Social meta-trends such as LOHAS show that people are willing to make personal contributions to address global environmental problems like carbon dioxide emissions, climate change, and resource scarcity. Now mobile phone applications make it easy to monitor the individual “carbon footprint,” compare it, and suggest how to further reduce it.

For full coverage, visit Mobile Trendpool

Cases

Carbon Diem (UK)

A London-based start-up company has developed a mobile phone application called Carbon Diem, which automatically calculates the user’s carbon footprint. The software collects speed and distance data via the handset’s GPS system, from which it identifies the user’s mode of transport. To protect the user’s privacy Carbon Diem only monitors carbon impact, not specific travel routes.

Carbon Diem’s inventor, Andreas Zachariah, was frustrated by the long-winded calculations involved with other eco-calculators, and believes the user-friendly software can help both individuals and businesses reduce their environmental impact.

Carbon Diem received an award for innovation from the European Space Agency, and will hit the market in spring 2009.

mobGAS (Belgium)

mobGAS is a mobile phone application that helps its users to evaluate their daily contribution to the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Downloadable for everybody and available for a huge range of phone models, it enables its user to check out how much carbon dioxide is emitted by using electrical appliances or during a typical day’s activity, such as going to work by bus. Within a daily diary it saves the personal CO2 amount and compares it to the average weekly or monthly emission of a certain city or the world. mobGAS is provided by the European Commission for free and aims to motivate individuals to make a small contribution to the goals of the Kyoto Protocol.

Trend Impact
One of the only up sides of the rising price of oil as a result of resource scarcity is that it has shown that environmental problems affect us all. However, not all people are convinced that changing their daily routines in small ways can help to alleviate these problems, leaving the responsibility to politicians. Easy-to-use applications that analyze and compare individual activity in terms of environmental friendliness is one way to motivate people to put more effort into their earth-preserving actions.

It seems like McDonalds is taking the viral food retailing trend pushed by Krispy Kreme and Burger King to another level. They’ve now opened two exclusive Quarter Pounder Shops in Shibuya and Omotesando that are completely devoid of any McDonalds branding.

For more information, check our posting on the CScout Japan blog

Every day, over 420,000 cellphones are retired in the US, and the vast majority are still not recycled. E-waste is the fastest growing category of municipal waste in many countries across the world, and with the consumer electronics industry one of the fastest growing industries on the planet, many manufacturers are now looking at ways to minimize the environmental footprint of their products. The most innovative projects involve “cradle-to-cradle” initiatives which take into account energy and materials use (and re-use) throughout the life-cycle of the device.

Cases

Nokia Remade Concept Phone (Finland / Spain)

Unveiled at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona in February, Nokia’s Remade concept phone is almost entirely composed of recycled materials. The innovative cellphone is made from “upcycled” materials like aluminum cans, plastic drink bottles, and old car tires. Inside the phone there are more eco-sensitive technologies such as printed electronics (which cut waste and carbon-dioxide emissions during manufacturing) and a backlit display which reduces energy use and prolongs battery life.

LINC Lifestyle Concept Phone (US)

This concept phone, known as the LINC Lifestyle, was showcased at the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York in February. It is the brainchild of US-based The Greener Grass eco-project, and packages a cellphone, media player, and web browser with GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and 3G network capabilities. The device can easily be disassembled into recyclable components — when upgrades are available the user receives new hardware and the previous component (or entire phone) is shipped back to the manufacturer, who is responsible for managing recycling of materials.

Kinetic powered Cell Phone (Portugal)

Designer Richardo Baiao balances green technology and mobility, with a phone for Atlas that is charged by kinetic energy. Inspired by watches that are powered from the motion of the wearer, the Atlas Concept phone is supplied with energy from its owner. Similarly, the French Designers of ModeLab unveiled three new eco-friendly cellphone concepts. All concepts rely on the movement of their users to automatically regenerate power and eliminating batteries entirely. U-turn for example is the concept for a business phone that draws energy from opening and closing the keyboard.

Trend Impact
Nokia is one of the leading players in ecologically sound cellphone design and recycling. As well as showing the way forward with concept phones such as the Remade, the company has also recently launched market-ready models such as the eco-friendly 3310 Evolve (only in Europe for now), and organized initiatives such as the Cell Phone Recycling Program in New York. The electronics industry has great potential to bring an extra “coolness” factor to the green movement, and the concept phones highlighted here show that when it comes to handsets, style, great functionality, and eco-friendliness don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

For full coverage, visit Mobile Trendpool

The audible scripts from online videos are becoming smart and searchable

Videos are becoming much more accessible to users by making their transcripts text searchable. Previously the only way to search for a video was by its title or tags, which could prove difficult and laborious. The technology is currently having its most profound influence in politics, allowing users to effectively search through debates and speeches to make governments more accountable.

Cases

Google Audio Indexing (USA)

GAudi (Google Audio Indexing) was released as a Google Labs tool in September 2008. As well as tracking specific videos down by searching the transcript, users can also search within videos to view the exact piece of footage that features the words they are interested in.

