3D printers are an amazing concept. One which has allowed individuals and companies to create unique one of a kind pieces and stunning prototypes which would have been to expensive to make in the past.

The latest 3D printed masterpiece is this Signal designed snowboard. The board was created in parts and assembled like a puzzle with reinforced steel strips to hold everything together to keep the board from breaking.

The one of a kind board has been fully tested and is rideable even in the deepest of snow thanks to it’s special wide nose design. Testers have commented that the prototype is a little on the slow side though, and due to printing limitations don’t expect 3D printed boards to go mainstream anytime soon. Still it is just another way of showing that this is plenty of untapped potential for 3D Printers.

What do you think?

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This is a project by San Jose State University students and while they may have borrowed some inspiration from Hollywood (the Audi RSQ from I, Robot is prime example), this omnidirectional bike is very real and offers a world of possibilities. Consider what kind of maneuvers you can do when your have spheres for wheels. It’s not just about forward and back, since you can literally travel in any direction. Go sideways. Move around in a 360-degree circle while facing in the same direction.

Done right, it means that this ballsy bike can move from side to side without having to turn. This is fantastic for parallel parking,  but you can see how this kind of motion would be easily adapted for other applications too, like the military. I’m looking forward to what the extreme motocross people can do with this one.

At this point, the students from SJSU have tested some scale models and they’ve secured the parts they need for the full-sized version. The bike’s frame is complete and they have a couple of rubber-coated carbon fiber and fiberglass balls. The first (low speed) tests on the larger prototype are scheduled for later this year.

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The FBike is a collaborative effort between several Czech companies and enthusiasts. The propellers will be electrically-driven, but it looks like there are pedals there for added assistance, not unlike the ground-bound ped-elec bicycles we have today. The design is inspired by the stories of Jules Verne and Jaroslav Foglar, the latter of whom authored a trilogy of books that featured a flying bike.

And this isn’t just some geeks dreaming inside of a 3D rendering program either. They plan to have their first prototype ready for test flights this August. They’ve worked out the calculations and four 10kW compact brushless electric motors should be enough to power the large 1300mm (51-inch) twin propellers in the front and back. Add in a couple of 3.5kW stabilized motors for the 650mm (25.5-inch) side blades and you’re in the air for three to five minutes at a time.

At least, that’s the idea. I wish them the best of luck, but at least put a helmet on that guy!

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Have you ever wanted to have your own private tropical island, but you couldn’t be bothered to buy the land? What if you want to be eco-friendly while on your sunny vacation too? Apparently, you can with this floating island.

To be fair, it’s not really an island. It’s probably more appropriate to call it an island-shaped boat that’ll work as a self-enclosed resort. Designed by Michele Puzzolante, the Solar Floating Resort (SFR) concept is large enough to accommodate six people with plenty of room to spare. There’s a Jacuzzi on deck and you can go underneath for an underwater observation room.

The biggest feature, though, is the use of a photovoltaic thin-film skin all along the round roof. These solar panels can collect sunlight throughout the day, generating enough clean electricity to power you through the night. And inside, the same photovoltaic skin is used to capture power from your artificial interior lights.

Aside from the obvious hurdles associated with manufacturing such a seafaring mobile resort, there’s one other issue: there doesn’t appear to be any closets. Where are you going to put your eco clothing? That’s not very luxurious at all.

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How would you like to own a personal mobility transporter from Volkswagen that hovers a few feet above the ground? Sounds really exciting, right? Say hello to the new Hover Car design, one of three top concepts from the company’s crowd-sourced “People’s Car Project” (PCP).

Volkswagen started the project in China nearly a year ago and so far has inspired 119,000 unique ideas for possible products and technologies. Luca de Meo, Director of Marketing, Volkswagen Group, says, “The ‘People’s Car Project’ in China marks the beginning of a new era in automobile design. We are no longer just building cars for, but also with customers and at the same time initiating a national dialog which gives us a deep insight into the design preferences, needs and requirements of Chinese customers“.

Among the three ideas that were selected, the Hover Car is the most exciting maybe because it brings back memories of Marty McFly’s hoverboard. According to Volkswagen, the Hover Car is an all-electric two-seat city car that can hover above the ground and utilizes electromagnetic roadways to move around. So it’s eco-friendly as well, and the car also features distance sensors to prevent collisions with other vehicles.

The second concept is the Music Car which has exterior OLED lights for creating light shows in tune to the music played inside. But that design most likely will never be applied to cars anytime in the future. The third concept, Smart Key, is that of a vehicle key equipped with a touchscreen that will display information about the car, such as fuel level, climate conditions and security.

After seeing the strong response to the project, Volkswagen is saying that the program will be sponsored indefinitely. They might extend it into other markets as well. But although they are interested in a few ideas from the PCP, the company will always have the ultimate say about which all models enter production.

As de Meo said, “In a long-term context, the findings of the ‘People‘s Car Project’ will influence Volkswagen’s product strategy. The design of our models will, however, continue to reflect the tradition of the Volkswagen brand. If at some time in the future we are to produce a vehicle from the ‘People’s Car Project’, it will be a combination of customers’ opinions and brand tradition“.

The following video is in Chinese, but you can take a closer look at the Hover Car.

