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Lyse Martel is a Berlin-based “Color, Materials, and Finish” (CMF) designer and strategist in the mobility and consumer electronics industries. Her work combines craftsmanship and emerging technology to shape design strategy, drive material innovation, and create new sensory experiences. Lyse is fascinated by design’s power to shape how people feel and act. She believes design can foster emotional connection and wellbeing at a time when AI and automation are making their way into many new consumer product experiences, from the car to the living room. Below, Martel explores the emotional dimension of circular design and how the CMF field is evolving to meet the global challenges of circularity and sustainability. Fast Company: Please introduce yourself to our readers.Lyse MartelLyse Martel: I’m Lyse Martel, a CMF designer and design strategist, working primarily in automotive and consumer electronics. CMF, which stands for Color, Materials, and Finish, is about how a product looks, feels, and connects emotionally. So my work focuses on those elements as well as on strategy, brand identity, and sustainability. Although I mainly work in automotive and consumer electronics, CMF can apply to many different areas. Over the years I’ve worked with brands like Bang & Olufsen, Hopium, and NIO. And most recently I was directing a circular design project at Volkswagen Group—designing for circularity from the start with a large team of designers from different disciplines. How did you find your way into this field? It was step by step. My love for design was always there, even before I knew what to call it. It was shaped by my family’s craftsmanship, as well as my own curiosity for shapes, textures, colors, and sensory experiences. On my father’s side, I grew up around a lot of woodworking and carpentry. And on my mother’s side are generations of tailors. So that gave me an appreciation for textiles and textures and detailing and crafts. And I’ve always loved illustration and drawing and building small architectures with natural elements—everything that could involve materials and aesthetics. And I think that brought me to materiality and storytelling and eventually to CMF design. Were you able to find an educational path that encouraged your interests? I went to a specialized high school for applied arts and design, where I grew immensely as a creative person, and had a teacher who supported me and saw my potential with conceptual thinking. At university another teacher encouraged me to apply to a design internship in the automotive sector in Paris, and that’s how I formally entered the CMF design field. I was immediately drawn to the innovation and complexity of using material and color to shape the brand identity for a mobility project. [Photo: Lyse Martel]How do you stay on top of trends in color and material?Much of it is intuitive, but we also learn to connect the dots and see trends. I’m very much inspired by psychology and by what’s going on in the world—anything that could possibly impact human experiences and emotions. I’m paying attention to developments in architecture, interiors, digital and physical design, and material innovation. I’m also looking at global trends that have nothing to do with the design industry, including culture and the natural world. Nature plays a big role because you can look at how light interacts, how materials evolve with time, the functioning of ecosystems, and agriculture. I’m also very interested in how CMF design intersects with concepts like wellbeing and happiness, so I follow influential practitioners like Ivy Ross from Google, and Susan Magsamen, who works on neuroaesthetics, and Carol Gilligan, the psychologist and philosopher. Could you share more about neuroaesthetics? Neuroaesthetics looks at how design makes people feel: how beauty and art and design influence our brain, and how things like color, textures, light, and sound make us react cognitively or emotionally. We know that certain visual experiences will calm or excite us, while others make us feel uncomfortable. Designers can leverage those insights to create more meaningful and intuitive interactions. I’ve always been fascinated by how design makes people feel, and neuroaesthetics gives us the scientific reasoning behind those ideas. For instance, when I’m working with color and material for a car interior, I can decide to craft a more calming atmosphere with natural materials, or use soft lighting or a color gradient that can guide the user’s eye. I can think about how textures and tactility will influence the user’s feeling of comfort, or their perception of product quality or durability. When it comes to sustainability, there are a lot of materials that may not be readily acceptable to a user. In that case it can be helpful to lean into the authenticity of that material, perhaps by making it warmer or softer, or relating it to nature through colors or grain. So if we can somehow elevate or upscale the experience with that material, then we can start to shift the mindset to embrace sustainable materials or choices. Earlier you mentioned your work in circular design. Could you share more about that? Circular design is rethinking how we create and use products. It means designing for longevity, adaptability, and regeneration. We seek out the right materials, we design for easy reuse and repair, and we try to ensure that the