Wood's natural media serves as a calming remedy to the soulless, manufacturered, impermanent nature of our gadgets. A phone is just a phone, but put it in a beeswax-polished elm enclosure designed by students from the University of Dundee, and you have a work of art.
Described as "Sensual Phones," the six models each have a pointless distinction of some kind, riffing on the social aspect of telecommunication. The "m:ssage" model has a rumble pack to provide superior a superior vibrative experience, while the Boom Tube (pictured) is "operated like a musical instrument," allowing a suitably talented user to play the ringtone he or she wants the receiver to hear.
The Aware phone resembles a medallion made of old coins, and includes a concealed vibrator to inflict a "tingle down the spine" whenever other people on their network are close by. The Hive is an ugly, incomprehensible social-interactive device, and the Aurora a portable lightshow that can be set to indicate your emotions alongside your call or message.
Finally, the polished, cube-like thing called "Eo Una" is operated by rotating it, and then waiting for one's call partner to mirror the act.
As increasingly insane as the offerings get, their best characteristic is that you can actually buy them, assuming one is in Britain. And there you were thinking they were just woodshop projects.
Online Store [University of Dundee via Gizmodo]
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