Gizmodo: door

Spectacular Wave Door Is Deceptively Complex

Adam Frucci — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:40:00 EST

If you're going to have a door as elaborate and beautiful as this, you'd better have a damned impressive house for it to open into. Otherwise, it's all disappointment once you cross the threshold.

This door, created by Matharoo Associates for a diamond merchant in India, is flat-out crazy. It's 17 feet tall, five and a half feet wide, and is made up of 40 sections of Burmese teak. The door uses a counterweight, 80 ball bearings and 160 pulleys to create the incredible effect of reconfiguring into a sinusoidal curve when you push on any one section. Amazing.

[Architectural Review via FastCompany]

Engineering Student Takes On Electrical Door, Loses

Sean Fallon — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:40:00 EDT

According to the the description, the man in this video is an engineering student in Pakistan. Anyone remember that old Far Side comic?

This is kind of like that, only dumber. Why he was trying to bull rush the door is anyone's guess, but for the sake of mankind I can only hope this guy doesn't graduate. [Digg]

BlueGuard Opens Doors When You Get Within Bluetooth Range

Jason Chen — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:20:00 EDT

Oh the convenience of not having to use keys—that's what you get with a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone and BlueGuard, the automatic door opener.

The $200 unit detects up to 10 separate cellphones at up to 33 feet (standard low-power Bluetooth range), and hooks up to the door-opening system to enable you to get hands-free entrance. The site says this is more of an industrial use, and attaches to "gates, overhead doors and parking barriers," so it's less of you getting into your home. Still, it's quite useful. [EMXinc via Wired]

Security Lock Uses Any USB Device Unique Serial Number for Identification

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:30:00 EDT

The hackers at Makers Local 256 have created a secure door lock that can use any USB device as a unique key, from a memory stick to a mouse to an iPod. The ingenious system doesn't require to store anything in memory, which of course could be replicated, because it uses the USB serial number in the chip itself. The authentication process is simple:

• User inserts key into USB hub hooked to a PC
• Computer reads serial ID of key
• Computer compares serial ID to list of valid serial ID in a table \ DB \ Flat File
• If good, computer writes data ("Unlock!") to USB line of Microcontroller
• Microcontroller instructs servo to go to unlocked position for 5-10 seconds.

The project—which uses a Freeduino development board—can be done for about $60 by anyone with the ability to use a soldering iron. You can find the shopping list, instructions to create the bolt, and code to program the Freeduino. [Makers Local 256 via Hack-a-day]

Finally, The World's First THX-Certified Door

John Mahoney — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:15:00 EDT

Home theater junkies are now one step closer to a fully THX-certified home thanks to Serious Materials' QuietHome soundproof doors, which joins the company's QuietRock THX-certified drywall. The Serious folks claim an 85% improvement in sound blockage over a standard solid-core door with the 2 1/4-inch thick THX-certified edition, which will set you back $2,500 when it clears the certification board (and once the first shipment clears to George Lucas's Presidio compount). If you're in the target market for a THX-certified door, $2,500 probably won't sting too badly. Now, where is my THX-certified easy chair and acoustically neutral Pringles can? Read on for full details.

Serious Materials Introduces QuietHome Soundproof Doors
World’s first THX®-Certified soundproof door joins THX-Certified QuietRock

SUNNYVALE, CA — Serious Materials today announced its new line of QuietHome soundproof doors. These new products provide market-leading noise reduction in an attractive, stainable wood, pre-hung door package, and are perfect for high-end home theaters, commercial studios, offices and conference rooms. Unlike most metal acoustic doors, these look like they belong in a high-end home.

The entry-level QuietHome Door features a very high STC rating of 44 and is only 1¾” thick. The THX-Certified QuietHome Door provides an STC rating of 51 in a 2¼” thick door, and is the only acoustic door in the world to meet the demanding standards required for THX certification*. Typical hollow-core doors have an STC rating of only 15 and solid-core doors about 27. The high performance of QuietHome Doors reduce noise 65-85% compared to a solid core door. For the ultimate in performance in high-end home theaters, two QuietHome Doors may be used back to back, separated by a three-foot air gap, for a total STC rating of over 80.

The suggested price of QuietHome Doors ranges from $1,495 to $2,495, or up to 50% lower than other acoustic doors. QuietHome Doors are available for ordering now through building products dealers and lumberyards nationwide, and online at http://quietsolution.stores.yahoo.net/construction.html. Initial products will ship to customers in Q4.

“At THX, we believe great sound and picture is achieved through the right mix of audio-video components, room design, sound isolation and acoustic performance,” said John Dahl, director of education at THX. “For maximum enjoyment of your favorite movies and music, you have to keep the noise out and the sound in. THX-Certified QuietHome Doors – along with THX-Certified QuietRock – help deliver that great listening experience.”

Leveraging more than 25 years of cinema and professional studio design expertise, THX partnered with Serious Materials to develop a portfolio of acoustic materials for the professional building community. The THX Certified QuietHome Door and QuietRock® soundproof drywall provide designers and architects a means to meet the sound isolation demands of commercial cinemas, recording studios and home theaters.

Serious Materials’ advanced-technology Quiet®-brand products are recognized as the leader in noise reduction for construction projects, and have been used in over 35,000 projects. Its QuietRock® soundproof drywall delivers noise reduction at the lowest total cost, has over 90% market share in the category, and includes the only THX-Certified soundproof drywall, QuietRock 545 THX, with STC ratings up to 80. The new QuietHome Doors incorporate Serious’ proprietary viscoelastic polymer-based constrained layer damped system, a multi-layer design and advanced seals throughout the door edge.

