Good Thinking
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Smart Lid a winner at packaging awards
In 2005 Gizmag reported on an innovative way to warn caffeine-addicts when their coffee too hot to drink, by changing the color of the takeaway cup lid. The Smart Lid has now been awarded ‘Best of Show’ at the AmeriStar Award hosted by the Institute of Packaging Professionals. (read more...)
RoboBraille online text translation service
May 13, 2008 Vision impaired users can now access books, news articles and web pages using an email-based service that translates text into Braille and audio recordings. RoboBraille is a free service offering a simple way of converting text without the need for users to operate complicated software and has completed more than 250,000 translations since its launch in January. (read more...)
Periscope book light
Avid readers know the trials of keeping a book light attached to your book whilst also maintaining a comfy reading position. The new Periscope Book Light Bookcover offers a solution for both hardcover and paperback books by integrating a retractable LED into the spine. (read more...)
Two-mile high termite nest proposed to counter the population challenge
May 5, 2008 Forward-thinking architects are looking upwards in an effort to control a global population that is growing by around 2.2 per cent every year and becoming ever more concentrated in crowded cities. Eugene Tsui is taking nature as the inspiration for his 2-mile high, one-mile wide Ultima Tower, capable of housing up to a million people. Designed to be virtually impervious to wind, water and earthquakes, the massive tower is conceived less as an architecture project but as a series of mini-ecosystems within which other architectural projects can be developed. And it offers some ingenious ideas on energy production, water use and intra-colony transport. At US$150 billion a pop, you wouldn't expect to see the Ultima being built any time soon, but as population pressure increases, it's pioneering ideas like these that will form the inspiration for real-world solutions. (read more...)
The world's largest portable TV... and a new advertising medium
May 1, 2008 Media sells its audience. Regardless of how the media assembles the audience, the profile, size and engagement of the audience is the value the media offers advertisers, which effectively means Big Moving Pictures’ fleet of rolling mobile Light-Emitting-Diode screen displays constitutes a new advertising medium. The company is mounting massive (40 x 22 ft) HDTV LED displays on trucks so it can engage audiences of 100,000+ at major outdoor events (such as air shows and auto racing) in a new way. To be built using the brightest technology available, MEGASCREENS are the biggest and most powerful LED-based display solution yet devised. (read more...)
28 km bridge to link Africa and Middle East
May 1, 2008 A 28 kilometer-long bridge is being planned to link the Middle East and Africa. The US$20 billion bridge will become the longest suspension bridge in the world and tower some 400 meters above the water, with at least three spans of around 2700m each. Undoubtedly set to become one of the wonders of the modern world, the project includes plans to build entire cities at each end, linked by a six-lane motorway and a four-track railway. Adding complexity to the enormous task, which is expected to take some 12 years to complete, the bridge it is to be built in an area of intense seismic activity. (read more...)
The new and improved postcard advertising medium
April 16, 2008 Free postcard advertising has many strengths, most notably great cost-efficiency and excellent targeting, so we were very interested recently when we spied a new and vastly improved variation on the theme. Unlike the traditional postcard size which has no logical destination (and hey, get real, how many people post adverts to their friends), the Minicard is the size of a business card, meaning there’s a place for it in a purse or wallet. Equally as importantly, the smaller size makes for a more orderly and space efficient visual display unit and the standardised layout ensures the cards are informational and useful to the audience they reach. (read more...)
The walk-in coffee machine
The coffee bean is not only the world’s most valuable crop, it is the world’s second largest traded commodity, behind only oil. When the working day starts, most of us turn to coffee when concentration and mental performance is required – fuel for the think tank. More than 1.5 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day. The Javabot is the coffee machine of the 21st century. We have written about every major coffee innovation of recent times and apart from the portable $30 Aeropress, which delivers replicable quality in 30 seconds, the Javabot blows them all away. It delivers a coffee with your favorite blend of seven beans, plus how they are roasted, ground and the temperature at which the coffee is brewed, all inside 30 seconds. It’s the only walk-in coffee machine in the world right now, but we suspect the number will grow rapidly once people understand what it delivers. (read more...)