product stays in circulation for as long as possible. Longevity is the number one criteria, because the longer you use a product, the less impact it has in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and other waste metrics. With circularity do you encounter pushback from industries that simply need consumers to keep buying more stuff? It does clash with short-term profit models, so it’s not easy for businesses to embrace it completely. But there is momentum for circular design, which is driven by consumer expectations, tighter regulations, and a growing recognition that resource efficiency is also smart business. I’ve seen mobility and consumer electronics firms try out concepts like modularity, repairability, and designing with disassembly in mind. Neuroaesthetics seems to be a strategy for tapping into people’s innate preferences for certain colors, materials, and finishes. But could also instigate behavior change, by tapping into the emotional layer of circularity? Absolutely, it can be surprisingly comforting, even if the materials are unexpected. When designing a circular product, you’re often working with waste, like a polymer that’s meant to circulate between cars. The challenge is making that material feel good, both emotionally and physically. What works is embracing the material’s character, maybe it has a soft texture or a slight irregularity, like a grain or uneven thread. Or it comes in a natural color that feels ultra-fresh. These little details shift the focus from what it is to how it makes you feel. You might not even realize it’s recycled plastic, but it just feels right. Sometimes, a car interior can feel like a cozy cabin, all because of the right textures and tones. That emotional layer is what really connects circularity.How could neuroaesthetics help make people comfortable with something new, like self-driving cars? It’s really about how shapes, colors and textures support the digital experience; all the micro-details working together to help the user feel at ease. I’ve been testing self-driving vehicles recently, and it’s surprising how much the environment impacts your reaction. In one case, the layout was minimal, with just the right number of buttons, and that simplicity helped me relax. But I also tested a car that was entirely gray, and it felt dull and dated. Light tones or soft gradients, something that evokes a sunrise or sunset, can go a long way in making the space feel more inviting.With automation, trust becomes a key part of the brief. How easily will someone understand what’s happening? Are they okay letting go of the wheel? That’s where CMF design needs to be fully integrated. I have to work closely with the interior and UX designers so that everything speaks the same language. If I propose a soft, natural palette and the shapes are cold or aggressive, it creates a disconnect.[AI Image: courtesy Lyse Martel]Can you share how you use AI in your work, or how AI factors into the CMF design process? It’s part of my creative process in that it helps me visualize materials, colors, and sensory experiences I’m considering for a project. It’s a great way to communicate an idea visually, and also to put it out there so someone else can pick it up and build on it. So for me, it’s really a tool that helps us be more precise in how we express and share ideas.There are also really promising use cases in circular design, where AI can help us map local resources and integrate them more intelligently into products. For example, there’s a lot of bamboo in China, linen in the north of France, or paper waste around Berlin. So what can we do with that knowledge? We can see where materials are available, but also think about how to reduce waste, predict life cycles, or imagine new reuse scenarios. Anything that involves localizing or optimizing can be supported by AI.And as the digital world increasingly shapes the physical one, I think there’s real potential in using these new, hyper-sensory AI-generated visuals to inspire physical experiences. Neuroaesthetics helps us design for emotion, and AI can help translate those emotional cues into visual concepts that, when made real, feel meaningful and multi-sensory. Do you ever get any pushback for the decisions that you or your team might make as CMF designers? Sometimes there’s a strong reaction to a particular color or material choice. I remember working on a concept car called Eve, developed with a strong focus on emerging markets and innovative design languages. I proposed an exterior in a rose gold tone, which could be read as pink. That sparked some discomfort in the room. I think it challenged certain expectations of what a car should look like, especially in Western automotive culture. But in China, rose gold is often associated with refinement and quality. It’s not seen as gendered in the same way. So for me, it was an opportunity to bring a fresh, culturally relevant aesthetic into the project. I understood the hesitation, but that’s part of the role. Sometimes CMF invites us to gently shift the visual language and open up new emotional possibilities.