Category: Possible inventions

Many shapes can be represented using a surprisingly small number of binary pixels. For n pixels, there are of course 2^n different patterns (although a huge proportion of these are not perceived as shapes).

Using an array of only a few hundred pixels allows eg the face of someone famous to be recognised.

It should be possible to adapt existing projected keyboard technology to allow projection of an array of several hundred ‘pixels’ and thus form a general purpose touch screen capable of displaying a huge number of ‘clickable’ shapes.

An image displayed by this system could sense which ‘key’ was being pressed and substitute a zoomed image of the local region in question. In this way, all public touch screens, for accessing services or navigating plans or maps, could be replaced with projectors generating interactive, vandalproof content at minimal cost.

Today’s invention is really just a simple extension of the idea of personal feedback on eBay.

Anyone who wanted to be involved, could equip themselves with a wifi device: effectively a badge working in peer-to-peer mode with a deliberately restricted range. When two people meet, or have any kind of interaction, either can choose to rate the various aspects of that exchange (there would be no way to block someone’s attempt to leave you feedback -once you decide to wear the badge, you would be committed to being judged by your peers). The rating would be multidimensional in order to allow people a chance to describe your behaviour, character, temperament and attitude.

The interface design would be crucial -probably consisting of twenty or so ‘sliders’ one for each dimension of the interactions. Feedback would have to be given when within the restricted wifi range, so I’d imagine that leaving a rating would have to be via some subtle tactile device hidden in a pocket or up a sleeve.

Updates to someone’s badge would would be visible to them only after the interaction, in order to minimise any conflicts but the source of the new rating would be indicated: anonymous peer review is evil.

If one person is constanty saying how nice a meeting with you was, then you might choose either to downgrade the score you give her for honesty or call her up for a date. Similarly, if lots of people seem to have the wrong idea about you, then this gives you a chance to think about the messages you are giving out and possibly modify your behaviour. Either way, maybe it offers an opportunity for decent folk to be both judged by their actions and easily identifiable.

People could thus gain a greater insight into others, if they were prepared to put their own true colours on show.

I’d like to suggest a proofreader’s program, which would display text in random ways -thus forcing the reader to check the detail whilst ignoring the meaning – which is always a distraction (eg upside down, one letter at a time, using different colours for each element etc).

This technique could be applied at different scales ie letter, word, sentence in order to screen out errors which are really only perceived on one scale.

Today’s invention is an attempt to help those of us who are sometimes unaware of the subtle emotional signals sent by our loved ones.

Basically, I’m trying to think of ways in which we autistic-spectrum males can be alerted to what our XX counterparts might mean, rather than perform the usual textual analysis of the words they are using. (I fancied titling this post Textual Intercourse but chickened out).

Inevitably it’s a cellphone-based approach. Each time you get a call from any number, the phone temporarily records sections of the incoming voice and calculates eg the overall average frequency. When next you are called from that number, the average frequency is compared with its historical average value. If there is a significant discrepancy, you are at least alerted to the fact that the emotional tenor has shifted (maybe while you were in the garage, all last weekend?).

You may not be able to avert an emotional crisis but at least you won’t be so surprised when you find your belongings in the street.

I’m very interested in hypnosis and I’ve been experimenting with visualisation to help me achieve objectives and think more creatively. One technique I use is to spend about five minutes in the middle of the day just relaxing and entering a light, self-hypnotic trance -thinking about how to get things done whilst still enjoying myself.

So today’s invention is simply to record my daily relaxation script (which I update occasionally as I think of new suggestions) using the PrettyMay voice recording plug-in for Skype. This allows me to call myself and deliver the message each day at a time of my choosing. It would be even more effective as a tool if calls were delivered via a Bluetooth headset.

This approach doesn’t necessarily have to have a hypnotic emphasis, and might just as well be a simple verbal message of encouragement from your mother or a reminder from your spouse to keep things in perspective at work.

On the subject of cerebellar, ‘motor memories’, today’s invention is intended to help dyslexics with letter formation (and perhaps subsequent differentiation).

I propose a device by which a pencil is constrained to move in a certain sequence within a mechanical template or ‘gate’ so that it can only make eg the letter p repeatedly -rather than q, with which it may be confused. (I still have difficulties with (d, b, 6), (g, p, q), (9, e) etc. It took me about three minutes to type this last sentence…but then I’m also synaesthetic, and seeing letters with ‘attached’ colours adds to the difficulty).

This would probably require that each letter be constructed in the form of a single slot, with the pencil in continuous contact with the paper, rather than as a sequence of lines with gaps.

The allowed letter in question could be changed after several thousand repetitions, by substituting in a different gate. This is a little like the conductive education which the Peto Institute began, I suppose.

A version of this used to be available via draconian teachers who would modify anything other than perfect copperplate by use of a ruler. Nowadays they’ll settle for minimising the number of classroom fires per lesson.

I’m taking a fair number of photographs these days whilst in ‘macro’ mode. One problem I’ve found is that when concentrating on composing the image I’m always in danger of allowing the servoing lens system to collide with whatever I’m photographing. That’s not a problem if it’s a flower but it’s very bad news indeed if the lens makes even kissing contact with some more rigid surface.

So, I propose that the existing autofocus mechanism in digital cameras be enhanced to help avoid ‘parking collisions’ of this type. Basically it requires an af sensor on the tip of the lens and a fast feedback control loop, when in macro mode, that advances the lens by an amount which is always less than the distance from the object (plus some margin for error, based on other significant factors eg my camera shake).

I’m bored by loading and unloading the dishwasher -almost as bored as I would be by handwashing the damn dishes.

Here, therefore, is my proposed solution. Manufacturers please note. Let’s have new machines divided into 2 separate compartments. At any time, one would be involved in washing and one containing dishes waiting to be washed (ie being filled intermittently by people deciding to have some emergency pain-au-chocolat or Shreddies in the brief gaps between main-er meals.

One beauty of the system is that, although it would be running for a high percentage of the time, my kitchen wouldn’t disappear under a mountain of festering, dirty dishes.The system would have a third tray, full of clean stuff, which would fit within a big cupboard or compartment. When the wash is done, whatever small amount of clean stuff is left in the tray in the cupboard gets entered into the machine, to be filled gradually, and the cleaned trayful is placed en masse into the cupboard. The tray which has been waiting can then start being washed.

This eliminates the tiresome step of having to extract randomly-placed stuff from the machine and locate individual items in their designated spaces (our knives, forks and spoons merrily exchange partners in the cutlery drawer about twice a week, when all elements of any two of the three sets are being washed).

This requires three complete sets of cutlery+crockery. The main difficulty with that, aside from cost, is that unless I want to spend a lot of time neatly packing each tray (and I really don’t) the machine itself may have to be bigger than normal (ie wider). I figure that’s a small price to pay for minimising the downsides of all this endless shovelling and display of filthy kitchen things. There would obviously no requirement to store dishes in cupboards any more, since they would all be involved in the eternal waiting, washing, feeding cycle.

Ideally, I’d like to get such a system built into our dining table, so that, at the press of a button, the three trays circulate -the dirty stuff disappears and the clean stuff emerges.