Metaform Product Development | www.metaformdesign.com
June 1, 2011
CheckPoint™ G4 Wireless Temperature and Vital Parameters Monitoring Solution Featuring a Versatile, Multi-Functional Enclosure Design by Metaform Product Development is Announced by TempSys
TempSys, a leading provider of real-time wireless monitoring and tracking solutions introduced its new and improved fourth-generation (G4) CheckPoint™ wireless temperature and vital parameters monitoring solution featuring a robust and highly versatile enclosure design created by San Francisco's Metaform Product Development.
The CheckPoint G4 was designed with leading-edge technologies to meet the unique needs of the regulatory-compliant healthcare market. The comprehensive product and sensor offering includes temperature (-200 °C to + 250 °C), humidity, CO2, Oxygen (O2), differential pressure, horizontal motion, 4-20 mA, binary (dry contact), and customized solutions. One of the leading applications of CheckPoint's G4 wireless sensors is the monitoring and alerting of temperature changes in refrigerators used in the pharmaceutical, food, and bioscience industries/facilities where deviations can be critical and failures catastrophic.
One single well-considered enclosure was industrial designed and mechanical engineered by Metaform to account for a variety of end use scenarios, I/O configurations, and mounting options. Tamper proofing, drop survival, water resistance, minimizing parts, ease of deployment, as well as forecasting and accommodating possible future applications were challenges overcome by Metaform in the final solution.
June 1, 2011
Fetch™ Real-Time Location System RTLS Featuring Metaform Product Designs is Announced by TempSys
TempSys, a leading provider of real-time wireless monitoring and tracking solutions introduces the Fetch™ Real-Time Location System (RTLS) featuring product designs created by San Francisco's Metaform Product Development.
The Fetch RTLS System tracks assets and provides enterprise asset visibility. It is used to manage and reduce inventory shrinkage, enhance facility and personnel safety, and optimize operational workflow in places like hospitals and warehouses. The system consists of the Fetch™ Hybrid RF and Ultrasound Locator which is mounted to walls or ceilings of a building and the Fetch™ Asset Tag which is attached to people and assets. The tiny Asset Tag sends "chirps" to the Locator allowing the system to accurately track and pinpoint the location of the person or item it is attached to.
Metaform was enlisted early on during the product planning phase to help TempSys develop an entirely new product category in their company's offerings. Metaform's involvement started with initial field research accompanying the client to interviews at customer/end user sites, reviewing competitor products and participating in numerous need finding and product definition brainstorm meetings. Input from customers, engineering, and installation technicians was synthesized into a highly optimized final design solution.
Metaform worked closely with the client's R+D team through the iterative process of creating the industrial design, mechanical engineering and rapid prototypes for the Fetch System. The collaboration resulted in several unique features and exclusive intellectual property such as the versatile, easy to install mounting bracket that also houses an ID Chip to provide automatic unit identification. The meticulously considered solution satisfies a host of challenging, interrelated technical requirements and constraints ranging from the need for wall and ceiling mounting using either screw, zip tie, or clipping to acoustic ceiling rails, to ultrasound signal angles and coverage, minimizing radio interference, water resistance, ease of deployment, easy maintenance, cleaning, and durability. Full industrial design and mechanical engineering CAD documentation was provided to tooling vendors for manufacturing.
Fetch™ Hybrid RF and Ultrasound Locator
Fetch™ Asset Tag
May 17, 2011
Waldo Health™ Wins the IBM SmartCamp Austin People’s Vote Award
Waldo Health has developed and launched a unique tablet-based patient monitoring service that delivers a smarter, more powerful solution for the important and growing field of home telehealth. Designed specifically for individuals with chronic disease, Waldo is the home health companion that connects patients to clinicians (doctors, nurses, caregivers). It is the optimum choice for Health Care providers looking to increase the quality of care to their patients, while also controlling costs. And, Waldo’s flexible architecture easily fits into a provider’s existing work flows and care goals.
