The Good Design Expo, which takes place at Tokyo Big Sight is a 3 day event that shows off more than 2,000 design-conscious items, here are 7 of the designs that really caught our eye with their cool designs, including several “everyday use” items.

1. Centry Outdoor Security Robot

My only problem with this camera is that the last image you might capture is someone cooling it for it’s neat design.

2. Tread-Walk: Treadmill-controlled personal mobility robot (Waseda University)

This is a pretty funky design, but let’s be honest, we could just walk to power where we are going!

3. Underwater camera housing (Sigma)

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen cars painted in these colors, if nothing else your camera sure will stand out!

4. USB Clip: Tiny USB flash drive that doubles as paper clip (Emami Design)

This may be the perfect item if you’re compiling your own annotations when reading, you can literally leave those notes right where you left off!

5. X-Frame Folding Vehicle alters shape to suit driving style (Nagoya Institute of Technology)

I’m in America where various people can barely fit in their cars, I wonder if the shape can be adjusted for width?

6. Laptop Cases made from recycled brewer malt waste (Kouhei Okamoto)

I love these cases because not only are they green, but they really stand out, even if they are rather simplistic in design.

7. Metaphys Cortina humidifier (Gourmandise Inc.)

Another simple design, for the minimalist this is the perfect way to accent a room without showing off a god awful looking humidifier.

As I mentioned above, there are over 2,000 different items at the conference, you can see items which received awards by visiting the Official Good Design Expo page.

Photo credits: Pink Tentacle.

That’s where solar power comes in. In the Netherlands there are homes already fitted with solar panels which generate power when spring starts all the way to end of the summer. But for us with a smaller budget there is a product concept: The Solar Plant.

Designed by Ku Bon-Seop, this small solar power generator is designed like a plant pot that sits nicely on your desk to provide your laptop or any gadgets with power.

When it’s a sunny day you can put the solar plant in the sun so it can generate power. As I understand from the product page it stores the power so you can plug-in your gadgets when they need to be charged.

I never thought about a useful thing like this and it makes me wonder why there isn’t anything useful and nicely designed like this already on the marked. I know there are several solar power generators available, most recently the Neuber Energy Sun bag fitted with solar panels. But the solar plant is small and aesthetics pleasing.

Being very money conscious a solar charger like this would be a great investment. Especially if you are someone with lots of gadgets like multiple phones, hand held gaming devices and mp3 players.

And off course most importantly it’s green energy, you would be reducing your environmental footprint. I hope this product gets picked up soon and more of the like start being available. Because with the state of oil prices solar power devices can sell like hot bread.

If you know any cool solar gadgets do share them here!

Product page

Here’s a neat little invention that can solve those issues – the Neuber Energy Sun Bag. It’s basically a carrying bag and charger all in one. It has some Konarka Power Plastic solar panels on the outside, ensuring that you will have enough juice even if you go to the middle of nowhere with no electric power. All you need is the power of the sun and you’re good to go!

Obviously, you are putting a premium on convenience here. The bag weighs in at only 500 g – roundabouts a pound – with all the stuff necessary to make it function included. That will, of course, be heavier with your netbook, cell phones, mp3 players, etc. in it. The picture shown above is a basic model, but there are 36 other colors that you can choose from, so throw your fashion worries out the window!

More than the convenience, however, the idea of using solar power is definitely a positive one – you can do your bit for Mother Earth. The price, though, is not that nice as it is supposed to go for 99euros (a little over $100). If you travel a lot, I say that it’s worth it, don’t you think?