Designs...

My final and 1st draft design specification for the Multimedia Swiss Army Knife.

- 1st draft -

The 1st draft has five multimedia tools;

1. 30Gb MP3 player
2. 8 mega pixel camera with flash
3. 3-watt LED flashlight
4. Standard bluetooth and infrared devices
5. 1Gb USB Flash memory stick

- Final design -

My final design has seven multimedia tools, improved;

1. 30Gb MP3 and multimedia device
2. Infrared, bluetooth and wireless internet connection
3. 8 mega pixel camera with in-built flash
4. 3-watt LED flashlight
5. Retractable mini-keyboard
6. Multimedia device control panel
7. A control panel pen

Further research...

Swiss Army Knife sales have been hit hard after the September 11th terrorist attacks and the recent alerts at airports throughout Britain. Victorinox used to supply a large amount of knives both in airport departure lounges and even on board planes before the attacks and the banning of these items in airports and the confiscation of any undeclared knives has meant the plummet of what has been a very lucrative market for Victorinox.

Victorinox is owned by Carl Elsener, the great-grandson of Karl Elsener who invented the Swiss Army Knife way back in 1884. The company is always looking for new ideas and models to sell, to keep up with the change in a globalised world. The idea of essentially a tool manufacturers’ scale of development from humble beginnings to being on the doorstep of producing a multimedia ‘tool’ is what gave me my inspiration for my project.

Imagine Victorinox being taken over by a different company and the future of the Swiss Army Knife was altered in a way which I suspect wouldn’t be allowed under its current ownership. The Swiss Army Knife could (in an exaggerated example) become my idea of a multimedia device, hardly recognizable as the Swiss Army Knife that I would know of. It would lose its sense of its ‘self’, its sense of origin.

In a modern, globalised, multimedia ‘e-world’ this example could be showed in almost anything. The idea that demand overshadows identity or that an object’s individuality and origin are somehow lost through the supply to a demanding society. Manufacturer’s judgment would be clouded by the excessive drive for something that sells, what the people want, that will make money.

I can see the change in Victorinox’s stance:

"We are not giving up," says the firm's spokesman Hans Schorno. "We are going to fight."

With the recent release of the USB Swiss Army Knife, Victorinox has taken a major leap toward my idea of the complete Multimedia Swiss Army Knife. This may look like a natural response to a company that has rich traditions and history behind it trying to defend its heritage and origin in an ever changing world of business but I think it’s more than that. It may just happen in the future we forget the meanings of objects and where they came from in terms of functionality. I don’t see it as that radical an idea that this won’t happen seeing as there are examples of it already.

History and origins of the Swiss Army Knife...

- Original Swiss Army Knife -

History:

The Swiss Army Knife is produced by two Swiss companies, Victorinox and Wenger. Karl Elsener (Victorinox founder) supplied standard issue knives for the Swiss Army around 1891. The army had only just introduced a new rifle which required a screwdriver as part of it’s general maintenance, so the knives included one also a can-opener.

He legally registered the "Officer's and Sports Knife" in 1897 and began to achieve success when army officers bought the knife for themselves in cutlery shops.

Victorinox (founded by Elsener) and Wenger (originally Paul Boechat & Cie) were both awarded contracts for supplying knives to the Swiss army to promote competition. Victorinox knives are now identified as 'The Original Swiss Army Knife' while the Wenger ones are labelled 'The Genuine Swiss Army Knife'.

Worldwide distribution of the Swiss Army Knife became apparent during World War II, when they were available in American stores and were called the "survival knife". Victorinox (which has taken over Wenger) still supplies some 50,000 knives to the Swiss army each year, and produces 30-odd thousand Swiss Army Knives per day in over 100 different models. Some examples of these modeals are: Handyman, Deluxe tinker, Craftsman, Ranger and Explorer, different tools for different needs.

The New York Museum of Modern Art and the State Museum for Applied Art in Munich have selected the Swiss Army Knife for their collections of 'excellence in design'.

Developments:

Victorinox has also introduced loads of new knives - a kids' Swiss army knife; a blade-free air-travel version; and - most successfully- one with a USB port that allows you to link your knife up to your computer.

The firm is keen to promote the surprising uses of the knife - which has been used to save children from sinking cars, repair the space shuttle, and deliver foals. A German doctor sent the firm gruesome photos showing how he used a multi-tool knife to cut off the leg of a tsunami victim in Sri Lanka!! He said he would have preferred a saw but there wasn't one available, Ouch!!

You can buy a Swiss Army Knive with just about every gadget known to man, so it's no real surprise that Victorinox and flash memory company Swissbit, is now offering cutting tools plus a USB flash memory stick. The new 'knife' will be unveiled next week.

The USB Swiss Army Knife is available with 64 or 128MB memory, plus all the usual extras - knife, corkscrew and tin-opener. The 64MB version will cost €55 (about £30) the price of the 128MB version is to be arranged.

- USB Swiss Army Knife -

These developments show evidence of Victornox's desire to move with the times and keep up to date with an ever-evolving, moderised, multimedia 'e-world'.

Move over hoverboard...

...and new-look Swiss Army Knife come on down!!

I've come up with the idea of a new Swiss Army Knife which has developed beyond it's original specifications. Take the current development of the Swiss Army Knife from humble beginnings around 1891, to the multi-tooled design which can boast up to 100 different blades, tools and gadgets. There has even been a USB Swiss Army Knife released just recently, with the original ability to connect to the users' computer.

- USB Swiss Army Knife -

The general idea I'm thinking of is that objects and are fast evolving into multimedia devises, people are less likely now to buy mechanical gadgets and more likely to buy iPods, mobile phones, games consoles and all the accessories, gadgets and gizmos that come with them. The general trend is to lean towards multimedia.