[Image: Felix Godard Design]Are there certain colors and finishes that are timeless and others that are more transitory? In the last decade we used a lot of neutrals, like beige and gray. Many brands also decided to shape themselves around their core colors—“our black,” “our white,” etc. And they would build up from there to include more exciting colors into their identity. Today I see those approaches being challenged. Gen Z is coming in and they have other ideas about what’s fresh. In the past few years we saw a lot of yellows. Recently, dark reds have been popping up everywhere, and they’re a powerful, timeless choice that adds richness and sophistication. These colors grab attention and can work well, but we need to be mindful of their relevance for long-term products.I believe there is still a need for that core timelessness. You might use black as a core color, but you might tint it blue to make it more interesting or less intense. When I was at Bang & Olufsen, we often discussed how to stand out from typical black consumer electronics. For a more lifestyle-oriented, subtle design in the home, why not use gray?[Image: courtesy NIO]Are you ever surprised when a particular color takes off? The latest Pantone color of the year is a brown-beige shade, which honestly surprised me. I’ve used warm grays before when I wanted to give a product a cozier, inviting feel, but this one doesn’t feel as fresh to me. I’m not sure it resonates with the moment in the same way other trends do. I love when a heritage brand takes an unexpected turn, like the paper company GF Smith, which recently rebranded with vibrant, poppy colors and introduced a bespoke, rounded sans-serif typeface, GF Smith Homie. I like to see they are brushing off the history to embrace different values and just be human. They want to stand for inclusivity, so they’re going to speak up about that and make sure it’s seen in the brand.Where do you draw creative inspiration? It’s really what makes me burn, what is calling my heart. I also need to talk to people—not only creatives, but people from all walks of life. I enjoy traveling through my city and looking at how people live. I learn a lot simply from riding the train, overhearing conversations, and observing how the mood changes with the seasons. I also read the news and check out certain magazines. There’s one I like, Imagine5, that focuses on how to make sustainability joyful. It explores that from all angles and it’s very accessible. You don’t have to be a sustainability expert to enjoy it. [Image: courtesy NIO]Could you share some of the projects you’ve worked on that you’re most proud of? I joined the global smart EV brand NIO in its early stages, when the brand vision was still taking shape, and contributed to the initial direction of color, materials, and finishes as part of the design team. The objective was to align with their vision of “Blue Sky Coming,” so we had to come up with progressive aesthetics and human-centered design, which later evolved into design principles. Shaping that brand was extremely rich for me in terms of learning and collaborating with so many talented designers. I also led a couple of projects – one was the previously mentioned concept car called Eve. I had the opportunity to introduce more natural materials and different colors that were not commonly used in the automotive space.Introducing new aesthetics became an important theme for my later work with Bang & Olufsen, which was about connecting the dots between sound and material and design. And then more recently, the circularity project I’ve been leading for Volkswagen Group is really close to my heart. The brief was to introduce longevity, adaptability, and recyclability across all design touch points for Volkswagen. To that end we provided creative direction that considered everything from exterior design, interior, user experience, and materiality.It was an interesting challenge to find the emotional layer of circularity, while staying on brand for Volkswagen. Circularity has a lot of very technical aspects, but as designers we can make circularity tangible. How do you deal with mistakes or failure in the creative process? I view mistakes or failure as an opportunity to test more, to rethink, and to reframe. If a design doesn’t work, how can we regroup and find a solution that’s way more interesting and beyond the obvious? In the creative process there can be a lot of fear associated with going against the grain. What I’ve noticed is that if we stay in that fear space, we close ourselves off to opportunities. It’s important to be in an open space of creativity and curiosity. Allow mistakes and failure to happen. When there is joy in the process and a strong intuition, you produce better results in the end. What advice would you give to aspiring designers, but also anyone who wants to enter the world you inhabit? Great design comes from a constantly growing and inspired mind. Stay curious and know that inspiration comes from everywhere. Embrace your uniqueness, but also be able to evolve from that. Be open to change and to new perspectives. There will be tough feedback and creative disagreements, but the important thing is how you receive those situations. Maintain a mindset of abundance and try to see the positive in anything you do. Finally, as creatives it’s important for us to take time alone to recharge, to reflect, and to work on our magic. When you’re feeling well and thriving individually, your creativity also does. At that point it’s crucial to rejoin the collective, where you have a chance to collaborate and experience the diversity of perspectives that fuels creativity. It can be a tough road for aspiring designers, but I would encourage them to proceed with care and openness, and to leave their fears behind. 

