[hu-bi] modular PC, a computing sollution for the future

Design competitions are a very good way to see what users want and can also discover interesting ideas that might some day enter production, or can lead to interesting findings. One such contest is IDSA PC Design Competition, held by Microsoft and Industrial Design of America between August 15th and December 18th 2006, with a declared purpose of rethinking the Windows-based PC experience.

[hu-bi] certainly doesn’t look "ordinary"

The winner will get 10.000 $ and will be announced on May 2007. After browsing trough concepts I can show you my favourite (submission no. 700) design that, even if it doesn’t win, should be a good start for conceiving the PC of tomorrow. Its name is [hu-bi] and can be described as a modular PC, where every main component has a rectangle shape and can be interchanged / upgraded with a different product very easy.

Small schematics of a typical [hu-bi] configuration

The power of the concept lies in its simplicity, re-usability of components and ease of use, given the common user interface that will leverage existing standards. Modular design also allows people with limited technical knowledge to assemble their own PC. Two main aspects contribute to [hu- bi]’s success: the hardware interface between modules and the software architecture used for interconnection.