The IBM SmartCamp Competition, sponsored by the IBM Global Entrepreneur group, is an exclusive event aimed at identifying early stage entrepreneurs who are developing business ventures that align with IBM's Smarter Planet vision. These mentoring and networking events put entrepreneurs in touch with investment firms, serial entrepreneurs, academics, marketing, communications, and technology experts that can help accelerate the solutions of startup companies to market.
April 26, 2011
Waldo Health™ Announces US FDA 510(k) Class II Clearance for Market! Solid, Robust, Innovative, and Customizable Fully-Featured Telehealth Solution Saves Lives and Improves Care Efficiency
Waldo Heath, featuring an industrial design by Metaform Product Development has received US FDA 510(k) Class II clearance for market. The Waldo Health Patient Monitor device combines telehealth, telemedicine (video conferencing), medication reminders and patient education in a small, transportable touch screen format that is connected via WiFi, 3G/4G, or Ethernet to the Clinician Access web portal for reporting. Waldo Networks will be exhibiting at the 16th Annual ATA American Telemedicine Association Conference held at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida from April 30 - May 2, 2011, booth #1125.
Click to read the official press release (PDF).
December 2010
BACTrack B70 Digital Alcohol Detector now at Brookstone
The licensee of the BACTrack B70 designed by Metaform continues to expand its distribution. The device is now carried by Brookstone in both its online and retail stores under Brookstone branded packaging.
October 28, 2010
Sun Ray 270 Demoed in the Field
Sun Ray 270s featuring an award-winning industrial design by San Francisco's Metaform Product Development and Oracle/Sun Microsystems' User Centered Design Group of Menlo Park, California have been deployed worldwide since launching in July of 2006. One of the leading adopters of the device and its technology has been the healthcare industry where ease of set up, ease of use, along with iron clad security are paramount requirements. The following end-user videos illustrate how physicians are benefitting from Oracle Sun Ray technology:
June 24, 2010
Metaform Start-up Client Waldo Networks Raises Nearly US$1 Million
In just a few short months, Metaform start-up client Waldo Networks raises most of its US$1 million dollar mixed securities offering.
For start-ups ventures, Metaform's industrial designs play a critical role in helping investors and potential customers see the vision of the start-up company's founders in a tangible form. A high impact, well executed product design helps entice venture capital, elicit valuable feedback, generate buzz, and even compels early adopters to pre-order the product. It serves to validate a start-up and instantly makes them a legitimate contender in the market. After receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback in focus group tests of the Waldo Health Home Monitor design, Waldo Network's CEO said in a phone conference that hiring Metaform to create the industrial design was "money well spent." Waldo is yet another example that investing in design pays dividends many times over and provides enormous ROI.
May 16 - 18, 2010
Waldo Health Debuts at ATA Show
The Waldo Home Health Monitor, a remote medical management platform featuring an industrial design created by San Francisco based Metaform Product Development for Waldo Networks, is unveiled at the 15th Annual American Telemedicine Association ATA 2010 Meeting and Exposition held in San Antonio, Texas, USA. ATA is the largest international tradeshow focusing on telemedicine.
(posted 05.25.2010)
November 11, 2009
Metaform Designs Waldo Home Health Monitor
Industrial designer David Shaw of San Francisco's Metaform Product Development collaborates with Waldo Networks to create the industrial design of the Waldo Health Home Monitor, a revolutionary, low cost telemedicine device designed to help the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases manage their healthcare from home. The simple to use product features an intuitive touch screen interface, visual alert light, videoconferencing capabilities, collects data from other medical devices like glucose meters, weight scales, and blood pressure monitors, and transfers vital health information to remote care providers. Traditionally cumbersome and disparate tasks like accessing medical records, researching medical conditions, scheduling appointments, interfacing with doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, and managing medications can all be done in one easy to use, centralized device. Medical tasks aside, Waldo can also be used as a versatile home entertainment device to play games.
Waldo Networks, Inc., based in Austin, Texas, engages in the development of equipment and systems for home health care and remote monitoring applications and is backed by Texo Ventures, a seed and early stage angel / venture capital firm investing in and building innovative healthcare companies.
