Nowadays, light is used for medical purposes to treat many different illnesses.
One of the many illnesses is the seasonal affective disorder. The best cure is the natural sunlight for this disorder, but the technology has let us create a product called the light box, which omits artificial light that is as intense as the sun light. These light boxes are almost like an everyday object to the people with the disorder, so it seems like careful considerations were taken into account when designing the “boxes.” There is a wide variety of light box designs, and they come in many different sizes and forms to fit into any kind of environment.
Among many different types of lights, the far infrared lights are known to help relieve pain, reduce inflammation, better blood circulation and fast recovery. The far infrared light is actually a band of light that we perceive as heat, and it is capable of penetrating deeper into human body without heating the air in between. The far infrared activate and ionize the water molecules in human body and aids in the healing and beauty purposes. Considering the fact that human bodies are composed of 90% water, the effect is tremendous. Nowadays, there are many different products to get the help of far infrared light therapy, such as a sauna box, light box, and so on.
The concept of light therapy has been adopted by the MINI Cooper. MINI Cooper has a feature called “mood lighting,” and lights are embedded in the interior of the car, like in the armrests and the footwells, in addition to the standard map and dome lighting. The colors range from blue through pink to orange, and different colors are to reflect different moods of the driver. Colored lights have been proved to have a significant impact on people’s moods, and MINI Cooper cleverly incorporated this concept into the design in order to provide the driver and the passengers with a more enjoyable experience.
Above is Apple’s MacBook Pro, with its “breathing” LED. Apple computers have this unique feature of breathing status LED indicator, which indicates when the computer is in the sleep mode. The blinking rate mimics the typical rhythm of breathing. This usage of light does not serve any medical purposes, but I found it relevant to the topic, since the calm, rhythmic “breathing” is almost therapeutic and Zen-like in a way. It is definitely not something that would be prescribed by a therapist or a doctor, but it has a pleasant visual appeal, and its anthropomorphic characteristic draws the user’s attention. It is an interesting and intriguing way of incorporating light into the design to make the product more engaging.
Lights are just versatile and can be applied to anything. As we have seen, even the concepts that were originally developed for medical purposes can be adapted to serve entertainment purpose in everyday life.
The Big Boda is their lowest cost design, and it was developed in partnership with Kickstart International to assist the bike-taxi drivers in East Africa (mainly Kisumu, Kenya.) It is a bicycle with a longer wheelbase and higher durability. It has a cargo space or a space for passengers that won’t interfere with the performance of the driver. It is also lighter and more stable to haul on. The Big Boda, the extended, improved version of Boda Boda, definitely confronts and solves the problems.
The great part about this design is that its application is not restricted to the developing countries only. Instead, it has a wide range of applicability. Ross Evans is also a co-founder of a company called Xtracycle. This company produces bicycles that are more targeted towards the users in the first world countries, but the main concept is essentially the same. The Xtracycle bicycles have extended storage capacity, so that people can use their bicycles for everyday use, such as grocery shopping or picking up a child. Plus, they can be used for recreational purposes, such as family camping. This encourages people to think about and contribute to sustainability. 
Solar cookers are not just solar cookers. They can be implemented anywhere, and depending on the context they are put into, they can transform into various other useful things. First of all, the benefit of using solar cookers is that they save tremendous amount of energy. There is no need for gas, wood or electricity, but the sun light (all you need is 20 minutes of sunlight every hour.) Virginio Mendonça explained that solar cookers can be adapted to producing charcoal as well, to save wood. To make charcoal, you need to burn a lot of wood in order to heat up the wood that becomes charcoal. This process requires a lot of wood to be wasted, and solar cookers can help to better this situation. Plus, he also pointed out that solar cookers can solve a lot of health problems that women and children in the third world countries face. In those places, they mostly burn wood to cook, and the kitchen is oftentimes located in the corner of the house, without any chimney or proper ventilation systems. So, the women and the children’s health are often affected by the smoke produced during cooking. This problem can be easily helped with solar cookers, as they do not require any wood-burning, and therefore no smoke! I was struck by these ideas, as I had never thought about this kind of potentials of solar cookers.
Eric Fedus also introduced the Scheffler Reflectors, invented by a German inventor, Wolfgang Scheffler. What is different about Scheffler Reflectors is that they transfer the energy/heat to the indoor kitchen so that people do not have to go outside to cook. (One of the questions he raised about solar cookers was that nobody is really used to cooking outside these days.) His parabolic reflectors have been distributed worldwide, serving in community kitchens, bakeries, etc. A number of these reflectors can be installed on the roof of a building, and boil water using solar power. The boiled water produces steam, and that steam gets transferred to indoors and provides energy for cooking. According to Eric Fedus, the current largest working system in the world is in India, where there are 104 of Scheffler Reflectors on the roof of a temple, providing 30,000 meals a day.
Later in the history, the razor technology saw a rapid advancement, but a lot of these improvements were developed around men, rather than women. The first straight steel razor was developed in Sheffield, England in the early 19th century. These straight razors, also known as “cut-throat” razors, were used by barbers, who were specially trained to groom men, and most men around this time would go to the barbers to have their beards shaved. These straight razors remained popular until late 19th century, and in 1901, King Camp Gillette invented the concept of the safe, “disposable” razor blades. However, even this revolutionary invention was marketed towards men.
Electric razors were created by a Canadian inventor, Jacob Schick, in the 1920s. However, it was not until 1947 when the first electric razor for women started being marketed by Remington. These razors for ladies had more feminine shapes and colors (such as pink) and this started the trend of differentiating men’s and women’s razors by color and form. 
Nowadays, razors of masculine and feminine designs and colors are produced in order to appeal to both genders. Various shaving methods, such as waxing and hair removal cream, have been introduced to promote shaving. The interesting point is that oftentimes, these products, especially leg hair removing products, would not specify if they are meant for women or men, but they would have a feminine look with a female model on the package or advertisement. It seems as if the society is encouraging women to shave more than men. Plus, men’s beards and moustaches have become a fashion statement. Traditionally, it has been more of a men’s task to shave. However, nowadays, it is a bigger deal if a woman does not shave.
Ever since the one image in Harper’s Bazaar magazine, the social significance of shaving has switched from men to women. The trend and demand in the society stimulated the development of special razors for “ladies,” and this in turn aided the consolidation of the stereotype. The society and culture influences the design decisions, and the designs bestow themselves a meaning and a socio-cultural function.
The next important stage in the development of functionalism is noted by Marcel Breuer’s Wassily Chair, built in 1925. Along with the rise of functionalism in the 20th century, unconventional materials started being used to make products, including chairs. The Wassily Chair consists of tubular steel bars and black canvas pieces – materials that hadn’t been used to build chairs before. The steel bars create the overall rectilinear, architectural style. The chair has a very simplistic design language, and is without any ornaments. The chair is constructed as if it were a piece of architecture, giving itself the overall industrial look. The materials – the harmony between the shiny steel bars and black canvas pieces helps the chair define its simple and honest “functionalistic” style. 
