back in 1997, richard noble's land speed record team, with their car: "thrust ssc" driven by andy green broke not only the land speed record, but the sound barrier as well, with an average speed of 763 mph, or mach 1.01. this was undoubtably a great achievement, but the question stands: where do you go from here? well, richard noble has now returned with a new project, called the bloodhound ssc, a car perhaps capable of 1000mph. however, noble says that the purpose of the bloodhound project is not to break the 1000mph mark, or any other speed taret, it is simply to get people excited about maths and science. this idea of bringing all people together and getting them interested in engineering through this incredible project seems like a great idea, and is, so far having the desired effect. huge numbers of supporters of the project have donated money, and students across the country are being given lectures by the team about the project. the thing that seems to be getting people to take notice so far are the unbelievable figures attached to the car, it will be driven by a prototype eurofighter engine, and boosted to 1000mph by a hybrid rocket engine, which requires another 800hp engine jus to pump the oxidiser needed for it to burn continuously. the solid aluminium wheels will experience 50,000 radial G at the rim, and will rotate at over 10,000rpm. the project, provided sponser money comes in will go ahead with the run hopefully taking place in late 2011 or early 2012, and i'm sure we all wish them the best.
In films such as minority report, and more recently quantum of solace and iron man, we see super futuristic interfaces between humans and computers. these interfaces are designed to be ultimately as easy to use, and as intuitive as possible. they appear both endlessly complicated, and as supremely simple to use as possible. of course we think that this tech might be several years away, but recent developments at edinburgh univeristy has proved different. they have begun to develop these super intuitive touch screen systems on a large scale, and for the first time we are approaching the same technologies as in the films:
But what about the rest of us? who have to make do with our pc's or macs? running on windows or leopard? well, similarly, readily available programs are developing computer interfaces that closely mimic the design of those in minority report and quantum of solace. these interfaces draw on the semi transparent, wide, open and simple typfaces immediately associated with super futuristic computer systems. one such program is rainmeter, a free program for microsoft that can be downloaded from the official website: http://rainmeter.net/RainCMS/. with new skins being designed every day, along with new desktop gadgets, wallpapers, widgets and styles, it allows almost infinate customisation to allow any information or program to be accesed instantly from the desktop of windows. it is also easy to link into existing windows skins and themes, and other interface programs such as rocketdock, meaning any of us can now have a little slice of the amazing interfaces we see in the cinema.
some rainmeter interfaces
rocketdock isa program for windows designed to mimic a mac interface, also with various different skins and icons to suit individual taste. rocketdock is perhaps the most popular new tools in making the traditional windows interface more simple and easier to use, as well as more animated and interesting visually. its various skins can be used to match it to existing windows or rainmeter styles, meaning it can be linked in to your current desktop setup, whatever it might be. it is available for free from the rocketdock website: http://rocketdock.com/download
some rocketdock styles
These programs give huge scope for customizing the desktop of your computer, but for those who really don't like the existing OS interfaces from windows and apple, a new program allows a complete refit of the interface. this program is called talisman, and is perhaps the biggest departure from what we would consider "the norm". it is a revolutionary new program that completely changes the appearance and system of a windows interface, and unlike other programs, talisman has no real templates, meaning the talisman skins can be almost anything, many of which are very similar to the amazing film programs. note how, on the pictures below, many of the designs totally avoid the traditional layout of buttons to create a unique and visually captivating interface, and although these layouts may not be considered normal, they are still logical layouts, and no less easy to use (and in some cases much easier) than existing windows or apple products. the newest version is available for free trail, and full download at $25, and the origional talisman program is available for free: http://www.lighttek.com/talisman.htm
a selection of the available talisman visual styles, all with varying complexity, colour scheme and layout.
The 30th of september saw theannual paris motorshow take place, one of the most exciting and important shows in the motoring calendar. this year the show was packed with hundreds of new concept cars, some very conceptual and artistic, and somne that could well be on the roads within 12 months. one of the most interesting things at this years show was the radically different routes taken by lamborghini and jaguar as they looked at the next generation of supercar.
Lamborghini's centerpiece for this years show was the "sesto elemento"(meaning 6th element) a completely carbon-fibre creation, designed around a 5.6 litre v10, and taking their existing angular, sharp and edgey design language (currently seen on the lp640 and lp560) to the absolute extreme:
At the other end of the scale however, jaguar has designed their new concept: the C-X75 to be an enviromentally friendly supercar. jaguar have the design focused around it being a diesel electric hybrid, 2 concepts seen as totally opposite to speed and performance, which may seem odd, but in actual fact it makes some sense. Jaguar took note of how porsche stole the 2010 geneva show with the 918 spyder, another enviromentally friendly supercar, and so have gone to great lengths to convince people about the radical technologies to make their diesel electric hybrid work. the design of the C-X75 is very different to what we have seen from jaguar recently. its wide, open front grille, small, high headlights, huge, striking wheels and radical back end give it a much more "love or hate" look than the recent XF, XJ and XK models, which seem to be more appealing to a wider audience.
it is certainly interesting to look at how these two manufacturers have taken such massively different approaches to effectively the same problem: the next generation of supercars. lamborghini have taken their existing ideas and designs, and adapted them to be evermore extreme and striking, giving the brand an instantly recognisable product and shape. wheras jaguar have approached the problem from a whole new angle, hinting that the entire set of problems that lay behind designing a supercar are set to change, and that they are ahead of the pack in tackling them.