(posted 05.25.2010)
September 30, 2009
Firetide Success and Growth Continues with about US$53 Million Raised
Metaform start-up client Firetide has raised about US$53 million to date from Coral Capital Management and Menlo Ventures, among others.
July 15, 2009
Museum Requests Metaform Design for Permanent Collection
The Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn, Germany, one of the largest computer museums in the world, has requested Metaform founder, David Shaw's 1991 Electronic Abacus conceptual design project for their permanent computer history exhibition. Curator Dr. Jochen Viehoff wrote: "We are permanently looking for new interesting objects for our computer history exhibition. In this context I have found the design study of the Electronic Printer Abacus, a fascinating bridge from ancient calculating technologies to the digital era." A new remake of the prototype model is pending approval.
October 24, 2008
Metaform Designs and Builds Prop for Borland Software
Metaform Product Development helped bring Borland's "Unlock the Black Box" ad campaign to life by devising and building a one-off, life-sized, functioning tradeshow contest prop that, when unlocked with a winning key by a contestant, lifts up to reveal a Nintendo Wii prize hidden inside. The Black Box features an ominous pulsating red LED framed in a machined and polished aluminum ring on a mysterious, monolithic slate black cube. A rotating base animated the cube and added to the theatrics of the contest. The prototype prop was unveiled at a tradeshow in Orlando, Florida and was apparently a big hit drawing crowds of attendees to the Borland booth.
October 22, 2008
BACTRACK Appears on Discovery Channel's MythBusters TV Show
The BACTRACK Breathalyzer invented and designed by Metaform Product Development appears on Discovery Channel's MythBuster's TV show.
August 26, 2008
BACTRACK Recognized by Inc. Magazine
The BACTRACK Breathalyzer invented and designed by Metaform Product Development tops the list of Inc. Magazine's "7 New Technology Marvels." The client and licensee became a 2008 Inc. 5000 fastest growing private U.S. company with 2007 revenue reported at US$2.2 million. The product is now in worldwide distribution counting Target, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Bevmo, Drugstore.com, and Walmart among its growing list of distributors.
December 2007
BACTRACK Appears on CBS Prime-time Television Show CSI: Miami
The BACTRACK Breathalyzer designed by Metaform Product Development makes a prime-time TV appearance in an episode of CSI: Miami.
November 13, 2007
Metaform's David Shaw Presents at 2007 Oracle OpenWorld Pecha Kucha
Metaform Product Development founder, David Shaw, presents at the Oracle OpenWorld co-hosted Pecha Kucha Night San Francisco held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Over 500+ attendees were treated to 12 short attention span, 20 images X 20 seconds presentations. Pecha Kucha Night is a place for creatives to meet, network, and show their work in public. Founded in Toyko, Japan, Pecha Kucha Night is now in over 80 cities worldwide.
July 2007 - January 2008
Two Metaform Design Projects Exhibited at SFO Airport Museums
Metaform's Electronic Printer Abacus and Sun Ray 270 projects were selected by the San Francisco International Airport Museums to be in "Prototype to Product," an exhibition featuring thirty different design projects from firms and individuals throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. From preliminary sketches and drawings to detailed illustrations, and from basic models and prototypes to finished products, a range of design solutions are presented by a number of designers from an area known as a hotbed of creativity. The exhibition coincides with the IDSA/ICSID International Design Conference held in San Francisco in Oct. 2007.
December 16, 2006
Metaform Designs and Licenses Breathalyzer Innovation
The BACTRACK Breathalyzer is launched. BACTRACK features an innovative patent-pending Dual-Flow Air Tube Chamber innovation invented by Metaform's David Shaw and licensed to KHN Solutions for manufacture.
December 15, 2006
Sun Ray 270 Wins 2006 Good Design Award
The Sun Ray 270 Virtual Display Client designed by Metaform Product Development and Sun Microsystems User Centered Design Group was part of a series of products that earned a Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum. The Good Design program was founded in Chicago in 1950 and remains one of the oldest and most important competitions in the world.
