Amsterdam Fashion Week there was one show which really impressed us all. This was a show by designer Duran Lantink and photographer Jan Hoek. By accident they found photos of transgender sex workers in Capetown. They were very impressed by them so they decided to go there. The girls inspired them to make this collection and photo serie. 

The show showed us genderless pieces made of recycled materials. It’s not ready-to-wear fashion, but more a show to express themselves. I find this a very cool story because it’s fashion inspired by a emotional story. These sex workers are always seen as horrible people, while they a human too and didn’t choose for this life. Also the models in the show were very impressive. It were transgenders for all ages, and some of them even haven’t walked a catwalk before. The show was a homage to the group of women in Capetown which mage it a show with a story. 

http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/01/17/deze-show-is-het-voorlopige-hoogtepunt-van-de-amsterdamse-modeweek

#appearance #fashion #transgender #ambfw #expression #nogender #noracism

[asterlucie-blog]

WORK IT OUT // MAYBE WITH SOME ENTERTAINMENT

When I aks people if they like to exercise, mostly I hear: hell no, I only go to the gym to stay in shape, definitely not for fun! That’s why I started looking for ways to make exercising more fun. 

First I found tablet-integrated fitnessdevices. In one way, it shows all your personal information which can stimulate you to even train harder. Second of all, you can used it like a normal tablet so you can do whatever you want during your training.

Second I found a skipping rope. This exercise can get boring very fast. That’s why the skipping rope had an touchscreen in one of the handles. On this touchscreen you can input a number of jumps. As you are jumping, the rope changes color as you can see how long you have to jump to finish your goal. I think this is a fun way to get more motivated because the colors make it fun but also useful. You don’t want to stop till it gets the right color, when you’re done!

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http://www.yankodesign.com/2014/02/07/stay-connected-as-you-train/ http://www.yankodesign.com/2014/04/02/skip-till-you-turn-red/ photo: https://www.etsy.com/listing/240390420/similar?utm_campaign=Merch&utm_medium=Internal&utm_source=Pinterest

#humanmovement #sport #exercise #training #health #gamification #technologization

[asterlucie-blog]

DINNER TIME // LOVE OR HATE COOKING

Cooking, either you like it, or it’s something daily necessary to have dinner. Nowadays there are ways to make it easier, but for that, we need both of those people. I find it cool to see food will always have a social appeal. Food connects people and can easy be an experience. There are two cool things I saw that have to do with cooking and dinner.

First it’s Eatro. A website full of meals made by normal people, like no chefs or anything. As a good cook, you can put your meal online and sell it so consumers. As a bad cook, you can buy your meal online and don’t need to make dinner anymore! 

Second has to do with social media. Since social media can be used for everything, it can also be used as a place to help people or to find help when needed with cooking. For example Bart Van Olphen (@bartsfishtales), he uses 15 second Instagram videos to show people how to cook fish. He calls his account: The shortest cooking show in the world! Which I can imagine, when you teach people to make a dish in only 15 second videos. 

Since I like cooking, I think it’s a great development that, also because of social media, people are paying more attention to cooking and making proper dinner. 

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https://angel.co/eatro https://www.instagram.com/bartsfishtales/ photo: http://www.abrowntable.com/home/blood-orange-curd-with-honey-bourbon?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+abrowntable/HPyc+(A+Brown+Table) photo: http://www.best-practice-business.de/blog/geschaeftsidee/2014/02/18/eatro-hausgemachte-kueche/ photo: http://www.chilichinchin.com/barts-fish-tales/

#food #instagram #cooking #dinner #socialweb #technologization

[asterlucie-blog]

TRAVEL // COPENHAGEN MEATPACKING DISTRICT 

When I travelled to Copenhagen, I was impressed by everything. It’s such a cool city with so much design and some many cool people. The atmosphere is also very nice and there’s a good vibe in the whole city. I really loved all the design shops and the hipster-look stores. Also the architecture was very impressive and there were so many good views.

But what I liked the most, was the meatpacking district. This is a district in the Vesterbro area. It used to be a area where were, as it says, a lot of businesses relating to the meat industry. When this industry disappeared, people thought this area could be a good one for others than butchers. So than a cultural area started taking it’s place. Now it has mostly restaurants and a great nightlife. I’ve been eating there a few times and I have visited the nightlife, and I can say; those were the best moments of my trip!

photo: http://inside-city-guide.com/2013/06/23/vesterbro/

#food #trip #copenhagen #restaurant #nightlife #experience #leisure #living 

[asterlucie-blog]

Last week I’ve seen something very cool passing by! It’s called Europe Endless Express. It’s a festival in a train, how cool is that! The trip takes three days and the train will be the location of the festival. There will be music, theatre, filosofes and scientists. They will perform on stages but also in coupes. During the festival the train is passing six European countries, which one is a surprise! 

