Desktop Fireworks by Tomomi Sayuda

Royal College of Art Design Products graduate Tomomi Sayuda has created a range of stationery that bursts into celebration when its user presses a button.

Cars That Feel by Soap Creative

VIVID Sydney "Cars That Feel" Time Lapse from Soap Creative on Vimeo.

For arts festival VIVID Sydney this year, digital agency Soap Creative used lights, sound and visuals to imbue a series of Toyota cars with human characteristics and personalities. Programmed to 'wake up' as the sun set, the cars invited affectionate interactions from passersby - such as hugs and tickling - and responded in different ways.

For more insight on how domestic objects are taking on emotion and personality, subscribers can read our technology report Animated Appliances.

Silence & Mindfulness dinner in Paris

French entrepreneur Coco Brac de la Perrière has been organising Silence & Mindfulness dinners for over a year, but while these confidential affaires have so far been reserved to influent French personalities, she is now making her concept available to the general public. On 30th June, guests will be able to buy tickets for a one-off dinner at the Electric, accepting to embrace conscious silence, in order to reconnect with others and with themselves. 

The idea behind these dinners is to simply pay attention to the experience one is taking part in, without judgement and without pernicious distraction. While the marriage of silence and food may appear contradictory in an epicurean country such as France, these events allow their attendees to focus on the moment more entirely. An opera singer and other interludes of poetic emotion will punctuate the evening. 

Wedgwood tea experience

To celebrate the launch of its luxury teas and new teaware range Daisy Tea Story, British teaware brand Wedgwood collaborated with food historian Tasha Marks to create a tasting experience.

Selfridges launches Fragrance Lab

Photo by Hufton+Crow

Selfridges today launched The Beauty Project, a ten-week celebration of all definitions of beauty, which includes an experiential in-store installation called Fragrance Lab that promises to match customers with their own character, distilled into scent.

Cubanisto launches with House of Mask

New rum-flavoured beer Cubanisto is marking its UK launch with House of Mask, a series of events that involve masked figures leading visitors into a world of neon skulls and mysterious numbered boxes - once they have confessed to a secret sin and pieced together a puzzle.

A Dream I Dreamed by Yayoi Kusama

A collection of expressive and vibrant work produced by Yayoi Kusama throughout her life, A Dream I Dreamed is currently showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai.

Escape Room: Melbourne's live puzzle game experience

Escape Room Melbourne

Escape Room Melbourne offers a time-critical experience design: once in the room, two people have 60 minutes to solve a series of puzzles together and escape.

Bitossi Home Pink Bar by Arabeschi di Latte: Milan preview

During Milan Design Week, Brera Design District will host Bitossi Home Pink Bar, a reinterpretation of the eccentric Pink Bar (located at Via Varese 6) by Bitossi Home and food designers Arabeschi di Latte.

Aroma Fork by Molecule-R

Molecular gastronomy kit specialists Molecule-R have announced an innovative new product. Available now for pre-order and due to ship in June/July, the Aroma Fork is sold with a set of 21 aromas that can be used to scent it, enhancing the taste of food eaten with the fork.

Hot & Cold: a design experience by Fabrica for Daikin at Milan Design Week 2014

Fabrica, Benetton Group's communication research centre, and Daikin Italy, the Italian branch of the Japanese multinational world leader in air conditioning systems, will present HOT&COLD, an intriguing workshop of hot and cold experiences, at Milan Design Week this year.

Trending Vending: Oreo's cookie creme printer at SXSW

Oreo's Trending Vending lounge is offering visitors the chance to specify their own free custom cookies at South By Southwest this week, by choosing from a selection of topics that are trending on Twitter.

Twinings loose leaf collection: the theatre of tea

Twinings' new loose leaf teas for spring include a fine black tea, rare green tea and flowering green tea, showcased in a clear glass tableware collection so that the brewing process is transformed into a special viewing experience.

Homebuildlife subscribers can read more about the theatre of tea in our kitchen and tabletop trend report from Maison & Objet.

Scent experiences: tracking the trend

London Rain collection by Jo Malone

Luxury fragrance brand Jo Malone has released a series of colognes designed to evoke the smell of London rain at different times of day. Ranging from the dewy freshness of a city park at dawn to an afternoon shower and evening downpour, the scents tie into the trend for region- and time-specific fragrances that we reported on in 2011.

Traces: an immersive design exhibition

All photographs by Giovanna Del Sarto

Immersive design event Traces returned this month to a new location in Peckham, South London. This time transforming a shop in Peckham's Rye Lane arcade, the team revived the site's former life as Holdron's department store, recreating the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the store's heyday in 1936.

Patchworked in Canada by Dear Human

Patchworked in Canada is a public project by Dear Human. During a trip to Portugal, the designers sourced vintage ceramic tiles from a farm on the outskirts of Lisbon. Hundreds of thousands of discontinued tiles from Portuguese ceramic factories made up the collection of Mr Cortico, a life-long collector.

They were all cleaned and shipped off to Canada, refired and transformed. The back of each one was tagged with a magnet and they will now be scattered in subway stations, bus stops, cafes, and placed on all sorts of magnetic surfaces. They are also printed with a number, leading to the Dear Human website and where one will be able to read the story of the project, and add stories of how they found their own tile.

The Imaginarium at Selfridges

Selfridges aims to encourage customers to explore the power of the mind with its latest initiative, a six-week program of inspiring talks, lectures and discussions at the London, Manchester and Birmingham stores.

The Sound of Taste: exploding spices by Schwartz

The Sound of Taste from Grey London on Vimeo.

Media agency Grey has created a video for Schwartz Flavour Shots that represents the product's flavour-packed taste using slow motion photography and a synchronised sonic landscape. Featuring music by MJ Cole, the film shows several tons of spices including black peppercorns, cardamom, ginger and turmeric exploding in sync with the music, with one note equalling one explosion.

Homebuildlife subscribers can read about the growing trend to use spices creatively across design in our materials report, Salt, Sugar & Spice.

CES 2014: snapshot from day one

Ricoh at CES 2014

The world's biggest consumer technology trade show, CES, opened its doors to industry specialists today in Las Vegas. Here's a snapshot of some of the happenings across the fair - from personalised flipbooks to a large-scale TV marathon.

Scented Christmas lamp by Artemide

Vico Magistretti's classic 1960s Dalù lamp has been relaunched in hundreds of versions over the last ten years. This Christmas, it comes glittered and scented. It is available in four fragrances: cinnamon to boost energy levels, jasmine to stimulate creativity, lavender to help relaxation and eucalyptus to encourage harmony.

Homebuildlife subscribers can read more on innovations in scented projects here.