Submitted by WA Contents Design Shanghai 2025 will explore the power of human-centric design in June China Architecture News - May 26, 2025 - 04:19   html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Asia’s leading design show, Design Shanghai, has announced its 12th edition, which will explore the notion of design for humanity. The Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Center will host Design Shanghai 2025 from June 4–7. The annual event has been dedicated to bridging the gap between Eastern and Western design for twelve years. It features both known and up-and-coming companies and brands, as well as the top local and international designers. This year, more than 80,000 professionals are anticipated to attend Design Shanghai, which will feature top companies from more than 30 countries and regions. Attendees can expect an unmatched chance to experience the ingenuity and impact of top-tier design. Over 640,000 professionals and more than 2,600 design brands from around the world have visited Design Shanghai to date, demonstrating the expansion and integration of China's design strength.The World Architecture Community is an official media partner of Design Shanghai."Over the past 12 years, Design Shanghai has grown while remaining youthful at heart, consistently embracing ever-evolving challenges with unwavering commitment. At the same time, we stay true to our original mission of being a bridge for East-West design exchange," said  Zhuo Tan, Event Director, Design Shanghai. "This year, we will place greater emphasis on human-centred design, making the exhibition more personal and meaningful, and exploring—and perhaps even reaching a consensus on—a fundamental question: Through design, where are we heading, and how should we act?." "We look forward to a truly memorable gathering this June," Tan explained.Image by BuloImage by VitraWith more than 600 carefully chosen design products spread throughout its four sections, Design Shanghai 2025 will provide an insight into the latest innovations and trends in the field. Modern designs in furniture, lighting, kitchens, bathrooms, and systems will be showcased in Section 1 (Furniture & Lighting) and Section 2 (Kitchen, Bathroom & Systems Design). Renowned brands like Bulo, Formitalia, RS Barcelona, Vitra, Lalique, Miyazaki Chair Factory, NEKOSpACE, and Antoniolupi Design Made in Italy will be showcasing their most recent collections. The best of Spanish design, such as Viccarbe, Porcelenosa, and LFZ Lamps, will be showcased by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX). Luxury appliance manufacturers Liebherr, JUNG, Lantex, and Colmo will be on display, along with high-end brands like LAUFEN, Villeroy & Boch, and GORENJE, showcasing their creative solutions.Image by Villeroy & BochImage by Ultrasuede®In the New Materials & Applications Section (3), top companies such as Mapei, Burgeree, Spralding, and Ultrasuede®, as well as Italian designers Florim, SICIS, and Tecnografica, will showcase sustainable innovations.In addition to luxury design brands that specialize in fine porcelain, glassware, tableware, and high-end home accessories like Herend, Lomonosov, Sabre Paris, Cutipol, La Rochere, Sezzatini, Timon Luxury, and CreArt, Section 4: Living & Lifestyle Design will have brands like Reflections Copenhagen, Aynsley, Pro-Ject, and Vilca that will display exquisite craftsmanship.TALENTS from 2024 editionTo produce one-of-a-kind design experiences, Design Shanghai will once more collaborate with top design and creative studios. Frank Chou, the curator of TALENTS, will return with his mission to support the developing creative potential of upcoming designers. Chen Min and Neooold, a fusion of art, craft, and design based on China's abundant traditional handicrafts and materials, are also returning to Design Shanghai.Materials First by Chris Lefteri will also make a comeback with an interesting interactive experience. Additionally, Zhang Lei's materials aesthetics trend exhibition Re: Materialize and Beyond Craft Japan, which explores Japanese beauty via materials and workmanship, will be open to visitors.Image by Made in JDZAdditionally, two brand-new features—Collectible Design & Art and Made in JDZ, which are curated by Ran Xiangfei—will highlight the brilliance of limited edition designs and the elegance of Jingdezhen's