How to fall in love even more with those awesome products you covet? Bring them home…via Augmented Reality. This weekend I wanted to try a couple of apps developed using  to Metaio’s Unifeye Mobile  SDK. Swiss furniture designers Atelier Pfister and uber cool Spanish porcelain creators Lladró decided to let mobile/tablet users try out their lines of products at home with nice user friendly apps. Two different approaches: Atelier Pfister’s app lets you adjust the furniture (modeled in low-res polygons but nicely rendered) to a background image or picture from your library or camera while Lladró’s app has ‘flat’ high-res images for the user to adjust the background image or pic taken to match the product’s perspective.

Atelier Pfister’s app just needs (or perhaps I missed it) a way to tell the real scale of the objects, something Lladro solved by placing an iPhone (ubiquitous object) next to their products, very helpful when adjusting the product’s image to the chosen background.

Atelier Pfister Iphone App Film from Atelier Pfister on Vimeo.

La Lagunilla open air market in Mexico City is a great place to find unexpected vintage objects…amongst a myriad of other things. Loved shopping with a nice cold beer in hand =) It gives a different feel to the shopping experience that’s for sure.

Was tempted by this one, and also a nice used Seltzer bottle.

A great spot for parking your car if you ever visit (you’ll need one if you are in for serious shopping=).

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Parque España, Colonia Condesa.

Antara shopping mall.

A  brief look at the new Souyama museum , have to return this week to get  a better look!

A glimpse of the ‘Bellas Artes’ palace.

Somewhere around Polanco neighborhood.

On our way back from Mexico’s City ‘Zocalo’.  Some intense sunlight.

Mesmerizing work by the guys from Handspring Puppet Company. Here’s the video of Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones’ TED talk.

A little sketch of the ideas I think we should explore a bit further =). I find steam/vapor rings and all kinds of smoke rings quite mesmerizing so this could be a fun (and even healthy) piece or furniture. Combine this with greenery and LED lights and this thing could be interesting.

‘for those who see’ at DMY Berlin from Daniel Schulze on Vimeo.

Hey!! It’s been a while since the last time we wrote something here =) and I believe this journal should continue! Inspiration is everywhere and yesterday I found myself quite mesmerized by the maturity of this amazing lights by the designers from L’Ecal (ECOLE CANTONALE D’ART DE LAUSANNE) at Galerie Kreo, Paris. Very elegant and properly curated. If I’m not mistaken the Bouroullec Bros. had something to do with all this. =)

Slim and Strong detail

Grupo Habita, working with designers Frida Escobedo and Jose Rojas, and antique curator Claudia Fernandez, have restored the 1950s architectural gem of Boca Chica, on a small peninsula near Caletilla beach in Acapulco.

Ever since the first time I visited I fell in love with the old Acapulco side of town, famous for being THE celebrity hangout of excellence in the 50′s, with its International style architecture, it still has a certain Mediterranean flair, a bit forgotten and neglected but always there. But some people (Habita Group) know about the potential this old beach neighborhood has and refurbished a key landmark that I believe leads the way to a slow rebirth of the vintage/savoir vivre side of Acapulco.

Acapulco is the consummate Mexican resort town, and its long history as a destination for global sun-seekers is evidenced by its practiced hospitality: this place knows how to show visitors a good time. The Hotel Boca Chica is designed to do just that, intended for anyone from golfers to honeymooners looking to have a little fun Acapulco style.

Located in the vibrant Caleta neighbourhood just steps away from an idyllic beach cove, the hotel boasts a vintage exterior straight out of the 1950s. Inside, though, a refurbished interior curated by Mexican artist Claudia Fernández is anything but old-school, with chic design elements assuring a sophisticated contemporary ambience.

Amenities include Dr. Bronner bath products, wireless Internet and 24-hour room service. A spa area provides for all guests’ wellness needs and features a fully-equipped gym, several massage cabanas and a therapy area where a team of trained experts offer a range of body and facial treatments. During the day, guests can lounge at the Boca Chica’s pool terrace, stroll through its charming marina or explore its well-stocked boutique shop.

But once the sun sets, the place to be is the in-house bar and disco, where guests and visitors dance and mingle all night long. The hotel restaurant provides meals and snacks to meet every taste, including a special sushi take-out menu.

More info about the hotel and reviews: TheTimes Mag, Wallpaper Mag and Design Hotels website.

This is one of those objects that is so beautiful I didn’t really care what it did.  Then I discovered that it was the Green PC by Design Hara, built for disassembly out of recyclable parts.  Wow.  This 4G Intel Core2Duo/Quad computer has a recyclable chassis handcrafted from your choice of Canadian rose wood or Italian cypress.  The front cover can be made of natural sheep leather.

The components are assembled by nuts and bolts so that it can be disassembled for recycling.  See Design Hara for more specs.

(via Likecool)