Smart suits keeps chopper crews warm in freezing water, cool in hot working conditions
April 11, 2008 Safety clothing might be imperative for some jobs, but when it becomes a hindrance and makes work uncomfortable and annoying, it needs to be reassessed. Take the orange safety suits worn by helicopter crews working on oil platforms off the coast of Norway - they're designed to stop the wearer from drowning or freezing to death if their choppers crash-land into the freezing ocean - but the properties that make them effective insulators also make them incredibly hot and sweaty to work in. Enter Helly Hansen's smart suit, impregnated with micro-particles of paraffin wax. The wax slowly melts as body temperatures increase, gradually sucking heat away from the body to cool the wearer through the day, making it much more comfortable. And if the wearer is plunged into icy water, the wax releases stored heat as it solidifies, allowing the suit to be even more effective at the safety component of its job. (read more...)
The DIY haircut made simple: Remington's ShortCut Clipper
April 9, 2008 What could be simpler than a buzz cut - it's low maintenance, low-cost and you even save on shampoo. But as anyone who has ever attempted to clip their own hair can attest, doing the job yourself ain't as simple as it looks, with elusive strands of longer hair almost always escaping the blades and leaving you with that less than attractive "not quite finished" look. Remington's solution is the ShortCut Clipper, a product billed as the first-ever clipper system designed to allow men to cut their own hair which uses a curved cutting system and unique brush shape to deliver fast, error-free DIY results. (read more...)
Pedal power delivers clean water to the developing world
April 9, 2008 A staggering 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water, with an estimated 5,000 children per day dying from water-related diseases. In response to this global crisis, a group of inventors from the US developed the innovative and highly commendable Aquaduct Mobile Filtration Vehicle - a tricycle which uses pedal power to both transport and filter clean drinking water. (read more...)
Unconventional approach produces ultra-pure water
April 2, 2008 Traditional water-purification techniques such as filtration or distillation attempt to remove the contaminants from water by fluid flow. Reversing this thinking, a new Scandinavian spin-off company is researching a new method of purification that takes the clean water molecules out of the contaminated matter using carbon dioxide gas. (read more...)
Intelligent brake system could reduce rear-end collisions
March 28, 2007 Brake lights on automobiles are limited in the information they can convey - you're either stopping or you're not. Having some indication of just how hard the driver in front is pressing the pedal would undoubtedly add to road safety, and that's the thinking behind this intelligent brake light system developed by researchers at Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering. (read more...)
CIRT provides more punch for urban search and rescue
Designed for urban search and rescue operations, Raytheon's Controlled Impact Rescue Tool (CIRT) uses concentrated shockwaves to penetrate concrete and rubble far more quickly than drilling, sawing or chipping. In a recent demonstration it penetrated a concrete barrier in 13 minutes, while competing methods achieved a similar result only after 29 minutes. (read more...)
Adhesive Gift Wrap for a busy lifestyle
March 24, 2008 Self-adhesive Gift Wrap was announced today by Hallmark , a first-of-its-kind product coated on one side with a low-tack adhesive formulated by Hallmark, which sticks firmly to packages, creating a beautifully-wrapped gift with a cleaner presentation, and apparently, a lot less fuss. Essentially, if you can operate a sticky note, you can wrap like a pro with Adhesive Gift Wrap. Apart from the saving of time, we’re told that ribbons aren’t required. We know it all sounds a bit devoid of the joy-of-giving ethos, so scoff if you must, but the exclusive Hallmark Adhesive Gift Wrap is the result of requests from consumers who want the act of gift wrapping to be more convenient for their busy lifestyles. (read more...)
Sink or swim: floating Hybrid XPliers
March 6, 2008 Robrady is a name most of our readers will associate with bleeding-edge electric motorcycle designs, but the company’s portfolio has several facets including a partnership with marine tool specialists XTools. The latest product to emerge from this collaboration is a pair of rugged hybrid pliers, which like all tools in the range, float when they hit the water. (read more...)
