Over the edge

Speculation is reaching a feverish pitch about what "innovation" Gillette Co. could possibly be unveiling today at its much-hyped New York press conference. We've heard chatter about everything from a new shaving cream (how innovative could that really be?) to a battery-powered, vibrating handle for the Mach 3 razor.

Our Ouija board spelled out:new men's razor. We'll find out soon enough if it was right. But in the meantime, we asked a few of the best and brightest in the world of industrial design to dream up an entirely new kind of shave. After all, they couldn't come up with anything wackier than a vibrating handle or a five-blade razor (yet another of the rumors). Could they?

11,000 Cleancut Nanobots

Designed by (Eleven)
Forget 5 o'clock shadow. The 11,000 Cleancut Nanobots are so tiny you can't see or feel them. But as you go about your daily routine, they'll scour your face for signs of whiskers and cut them off. Here's how it works. The first time you let the nanobots loose, they create a 3-D map of your face and send it to the computer. You outline on the computer where the nanobots should and shouldn't shave. You can even try out different styles before setting the microscopically tiny robots in motion.

When you want to give the nanobots a rest, you wipe your face with an electrically charged cloth designed to collect them. When you want to release them again, push a button on the cloth to switch the electrical charge and off they go. The advantages? The nanobots do all the work, there's no 5 o'clock shadow, no nicks, no chafing, and no need for shaving cream.

Whisker Wipes

Designed by Tucker Viemeister and Silas Warren
Whisker Wipes are disposable shaving pads (think Stridex Triple Action Acne Pads) with a surface made of tiny sharp cutting ribbons, much like the face of a really, really small cheese grater. If you're first reaction is ouch, Viemeister assures that the cutting ribbons are so small that they'd only cut the beard, not the skin.

The pad might feel a bit like Velcro, and it could come with built-in shaving cream and after-shave lotion. "Rub it on your face, feel great, look great," Viemeister said. Well, at least, it breaks the cycle of adding more blades every time the industry comes out with a new razor -- the twin blade in 1972, the triple blade in 1998, the four-blade last year. Is a five-blade bound to be next?

Viemeister and the Springtime team could have designed a five-blade or even a six-blade. But that's something they'd do for a client. As long as they were brainstorming, Viemeister said, they figured they'd rethink the whole idea of a razor. The team tossed out a lot of ideas -- including one with nanobots and a lawnmower-like shaver. Whisker Wipes were his favorite.

"I thought it was sort of funny," he said. "But with a lot of research and development, I also think someone could figure out a real way of doing it. Why not?"

Folli

Designed by Yves Behar
Shaped like a hair follicle, the Folli is made from a single, solid piece of ceramic. Because of the material's durability, the three circular blades carved into the razor never go dull. They allow you to shave in any direction -- up, down, left, right, backward, forward -- without cutting the skin.

Behar designed the Folli's smooth contours to seem less threatening than a razor with straight blades. The Folli also harkens back to a simpler time when a razor wasn't a highly technical contraption made up of multiple blades and at least a dozen other moving parts.

"The personal care market has become overcomplicated," he said. "For me, design is more about what you take out than what you put in."

Other advantages? No blades to throw away -- good for the environment. It's weighted to stand with the blades facing up and the handle hovering in the air -- to keep them free of any bacteria that might collect on the sink. And as Behar puts it, "it looks more like a beautiful thing on the sink than a regular razor."

Finally, something worth shaving for.