Invention Of The Day – Page 200 – Just another break-step productions sites site

#891: Trolleye

Supermarkets try all sorts of stuff to maximise their profit. One approach is to put the goods with the strongest brands in the most prominent positions (a privilege for which they charge, of course).

Today’s invention offers a way to help level the playing field for shoppers. It consists of a user-owned periscope which is clamped to one’s trolley. This allows goods which are dumped on the lowest supermarket shelves to be inspected as easily as the highly priced items lodged at eye level.

Frugal shoppers might even choose to buy only from these lower levels. A long handled litter picker would then enable placement of any purchasable items into one’s trolley without repeatedly bending down.

#890: Rollcontrol

Everybody must have had the unfortunate experience of having used the lavatory and reached for the toilet roll, only to find it one sheet away from finished (when you need >>1).

Today’s invention helps to avoid the nightmare of yelling to friends or family for help.

A toilet roll holder contains a small electronic weight scale (this might require the roll to be located on a central, vertical rod in the middle of the scales platform).

When you sit on the toilet seat, this makes a switch and the scales check the weight of the current roll. If it is sufficiently close to the end of its life, a small alarm sounds, warning the user to locate some new roll fast, in advance of using the toilet.

#889: Bellowsbelow

When you drop your laptop on the floor, there is now some chance that it may sense the acceleration and switch off its hard disk before heads and platters weld themselves together forever.

What about the cumulative effects of less extreme impacts, though? I’m aware that I pick up my smallish laptop very frequently and set it down on a desk whilst it’s still running. Each time, even when exercising some care and despite the rubber feet it is fitted with, there is a significant bump…this has to be shortening the life of a pretty fragile instrument.

Today’s invention is a thin, plastic envelope which can be attached to the base of one’s laptop. Each of these is made in the shape of a simple, 1-pleat bellows whose default state is with one edge lightly sprung open to the extent of say 0.5 mm. Each laptop would have two such envelopes fitted each with an open edge aligned with one side of the machine.

When setting the machine down on a hard surface, the first edge to make contact would be naturally cushioned by the envelope material, acting as a pad on that side. Letting the other laptop edge go would result in the envelope on that side being compressed so that the evacuating air provides effective viscous damping during descent -and avoids the uncontrolled second clunk that normally happens.

#888: SlowaHead

Today’s invention is based on a compelling visual illusion known as ‘Mirage‘ which consists of a couple of parabolic reflectors face to face, the upper one of which has a hole in it.

I imagine this being adapted as an extra road safety measure for those people who have to work in open manholes, protected from passing traffic only by a few flimsy poles and signs.

The workers would stand on a portable, shallow paraboloid reflector and temporarily fit another to the underside lip of the manhole. This would give the illusion that their hard hats were actually moving about above the road surface and cause drivers to give them a much wider berth.

This might be supplemented by a conical insert fitted in the manhole from above and which would be bonded to a cowcatcher device which would deflect any vehicles about to drive over the hole. This would be made in a transparent plastic (to enable the illusion to be seen). Any impacts on the sides of the catcher would transmit the load to the cylindrical rear face of the manhole ironwork.

#887: Appalette

The way food looks affects very much how it tastes. In the world of apples, individuals seem to have a strong preference for certain colours and textures.

Today’s invention is a domestic spray paint booth for repainting apples of one colour in a different shade/pattern. If you don’t fancy those Golden Delicious in their uniform yellow skins, drop one in the spray unit and it will emerge a moment later automatically coated in reddish blotches more redolent of a Braeburn.

The sprays (based on digestible food colourings) could of course be adapted to contain extra flavours (to encourage children) or take the form of trademarks for use in corporate events. With any luck, this might also stop apples having those annoying little sticky labels attached.

#886: Stareware

Now that in-transit working is the norm and even sensitive documents need to be read or drafted when sitting beside strangers, the issue of confidentiality is taking on new importance. Today’s invention attempts to address the issue of such shoulder surfing, for low-level industrial espionage, using (apparent) screen reflectivity as a tool.

I sometimes find myself staring at the reflection of someone’s face in the window of a train, in a way that I wouldn’t ever stare directly at someone’s face. When they happen to look at my reflection, I tend to avert my eyes almost automatically.

Now imagine a laptop screen, made of low reflectivity material. Overlaid on the material you are working on, at either side of the screen, are two images of your face (one as seen by the passenger on your right and one as seen by the one on your left). Note that we work on screen with emotionally-neutral reflections present all the time and manage to ignore these pretty successfully.

When a neighbour begins reading material on your screen, they will suddenly become aware of your apparent reflection looking at them fixedly (perhaps with a frown).

Instead of using static images, the deterrent effect could be maximised by using a movie…in which you have recorded both occasional blinking and teeth baring. If you found yourself sitting next to someone particularly attractive, you could quickly load the movie of you smiling (to the correct side) and giving an occasional wink.

#885: Gummedgun

People have, in general, limited self control and, when given access to powerful firearms in highly stressed situations, all sorts of mayhem therefore ensues.

Today’s invention offers a way to limit the damage done by people pulling triggers.

A fraction of all bullets sold in popular calibres would be secretly substituted with a new design (perhaps by members of yet another covert government agency).

The substitutes would be externally identical to their deadly siblings but inside they would contain a very small amount of gunpowder and a separate chamber filled with cyanoacrylate glue and sand.

Pulling the trigger on one of these rounds would result in no bullet discharge but instead a small rupture of the casing would occur -propelling the adhesive and sand particles into the mechanism of the gun. This would render it effectively irreparable and cause people to lose faith in all such weapons.

#884: Redcoats

It seems that people are very good at visually keeping track of a group of objects -if they are of the same colour. So members of a rugby team can gain an instant sense of whether they have an ‘extra man’ locally on the pitch…just enough to stretch a defence thin enough to get past.

This may have had some interesting effects, too, when each army fought in its own, uniform colour. You could see if you were faced by more people than were in your platoon and decide to retreat, thus avoiding unnecessary defeat. Now everyone’s military are clad in a common camouflage, so that being able to track one’s comrades, or opponents, is outweighed by keeping everyone hidden from the enemy.

Today’s invention is a drone aircraft carrying nontoxic paint which it sprays on anything which is deemed suspicious in a given area. It thus avoids accusations of harming noncombatants, whilst highlighting people (and weapons) in a longlasting, dayglo shade. Spraying soldiers in a shocking pink might provide an additional benefit via its demoralisation effect on the notoriously fashion-sensitive military.

#883: Crashcrates

I came across a story recently about a light aircraft that crash landed, fairly successfully, because it happened to come down on a field of mobile toilet cubicles.

Similarly, stuntmen use nested cardboard boxes to absorb the energy when they fall onto them from a great height in the course of filming.

Today’s invention is a way to make crash landings safer for airliners. The area between runways is usually at least as big as the tarmac itself. This could be equipped with a large number of deformable boxes buried just under the sward.

In the event of an undercarriage or engine failure, a pilot could be directed to belly flop on an expanse of these containers -which would need to have its perimeter delineated by remotely-controlled flares (it might even be worth filling the boxes with water, loaded with fire retardent).

The boxes would be reasonably cheap to make, fill and deploy -whilst still maintaining a low profile.

#882: Plantbots

Gardens are generally so static, don’t you think?

Today’s invention is a solar-powered robotic cart, big enough to transport a small plantpot about on narrow profile wheels. This is directed by an on board light meter which tends to move the cart away from low light levels.

This allows a small army of plants to migrate slowly about a garden (even across the lawn) following the movement of the sun and avoiding shadows.