(photo: David Shaw)
November 14, 2006 - December 15, 2006
Sun Ray 270 Featured in Silicon Valley Industrial Design Exhibition
The Sun Ray 270 Virtual Display Client designed by Metaform Product Development and Sun Microsystems User Centered Design Group is exhibited at the Natalie and James Thompson Art gallery in San Jose State University's School of Art and Design. The exhibition called "Points of View: Experiences in the Industrial Design Profession" featured 6 prominent SJSU alumni.
(Left to Right) Metaform's David Shaw with Sun Microsystems User Centered Design Group's Chris Frank, Mark Stanton, and Phil Yurkonis.
November 8, 2006
Sun Ray 270 Wins 2007 CES Innovations Award for Eco-Design
The Sun Ray 270 Virtual Display Client designed by Metaform Product Development and Sun Microsystems User Centered Design Group is named as an Honoree in the Eco-Design Category of the 2007 International CES Consumer Electronics Show Innovations Design and Engineering Award
July 11, 2006
Sun Ray 270 Flagship Thin Client Released
Sun Microsystems releases the Sun Ray 270 Virtual Display Client design in conjunction with Metaform Product Development. The Sun Ray 270 is a RoHS compliant thin client network computing device intended to further proliferate Sun's founding vision: "The Network is the Computer."
June 16, 2006
David Shaw Included in Book of Up and Coming American Designers
Metaform's David Shaw is featured in "Young Designers Americas" a book published by daab GmbH of Cologne, Germany and edited by Carissa Kowalski Dougherty. This 400 page hardcover volume introduces a select group of innovative up and coming Interior and Product Designers on the American continent. It presents 50 top young designers and their products, celebrating the diversity of North, South, and Central American design.
October 19, 2005
Metaform Selected for Design Book Featuring Top Young
Designers
Metaform founder David Shaw has
been selected to be included in an upcoming book
by
Fusion/teNeues Publishing
GmbH called "Young
Designers: Americas." The book will feature about
50 up-and-coming designers from throughout North and
South America, and will be published in late Spring or
early Summer 2006.
July 22, 2005
Metaform Becomes Sun Microsystems Vendor for Industrial
Design
Metaform
is honored to be commissioned by
Sun Microsystems'
award-winning User Centered Design
Group as a Contract Service Vendor and ID Lead
supporting programs that ensure and champion the quality
and design integrity of Sun branded peripheral devices,
displays, and network computing products. Metaform will
work as an outsourced but integrated component of Sun's
in-house product teams and utilize its experience in
Asia to manage projects with leading manufacturing
suppliers such as Samsung, NEC, Fujitsu, and Quanta.
April 4, 2005
Metaform's
David Shaw Presents at IDSA Professional Lecture Series
David
Shaw presents lecture on industrial design process to
Design and Industry (DAI) students as part of the
Industrial Designers Society of
America's
(IDSA) Professional Lecture
Series hosted by San Francisco State University.
December 7, 2004
Metaform Client Firetide Among Red Herring's Top 100 Innovators
Metaform's start up client Firetide earns prestigious Red Herring Top 100 Innovators Award. To date Firetide has raised US$18.8 million in its first 2 rounds. Click to read more.
Metaform Partners with Coxon Group to Develop Drive
Enclosures
Metaform + Asian manufacturing giant, Coxon Group's
Teckon Industrial Division co-develop a line of slim
optical and half-height drive ODD and HDD enclosures for
the OEM market. Visit
www.teckon-tw.com
for more
information.
Metaform Partners with DualCor
Metaform engages in hybrid equity partnership with Silicon Valley start-up DualCor Technologies to develop innovative cPc portable communicator and computing device design concept.
Metaform Partners with StreamWorks and Visits Orvis
Metaform partners with StreamWorks to explore and
present unique ODM fly
fishing products with outdoor sporting goods catalog and
retail chain giant
Orvis
of Manchester, Vermont, USA.
