Product Inspiration

No, the title is not an oxymoron, a not-so-new technology called “ammoniac-water absorption technique” is making a comeback to provide a sunlight-powered cooler for keeping food and beverages cold in places away from grid power. This method has been known for quite some time, though little has been done with it outside of flame-powered devices. Lets hope that changes, and we all get sun-powered coolers for those hot Texas summers in the near future.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3106924,00.html via DVICE

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

Every kid eventually learns that chocolate bars and pant pockets don’t mix. At some point, we all have probably left one in either the car, our pocket, or some other hot place for too long, and when we finally open it, the chocolate has melted and turned into a puddle of brown muck.

This Japanese company has made a real slick way of (ideally) preventing this frequent occurrence by adding a temperature sensing sticker to the box. This sticker changes color according to the temperature of the air around it. While temperature-affected color changes are nothing new (some of you may remember hypercolor shirts), I think it is still an underused tool for making cheap and innovative new product features. For example, why can’t I glance at my thermostat from across the room, and tell how hot it is by what hue of red or blue it shows?

http://inventorspot.com/articles/chocolate_bar_stickers_tell_when_8515

Technorati : chocolate, sensor, temperature

This is a great example of a technology moving from one industry to another. Contactless temperature sensing has been around for a long time (we have one here PCDworks to check the temperature of molten metal when we’re making prototype castings), and its used in all kinds of industrial applications where you can’t get close enough to the hot stuff without burning your hand (or melting the thermometer). This gadget uses the same technology to provide an easier-to-use thermometer to diagnose fevers and other childhood ailments. Taking a fully developed technology from one industry and applying it to another is one of the best and easiest ways to make an effective new product.

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20071121/kidz-med-thermofocus/

Technorati : temperature, thermometer

Have you ever noticed how aerosol cans get cold when you use them? The physics behind this effect is explained by the ideal gas law, which for this case means that reducing the pressure inside the can also reduces its temperature. The principle is the basis for all modern air conditioning, and was even used to create a propane-powered ice maker (the creator wanted to have cold beer for his entire week long canoeing trip).

Recently, this inventor used this phenomenon to make another novel way to cool down drinks. His creation uses CO2 cartridges to instantly cool any drink in 7 seconds, and each cartridge can cool down 24 of your favorite beverages. It costs around $50, and will hopefully be available here soon.

http://inventorspot.com/articles/warm_beer_ice_cold_beer_seconds_ _8276

Technorati : CO2, cooler

Countless hockey players and ice skaters have probably dreamed of having heated blades to improve their speed and control while moving around the ice. Finally, a product is coming out that does exactly that. The heating element from this product could be useful in quite a few other applications as well.http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/02/therma-blade-heated-ice-skates -landing-soon/

A couple of decades ago, hypercolor shirts which changed color according to your body temperature were all the rage. That is, they were until people started getting brightly colored armpits and other embarrassing side effects. This wallpaper exploits the same theory to unveil a ‘hidden’ design as the heat is turned up. This technology has been in a bunch of different applications, but I think it still holds a lot of untapped potential in other settings (color changing frying pans, anyone?)

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/decorations/heat+sensitive-wallpape r-changes-patterns-when-you-crank-the-heat-307747.php