Decode: Digital Design Sensations Features Nokia PUSH Award Winners

Decode: Digital Design Sensations is on exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. If you can get there, it will take your breath away, but if you can't get there, I'll share part of the exhibit on display and interacting at the V&A until April 11, 2010: the five winners of the Nokia awards, inventions that demonstrate the capabilities of its N900. 

Nokia's PUSH contest dared hackers to take apart and rebuild its new N900 open source Maemo smart phone.  Do you know any hackers who won't take a dare? 

Nokia N900

All five of the winning Nokia PUSH N900 hack inventions are either controlled by or linked to an N900.  The fellow below, for example dances to the tune of a text message.  He just wins my award.

1.  Pole Dancing Robots

The Dancing Robots didn't win any prize but my own.  The Dancing Robots were just in town for the PUSH party, but never mind.  They are probably the most entertaining wild gyrating android dancers you will see and they're inhabited by hacked N9000s.  They like text.  Text them and they will dance. 

Dancing Robot, Nokia900 Controlled: Image via UniqueDaily.com

2.  Kite Aerial Photography, Nokia PUSH Winner

Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) is a harness for a camera-equipped mobile phone which is operated from the ground by a Nokia handset that directs its attention where the user wants to take stills or video.

Nokia N900 for KAP - Kite Aerial Photography: Image via Flickr ©KAP

3. Sketch Your World, Nokia PUSH Winner

Sketch Your World is a super Etch-a-Sketch gadget that will send photos to a specially prepared Etch-a-Sketch toy.   The toy captures the photo in a detailed line drawing.  It's a shame it will just be erased.

Sketch Your World: Image: ©Sketch Your World via Flikr

4.  Haptic Guide, Nokia PUSH Winner

Haptic Guide is not flashy, but it's cool.  It's a buzzer attached to a belt that reads your GPS and tells you when you have to turn.  If you just got buzzed on your right hip, you need to make a right turn... pronto.

 HapNav: This is a picture of the front side of the uncompleted first prototype. This is the only circuitry that can be seen on the belt, but when completed, this will also be covered by a custom phone holder."(HpaticGuide): © HapticGuide via flickr

5.  Solderin Skater, Nokia PUSH Winner

Solderin Skater is a chip that attaches to the bottom of your skateboard that transmits your performance to a nearby Nokia.  I wish I had a good video of this.

Solderin Skater in its first test.: © SolderinSkater via Flickr

6.  Light Hack Nokia PUSH Winner

The Light Hack uses a long exposure on a camera phone to snap the movements of LED light bulbs and somehow that enables you to produce LED graffiti.  You'll understand better when you see the video below.

LightHack: All images & designs are copyright of Sharnna Garbin, Tom Pope & Dave Price November 2009

The winners of Nokia PUSH received N900 smart phones, a world tour with their inventions, and seed money to get their inventions produced.  No word about what the Pole Dancing Robots got.

Sources: HackADay.com, Nokia Push, TimesOnline, UniqueDaily