handmade craftsmanship. Both provide unique chances to encounter the most cutting-edge and progressive concepts from the design industry.Image by Koseido (Beyond Craft Japan)Design for HumanityThree significant speaker conferences will also be included in the 2025 edition: the CMF Conference, the Design for Wellbeing Conference, and the Global Design Conference with the topic "Design for Humanity." Exhibitors will have unique networking opportunities to interact with well-known designers and business executives at these conferences.Highlights of the speakers include: Ole Scheeren, Chief Designer, Buro Ole Scheeren; Satoshi Ohashi, Director (China), Zaha Hadid Architects; Paul Priestman, Chairman and Creative Director, PULI Innovation; Robert Greenwood, Partner, Director for Asia Pacific, Snøhetta; Changrui FU, Associate Partner, MAD; and Craig Miller, Partner and Project Leader, Heatherwick Studio.Register to Design Shanghai via this link. All images courtesy of Design Shanghai.> via Design Shanghai

Versatility and thoughtful engineering meet in Chameleon Furniture, a 2-in-1 transformable piece designed with the unique adaptability of a chameleon in mind. Made entirely of iron, this innovative furniture concept doesn’t just change in form; it transforms to suit a space’s shifting needs with seamless precision. The Chameleon Furniture lives up to its name, not just in concept but also in execution. Much like its namesake, this furniture piece changes its appearance and function to suit different needs and surroundings. With a minimalist yet industrial aesthetic, it cleverly reimagines how a single design can morph into entirely different forms, serving both as a desk and a storage unit. Designer: Heeyeol Yang At its core, the design is rooted in simplicity and efficiency. The structure is composed of four iron plates and four screws, which are the only tools required for transformation. These components are cleverly engineered to form a modular system that allows the user to switch between furniture types quickly and without hassle. When arranged one way, the iron frames come together to form a sturdy desk, suitable for work or dining. When rearranged and secured in an upright position, the same elements become a storage unit with ample room for books, essentials, or decorative items. This clever duality doesn’t just save space, it makes the furniture more engaging, prompting users to interact with and personalize their living environments more fluidly. The organic movement between functions reflects the philosophy of design that prioritizes adaptability without sacrificing style or strength. One of the most compelling aspects of Chameleon Furniture is its coupling structure. With just four screws securing four iron plates, the transformation process becomes intuitive and accessible, even for users with little to no experience in assembling furniture. This design promotes a DIY-friendly approach, perfect for modern consumers who value ease and immediacy. The table-type configuration involves stacking the frames horizontally and fixing them in place with screws, creating a clean, flat surface ideal for any tabletop use. Meanwhile, the storage configuration requires raising the top frame vertically to create open shelving space. In both cases, the stability of the structure is ensured with the same minimalist screw system, proving that a simple mechanism can support complex functions. Adding to the Chameleon Furniture’s ecosystem is the IPO Vase—an accessory that extends the functionality and aesthetics of the core furniture unit. Short for Incomplete Peg Object, the IPO Vase is created using a combination of 3D-printed filament and steel. This combination of contrasting materials, soft and precise filament with hard and industrial steel, creates a peg-based object that’s not only visually intriguing but also adds an element of customization to the furniture. The IPO Vase can be affixed to the Chameleon Furniture as a decorative or functional element, such as a planter or small container. Its CMF (Color, Material, Finish) sensibility enhances the visual texture and material play of the overall design, making the furniture more expressive and expandable based on user preferences. The post This Sleek DIY Iron Piece Transforms from Stylish Desk to Smart Storage in Minutes first appeared on Yanko Design.

