Cloud brings thunder and lightning inside your home
Cloud, by New Zealand-based designer Richard Clarkson, is an
interactive lamp designed to mimic a thundercloud. It brings the
outside inside, providing an audiovisual show that looks and sounds
like thunder and lightning ... but thankfully rain isn't included in the
package.
Powered by an Arduino microcontroller, Cloud is able to react to
motion by automatically adjusting the color and brightness of lighting. There are also alternate modes for those
who need a break from having a thundercloud in their home. For instance, Cloud can be turned into a nightlight
or used to stream music via any Bluetooth-compatible device.
The Cloud itself is made hypoallergenic fiberfill that is felted to a sponge casing to form a frame. The frame
holds within it the lighting system and speakers used to make Cloud look and sound like a real thundercloud ...
just one that's hanging from your ceiling rather than growing ominously outside your window.
Each Cloud is approximately 28 x 14 x 13 inches (71 x 36 x 33 cm), but these measurements vary as each cloud
is handmade and therefore unique.
Cloud costs US$3,360 for the smart version, which includes a wireless remote control unit, color-changing
lights, 2.1 speakers (two speakers plus a subwoofer), and motion detection. The lamp version goes for $960,
and features a Philips LED dimmable bulb but none of the extra gubbins. For $240 you can get a satellite addon, which is a small cloud designed to create a more realistic sky scene for your main Cloud.
Fraunhofer developing fuel cell system to power the home
As the world shifts to alternative forms of energy, ways to
make homes less dependent on the grid continue to gather
steam. Fuel cells, which are more efficient and have lower
emissions than internal combustion engines seem like a logical
candidate for taking up the slack, so the Fraunhofer Institute for
Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS) in Dresden is partnering with the heater manufacturer Vaillant to develop a domestic fuel cell system that uses natural gas to produce both
heating and electricity.
Fuel cells have been around since 1838, and have long seemed
like the power source of tomorrow, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that the first commercial fuel cells appeared,
when they were used to power spacecraft. Though they’ve seen some applications in the automotive industry in
the 1990s and the Ene-Farm home fuel cell became the world's first commercialized fuel cell system targeted at
household heating and electricity generation with its release in Japan in 2009, fuel cells have struggled to find
widespread adoption.
Part of the reason is their complexity and another is that they tend to be very expensive due, in part, to the need
for precious metals like platinum for catalysts. Because such catalysts are easily poisoned by impurities, fuel
cells also have a reputation for poor reliability. The Fraunhofer approach was to come up with a fuel cell for the
home that’s simple, and can be installed and maintained like a common household gas heater that runs on natural gas.
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