Product Inspiration

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

One of the best parts of cooking a cake for any child is the chance to eat the remaining mix from the bowl and beater. For better or worse, this new design takes much of that joy away by scraping much more of the cake or cookie mix from the sides of the bowl, making for more cookies (and less “wasted” dough).

While this is a rather novel innovation, perhaps there’s some other areas where such a side-scraping (or generally, refined mixing element) design could improve functionality. Areas such as masonry, fuel management, and paint mixing. What other ways can you think of to apply this design to other industries?

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/12/sideswipe-self.html

Another feature straight out of science fiction and Hollywood, Kraft is working on ‘programmable food’ that will allow you to customize the flavor of a meal or drink using nanoparticles and a custom-tuned microwave. The process revolves around nano-capsules which contain the flavor and color of the desired drink. To release the contents of these capsules, a special microwave will send energy into the beverage, rupturing the capsules according to a preset frequency.

While this is a very cool concept, I cannot see this being very popular in the near future. New Coke taught us that despite how similar a new product may be, without an identical flavor and look, no one will want to drink it. Lets hope that Kraft pulls it off and actually makes some decent tasting stuff out of this new tech- personally, all I can imagine is a cup of sprite-tasting water that does little more than frustrate my taste buds.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/futureoffood/story/0,,19712 66,00.html#article_continue via medgadget

Controlling a computer with your brain has been the stuff of science fiction for years. It has also been achieved with some limited success in laboratories around the world. Neurosky is one of the first companies who seem to have made a functional and useful product using a brain interface. You wear their headband around your head, and are able to control video games by your thoughts alone.

While the technology has a long way to go before we can throw away our keyboard and mouse, its nice to see that someone’s gotten this technology far enough to sell an actual product based on it.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/hands-on-or-bra.html

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 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

Here’s yet another example of bone conduction for new transmitting sound in new ways. Conducting sound through solids (or liquids, for that matter) is especially useful when you are either in the water, or around lots of large solid objects. Things like the water in the pool and the walls around you can become speakers with the right piezo elements vibrating them as if they were a huge speaker.

We are seeing the first steps in this direction nowadays through bone conduction technology, which uses a physical speaker that vibrates the bones in your body, sending crystal clear sound to your inner ear, bypassing any noise around you like loud restaurants or running machinery.

This particular product incorporates that technology into a snorkel, letting swimmers hear and communicate much more effectively http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/water/snorkel-transmitterreceiver-for-train ing-squads-of-navy-seals-or-water-polo-teams-324997.php

Technorati : bone conduction, snorkel
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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

A new coating on computer monitors may prevent the smudges and marks that you make whenever you touch the screen. The new technology is based on the same principle as the non-stick frying pan coatings, and would make removing such smudges and stains very easy.

While this will be very useful on TVs and monitors, it could be just as useful on other shiny electronics, such as stereo receivers and speakers, and even further, perhaps the automotive industry could make a car that would seem cleaner using this same technology. Keep an eye on this stuff- it may be the teflon of the next decade.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/korean-firm-claims-smudgefree-co mputer-screen/2007/11/16/1194766928773.html

Technorati : computer monitor, display, self-cleaning
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Although lots of wearable displays have been coming out lately, most make you look somewhere between clueless and insane. Finally, we’re starting to see some (that are past the concept stage) which are both a wearable display and are somewhat discrete. This particular model is for athletes, and displays the heartbeat and a stopwatch in the corner of the glasses. Hopefully more heads up displays will move towards less obtrusiveness while still being useful.

http://technology.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12807&feedId=tech_r ss20