A new contest is underway, inviting designers and 3D printing enthusiasts to create custom accessories for the CMF Phone 2 Pro, a modular smartphone from CMF by Nothing. Organized in partnership with Czech based 3D printer manufacturer Prusa Research, the contest focuses on designs that enhance the phone’s appearance, functionality, or usability. Open for another 22 days, the contest allows each participant to submit up to five entries.  At the time of writing, 225 submissions have been received. Designers are encouraged to develop back covers, attachments, or other accessories that align with the CMF Phone 2 Pro’s structure. The phone features visible screws and a universal adaptor, making it compatible with a range of physical modifications. “We’ve teamed up with our friends at Prusa to launch a design challenge built around CMF Phone 2 Pro and its all-new Universal Cover. The best of the best will be able to bring their design to life with a brand new CMF Phone 2 Pro and Original Prusa MK4S 3D printer. Plus more prizes up for grabs,” said the CMF team. Phone Stand for CMF Phone 2 PRO. Photo via user GRZ Design/Printables. “Make tech fun” with 3D printing Entries may focus on convenience, additional features, or purely visual elements, but only accessories tailored to the CMF Phone 2 Pro will be accepted. General-purpose phone stands or unrelated designs do not qualify. To ensure accessibility, CMF has provided all the necessary files, measurements, and design references for those who don’t own the device. Prizes for the Top Three Entries: 1st Place: Original Prusa MK4S Kit and CMF Phone 2 Pro 2nd Place: CMF Phone 2 Pro, CMF Buds Pro 2, and 1200 Prusameters 3rd Place: CMF Phone 2 Pro and 800 Prusameters This isn’t the first time CMF by Nothing has involved the maker community. Last year, the brand collaborated with Chinese desktop 3D printer manufacturer Bambu Lab on a similar initiative focused on the CMF Phone 1. That contest, hosted on MakerWorld, asked designers to create custom components for the phone’s modular design. Participants had access to STEP files and technical specs to assist in the development of precise designs. The 2024 contest recognized winners in three categories: Best Functional, Best-Looking, and Most Unexpected. Judges included creators from the 3D printing space such as 3D Printing Nerd and Unnecessary Inventions, along with Nothing Co-Founder Akis Evangelidis, who emphasized the company’s commitment to co-creation with its user base. Building on that approach, the new contest continues CMF’s engagement with the design and 3D printing community, this time hosted on Printables.com, where users can find entry guidelines, design files, and current submissions. The Ultimate Magnetic Camera Cage for CMF Phone 2 PRO. Photo via user 3D Kimba/Printables. Shaping mobile accessories with 3D printing With 3D printing increasingly shaping how mobile accessories are developed, companies have started turning to open design challenges and in-house production to rethink both customization and manufacturing. Accessories company Incase and 3D printer manufacturer Carbon entered a multi-year R&D partnership to develop and mass-produce 3D printed mobile device protectors using Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology. As part of the deal, Incase gained access to 20 Carbon M2 printers, proprietary software, and exclusive rights to co-brand products made with the process.  The protectors were designed with complex lattice structures and new elastomers that offer enhanced impact protection in a lightweight form. This partnership also streamlined design and production, enabling faster iteration, reduced prototyping, and on-demand manufacturing Elsewhere, Netherlands-based 3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker kicked off a contest inviting users to design accessories for the OnePlus One smartphone and share them on Youmagine. In just a week, the platform saw a wave of submissions, with several downloadable designs quickly appearing online.  To make things interesting, Ultimaker offered participants a chance to win either an Ultimaker 2 or a OnePlus One. Once the entry period ended, the public helped narrow down the field by voting for their favorites. From those finalists, judges from both Ultimaker and OnePlus chose the top three winning designs. Take the 3DPI Reader Survey — shape the future of AM reporting in under 5 minutes. What 3D printing trends should you watch out for in 2025? How is the future of 3D printing shaping up? To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on Twitter, or like our page on Facebook. While you’re here, why not subscribe to our Youtube channel? Featuring discussion, debriefs, video shorts, and webinar replays. Featured image shows phone stand for CMF Phone 2 PRO. Photo via user GRZ Design/Printables.