December 3, 2003
Firetide Continues to Win Awards
Metaform start-up client Firetide wins Fall Wi-Fi
Planet Conference & Expo Best of Show Award and a host
of other industry accolades.
October 3, 2003
Firetide Sees Early Success and Raises US$3.2 million in Series A
Metaform start-up client Firetide made a big splash recently at the DemoMobile Conference in San Diego where it debuted its first product featuring an industrial design created by Metaform Product Development: HotPoint, a gadget that enables a wireless network to be set up on the spot with no cabling infrastructure. So big a splash, in fact, that Hewlett-Packard quickly signed on as a customer.
The company raised US$3.2 million dollars in Series A funding from Menlo Ventures, HMS Ventures, Hawaiian Electric Industries, and individual investors. Click to read more.
September 19, 2003
Firetide HotPoint Wins DEMOmobile DEMOgod Award
Firetide
HotPoint Mesh Router conceptual
industrial design created by David Shaw of Metaform
Product Development wins the prestigious DEMOgod Award
at DEMOmobile 2003 in La Jolla, California. The
demonstration prototype built by Metaform appears in a
C|net / ZDNet interview.
July 12, 2003
CyberVibe Debuts at ANME
CyberVibe Varatus designed by Metaform Product
Development makes its debut at the Adult Novelty
Manufacturers Expo (ANME).
June 4, 2002
Metaform's David Shaw Guest Lectures at CGU in Taiwan
Metaform founder David Shaw presents "Industrial Design:
Process, Role, Involvement" lecture to industrial design
students at
Chang Gung University
in Northern
Taiwan;
a private university
established by Taiwan industrialist
Wang Yung-ching
of
The Formosa Plastics Group.
March 24, 2001
David Shaw Presents at SF Asian Art Museum Gala
Benefitting CCCC
Metaform founder, David Shaw, speaks on role of early
creative arts education and honors teacher Ms. Siu Fong
Tai for her 30 years of service to the children of San
Francisco's Chinatown at the
San Francisco Asian Art Museum
benefiting the
Chinatown Community Children's
Center
(CCCC).
David was an alum from the inaugural year of the CCCC.
"Then and Now, Making a Difference" was the theme of
CCCC's 3rd Annual Spring Gala Fundraiser. Special
guests included San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown,
Actress and Film Director, Joan Chen, San Francisco
Police Chief, Fred Lau, and KRON TV Reporter, Vic Lee.
March 14, 2000
Metaform Projects Selected for Exhibition by SFMoMA
Curator
SFMoMA
curator
Aaron Betsky
selects Metaform designs
for "Vision + Reality" Exhibition.
September 16, 1999
Metaform Honored Among "Bay Area's Best" by IDSA +
BusinessWeek
Metaform's David Shaw accepts the IDSA / BusinessWeek Magazine
Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) and is honored
among the "Bay Area's Best" by the Industrial
Designers Society of America at the Yerba Buena Center
for the Arts in San Francisco, California, USA.
Metaform's David Shaw accepting 1999 IDEA Industrial Design Excellence Award presented by Kristina Goodrich and Betty Baugh of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).
Early '90s SJSU ID alums reunite at IDSA Bay Area's Best 1999: (Left to Right) Ildefonso "Boyette" Resuello (Ziba), Ricardo Mirabel (Young Concept), David Shaw (Metaform), Kyle Swen (Astro), David Gonzalez (Sozo), Chris Frank (Sun Microsystems).
June 7, 1999
VCR Co-Pilot wins Business Week/IDSA IDEA Award
Metaform earns prestigious IDEA
Award from IDSA +
BusinessWeek Magazine
for the VCR Co-Pilot.
The
VCR Co-Pilot is the easiest, fastest way to record your
favorite TV shows.
Click to watch video of the TV
commercial.
The VCR Co-Pilot is a product which makes programming video cassette recorders (VCR) quick and easy. Confusing on-screen menus and button arrays have made traditional VCR programming the quintessential poster-child of poor interface design. The VCR Co-Pilot, instead, uses graphical slide switches and analog dials. The familiar metaphor of a clock face makes it intuitive. Slide switches set the record day (like a linear week calendar) and AM/PM and dials set the start and stop times. An LCD screen shows the current time as well as all settings as they are being made and a review button lets users check the final settings. Infrared signals send programming codes to any VCR. Large dial numbers make the settings legible while the dials themselves accommodate various handling positions.
