The Most Innovative Objects of 2016 (That You'll Actually Want to use)

Autodesk’s Elbo Chair is the result of an uncommon partnership. Designers in the company's generative design lab harnessed the power of algorithms to make the organic wooden seat. To start, the designers fed a 3-D model of a chair inspired by Hans Wegner’s iconic Round Chair and Berkeley Mills’ Lambda Chair into Dreamcatcher, Autodesk’s generative design software. Next, they stipulated that the seat be 18 inches off the ground and capable of supporting 300 pounds. Then they let the algorithm do its thing. Every so often, the humans would pick one of the algorithm's designs, and the software would propagate a new lineage based on their selection. The result was the chair you see here---a skeletal creation that points toward a future in which designers collaborate with algorithms on new ideas.

At first glance, the iPhone 7 isn’t all that different from the 6 and 6s. It’s blacker, sure, but it still has those softly rounded corners and that big, glassy screen. What distinguishes the iPhone 7 is what it’s missing. The phone is the first without a headphone jack, which means you’re either buying dongles for your existing cans or upgrading to a wireless pair. Whether you love it or hate it doesn’t matter---if other companies follow Apple's lead (and they probably will), the company will have set yet another precedent for how you'll interact with gadgets in the future.

The Impossible Project’s first camera, the I-1, is both an homage to the past and nod to the future. The Berlin-based company, which has been making instant film since 2008, worked with Swedish studio Teenage Engineering to blend the best design elements of old Polaroid cameras with modern trappings. The camera’s form is still boxy, like the original, but it’s also more compact. Clever technological touches, like the LED-ring flash and a Bluetooth-connected app, help you dial in on that vintage look.

The designers at San Francisco studio Box Clever wanted to create something with the versatility of a spring-balanced lamp in a dramatically simpler package. Two years, one spinoff studio, and untold hours of prototyping later, they released the stunning FADE Task Light. Hidden magnets let the arm articulate smoothly when you want it to, and keep it in place when you don’t. That versatility extends even to the lamp's base, where an X-Y controller lets you control the temperature and intensity of the light emanating from the lamp's LED array. It's a whole lot of light in a deceptively simple package.

Most thermometers are invasive. They require being stuck into an orifice, whether that’s your mouth, ear, or...something else. Withings’ new Thermo, which looks like a chunky marker, utilizes an entirely different gesture. Touch the Thermo to your temple and 16 infrared sensors in its tip collect around 4,000 temperature readings in two seconds. Because the temperature readings work best when the sensors are two centimeters from the heat source, Withings added a raised edge to the end of the thermometer. This means users will always position the Thermo just right--- even when they’re delirious from a fever.

Compared to the understated aesthetics of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the PlayStation VR looks decidedly futuristic. But its killer feature (besides plugging into a game console that 40 million people already own) isn't its looks; it's comfort. That's in spite of its heft. At 624 grams, it's significantly heavier than the Rift (495 grams) and Vive (555 grams), but PSVR's designers shifted the headset's pressure points from the nose, cheeks, and eyes to a padded band that rests against the forehead. They also uncoupled the headset's eyebox from the headband, allowing users to dial in the perfect fit. The result is the most comfortable high-end VR headset on the market.

Aesthetically speaking, the Pax 3 bears a close resemblance to the two generations of vaporizers that preceded it---but its guts were redesigned to make the toking experience easier and more enjoyable. With the press of a button, it heats up in 10-15 seconds. Shake it, and the LEDs display how much battery is left. It accepts both concentrates and dry herb, and even pairs wirelessly to an app to give you precise control over settings like temperature. Low-key tokers will appreciate the new haptic feedback; the Pax now pulses in your hand when it's ready, so you can keep it out of sight till you're ready to smoke.

Your office’s lighting probably sucks. Often it’s a too-bright, one-size-fits-all overhead solution. Jake Dyson (son of James Dyson) has a better way. He’s calling it the Cu-Beam Duo, an LED fixture that suspends from the ceiling and directs customizable parcels of light where and how you need it. The crux of the system is its driver, which lets you adjust the ratio of light beaming upwards and downwards. Dyson is betting, like his father did before him with vacuums, hand dryers, and hair dryers, that a hyper-sophisticated version of an everyday object will be worth the premium you pay for it.

Microsoft’s Surface Studio isn’t for everyone; the $3,000 desktop computer is aimed squarely at the creative set. With its massive 28-inch monitor and a hinge system that allows the display to become a tabletop touch-screen, it’s easy to see why: The Surface Studio is more interactive drafting table than it is computer, and proof that Microsoft is thinking seriously about what the future of desktop computing should look like.

The new Oculus Touch controllers make VR more immersive than ever. Capacitive sensors track which fingers are on the Touch and translate their positions into in-game hand gestures. It's the closest anyone's come to reproducing a player's hands in VR, and a sign of the steps designers are taking to make virtual reality feel ever-more real.