A clever new door knob shows what's behind closed doors

Hideyuki Nakayama/openers.jp

A doorknob designed by Hideyuki Nakayama.

"A Room in a Glass Globe" is a door knob design by Japanese architect Hideyuki Nakayama. It gives a fisheye view of what's behind closed doors. While it may not be ideal for privacy, it is pretty clever.

The door knob was recently on display at the DesignTide Tokyo exhibition. Nakayama said that the door knob turns knocking onto a door into a more interactive experience, as you can see the person on the other side approaching.

Even better, the whole sphere changes color when a hand is placed on it, reflecting the hand's color. And when viewed from afar, the knob is a sphere of dreamlike colors.