A rectangular shape keeps the unit as small as possible while the contoured surface plateau accentuates the functional areas and makes the product appear thinner. The resulting dumbbell shape of the raised surface is evocative of an hourglass; further complementing the product's timer theme.
Without user-friendly design, great inventions fall short of their potential. The VCR Co-Pilot project shows how thoughtful design truly can humanize technology. As a result, the once daunting task of programming VCRs is now effortless.
According the client and licensee, nearly 1 million units of the VCR Co-Pilot have been sold worldwide.
May 15, 1999
Metaform Attends Star Wars Episode I Crew Screening as Part of Toy Design Team
Exclusive 1999 Star Wars Episode I Toy Design Team Jacket designed by Jim Fong of Lewis Galoob Toys.
October 14, 1997
Metaform Client Galoob Secures Small-Scale Toy Rights for Star Wars
Spring 1997
David Shaw Teaches Visualization at SJSU
Metaform founder, David Shaw, returns to his alma mater San Jose State University to teach Industrial Design Visualization and fill the very big shoes of the legendary SJSU ID teacher, Dave Fleming.
Fall 1995
David Shaw Shares Tips and Techniques with SFSU DAI Students
Metaform's David Shaw shares product design visualization techniques as a featured guest speaker for students of San Francisco State University's (SFSU) Design and Industry Program (DAI).
August 1, 1995
Metaform Selected to Design Lucasfilm Star Wars Toys
Metaform forms Star Wars Toy Development team with Galoob Toys and Lucasfilm.
May 5, 1995
San Francisco Designer David Shaw Visits ID Students in Taiwan
David Shaw guest lectures at Fortune College of Technology in Kaohsiung, Taiwan ROC. Students were treated to presentations of real project case studies, sketch demonstrations, and a lively Q+A session. The day ended with a pep talk to encourage and inspire young aspiring industrial designers to pursue their dreams.
March 2, 1995
Metaform's David Shaw Guest Lectures at San Jose State University
As a way to give back to a beloved mentor, David Shaw has returned to SJSU throughout the mid to late 1990's to share "real-world" career experiences with industrial design students in Dave Fleming's Visualization and Presentation Methods classes. Dave Fleming has taught some of the top industrial designers in the profession in his 35 years at SJSU.
SJSU's Dave Fleming with Metaform's David Shaw at SJSU March 2, 1995
June 1, 1993
MicroCam Wins Modern Plastics Grand Prize
Polaroid MicroCam, an instant
microscope camera, developed assisting renowned international designer
Barry Wingate, wins the Grand Prize in
Mcgraw-Hills' First
Annual Modern Plastics Consumer Design Awards.
November 20, 1992
David Shaw's Gymtek Concept Honored by U.S. Olympic Committee
Gymtek Weight Adjusting Gymnastics Vaulting System
devised and designed by David Shaw wins a US Olympic Committee Sports
Equipment Design Award at the Quadrennial Sports
Equipment Technology Symposium held at the U.S. Olympic
Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
Fall 1991
David Shaw Design Project Featured in ID Magazine Collage
The
Electronic Printer Abacus designed by
Metaform's David Shaw
appears in an ID
Magazine collage representing award-winning
international designers including Ettore Sotsass, Dakota
Jackson, Lunar Design, and Apple.
July 1, 1991
David Shaw's
Electronic Abacus Concept Wins ID Magazine Award
Electronic Printer Abacus designed by David Shaw wins ID
Magazine Annual Design Review Award for Concepts.
Jurors Sheila Levrant De Bretteville of Yale University,
Bill Lacy of the National Endowment for the Arts and the
Pritzker Architecture Prize and Martin Smith of Art
Center College of Design honored David with the
International Designers' Choice Mark.
