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San Francisco based start-up company Mobeam has patented technology that will allow barcodes to be scanned from Smartphone screens at checkouts.

The point-of-sale possibilities are endless for coupons and other far more fun advertising promotions. Plus, it is better than replacing every checkout scanner in the world.  

To promote the technology, Portal A created this heavily Auto-Tuned supermarket musical, in which a frustrated cashier bursts into song over the wonders of Mobeam. It includes an obligatory rap, a talking fish and a dancing janitor. The video is silly in the extreme.  

This, however, is not an app you can download, it is a technology targeted at businesses to add to their apps. And the reason for this? Modern phone screens are too high definition for normal barcode scanners to read, so the technology sends signals via an LED to the scanner to ‘trick’ it into thinking it is reading a normal barcode.

Whilst the technology will only appeal to developers and advertisers, the video will appeal to everyone. Watch it below.

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Pantone is a brand that many will recognise and the folks at Chic & Artistic have created this innovative and clever idea of matching the colour swatches to songs.

The series, called "panto'n'roll", replaces the name of a colour in a song title with one of the famous Pantone cards, for example 'blue suede shoes' or 'yellow submarine'.

Very simple yet wonderfully creative, we love it, and they mention on their website that they will producing some posters of these too, just email them at pantonroll@chic-artistic.com with the one(s) you like. 

You can see all of the series here.

Can you think of any songs they may have missed?

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For the 2012 Abu Dhabi Art Fair Japanese artist, Tadashi Kawamata, created a huge structure out of chairs.

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In a new publicity campaign, Leo Burnett Toronto has created a countdown for the start of the new series of popular zombie TV series "The Walking Dead".  

They have installed a hoarding in Toronto Union Station, featuring two zombie hands, that countdown to the start of the new series. To add to the gore, when a day passes a finger is physically removed from one of the hands and left there to "rot". The company also arranged for some actors to dress up as "walkers", the name the show gives to the zombies, and wander around the station during the build-up whilst chained to cement blocks. They also gave away t-shirts and set up a competition via Twitter to win one of the digits from the hands.


This is a great bit of fun and will have an impact but alas it could put a few commuters off their breakfast.

The show starts again in Canada and the US Sunday 10th February, and in the UK on Friday 15th February.

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Ever felt that the sound of water dripping was slightly rhythmic and musical? If not, you may want to reconsider after seeing the new installation at the 303 gallery in New York by American artist Doug Aitken.

The piece, called Sonic Fountain, is part of the gallery's 100 Years exhibition and features five rods that drip water into a pool below. The dripping is not random; it is released at special intervals to create a variety of patterns and shapes, with the sound amplified by the location and the pool itself having been specially excavated out of the floor of the gallery.

The piece is quiet and tranquil with a milky white glow coming from the pool and a breath like rhythm from the water drops.

Watch a video of the exhibition below.

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To celebrate 55 years, Lego has created a tumblr account called "55 years of the brick".

They've released 55 simple but effective print adverts, asking you to guesswhich song, band, movie or book the poster represents using the tag line "imagine a...".

See if you can guess what the ads represent - there are a few challenging ones.

The Lego posting has a lot of advertising around it, which can be annoying, but you can view them all at Gizmodo here without the ads.

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You can't read the news today without seeing something about 3D printers and their possible uses.

Now Janjaap Ruijssenaars of Dutch firm Universe Architecture, is working with the Italian inventor of the D-shape 3D printer, Enrico Dini, to build the world's first 3D printed building.

The project is to create a two storey building, due for completion in 2014, using pieces made by the 3D printer.
It will be made by printing  6 x 9 metre chunks of frame, which will be made of sand and inorganic binder. The frame will be fitted together and then filled with fiber-reinforced concrete, to create a sturdy and solid structure.

Ruijssenaars describes the project as, “One surface folded in an endless möbius band. Floors transform into ceilings, inside into outside. Production with innovative 3D printing techniques. Architecture of continuity with an endless array of applicability.”

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After waiting 23 years for their market square to be redeveloped, the people of the Dutch town of Schijndel have an incredible new structure that pays homage to the local farming heritage.

Architects MVRDV noticed that the area put aside by the town planners resembled the layout of a traditional local farm. They used this idea to create a 1.6 times bigger model of a farm, made from glass and printed with images of a variety of different buildings from local farms, taken by artist Frank van der Salm.

The structure isn't just for show, it also houses several retail and business premises on the 1600sqm of Schijndel’s large market square.

Images from MVRDV and Persbureau van Eijndhoven.

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A new marketing campaign for Expedia by ad agency Ogilvy cleverly uses luggage tags from various airports to create words or phrases.

The ads are otherwise simple, with a plain background, focusing attention on the tags themselves, which convey a variety of messages such as "Bon Voyage" and "Wish you were here". Although some of the messages are prone to "text speak" they generally do a good job of conveying the idea of getting away.

See more images from the campaign at the Creative Review website here

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Be amazed by this gravity defying chain reaction Rube Goldberg device created by 2D House - Rube Goldberg vs. Isaac Newton.

Using magnets and visual trickery it will blow your mind - which way up and how do they do that!

You can see more of the devices they have created here.

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The world has seen the introduction of the first 3D photo booth and, yes, it is in Japan.

Rather than printing photos of you it prints a 3D model - absolutely brilliant.

You simply step into a normal photo booth and it prints out a tiny 3D figure. However, it's not cheap - your very own 3D model will set you back between $260 and $530. The prototype photo booth is in operation until January.

Here are some images of the great models that have been printed so far.

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Why build your house as a box when you could be living in a cloud? 

McBride Charles Ryan is the architectural practice behind this cloud-shaped addition to an Edwardian residence in Australia.

This beautiful structure is in stark contrast to the front view of the property.

The architects commmented, “The form of the ‘cloud’ conforms to setback regulations without appearing obviously determined by them. The extrusion creates a dramatic interior language where walls merge seamlessly with the floor and ceiling. The craftsmanship is remarkable throughout; it has a sense of care one typically associates with the work of a cooper or wheelwright. While the geometry is playful, the extrusion is essentially a contemporary barrel vault.”

See more of this great building here on Web Urbanist.

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