Kiddo proximity alarm system offers parents peace of mind
February 19, 2008 Smart Target has developed a wireless proximity alarm system designed to boost child safety by helping parents quickly locate wayward young ones and keep them within a pre-set "virtual fence". (read more...)
Georgia Tech proposes carbon capture concept for automobiles
February 18, 2008 Carbon capture and storage has been touted as a method for slashing carbon emissions in power plants – now researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology say it can be used to combat one of the most widespread greenhouse gas offenders: the automobile. Georgia Tech has outlined a concept system where carbon is isolated from fossil fuels, disposed of at a refueling station, and eventually recycled into new fuel. Not only is the closed-loop cycle carbon emission free, it is also renewable and efficient. (read more...)
Electrolux launches 2008 Design Lab competition
February 12, 2008, Electrolux have announced the opening of their annual design competition for 2008. Aimed at industrial design students from all over the world, this year's theme is “Designs for the Internet Generation” and the brief is to design an innovative, cutting-edge product that addresses food storage, cooking, and/or washing with a view 2 to 3 years into the future. (read more...)
eKo Pro Series wireless crop monitoring system
February 12, 2008 Wireless sensor specialist Crossbow Technology has announced the forthcoming release of a new precision agricultural monitoring system that uses a network of solar-powered sensors to deliver critical real-time data on crop health via an Internet browser. (read more...)
Nemorelax targets personal tranquility amid airport mayhem
February 5, 2008 Finding a quiet space to de-stress, phone home, check emails or catch a quick, comfortable nap in the middle of a busy airport is a challenge that's nigh-on impossible at the best of times. While airport lounges offer some comfort to the weary traveler, the Nemorelaxer aims to take this to a whole new level by providing a fully-connected personal oasis where users can watch films, access wi-fi Internet, make calls, listen to music or just recline for a well earned nap without fear of interruption. The staffed service, to be sold in 30 minute time-blocks, also incorporates wake–up calls, a luggage lock-up facility and the free loan of a laptop. (read more...)
Datamatic demonstrate Remote Shutoff Valve system for water utilities
January 24, 2008 Water utility companies waste significant labor resources each year as staff try to overcome irate customers, vicious canines and difficult to access properties in an effort to disconnect or reconnect water services. Datamatic Ltd. has developed a solution to this problem in the form of its radio-frequency operated RSV™ Remote Shutoff Valve - a system that by-passes the need for physical access to properties, thereby reducing field service costs and preventing theft from inactive services. (read more...)
Loc8tor ‘Lite’ makes losing your keys a thing of the past
January 23, 2008 Loc8tor Ltd has released a new addition to its personal homing device range. Significantly smaller and lighter than previous models, the credit card sized Loc8tor Lite helps to find any lost or mislaid possessions and fits easily into a wallet or purse. Dubbed the Loc8tor Lite, the 6mm thick device, uses active RFID technology to guide users to within an inch of any tagged item using audio and visual cues to point users in the right direction. The unit can help locate lost possessions that are within 400ft (122 meters). (read more...)
Communications “Gizmo” to aid emergency response
December 19, 2007 It may look like just another remote-controlled toy truck, but this "Gizmo" has the potential to save lives in disaster response situations. Javier Rodriguez Molina, a 24 year old electrical engineering graduate student and programmer analyst at the UC San Diego's California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), is designing an advanced mobile, wireless communications machine that can venture into environments too dangerous for humans and collect and transmit critical information to emergency personnel. It is hoped that the design platform - which is will not be limited to its current toy-truck guise - can provide real-time assistance in emergency situations such as terrorist attacks, building collapses or hurricanes. (read more...)
The Top 10 things you CAN have for Christmas
December 17, 2007 Earlier this month we brought you a list of the most desirable items that will almost certainly not appear under the tree this year. Now with the final rush towards the holiday season upon us, here's our pick of standout products that are more likely to be within reach of the average consumer and - if you're lucky - just might show up in your stocking. So, chosen by virtue of their technological prowess, style , sheer inventiveness or simply because they promise heaps of fun, here's Gizmag's selection of the top 10 things you CAN have for Christmas in 2008. (read more...)
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