How To: Etched LED Glass Door

Sean Fallon — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:35:36 EST

The dude behind this etched LED glass door is sharing his methods. You'll need some plexiglass, wood, tools, and about 120 LEDs to complete the design pictured above—or you could always do your own thing. Hit the link for the full how-to. [bit-tech forums via Hacked Gadgets]

Fluxxlab Revolution Door is Eco-Friendly, People-Powered Power Station

Kit Eaton — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:25:21 EST

The Revolution Door is a concept from New York designers Fluxxlab that puts otherwise-wasted kinetic energy from a revolving office door to good use—generating power. Fluxxlab's rationale is that humans exert a chunk of their own energy when pushing a revolving door around, and it may as well be captured via gears and an electricity generator. If you think about the thousands of doors across the country spinning around all day, everyday, then maybe they've got a point. Obligatory design diagram, and a schematic showing how the idea turns your breakfast into green lightbulb-lighting power after the jump.

We reckon we may have spotted one small flaw in this concept, though: the last 20 or so revolving doors we've used have all been automatic and motor-driven. [Fluxxlab via Inhabitat]

Door Transcends Door to Become Ping-Pong Table

Mark Wilson — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:15:55 EDT

It's not that we have any particular dislike for doors, it's just that, growing up in a barn, we never had any use for them. But with our current Balls-of-Fury-infused obsession, the Ping-Pong door is enough to change our minds. Housing a Ping-Pong table within an internal frame, the door...unfolds...for a quick match. It's a clever, efficient use of space for those who don't require a full-size table to get their Forrest Gump on.

Oh—just a minor caveat. One side of the door has to be bright green. We suggest not telling your duplex neighbor before installation. The doortable is set to go on sale next year. And we'll be the first to let you know after we preorder. [product via yanko via scifitech]

Touchscreen Samsung Door Lock Looks Better Than Most Cellphones

Jason Chen — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:30:28 EDT

Although normal locks are fine for the 20th century, these Samsung touchscreen door locks show that you're a man that doesn't settle for last year's technology. These locks, which come in black and silver for $180 (170,000 Won), have a Samsung cellphone-esque touchpad for easy number entry, plus aluminum alloy and tempered glass for that extra bit of style. If we ever have anything worth protecting, we'd use one of these padlocks to do it. [AVING via Korean Gadgets via Coolest Gadgets]

ADEL Biometric Keyless Door Lock

Jason Chen — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 16:15:21 EDT

For only $199, you can outfit your front door with a biometric fingerprint-recognizing lock that will remember up to 100 prints and is constructed out of stainless steel and PCB sealed with epoxy. In addition to the fingerprints, you can also get in via PIN number or mechanical key, which we guess is a fail-safe if you get amnesia and have your fingers chopped off. No worry of power outage either, there's a battery point where you touch a 9V battery to juice it up temporarily.

We'd love to outfit one of these in our apartment doors so we won't have to do the one-arm shuffle when holding a metric assload of groceries. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Brick House Security via Gadgetell]

Next Fest 2006: Automatic Door

Brian Lam — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:10:07 EDT

Not the kind you're used to. This door has many slats with infrared sensors on their tips. When you walk up to it, the slats slide out of the way, conforming to your body. We've written about this, but here's a video of it in action.–Brian Lam

Sound Sensing Door Keyhole Light

Travis Hudson — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:26:01 EDT

After months and months of intense and rigorous research I have made a discovery. It is damn near impossible to get a key into a keyhole when sloshed into oblivion. It took a lot of work, but it is the truth—sorry, folks. This extremely cheap gadget—cheaper than what I would pay for a damn beer nowadays—will help solve that problem. This device will light up the keyhole when sound is sensed. Insert the key, walk into your bachelor pad and go to bed, alone, again. At least you won't have to sleep in the yard like I've been doing every weekend for the past couple months. The sound sensor keyhole finder will set you back $5, that's it! – Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via Red Ferret]

The Stranger Door Knocker

Jason Chen — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:15:48 EDT

If readers are anything like us—and we suspect you are, since you're reading this—the UPS guy comes to your door bringing goodies almost every other day. So wouldn't it be sadistic to scare the shorts off him with The Stranger door knocker? Yes, yes it would.

This knocker is an old-tyme knocker fastened to your door, but with half of a severed arm firmly gripping the end. Mildly scary in-and-of-itself, but there's also a motion sensor that detects when someone's approaching and activates the arm to start knocking by itself! Both frightening and cool, in the same way that Orlando Bloom is both masculine and feminine.

Note, this is totally different from giving yourself "the stranger". That's another animal entirely. Available now for $14.99 plus the cost of 3 AA batteries. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Fright Catalog via Coolest Gadgets]

Design Concept: Light + Air Door

Charlie White — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 11:29:14 EDT

The Light + Air door is designed to enhance cross ventilation without giving up any security or light. Slide a lever to the right, and the circular openings are exposed—not big enough for anyone to stick a hand in and open the door, but large enough to let the sunshine and fresh air pass through.

Who wants to live without air-conditioning if there is poor ventilation? The Light + Air Door design concept is an answer to that pressing and probably upcoming problem: how do you stay comfortable when it costs $2000 a month to keep your abode cool? Just don't install this door if you live in a submarine. – Charlie White

Design Concept Page [Seven O2 Design, via treehugger]