STIMULI during Dutch Design Week
30-10-2013
As infants, we begin to experience new tastes by exploring our tactical senses. It is, in a sense, our original obsession. As adults, we still have an appetite to trigger those latent senses with fresh and unexpected delights. This desire is the motivation for the STIMULI — a sensory dining experience presented during Dutch Design Week.
STIMULI was brought forth through a cooperation between design studio Jinhyun Jeon, renowned Michelin star restaurant Treeswijkhoeve, and Ravanello Food & Concepts. Connected by their mutual passion for stimulating taste, they created an enhanced dining event: a five-course haute cuisine sensory menu served with tactile tableware — such as silicone ‘nipple’ cups, glazed ball spoons, and spiked tasting palettes — that excite the tongue, trigger taste buds, and alter the perception of salty, acidic, sweet, and bitter tastes for a new experience.
The project focuses on the subject of joint perception — sensorial disturbance inspired by phenomenon of synesthesia. The main objective of the food design experience was to understand how the human brain intuitively responds to different stimuli during eating, and as such contributes to a different way of producing consumer energy. This will provide insights outside of the existing food culture in which societal, technological, and environmental influences play an important role.
Read the full article by Hortense Koster
NH Hoteles StartupBus Europe
30-10-2013
NH Hoteles is sponsor of the StartupBus Europe. The hotel chain finds its core values ‘talent management, motivation and teamwork’ well presented in this competition. During the tour several buses from Barcelona, Berlin, Rome, London, Paris and Amsterdam aim for the Pioneers festival in Vienna. During the road trip the participants create and launch a startup. In total there are 150 challengers divided over six buses. During the road trip to Vienna, the Dutch StartupBus stops in Antwerp, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Prague and München.
The participants challenge each other for a spot on the entrepreneurial Pioneers Festival. The finalist wins a weekend break by NH Hoteles in one of its 400 hotels in 27 countries as well. NH Hoteles gets inspiration from innovation and is constantly on the lookout for new opportunities to develop services and talents. The collaboration with StartupBus is a way to meet with young creatives and future entrepreneurs.
Follow your pizza from dough ball to door
28-10-2013
Have you ordered a pizza and do you want to know the time of delivery exactly? Domino’s Pizza in the Netherlands has introduced a new online ordering system with a tracking system. You can follow the pizza from dough ball to door. Previously, when you ordered a pizza it could only be delivered, but now it is also possible to take away the pizza when ordering online.
Panoramic movie experience
24-10-2013
South Korea has launched a new technique to show a movie in the cinema. The cinema chain CJ CGV uses a special projection technique called ScreenX. ScreenX not only projects the movie in the center of the wall but also from the left and right side of the room. By using this technique, a panoramic viewing experience is created. The only disadvantage is that the movie must be recorded with three cameras, which is tricky because there is chance that they pop up in each others view.
Biodegradable champagne packaging
24-10-2013
The French designer Cédric Ragot has designed an innovative packaging for Veuve Clicquot champagne. The packaging is completely biodegradable and made of potatoes and recycled paper. The packaging is elegant and can be carried by the integrated handle. It will keep the bottle of champagne chilled for two hours after it has been in the fridge.
Check-splitter by Google
22-10-2013
A group of Google employees have applied for a patent that describes a process for splitting bill. This application might indicate the development of an app where (restaurant) bills can be divided easily and mobile payments are tracked automatically.
Is this the solution for ‘Going Dutch’ in restaurants, or just an unnecessary gadget?
Clean and safe drinking water by Coca Cola
18-10-2013
More than 1 billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water and more than 2.5 billion to adequate sanitation, making billions of people around the world vulnerable to disease. To help these people, Coca Cola started a pilot from the project EKOCENTER™ in South Africa, in collaboration with DEKA R&D and other partners. EKOCENTER™ is a small kiosk made of containers and offers clean and safe drinking water to the local population. The kiosk also offers other services like wireless communications, electricity, vaccination storage and more. The goals is to open around 1,500 to 2,000 EKOCENTERS™ in 2015 in Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America to provide clean and safe drinking water to developing countries. The EKOCENTERS or ‘Downtown in a box’ provided with the Slingshot water purification systems will be managed by local women entrepreneurs.
Algae bubbles filled with syrup
17-10-2013
The German company Döhler has introduced bubbles based on algae at the Anuga fair in Cologne which can be used in dairy drinks or as a topping for ice cream. The tapioca pearls, we all know are made from starch and a bit hard, the bubbles created from algae are softer in texture and take the flavor of the syrup. These bubbles burst in the mouth causing more syrup to be released. They were developed in the flavors mango, strawberry and raspberry. Döhler Holland is currently looking for distribution partners to deliver the bubbles to the hospitality industry.
Watch movies on a smartphone during your flight
20-9-2013
The airline Virgin Australia has developed a new app that allows passengers to view movies and programs directly from their smartphone, laptop or tablet during a flight. Before the airplane leaves, passengers can download the app from iTunes or Google Play and get access for 300 hours movies and programs of Virgin Australia. At this moment the app is tested at 37 airplanes, both domestic and international flights.
Cycling for an ice cream
17-9-2013
At the ice cream parlor Peddlers Creamery in Los Angeles, customers can make their own ice cream by cycling. The ice cream parlor sells both dairy and non-dairy organic ice cream, made of local sustainable products. Instead of using electricity to make an ice cream, the motor is connected to the bicycle device that uses the energy to churn the ice cream. Customers can contribute to the production of their own ice cream. The focus at Peddlers Creamery is on sustainability, environmental friendly and local products.