I think people think they’ve seen it all, that’s why there keep coming new and original initiatives. Festivals kind off all are the same. It think that’s why a festival like this is interesting for people. Also people want to be part of something special, which this festival is. To me this is a cool initiative where I maybe should go to, also to experience a new kind of festival.

http://europe-endless-express.nl photo: https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/421860690067193706/

#leisure #train #festival #experience #individualism #globalization

[asterlucie-blog]

WEARABLES // SMART CLOTHES - BETTER HEALTH

We are quite a time busy making everything smart. Last years there’s been a lot to do about smart watches. But those are not as easy as it can get. Why put on a watch everyday, if you can also put the technology in your clothes as well. That would make it a lot easier and more wearable for everybody. 

As example, take this (photo) Samsung belt. It lets you know when you’re packing on the pounds. This is a awesome wearable, because it let you know things about your weight, but it also doesn’t look like tech. Which makes it easier to wear for all kinds of people. 

The great thing about the development in wearables, is the fact they will let us know a lot about our health. Soon they will easily tell us everything about our heart and muscles. But also about out emotional wellbeing with data like breathing. It will make it easier for us to know what’s going on with our health and make sure we improve our health when it’s down. 

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photo: http://www.iran-daily.com/News/111650.html http://www.digitaltrends.com/wearables/smart-clothing-is-the-future-of-wearables/

#health #wearable #technologization #appearance #instantgratification #technology 

[asterlucie-blog]

INSTANT COFFEE // MAKES THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

When you think about coffee, you don’t think about making the world a better place. But Percol, a big UK coffee brand, makes it happen. They have a new instant coffee, and of all what gets sold, they donate the profits to Cancer Research UK.

This initiative tries to get coffee lovers even love their coffee more, cause they will know they’re doing a good thing. I think it’s a great initiative. It will make people more aware of cancer, and make them aware there is money needed to do research. It will also make the buyers happier, since it’s prove that giving away makes you feel happy. So it will improve your quality of life, but hopesully also the one of people with cancer. 

It think it’s clever to as a coffee brand, cause many people drink coffee so you’ll easily have a big target group. Who ever thought, drinking coffee would help cancer research..

http://www.foodbev.com/news/percol-coffee-partners-cancer-research-uk-on-new-instant-coffee/ photo: http://naztrends.com/index.php/2015/12/02/lets-beat-cancer-with-a-cup-of-coffee/

#health #coffee #weconomy #happiness #giving

[asterlucie-blog]

YOGA // MAKE IT EASIER WITH YOGA PANTS

Yoga is a sport which had a growth in popularity last years. Yoga works with a lot of technique so it’s important to do the right things. Last weeks I saw a lot of wearables which would improve your yoga techniques.

First I saw The Nadi tights, the one on the photo. These tights uses vibrations and in this way will help you correct your pose. This might be a good option to buy for home yoga, so you don’t need to go to classes anymore. 

I also saw a yoga pants with padded knees. These would make it easier to practice and you can even practice with our a mat. Further it provides four-way-stretch for getting into challenging poses. 

At last I saw Manduka. A brand which provides everything for yoga. They will come with a collection, which is sustainable and recyclable. It’s designed by a yogi so it will have the perfect shape for perfect poses. 

I thinks it’s good to develop so many different options for one sport. It makes it more attractive to people to sport and get fit. Also the first example I gave, makes sure you’ll do your poses right so you won’t hurt any muscles, which makes you a healthier person. 

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/comfortable-workout-clothes https://www.manduka.nl photo: http://wearableexperiments.com/nadi/

#humanmovement #yoga #pants #technologization #experience #mindfulness #stresssociety

[asterlucie-blog]

HEALTHY PICKUP // HELLO GOODNESS 

When I think about vending machines, I think about chocolate bars and bags of chips. Which means: not healthy. So since we live in a world where since a few years healthy is cool, a healthy vending machine needed to come. 

PepsiCo saw consumers needs of a healthier way of snacking so they invented Hello Goodness. This machine offers good and better-for-you products. It has products like healthier popcorn, juice and healthy soda. I think this ending machine is a great way so stimulate people getting healthier. Because most of the time when you want to buy a snack, there is no option of buying a healthy one. Hello Goodness gives you the option of healthy snacking. 

http://www.pepsico.com/live/pressrelease/pepsicos-hello-goodness-vending-initiative-offers-diverse-selection-of-good--and12142015

#health #snack #instantgratification #pepsico

[asterlucie-blog]

FOLK FASHION // DESIGN SCENE MAGAZINE

Online I found this photo serie of Daniele Rossi. I’m not totally sure why it impressed me so much. Stylist Emily Lee dressed the models and I think she did a great job. The romantic folk with some futuristic aspects is just a great combination. It’s the colors of the outfits on a black background which makes the colors so bright. And the models face impression which makes the photo’s so powerful. I think it has something to do with almost science fiction, which is an aspect you see a lot nowadays, and with power, which the models show.  

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http://www.designscene.net/2016/01/daniele-rossi-emily-lee-ds-jan.html

#appearance #fashion #models #photography #sciencefiction #technology #future #folk #cultures #globalization