Home Archive by category "Possible inventions" (Page 74)

Category: Possible inventions

#1360: MindFull

There is a big problem with people overeating -often it seems because they aren’t paying attention to their meals.

Today’s invention is a pair of spectacles to be worn by people interested in eating more healthily.

These have wrap-around opaque ‘lenses’ which allow the wearer to look down on his or her plate but not elsewhere.

These look like conventional (cool) sunglasses and allow the diner to take part in conversation but also encourage them to concentrate on the taste and texture of the food (so that they will be much more aware of when they have had enough).

#1358: Hilliards

Just as golf isn’t a sport (in my opinion) neither is snooker.

Today’s invention is intended to inject games like pool, snooker and billiards with some extra interest -by providing the table with an element of variability which requires the players to detect this and play accordingly.

Each table would be equipped with a number of domed rods capable of being driven vertically upwards by no more than 1mm or so from beneath the baize. This height distribution would be determined at random before a game and controlled by an integrated computer.

Players would compete to play as normal a game as possible on this slightly undulating surface. Requiring a greater understanding of a more complicated, 3-D dynamics, this would lessen the tendency for one player to get on a roll and play uninterruptedly for very long periods.

#1356: QuailMail

Now that we have GPS and relatively cheap UAVs, today’s invention is to unite these technologies to provide peer-to-peer package post.

Fire up your personal UAV quadricopter, and supply it with your friend’s address. Attach a package and the UAV will travel straight to the target postcode using GPS (avoiding trees, buildings and paragliders).

On nearing the destination, it will detect the wifi generated by the recipient’s hub and travel along a line of increasing signal strength until it messages the receiver who will emerge to collect the package.

#1352: Newords

We can only pay attention to a limited range of events -our sensory systems screen out vast amounts of information from conscious experience all the time.

Some folk resort to recording their entire life using movie cameras etc, but frankly, life’s too long for that nonsense.

Today’s invention is therefore a way to keep up with the stuff which happens around you but of which you are unaware at the time.

It consists of a microphone which feeds a big capacity recorder -but between the two a rapid speech recognition algorithm runs. The trick is that only words and phrases which go unrecognised are recorded. In this way, anything unusual, novel, weirdly pronounced, inaudible or said in a foreign language/accent will end up as a significant, cumulative addition to your life record…and can be interrogated later to help you keep apace with developments in a fast moving environment.

Isn’t this how children work, after all, when they are soaking up everything that’s new and interesting -whilst ignoring the commonplace?

#1349: CaraPace

I always admire those people who manage to complete a marathon wearing a styrofoam rhino suit (or equivalent) for charity.

Today’s invention is inspired by this but with a practical edge. Training outside in winter is unpleasant for runners. Here therefore is a light, aerodynamic plastic shell designed to keep the weather off whilst still allowing free arm and leg movement (but without the drag forces associated with running movements).

It achieves this by being attached to the wearer via a cycle helmet (blue). The shell also contains several helium-filled mylar balloons (grey) to further lessen the weight.

There would also need to be vents to regulate internal temperature. The shell itself would be a good place to carry the emblem of your charity of choice of course.

#1348: PriceTag

Today’s invention is a way to make e-commerce more interesting.

Products on display on a website would be capable of repricing themselves in realtime.

Each product entry would monitor the prices of its competitors. If lots were being sold of A’s competitor B, then A’s price would automatically reduce itself.

If stocks of B were running low, then its unit price would rise. Put some B in your shopping basket and A’s price might drop a little to get you to change your mind. 3 A’s in your basket and you might see a price drop of A on the shelf to encourage you to buy another.

Within set limits, this would introduce some interesting price-based jostling and add interactivity to a rather jaded shopping experience.

#1344: Adtention

I was reading about this uninspired piece of robot research, when it occurred to me that there is an opportunity in the no-holds-barred business of advertising.

You have probably seen that old prank in which a person stares into the sky, at nothing, yet who then gathers a crowd staring in the same way. Well, today’s invention is based on a similar approach.

A webpage, or electronic billboard, has simulated pairs of eyes peppered around it between the content items. Advertisers can pay to have the pairs of eyes appear to move so as to look at their ad (drawing the attention of viewers).

Pay more and the eyes spend more time moving towards your advert.

(For a conventional hoarding, you might have robot mannikins in a nearby shop window shift their gaze towards them).

#1341: Collarelease

The advice when one’s dog is attacked by another dog is ‘simply’ to let it run away to safety.

This has a couple of associated difficulties.

First, if you let the lead go, the dog may well trip over it or get itself tangled as it scrambles away. Second, if you try to release the lead from the collar, you risk bending down and putting your face between two fighting dogs…usually considered a bad idea.

Today’s invention is therefore a lead which can be detached from a dog’s collar whilst the animal is straining to escape from its far end.

This would be achieved by running a Bowden-type cable from the lead handle/loop to the catch where collar meets lead. Press on a recessed button and the normal lead-collar catch is opened, freeing fido.

#1340: PileParting

A twin-blade razor extends the stubble hairs with the leading blade so that the trailing blade can cut it even shorter.

A similar approach is employed in today’s invention: a new carpet cleaning head for a vacuum cleaner.

The leading suction branch pulls the carpet fibres to one side, making it easier for the following branch to extract dirt particles from within the depth of the pile.

#1338: SinkSiren

It seems that most people’s imagined view of drowning is mistaken…victims don’t thrash and yell, they simply go motionless and sink.

Todays invention is a way for anyone getting into serious difficulties in the water to draw attention to that fact and thus summon help.

Swimmers could purchase a light, quoit-shaped ring, to be worn around the neck. This would include an elastic section to make it easy to put on, without being obstructive to swimming. It would also be brightly coloured and slightly buoyant in fresh, and therefore salt, -water.

When the wearer found themselves about to drown, their face would descend through the ring floating on the surface. Biting the ring anywhere would activate a bright flashing light within the ring and a loud squawking noise, audible even over the roar of breakers.