ITRI and Duck Image Co. Partner to Create iF Product Design Winners

Design is a process that transforms traditional products into new items with a fresh appearance, improved functions, and more added value, and this process is greatly facilitated when a research institution teams up with a creative design company.

When the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan's top high-tech development center, and the Duck Image Co., a prominent local design consultant, pooled their resources in a cooperative project, the results were winners in Germany's iF Product Design Awards 2008, known as the "Design Oscars" and one of the world's leading design competitions.

At a press conference held to introduce the award winners, ITRI president Johnsee Lee said that differentiation is the only way for Taiwanese enterprises to create added value. "Differentiation can come from a product's appearance and/or packaging design, or from new functions and features created by technology," he emphasized. "The creativity of even a great designer will be limited if he uses only basic elements such as shapes, colors, and design talent; new technologies and materials, however, will give him much greater space to be creative and further express the value of the new elements."

ITRI has been cooperating with a group of design experts for more than a year, Lee reported, with the aim of jointly creating new ideas, applications, and even inventions using the institute's strengths and innovative prototypes such as a super-slim stereo system, light electric vehicle, and LED lighting fixtures-prototypes that have won widespread attention from all over the world.

Rollable Air-cushion Infant Scale

One of the products featured at the press conference was a rollable air-cushion infant scale, which won an award in the Medicine/Health+Care category. Hsieh Jun-ya, president of Duck Image, said that he developed the design concept for the rollable scale after observing home infant nursery service people in the United Kingdom, who often bring a large amount of heavy and inconvenient equipment to their jobs.

Hsieh says that his scale can be deflated and rolled into the size of an umbrella for convenient storage and transport. When needed, a button is pushed and the scale inflates automatically. The soft, flexible air-cushion platform is comfortable and safe for infants to lie on; and after use, it deflates at the push of a button. The device uses differences in air pressure within the cushion to measure the weight of the infant on it.

Bubble Infant Scale

Another award-winning product was in the Leisure/Lifestyle category: a bubble infant scale using a design similar to that of the rollable scale. Hsieh explains that he noticed how inconvenient it is for medical staff to carry big, heavy traditional scales, and so made use of ITRI's advanced pressure-sensing technology along with Duck Image's design talent to develop a new type of scale featuring high portability and fashionable styling.

Again, air is pumped in to inflate the device at the push of a button. The infant being weighed lies comfortably and safely on top of the cushioned platform; another push of a button deflates the product, whereupon it can be folded into the size of a palm.

Paper Scale

The winner in the Advanced Studies category was a paper scale which, Hsieh says, he developed using elements of interior decoration to produce a minimalist design with high-tech functionality for a simplified lifestyle.

This ultra-thin bendable scale, Hsieh explained, combines an electronic pressure sensing sheet with electronic display paper. When someone steps on the scale, the pressure changes the voltage in the sheet and the change is converted into body weight and displayed on the e-paper. The paper scale is as soft as a bathroom mat, is water resistant, and can be rolled up; you can put it on the floor outside your bathroom as a mat, and see your weight at any time.

ITRI says that it wants to be a leader in the development of industrial technology, and that it will continue to use its advanced technology to create a better lifestyle for people around the world-and a brighter future for Taiwan's industries.