Simple but powerful, these conductive tattoos communicate data and actions to paired electronic devices, translating touch actions into digital activations. As biohacking and other transhumanist interventions go, this technology represents a relatively light-touch approach with potential appeal to a broader audience beyond your typical body hacker.

A collaboration between the MIT Media Lab and Microsoft Research, DuoSkin combines high-tech geekery with everyday fashion, putting circuits right on your skin for easy access. There are four essential configurations at work: a basic button for single-click actions, a slider to scroll, another slighter for continuous scrolls and a complex lattice that acts as a track pad.

They look like gold and silver flash tattoos but perform a variety of technological feats, thanks to a microcontroller and wireless communication unit. Connected to smartphones, computers or other gadgets, DuoSkin can be used like a touchpad controller, or can change color based on temperature, or can pull and transmit biological data (and combinations thereof).

Imagine: answering the phone, skipping a track in your podcast queue, turning on a TV or turning down the music with a quick swipe to your forearm. The fact that this system is easily removable is one of the key selling points, a harbinger of future mass-market tech that can be applied, taken back off and discarded, just like any other temporary tattoo.

From the design team: “DuoSkin is a fabrication process that enables anyone to create customized functional devices that can be attached directly on their skin. Using gold metal leaf, a material that is cheap, skin-friendly, and robust for everyday wear, we demonstrate three types of on-skin interfaces: sensing touch input, displaying output, and wireless communication.”

“DuoSkin draws from the aesthetics found in metallic jewelry-like temporary tattoos to create on-skin devices which resemble jewelry. DuoSkin devices enable users to control their mobile devices, display information, and store information on their skin while serving as a statement of personal style. We believe that in the future, on-skin electronics will no longer be black-boxed and mystified; instead, they will converge towards the user friendliness, extensibility, and aesthetics of body decorations, forming a DuoSkin integrated to the extent that it has seemingly disappeared.”

With these earbuds, you can do anything from turning down the volume on crying babies, snoring spouses and passing sirens to tuning your own mix of bass, mids and trebles at a live concert in real time. If this description sounds like a bionic hearing device of the distant future, guess again: all of these benefits are being packed by Doppler Labs into a portable pair of well-funded wireless devices already in development.

Starting with the simplest features of Here: users can turn up or down everyday sounds – basically a volume knob for ordinary acoustics all around. But it gets better: using machine learning and customizable inputs tied to your smart device, Here can also filter out specific soundwaves in real time, cancelling out unwanted sounds instead of replacing them with white noise or other filler.

Beyond this baseline feature set, however, things start to get really interesting, with audiophile-oriented features that let you add or subtract everything from treble and bass to reverbs and echoes, letting you personalize all kinds of soundscapes, from background music at bars and elevator Muzak at work to live concert performances. Users can employ presets or customize their experience on the fly then save favorite settings for later, and fans will undoubtedly begin remixing acoustics in unexpected situations, creating custom soundtracks out of walks through parks.

Like many wearables, these “hearables” are controllable from your favorite smart device and thus require little onboard processing power, resulting in more extended battery life – the buds are then recharged in a portable case. Doppler has already raised thousands via Kickstarter and millions more via tech and music company investors. Some of this money will be put toward hardware but much of which will be used to further refine their algorithms and give users ever-more-custom audio control over their everyday auditory experiences.

From their fundraising campaign: “Through two truly wireless, in-ear buds and a smartphone app, Here allows you to instantly control real world audio so you can hear what you want to hear – no matter the situation – and be fully immersed in your audio environment. Here does not stream or play recorded music. Instead, the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) inside Here acts as a studio in your ears by providing you with a volume knob, equalizer and effects to transform real world audio. Use this ‘remote control for your ears’ to have an optimal listening experience every time.”

A simple but provocative piece of dynamic home decor, this thundering cloud can be set to react to its environment, picking up cues from the weather or turning stormy on demand.

Designed and sold by Richard Clarkson, The Cloud is interactive light(n)ing piece made not just to look a thundercloud but also to create multicolored lights and generate customizable sounds. It can be set to automatic modes or manually operated by remote control to simulate different natural and synthetic effects.

From its creator:  “The Cloud is an interactive lamp and speaker system, designed to mimic a thundercloud in both appearance and entertainment. Using motion sensors the cloud detects a user’s presence and creates a unique lightning and thunder show dictated by their movement.”

“The system features a powerful speaker system from which the user can stream music via any Bluetooth compatible device. Using color-changing lights the cloud is able to adapt to the desired lighting color and brightness. The cloud also has alternative modes such as a nightlight and music reactive mode.”

Built, closed, partially demolished, boarded up and ultimately deserted, the New World Mall in the capital city of Thailand has become home a strange and unexpected attraction.

Abandoned nearly two decades ago after violating building codes, the roof of the structure collapsed in a subsequent fire, leading the building to be partially filled with rainwater.

Standing pools throughout the place gave rise to a serious mosquito infestation, which the locals sought to combat by introducing fish that, in turn, bred, spread and inhabited the ruins.

Since then, the mall has turned into a kind of alternative tourist destination where visitors flock to feed the fish, now occupying over 5,000 square feet of space originally intended for retail. Vendors have even sprung up in the area to sell scraps of food – throwing anything else into the standing water is strictly forbidden. More images of the building and its context can be found here.

RenegadeTravels explains how to get to this centrally-located abandonment: “The mall is only around 5 minutes’ walk from Khao San Road. Walk to the end of Khao San Road where the small glass police station is and turn right onto Chakrabongse Road. Then walk straight ahead until you come to the junction with Phra Sumen Road. This intersection is known as Bang Lam Pu Junction. You will see the main entrance to New World Mall here, but you can’t get in from the front.”