Product Inspiration

In our continuing coverage of the evolution of the smart home, First Alert has just come out with some smoke alarms which communicate with each other and tell you where the fire is. It seems like a great step in the right direction, but its still missing a few features I’d like to see:

1. Does not mesh with existing wireless internet. Lots of us have wireless connections in our houses, why can’t we just add these guys to the network?

2. Will not tell me if my house is on fire when I’m away. Conventional smoke alarms are very loud, and I’ll probably hear them if I’m anywhere inside my house. What would be REALLY useful is if they would call / text / email me when my house is on fire so I could send over a neighbor to grab a few valuables / use an extinguisher.

3. Does not mesh with other home automation products (as far as I can tell). Granted, there’s no one single standard yet for connecting electronic household gadgets together, but it does not make sense long term to have a different wireless system for rain gauges, fire alarms, and lights. Hopefully, this will be sorted out soon.

At any rate, its another example of a dumb device getting smarter. Lets hope it keeps on learning.

http://www.gizmag.com/onelink-wireless-talking-networked-smoke-alarm/8 900/

This new gadget could add another tool in the modern day police officer’s toolbox for going after drunk drivers. While its about as simple of a product as it gets - a conventional flashlight was upgraded to include an ambient alcohol detector, it could be extremely useful in telling the difference between drunken late night revelers out for a spin and some students on the way back from IHOP.

Invention fairs are full of wacky, impractical gadgets that combine two functions into one device (the toothbrush pen comes to mind), but this is a great example of how such combinations can really be a good thing.

http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5711382&versi on=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Grabbing technology from one industry and applying it to another is a great ’shortcut’ to making a breakthrough product innovation (and something that we are very big on at PCDworks).

Here’s a perfect example: Power computer users have been using water cooling systems on their desktop PCs for years to keep the chips cool, allowing them to overclock the processor to run extra fast (and at higher temperatures). Some innovative soul realized that this fluid-based cooling design could be useful for regulating our own temperatures, and designed a mattress which uses tubes of fluid and a thermostat to change the temperature of the bed. If having a variable-temperature mattress isn’t good enough, there are two separate controls, so that any mates which share a bed can have different temperatures on their respective sides.

Can you think of any other good places to use fluid based temperature control?

http://gizmodo.com/336850/chilipad-regulates-bed-temperature-you-suppl y-the-hotness

With this gadget, doctors can remotely monitor various things about their patients remotely. Instead of the bulky machines that are currently used in hospitals, this product condenses ECG, temperature, repiration and physical activity monitoring into a small band-aid size device. It uses active radio frequency transmission to send the data to a base station wirelessly.

Honestly, while I think this is a cool new device, it seems that there is some new wireless medical monitoring gadget coming out every day. They range from highly impractical mini-purses that you have to carry around with you, to small unnoticeable pads such as this. Similarly, the data they collect range from insulin levels (a VERY hot area) to alcohol abuse.

At any rate, these new devices are here to stay, and should grow pretty steadily in use over the next 10 years. Let’s hope our doctor insurance company prescribes us these pads over the bagphone models!

Every now and then, a movie or TV show that takes place in the future shows some TV set that also sends out smells, wowing audiences and leaving us viewers antsy for that day in the future to come soon. Well, I guess you could say that the future is now: NTT Communications is demoing a new smell-emitting electronic display (they are calling it a billboard, but it looks to be a TV to me) that gives off a variety of scents, depending on the programming of the system. Even better, new smells and programming can be downloaded from the internet.

Notice how the device is being used not to entertain us, but to sell us products. At first, I was kind of put off by this, but then I realized that appealing to our sense of smell accesses a much more primeval part of our brains, and it is much tougher to control our reaction. While you may not end up eating the food that you smell, its pretty much impossible to stop yourself from getting hungry and/or salivating. It would be nice if they used this manipulation of our lower consciousness for better uses, such as sending out a smoke aroma whenever a fire alarm goes off. What other uses could there be for smell-based signaling?

http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/10/ntt-to-test-digital-aromatic-signs  / via gizmodo

Technorati : display, odor, smell

Between cell phones, digital cameras, GPS units, headphones, and ipods, our pockets are becoming far overstuffed with electronic trappings meant to make our lives easier. Unfortunately, this comes at a hefty price: For one, the front of your pants end up looking like chipmunk cheeks, and for another, when you add keys, a wallet, and other pocket necessities, it can get very difficult to put things in and out of your pockets.

While this innovation won’t solve all of the problems, its a great step in the right direction. The cellphone has a secret compartment that both holds and charges a bluetooth ear piece. While this is very nice, I’d like to petition for more space in this compartment, and maybe even an open platform to allow 3rd party developers to make more gadgets to fit in here, such as a high powered flashlight, mini projector, or laser keyboard.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/cellphones-secret-compartment-st ores-bluetooth-headset-drugs-326570.php#poll_=EDNwQTM

Technorati : bluetooth, cellphone, compartment

Redesigning the mouse trap has been a mainstay of inventors for quite a long time. This most recent advancement has quite a few cool tricks up its sleeve to get rid of your rodent problem. Once a mouse is lured inside the case of the trap by the smell of food, the trap doors close, and carbon dioxide is pumped into the chamber, suffocating the mouse. As a last technological touch, the trap sends you a text message that it has caught something.

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20071008/rentokil-radar-the-humane-hite ch-killing-machine/

This phone is stuffed full of all kinds of different sensors which provide lots of information on your bodily health. It has a pedometer, pulse recording sensors, ‘bad breath’ sensors, and an obesity calculator. It would be nice if Uncle Sam would subsidize this type of stuff to get our collective butts back in shape.http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20071004/140249/

This copier merges two existing software technologies into a single hardware unit. It uses character recognition to build software versions of the text on a paper document, and then uses electronic language translating technologies to change the printed language. Then, the new document is printed as if it were from any other printer.

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20070921/the-photocopier-that-translate s/

Cell phone manufactures have FINALLY gotten together and decided to standardize their cell phone charging connections, which will make it much easier to borrow someone else’s charger when you forget yours on a business trip. Luckily, its not just one or two of the big players, but 5 companies: Nokia, LG, Samsung, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson.

http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/09/21/cell_phone_man u.html

Technorati : cell phone chargers