EARTH-bowls:

Fluid Earth bowls are unique works of art in the form of your chosen part of the earth. The beloved On-line Service Google-Maps enable you to quickly and easily design your own work of art. The world is truly at you fingers and can be filled with the fruits of the earth.



Felt pads and holes are provided on the bottom of the bowl. This enable the display of Fluid Earth either horizontally or vertically. Production takes place in Austria with a computer controlled milling machine. The surface is sanded and oiled by hand. As decoration, as a fruit bowl, home for you keys or hung on the wall - the Fluid Earth makes for a great souvenir and a perfect point of conversation.

How does it work?

The entire surface of the earth has been measured by NASA. This data is available from our web-servers. ALGODES (www.algodes.com) software enables us to combines this data with the Google-Maps service to provide you with the simplest possible way to create your bowl.

Step 1
Select your country and enter the town or city of your choice. The start position is the home of your Internet provider. You can choose another location at any time.



A list of matching locations is then displayed from which you can choose the one you desire.


Step 2
Click on the map and drag the mouse or press the plus and minus buttons to adjust the selected area. You can also use the wide angle view on the bottom right(1) to change your selection (the blue square). The navigations buttons (2) can also be used for this purpose. With + and - (3) you can increase or decrease the selected area. Map, Satellite, Hybrid and Contour (4) give your different representations of your chosen area.



Step 3
The 3D representation of how your bowl will look can be viewed here. The North-Arrow (5) shows you which side of the bowl is the northern side. In the top left corner you can see the dimensions (6) of the area you have selected as well as the highest and lowest parts of the area in meters above see level.(7)



Hight Scale:
The relationship between height perceived from a frogs eye view and a birds eye view is 1:3. This means that a frog perceives a mountain being three times higher than a bird. However you can simply choose the value that makes your bowl look the best.

Tipp 1:
Flat regions look better with a 1:3 scale and mountains or islands look better at 1:1.

Tipp 2:
If the contours are still too flat try selecting a smaller region by pressing the + button on the map interface.(8) This makes the relationship between hight and area larger, creating a more curvaceous bowl. It works the other way around as well.

Warning: If you change the area in Step 2 you will have to press the Refresh-Bowl button to update you 3d view(9)!

Navigation:
Zoom: Hold the right mouse button and move it up and down.
Rotation: Hold the left mouse button and drag it.
Tools: The Google-Earth navigation tool can also be used to change the view upon your bowl.

Ordering:
After pressing on the ADD TO CART button your personal Fluid Earth will be placed in the your Shopping Cart. You can order multiple versions of the same bowl by updating the number in the Shopping Cart or you can repeat the process to order different ones. Shortly after going throught the order process you will receive a confirmation email.

Production:
After ordering your bowl the Algodes software generates the required production files. This is feed into the computer controlled (CNC) milling machine that forms a block of wood into your personal Fluid Earth. Since every bowl is different the surface is sanded and polished by hand and finaly protected with a natural oil. To keep your bowl looking fresh and new, simply apply a new coating of olive or sunflower oil. Delivery:
The production and delivery of the bowl generaly takes no longer than two weeks. If you need the bowl before a specific time, just let us know. We will try to get it done to meet your deadline or give you feedback as to how soon it can be ready.

Usage:
The supplied felt pads can be applied to the bottom of the bowl to prevent your table from being scratched. The Fluid Earth can also be hung on the wall using the holes on the bottom. Whether you decide to use your Fluid Earth for pure decoration, as a fruit bowl, a safe place for you keys or as a mural for you wall - how you use you Fluid Earth remains entirely up to you.



Feedback:
We are continually trying to improve our on-line shop, our software and our products. Please help us and send us your opinions or requests to: shop@fluidforms.at