Product Inspiration

For those of you who don’t already know, electric generators are basically motors which are run in reverse. When the shaft of the generator turns, permanent magnets pass near coils of wire, creating an electric charge.

This “new” generator uses a linear generator design to create power as you walk. The up and down motion of your gait makes a permanent magnet bounce up and down inside a cylinder, passing through rings of coiled wire and generating energy. We’ve seen this method in quite a few other recent products, such as the shake-to-charge flashlights, and the power generating backpack (more info here).

This particular development offers much higher efficiency than previous designs, and may bring this science to a point where its practical for the everyday gadgeteer. As these devices improve in power output and size, it may become a great way for consumers to beat that constantly-dead cell phone battery. For us developers, this is a great tool to keep in mind while working on self-powered mechanisms and systems as well.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19777/

Almost in time for the recent droughts that plagued the East coast, this system optimizes the watering of your lawn by using an integrated system of sprinklers and soil moisture sensors. As you can probably guess, the moisture sensors record how wet or dry the soil is, and the central controller uses this information to determine when and how much water to distribute to keep the grass green without wasting any water.

On one side, this seems a little trivial- many places have water in abundance, and most people aren’t lawn fanatics who care passionately about the health of their lawns. On the other side, global predictions for our planet show that fresh water will become an increasingly precious and scarce resource over the next few decades.

With this in mind, systems such as this one may become as widespread as catalytic converters on our cars, to the point that they could mandatory, and a lack of one produces the scorn of your neighbors and/or fines. On top of the regulatory issues, the increasing water prices will make these tools very cost effective in the long run, much like the smaller and more efficient hot water heaters that are going into so many new houses today.

http://www.gizmag.com/water-svaing-soil-moisture-monitoring/8459/

Technorati : smart home, sprinkler

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

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 new toothbrush design purportedly cleans your teeth better without toothpaste than the one you currently use (with toothpaste). It uses a titanium oxide embedded in the base of the bristled end of the brush to send out free electrons, which then react with the acid in your mouth, helping it break down the plaque. The electrons are activated when light shines on the titanium.

While silver nanoparticles seem to be taking over the world of antimicrobial plastics and fabrics, maybe this alternative way of killing bacteria by using electrons could give it some competition.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/11/solar-toothbrus.html

more information at: http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=754

Technorati : solar, toothbrush

In contrast to traditional neoprene, which uses oil as a base material, this new type of neoprene is made from crushed limestone. This alternative material has much better insulative properties, blocks 95% of water from passing through (as opposed to traditional neoprene’s 70%), and a lower coefficient of friction for easier swimming through the water.

While this will likely not blow the doors off of any one industry, it is a useful alternative material that could displace oil-based neoprene, especially in the coming years of higher oil prices.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/yamamoto_neopre.php

Technorati : neoprene

While small, wirelessly connected webcams are nothing new, this small camera is actually powered by the soul-crushing white light that comes from the long fluorescent lights which are standard in pretty much every business in the world. Actually, its not powered by the light itself, but rather the magnetic field that these bulbs emit.

Recently, a client of ours almost terminated a project because the cost of connecting the new device to an outlet (or running new electrical wiring) to the gadget’s location was too high. While we were able to solve the problem in a different way, this could have been a great alternative.

Seeing how these lights are so pervasive (and more importantly, identical) across the world, its rather safe to assume that any gadget which connects to them can be installed in basically any business or government. So then, this could be a great development platform for making new powered devices which can be connected to the ceiling. The identical nature of these bulbs could be a great way to get around having to supply different power adapters for each country. Even further, the concept of using some existing magnetic field to power new sensors and add-on electronics could be applied to a bunch of other applications as well.

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/12/03/symbiotic-camera-cad.html

Technorati : magnetic field, webcam, wireless

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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Flickr : bone conduction, snorkel
Buzznet : bone conduction, snorkel

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

GPS tracking is becoming more and more widespread each day. In the last 6 months or so, a plethora of consumer tracking gadgets have come out for people such as concerned parents to keep tabs on their children. This new upcoming gadget fits inside an envelope, and tracks the movement of the envelope through the postal system.

It will be very nice once the GPS tracking function shrinks in cost and size enough to be stuck into practically anything- think about how great it would be to find your lost keys, phone, or wallet by logging onto the internet and checking its location. Actually, applications are already out for GPS-equipped phones to do exactly this, but there are some serious drawbacks (drains your cell battery, and does not work much of the time).

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/21/gps-letter-logger-promises-to-keep- tabs-on-mail/

Technorati : gps tracking, mail