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You’ve already seen the crazy MacBook Pro Touch concept, but what if Apple were to extend the touch to some of its other products. Not to be confused with the iPod touch, what you’re looking at here is a concept for the next-generation iPod nano. More specifically, it’s being touted as the iPod nano touch for obvious reasons, but it’s even smarter than that.

Coming by way of designer Enrico Penello, the concept device naturally comes with a touchscreen display. The UI appears to be somewhat similar to the current clippy and touchy iPod nano, but the shape has been extended into a longer stick, not unlike the shape we used to have with the old iPod shuffle. The concept is smarter, though, coming with Wi-Fi, a FaceTime-ready front-facing camera, and a new weather app. Yes, Nike+ support is there too.

With the longer body shape comes a longer clip on the back. Rounding out the specs are the trusted home button and a couple of volume buttons, as well as the power button on top. I’m not sure I like the idea of the extended clip, but I think I can get into the extended touchscreen interface and Wi-Fi capabilities. This is totally an unofficial concept, though, so who knows if Cupertino is paying attention?

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Yes, the name has risen to the surface once more in the form of an unofficial concept. This is not at all endorsed by Cupertino, but it could speak to the future of what Apple has in store. Basically, the designer has created what looks like a MacBook Pro (or even a MacBook Air), but has outfitted it with a touchscreen display and one crazy hinge.

The hinge can work like normal, allowing you to have the regular laptop experience, but the whole thing can fold over onto itself to give you just the straight tablet experience. The weird thing is that would mean your keyboard is now pressed up against the surface of your desk. That’s probably not such a good thing. The hinge can also go half-way, effectively turning your keyboard into a kickstand for the iPad-esque touchscreen.

It’s a neat idea and you have to give credit to the Apple-level polish of the faux ad video below, but I don’t think Apple is going to release something like this any time soon. We might just have to settle for Retina Displays in the meantime.

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Are you frustrated about millions of dollars just lying there in your bank account? You might wanna check out the new superyacht concept from Feadship. The luxury watercraft maker has just unveiled their Future Concept vessel Qi (pronounced “chee”) which will be shown off (scale model only) at the upcoming Dubai International Boat Show.

As you might agree with us, a superyacht is called so because of two reasons: super luxury and super price tag. Therefore Feadship’s Qi, which is named after the Asian concept for life force, is indeed a superyacht.

It took a team of designers and naval architects ten months to come out with a design which includes several innovations. The 56 meter vessel is coming with a combination of main engine and diesel electric generators, which will allow it to travel with a top speed of 16 knots. At 14 knots, the Qi will have a maximum range of 5500 nautical mile.

The Qi’s wedge-shaped hull has just one main propeller (for eliminating drag) and in case there is any problem with that, there is also a separately-powered stern thruster. On the luxury side, you get to play around in a gym/spa, a movie theater, and there’s even a topside Jacuzzi which surrounds a fire pit.

But unfortunately, there are no hints on the price so far. But we do know that the company’s 44.65m yacht Helix was recently sold for around $45 million. The Qi will certainly cost even higher. If that’s going to be a problem for you, at least you can play with your own life force.

Take a peek at the gallery and the video for knowing more about the Qi.

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The concept video was put together by Aatma Studio and it highlights three core features. First, it shows off an edge-to-edge Retina display. That’s almost possible with today’s technology, as bezels are getting thinner and thinner. Considering that we are expecting a quadrupling of pixels in the real iPad 3, the bigger Retina display already exists.

Second, the video shows the “iPad 3″ touting internal magnets and NFC capabilities. With this, you can link together multiple iPads and effectively create one larger, unified display. Again, this is already possible, as we’ve seen with a few products on the market already. The third feature is a little kooky though as it shows off a 3D multiplayer hologram environment. They fan out projected controls and the action on the screen becomes a 3D hologram. Yeah, that’s not going to happen for a while.

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Are you amazed after hearing about the travel distance of an elevator in the Burj Khalifa? Then get ready for this new concept from Tokyo-based construction company Obayashi Corp. The Japanese company has come out with their space elevator concept which involves constructing a space cable, which extends a quarter of the way to the moon from the Earth’s surface.

If you are thinking that this is a crazy new idea, the concept of a space elevator has been around for decades. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower, Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who introduced a concept of a free-standing tower reaching into space way back in 1895. In recent years, the topic has been discussed in many conferences and even NASA is interested in it.

Expected to become a reality in 2050, the Japanese space elevator design features a 96,000 kilometer (59,652 mile) cable made of carbon nanotubes extending into space from a station on the ground. There will be a counterweight at the end of the cable to hold the entire thing in place.

The vehicle carrying the passengers (30 at a time) and cargo will be travelling along the cable with speeds of around 200 km/h. Their destination will be a station with residential facilities and a research center 36,000 kilometers from the surface of the Earth. At the above said speed, the elevator journey might take about a week (no, you won’t be standing all the way). As you can see in the above figure, electricity for the terminal station will be generated via solar panels.

But the company isn’t talking about how much all this might cost (trillions?), or where its location will be (most likely somewhere around the equator as centripetal forces are required for keeping the cable stretched), or about the risks involved (bad weather, or an issue with the counterweight which could result in the cable becoming a waist belt for our planet).

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