Interestingly, the idea for these headphones was inspired by the theory that dementia could be treated by music therapy. Designer Kirsten Black, whose grandma lived in a nursing home, said: ‘Nan had dementia and because music is recognised by a part of the brain that is so primal, it could give her a sense of familiarity and security in an increasingly unfamiliar and hostile environment. Looking at headphones available, none could be used in the nursing home environment’. Halo are small, soft, hi-fidelity speakers that fit inside a customised headband, surely soon to be every jogger-music fan’s dream accessory.

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I seriously can’t stand bands like the Long Blondes, but the story of guitarist Dorian Cox, who was partially paralyzed by a stroke earlier this year, getting a SaeboFlex bionic glove that will allow him to play music again is pretty cool. Maybe the glove will become autonomous Ghost in the Shell style and force Cox to make better tunes, but I’d be happier if they find a way to resurrect Tomas Forsberg (AKA Quorthon, the guy behind Viking black metal band Bathory) from the grave.

Our friends over at the Portable Film Festival, which is a platform for creativity where the content can be downloaded to a laptop, iPod, PSP, or 3G capable mobile phone, have just announced their seven winning entries, including the short film — To Fly or To Fall — featured above. This year the Festival expanded to include a dedicated Animation and a Feature Film category. Their Feature Film winning entry, Emperor, is one hour thirty-six minuets and was viewed over 3000 times during August.

With the Squeezebox Duet you can play songs stored on your computer, tune in to thousands of Internet radio stations, or connect to online services such as Pandora and Rhapsody. The multi-room controller with 2.4-inch color display and scroll-wheel navigation also makes it easy to browse, select, and play music from the palm of your hand.

The Netflix Player by Roku is surprisingly compact — roughly the size of a paperback book — and can integrate easily into any home entertainment system. All it takes is connecting the player to a TV and to the Internet. For homes with wireless Internet connectivity, the player is Wi-Fi enabled and offers the ultimate in placement flexibility. From the Netflix site, members simply add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant queues, and those choices are then displayed on the TV and available to watch instantly. With the player’s accompanying remote control, members can browse and make selections right on the TV screen and also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream via the remote. In all, the queue-based user interface creates a highly personalized experience that puts members in control.

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Italian illustrator and designer Massimiliano creates vivid, dynamic and richly textured work. We caught up with him recently and asked him what had been keeping him busy of late. ‘During the last months my partner Sonia and I have ended some important projects, among which is an art toy for Coca-Cola company Playimaginative, some editorial projects for magazines and publishing houses like Tashen, IdN, Computer Arts, and a set of exhibitions in L.A., Taipei, and Tokyo’. Do you think design and illustration is getting better with the advent of new technology, or losing its character? ‘To me, the advent of new technology has been an important contribution and provided a renewed appeal, not only to illustration, but also to the world of visual communication and arts. Thanks to new technologies we can experience almost everything, the only limit is our imagination’. Do you see potential things to illustrate in everything or do you only switch on when you’re working? ‘I would say that I never stop working … so actually, yes, almost everything catches my attention. It’s interesting to see the environment that surrounds us and understand what stimulates our emotions and sensations’.