LiVE LG

올해 공모전은 특별히 영화 <스타트랙> <아이언맨> 등의 소품을 제작한 세계적인 소품 전문가인 러셀 보빗(Russell Bobbitt)이 개회식에 참석해 공모전을 빛내 주었는데요. 러셀 보빗은 객원 심사위원으로도 참여하여 듀아 셩(Dua Xiong)의 휴대폰 아이디어 ‘플루터(Flutter)’를 프롭 마스터스 초이스 수상작으로 선정하였습니다. 플루터는 부채꼴 모양으로 펼쳐지고 빠른 스크롤이 가능한 플렉시블 OLED 터치 스크린을 장착한 스마트폰으로 앞으로 러셀 보빗이 참여하는 블록버스터 영화에 선보일 예정이라고 하네요. 이 디자인은 작동하지 않는 시제품으로도 제작되어 지난 5월 11일 아이언맨2 홍보 행사에 소개되기도 했습니다.

이번 공모전에 응모한 작품 수는 대략 400 건 이상이었는데요. 빠른 심사를 위해 콘셉트당 1024×3072 픽셀의 1개 이미지로 제한했음에도 디자인 수준은 꽤 인상적이었습니다. 물론 참가자들이 아이디어를 최대한 잘 전할 수 있도록 웹사이트를 통해 신청서 샘플과 템플릿을 제공하는 등 응모 요령 안내에도 노력을 기울였습니다. ^^;

2등 수상작인 ‘프리미엄(Premium)’은 휴대폰과 자동차를 연결하는 3D 인터페이스를 사용하는 휴대폰으로, 자동차 실내 환경 조절, 인포테인먼트 시스템 제어, 차 시트 메모리 선택, 타이어 공기압력 확인, 연료량 측정 등이 가능합니다. 이 작품을 개발한 뉴폰 반사신(Nouphone Bansasine)은 예상한 분도 있겠지만, 자동차 디자인 전문가라고 하네요.

이 밖에도 장애인을 위한 콘셉트를 포함하여 다양한 아이디어가 나왔는데요.

가작을 수상한‘아틀라스(Atlas)’는 거치대에 놓으면 화면을 영사하는 기능을 가진 스마트폰으로, 동시에 여러 개의 애플리케이션을 볼 수 있습니다. 이 거치대는 손의 움직임을 감지하는 트랙킹 시스템을 갖추고 있어 원형으로 펼쳐진 여러 개의 화면들을 회전, 확대, 축소할 수 있습니다.

또 다른 가작인 ‘서페이스(Surface)’는 시각장애인을 위한 시계 휴대폰으로 점자 키패드와 독창적인 모양이 특징이며, 촉감에 의해서 휴대폰의 상태를 파악할 수 있습니다.

수상한 몇몇 아이디어는 소비자 테스트를 거쳐 결과가 좋을 경우, 실제 폰으로 개발할 예정입니다. 블로그를 통해 소개한 응모작들이 여러분에게 즐거운 경험이 되었기를 바라며, 다음 공모전에도 많은 관심과 기대 부탁합니다. ^^

@ 위 글은 미국 법인에서 보내온 영문을 운영팀이 번역 후 내용을 축약하여 제공하였습니다. 영어 원문으로 보시려면 아래를 클릭해주세요.

[#M_영문 원문 보기|접기|LG’s Invitation for InnovationMy name is Joanne Daudier and I am a specialist in the Product Innovation team at LG Electronics MobileComm in the U.S.  My department is responsible for coming up with innovative phone concepts that can be implemented within two years.  In addition to thinking of new ideas ourselves, we also tap into the “wisdom of the crowd” for inspiration and freshness.  This past spring, we partnered again with crowdSPRING (an online marketplace for creative services) and Autodesk (a leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software) to define the future of mobile communication through our third annual Design the Future Competition.

The competition started on March 15 and ended on April 26, 2010.  The rules allowed any U.S. resident over the age of 18 to submit a phone idea online to compete for over $80,000 in prizes.
•    First Place: $20,000 Cash Award + 1 Wacom Intuos4 medium tablet (ARV of $349) + Autodesk Alias Sketch industrial design software (ARV of $500)
•    Second Place: $10,000 Cash Award + Autodesk SketchBook Pro software (ARV of $100)
•    Third Place: $5,000 Cash Award + Autodesk SketchBook Pro software (ARV of $100)
•    Prop Master’s Choice: $3,000 Cash Award + Autodesk SketchBook Pro software (ARV of $100) + 1 non-working concept mock-up creation (ARV of $4,000)
•    37 Honorable Mentions: $1,000 Cash Award

This year’s competition marks the inaugural participation of Russell Bobbitt, a world renowned movie prop master for films such as Star Trek and the Iron Man series.  Bobbitt served as a guest judge and rewarded Dua Xiong’s cutting-edge design titled Flutter as the winner of the Prop Master’s Choice award.  A smartphone that fans open to reveal a beautiful flexible OLED touch screen that scrolls radially, Flutter has won the opportunity to be featured in a future blockbuster film.  The concept was even made into a non-working mock-up and displayed at an Iron Man 2 promotional event on May 11th.

When Design the Future Competition ended, we received over 400 entries. The quality of the designs was very impressive even though the participants were limited to one 1024 x 3072 pixel image per concept to make it easier for judging.  We supplied a downloadable sample entry and template on the competition page and that really helped to give the participants an idea on how to best present their ideas.

All of the entries were judged based on these three criteria: creativity/originality (40% weight), need fulfillment (30% weight), and feasibility (30% weight).  We went through three rounds of judging with 15 judges total and the final winners were determined by weighted average scores from round 1 (30% weight), round 2 (30% weight), and round 3 (40% weight).  Judges in this year’s competition included 2009 Design of the Future Competition participant, Gwen Frederick.  Impressed with her talent and creative promise, we hired Frederick as a full time employee after seeing her innovative designs which won two Honorable Mentions.

The first place winning entry was a team effort by Zack Filbert, Chris Carpenter, James Connors, and Kees Luyendijk, four second year industrial design students from the same design class in Virginia Tech.  Together, they created the AL-i concept around the functionality of a smartphone for one-handed use.  The winning concept showcased detailed, innovative examples of form and interface scenarios for one-handed usage inspired by their own research.
The second place winning entry – titled Premium – is a mobile phone with 3D interface that connects the phone and the car together to adjust in-car climate, control the infotainment system, select seat memory, check tire pressure, gauge the fuel amount, etc.  It should come as no surprise that the winner, Nouphone Bansasine, is a professional car designer.

Participants submitted a wide range of ideas including accessories and concepts for the disabled.  For example, an honorable mention – titled Atlas – is a smartphone that docks into a base which projected the pages, so you can view multiple applications simultaneously.  The dock features a tracking system which senses your hand gestures, so you can spin the pages in a loop and zoom in and out.

Another honorable mention – titled Surface – is a watch phone for the blind and features a Braille keypad and a unique shape, so you can distinguish orientation of the phone by feel.

This entry didn’t win, but I found it interesting and fun.  It’s a phone that you can slide out and play as a guitar!

A few of the winning ideas will be tested with consumers, and the ones that do well will hopefully be developed further.  I hope you enjoyed looking at a few of the entries and will be on the lookout for next year’s competition_M#]