One exhibit: an environmentalist sits in a teardrop-shaped tent that hangs from a tree, half-hidden among the branches. Security cameras shaped like hydra heads peer out of some neighboring foliage. While these are not yet commonplace in our city parks and state forests, they may soon be.

?EUR??,,????'??Treetent?EUR??,,????'?? and ?EUR??,,????'??Securitree?EUR??,,????'?? are just two of the more than 300 contemporary products and prototypes?EUR??,,????'??+designed to protect the body and mind from danger?EUR??,,????'??+at the exhibit.

The exhibition, which opened on October 16 and will run through January 2, covers all forms of design, from manufactured products to information and architecture. Organized by Curator Paola Antonelli and Assistant Curator Patricia Vecchierini, featured products include refugee shelters, baby strollers, de-mining equipment, containers that keep pills safe, and shark-attack armor.

Christian D. Bruun, founder and director at DitlevFilms, directed a short documentary titled ?EUR??,,????'??Inversa Brain,?EUR??,,????'?? one of the exhibits in the show that highlights advancements in potentially far-reaching green technologies. He filmed two architects, Susan Kolatan and William Mac Donald, as they designed a new type of ?EUR??,,????'??living fa??? 1/4 ade?EUR??,,????'?? for old buildings in need of revitalization, renovation, and increased eco-efficiency. Advanced 3-D graphics software helps determine how the fa??? 1/4 ade can be redesigned as an interactive ecosystem that can filter air and water, control lighting, and generate fresh oxygen by means of photosynthesis.

?EUR??,,????'??The computer software analyzes things like what surface will get the most exposure to light during the year,?EUR??,,????'?? Bruun told the Outside Online website. ?EUR??,,????'??This calculation determines the shape of the building that will make the most sense. These surfaces can then be coated with a photosynthetic material and made into a sort of living fa??? 1/4 ade that can do things like collect water and filter pollution.?EUR??,,????'??

The software for creating ?EUR??,,????'??living facades?EUR??,,????'?? is still evolving. A future Manhattan skyscraper called The Resi/Rise, which Kolatan and Mac Donald have been planning since 1999, will utilize this technology.

SAFE has been lauded for its aesthetic achievements, but it has also been criticized for not delving deeper into the central feelings of fear and denial that lie under these displays.