Theyworkforyou.com (UK)

Theyworkforyou.com is a website dedicated to making British politics more transparent. In June 2008 it launched a time-stamping application to enable users to match up text transcripts with corresponding footage from the House of Commons. The site relied on volunteers to match up 45,000 clips for a budget of 0.

Trend Impact
This new function could increase the amount of video watched online and the transparency of governing bodies. Board meetings could be videoed and made searchable for customers and employees to view. Films, adverts, and historical footage could also be made more accessible. YouTube could include options to upload the transcript as well as the footage itself, or could collaborate with a software developer to turn the spoken word into written text as videos are uploaded.

Read more details and commentary on our Japan Trenblog.

Design Week is Tokyo’s most prominent “week,” which makes sense given the globally recognized prowess of Japanese industrial design. The five-day event, which took place Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 at several main venues and a plethora of satellite sites around the city, was set up toshowcase the most innovative works from creators both domestic and international. Last year’s event drew as many as 85,298 visitors and 100,000 were anticipated for the current edition.

While it would be impossible to take in everything, a look at a few of the main sites offered a fairly comprehensive vision as to what direction product designers are planning to take our homes and lifestyles in the near future, and more generally what interests the current generation of creators.

Design Tide, a public exhibition held at Tokyo Midtown, featured 30+ prototype displays meant to engage visitors in contemplation of form, space, the reuse of materials, and especially time—for some reason (modern hurried city life, one can suppose) there were a disproportionate number of clocks.

Read more on the CScout Japan blog.

But the My Room II from Yamaha is something else entirely—it’s like a human sized vault! This mini-room, designed to fit conveniently even in an apartment, offers the ultimate in soundproof privacy for watching TV, having important confidential discussions, or practicing karaoke.

Read the rest of the post at the CScout Japan site.

The iPhone took the mobile world by storm and within one year has resulted in the mobile ecosystem to be turned on it’s head. Apple’s iPhone App Store for the first time offered a portal for mobile phone users to install fun or functional applications on their iPhones. Yet, most of us really just follow the App Store offering in their native market. At CScout we will start a regular blog column to feature innovative apps from App Stores around the world.

Part 1 - November 2008: Brazilian Golmobile fuel efficiency calculator

A customized program for the iPhone and the iPod Touch allows users to save money at the pump by choosing the most optimal mix of gasoline and alcohol for their flex fuel vehicles

A recently-launched program has already become the most downloaded one at Brazil’s Apple store. BrasilFlex was developed by GolMobile and is meant to direct the user’s optimal mix of gasoline and alcohol based on previously-entered engine fuel consumption figures. Upon arrival at the pump, the user inputs the current price of alcohol and gasoline and receives in turn the best cost-benefit mix of each.

Trend potential

In Brazil where most programs are entertainment-based, more functional programs that help in day-to-day situations could represent strong opportunities for growth moving forward.

Check back soon for more updates on iPhone Apps.

Salt Studio Saltasia fits right into this category, creating stylish salt rooms to promote anti-aging and relaxation for women. Saltasia uses hexagon-shaped, natural salt tiles on the floor, ceiling, and walls to create what feels like a honeycomb for relaxing. Behind the tiles are colored LED lights which, along with ambient music and sounds, diffuse smoothly and create a soothing experience for guests who can stretch, meditate, and let off stress.

Read the rest of the post at the CScout Japan site.

As a range of new interfaces and surfaces for digital devices are developed, it is becoming easier for visually impaired people to use devices sighted people take for granted. Tactile displays enable digital data to be felt rather than seen, making it easier for blind and partially sighted people to access the Internet, keep their credit card details secure, and take and archive pictures.

Cases

Touch Sight Camera

This Samsung design embosses 3D images on its flexible Braille display, turning images into a surface that can be felt. It also captures a few seconds of sound to accompany each picture, making them much easier to search and archive. Images can be shared online and downloaded to other Touch Sight cameras.

ReEnvision

Smooth touch-screen technology on debit card readers hinders visually impaired people by requiring them to give their PIN to the cashier. This design provides a low-cost solution, sitting flush on a debit card reader to provide tactile buttons.

Sentio

Although blind people can’t see, it doesn’t mean they don’t want to look good. This was Matthew Wagerfield’s approach when he incorporated tactile technology into this watch. The clock’s face features two seven-segment digital displays that rise 1mm above its surface, providing a tactile function for the blind and a visual spectacle for the sighted.

Saifu

Saifu is a tablet PC that uses a conceptual magnetized liquid material called magneclay. The oil based synthetic reacts to a magnetic charge, rearranging itself infinite numbers of times to display Braille or tactile 3D images in relief.

Trend Impact
These designs demonstrate many of the ways in which technology is making up for the difference in people’s abilities, leveling the playing field and making more activities and roles accessible to more parts of the population.

Of course, many of these technologies can provide benefits to sighted people. For example, a tactile surface could be applied to a bedside clock, enabling one half of a couple to find out what time it is without disturbing the other.