Just take Japan as an example, long have we known about some of their 'inventive' inventions!!. They're gadget crazy over there, making all kinds of tools and gizmos to make everyday life easier, although more often than not the inventions just look like hard work in themselves! Things like the 'Chopstick fan', 'Umbrella tube', 'Subway chin rest' and 'Eye-drop funnels' to name but a few.

My idea is to design a multimedia Swiss Army Knife. An exaggerated example of a currently available device which has gone far and beyond it's original or even current practicality. The fact that the Swiss Army Knife was first designed with a blade, can opener and a screwdriver and now can possess upto 100 different gadgets and tools, shows it's development and need to change with the times. It's always updating and bringing out new models and with the USB devise it has already entered into the mulitmedia age.

I want to take this further though and develop a Swiss Army Knife that goes far beyond any of this. A complete multimedia device which has none of the Swiss Army Knife's current tools. The idea is that in the future we will be so obsessed with designing devices that give everything the user will need, we will forget about where our ideas and even the original product comes from. A Swiss Army Knife, which has no mechanical tools or even a knife. Something that has become so wrapped up in it's own self development and modernisation that it leaves behind all sense of it's literal description...Multimedia Swiss Army Knife.

Existing hoverboard technologies...

There are existing hoverboard technologies but they are not in any way similar to the depiction of Mattel's hoverboard.

- Kevin Inkster's 'Airboard' -

This is taken from the Arbortech website;

"I was inspired after watching the movie 'Back to the Future' seeing Michael J Fox riding on a hoverboard several years ago and wanted to make something similar that was fun to ride...

...they don't look like Mattel’s hoverboards at all, but the hoverboard depicted in that movie served as an inspiration to me..." - Kevin Inkster, Airboard inventor/developer

The Airboard will operate just like any other hovercraft, supported and propelled by a cushion of air. Developers of the Airboard say it will initially be available at theme parks, but it has already made an appearance. During the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics, Inkster showed off the Airboard by riding it around the stadium.

- An 'Airboard' in action -

The reason for the absence of hoverboards such as Mattel's fictional example are that there are some major funtional and practical problems with constructing a board in this design. The difference with the Airboard is that it can support not only itself but also any change in the users weight distribution because it is balanced equally. With Mattel's board there is no way of defusing any excess weight distributed to the edges of the board so it would always topple over to the side or front. So currently my idea is not possible!

Home-made hoverboards have been contructed however. According to The Gadget Show (Channel 5) hoverboards can be made at home DIY stylee for as little as £150, but as the picture (below) shows it's not really anything like what I'm looking for.

- Home-made for £150 -

The closest similarity to Mattel's device, visually speaking would be this home-made hoverboard(see picture below). It is 5ft in length and 2ft wide, uses a 6hp, 4-stroke petrol engine which spins a propeller to force air under the board. It can apparently support a 200lb rider and uses hand-held controls to manouver the hoverboard.

- DIY hoverboard example -

Definately food for thought...

Hoverboard developments...

In terms of 3D design I would be looking for an end product similar to the one pictured below...






...obviously this isn't my personnal work, but it incorporates the basic funtionality that I'm looking for in my own 3D design. The 'hover-pads' are clearly visable as are the electronic connectors.

My sketch-book designs (below) show my original design ideas for both visual and functional design for the Hoverboard3000 and my final revised design for the Hoverboard4000...

Initial and final hoverboard designs

- Hoverboard3000 -

- Hoverboard4000 -

My final design incorporates the following functional improvements;

1. Larger, single 'hover-pad' (primary propulsion unit)
2. Twin boosters (secondary propulsion unit)
3. Fuel pump and jet motor suppling boosters with power
4. Extended length (12 inches) to accomodate boosters
5. Extension of rear 'lip' also to accomadate boosters
6. Front and rear kick-stands to prevent damage to fuel pump, jet motor and boosters whilst the unit is 'off'
   

- Mattel's hover-device -

In the Back to the Future movies, the Hoverboard model was "Mattel's" hover-device (see above picture), invented between the years 2000 and 2015. These devices were capable of floating above any surface including water, but only the "Pitbull" type could be propelled over water. In the movie Marty couldn’t use his "Mattel" hoverboard on water, but the alternative model - named the "Pitbull" - had two jets on the rear for forward propulsion. This will be my final design (Hoverboard 4000). Using both the 'hover-pad' and twin jet booster technologies with my hoverboard. This allows the hoverboard to perform on unstable platforms e.g grass and more importantly water.

I'm going to look into current hoverboard technologies...watch this space!!

Another funky idea: HOVERBOARD BABY!!

This idea originated from watching the Back To The Future movies (part II & part III). This would be awesome...





I’m sure it’s been a futuristic dream of anyone who has ever skateboarded!! My idea is not only to develop the hoverboard as a fully functional leisure device but also to incorporate everyday multimedia aspects within it. For example it could have an in-car style television/multimedia screen incorporated within its frame, ideal whenever the user wishes to stop for a while and watch television, a DVD or check their e-mails. This multimedia packet could also involve an mp3 player/iPod or similar, with hands free, Bluetooth headphones. A hand held route finder could also be used, extremely handy if the client uses their hoverboard for day to day, non-localised transport.


Definition: “A Hoverboard is a fictional, futuristic hovering deck, resembling a skateboard without wheels or trucks. The name is a portmanteau of the words hover and skateboard. They were first introduced in the films Back to the Future Part II in 1989, and Back to the Future Part III in 1990, where Mattel made a product branded Hoverboard. Attempts to produce the experience of a Hoverboard with available technology have involved hovercraft (or air-cushion) vehicles…”