Submitted by WA Contents Design Shanghai will be held from 4 to 7 June 2025 in Shanghai China Architecture News - May 23, 2025 - 13:48   html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Asia's premier design exhibition and one of the most prominent international design events in the world is Design Shanghai. It has been crucial in forming China's dynamic design scene by consistently pushing the envelope.Design Shanghai will be held from 4 to 7 June at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, Shanghai, China. With four main sections—Furniture & Lighting, Kitchen & Bathroom & Systems Design, New Materials & Applications, and Living & Lifestyle—Design Shanghai 2025 will introduce a brand-new concept. These sections will collectively feature more than 600 carefully chosen design objects from over 30 nations and locations, providing an insight into the newest developments in the field.TALENTS, Neooold, Re:Materialize, Made in JDZ, Beyond Craft Japan, Collectible Design & Art, and Materials First are the seven specially selected elements that will be showcased at the event. In addition, more than 200 design visionaries will come together to exchange ideas at three important forums: the CMF Conference, the Design for Wellbeing Conference, and the KOHLER·Design Shanghai Global Design Conference.Design Shanghai promises an unmatched chance to fully immerse oneself in the innovation and influence of top-tier design, with over 80,000 professional visitors anticipated.The World Architecture Community is official media partner of Design Shanghai.Top image courtesy of Design Shanghai.> via Design Shanghai

In context: Noctua is mostly known for its fans, CPU heatsinks, and other cooling products for computing devices. The Austrian company also cooperates with third-party peripheral and GPU manufacturers, though its latest partnership is likely the most unusual so far. Noctua is putting a 4x4 cm (1.57 x 1.57 inches) fan inside a competitive gaming mouse made by Pulsar Gaming Gears. The Korean peripheral manufacturer announced the oddity ahead of Computex, promising that the new mouse would be demoed during the computer hardware show held in Taipei, Taiwan. Noctua is well-known for the "exceptional" cooling performance of its fans, Pulsar stated, while gamers – and competitive gamers in particular – are prone to sweating during esports events. The Asian manufacturer is therefore equipping its pre-existing Feinmann gaming mouse with a tiny Noctua fan, so that gamers can be comfortable even in the heat of the most ferocious (e)battles. Pulsar didn't have to reinvent the wheel, as the Feinmann already includes a very light shell riddled with holes. The Feinmann F01 is an ultra-lightweight gaming mouse weighing just 46g, providing all the features a competitive player would expect, including an 8,000Hz polling rate, a 32,000 DPI sensor, a "fast" 8K docking charger, and more. Thanks to the newly embedded Noctua fan, gamers buying the new Feinmann model can expect their hands to be constantly cool. Even users with particularly sweaty grips should enjoy a more comfortable gaming experience. We would very much like to test Pulsar's statements while replaying Doom Eternal's DLC 1 during summer months, just to be absolutely sure it really works the way the manufacturer says. // Related Stories Some Computex attendees say the Noctua-powered Feinmann mouse is indeed comfortable and the additional air flow keeps palms cool. Pulsar's product doesn't appear to be just a gimmick, though the specs are clearly being affected by the new fan. The mouse weight is now a bit higher (65g), while battery life should be around 10-11 hours. Pulsar said the mouse is still a prototype, so battery life and other specs are "preliminary." Modern wireless mice can go on for hundreds of hours on a single charge, so we're curious to know how the final product will turn out. The standard version of the Feinmann F01 Gaming Mouse is currently on sale at $180, so we expect the new model will cost more than that.