One of the cool new gadgets to hit the market is a touchscreen device that allows you to communicate with anything consuming energy in your home. Inventor Seth Frader-Thompsons new invention has been named one of the best new gadgets and breakthrough ideas of the year by Time Magazine. The EnergyHub Dashboard is a device that allows you to wirelessly communicate with all your appliances. The touch screen device receives wireless information from plug-ins in your electrical sockets and provides details of usage for every energy consuming product in the home - everything from your furnace and air conditioner to a specific light bulb, cell phone or alarm clock. It even tracks leak current (the power used by devices that are plugged-in but not being used). Although many of us are motivated to reduce our carbon footprint and power consumption by changing our lights or upgrading to Energy Star appliances, this doesnt tell us exactly whats happening with consumption. Our utility bills give us total power usage but nothing about what would happen if our thermostat was reduced by a few degrees or if a specific appliance was replaced, shut-off or used on a certain schedule. The EnergHub provides this type of information and allows you to control and schedule the energy usage of anything in the home. Source: energyhub.net Wireless Electricity RCA has developed a prototype of a cool new gadget capable of producing wireless electricity from radio frequencies in the air. According to a company spokesman at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the device recharged a Blackberry from a 30% battery charge to full charge within 90 minutes. The handheld wireless device (Airnergy) uses an antenna to absorb energy from frequencies and convert them into DC power inside its casing. The gadget is then connected via a USB port to charge your cell phone or mobile internet device. Airnergy charges itself 24/7. This product is expected to be available in a few years. Source: youtube/watch?v=IMMbihbeIls Related: Simple inventions that create electricity. Human Fly Creating cool new gadgets is nothing new for inventor Jem Stansfield. Wearing a contraption made from vacuum cleaners, wooden panels, hoses and latex rubber, he crawled 120 ft up the side of a building in London. During a science festival he used the same gear to climb a high school to the disbelief of onlookers who witnessed the feat. I couldnt believe that it actually worked and was shocked to see him ascending the wall, said festival organizer Richard Robinson. I came across the idea for the vacuum cleaners when I was doing a challenge to make superhuman powers out of junk, says Jem, an aeronautics scientist. Making strange inventions is not unusual for the 39 year-old. When companies need weird inventions, they turn to Jem to make them. He has created special effects for movies (Lost in Space and Van Helsing) and special exhibits for Science Museums. He is credited with inventing the first air-powered motorcycle and has won the New Scientist Award for inventing boots that walk on water. Jem is a co-host on BBCs popular science show Bang Goes The Theory, a television series that airs from a high-tech studio located in a disused supersonic wind tunnel. The British scientist creates his innovations to inspire science students to think outside the box. Jems ingenuity is mind-boggling says Liz Bonnin of Bang Goes the Theory. Whats next for Stansfield? He plans to drive a car powered by coffee beans. Sources: bbc.co.uk/bang;telegraph.co.uk Voice Stick Invented by Sungwoo Park, this cool new gadget is a portable scanning device that reads printed text and converts it into a voice. The Voice Stick can read any written document such newspapers, books and mail. It was the Gold Medal winner at the International Design Excellence Awards for new inventions. Source: International Design Excellence Awards Pickup Truck Accessory Rick Ayotte is a general contractor. He drives a pickup truck. And he had a problem he wanted to solve. For over 25 years, on most days, Rick would be carrying lumber or other materials that extend out the back of his truck. The law stipulates, that a red marker must be used on such loads to warn motorists traveling behind your vehicle. In fact, the laws concerning the marking of projected loads are very specific. But the markers commonly used are red plastic ribbons, cloths, cardboard, rags or whatever makeshift jerry-rigged solution one can improvise. Perhaps youve seen some of these improvised markers on the road or youve seen stuff sticking out the back of trucks with no markers at all. Id arrive at my destination and discover that the wind usually tore my marker apart or it fell off, explains Rick. As a contractor, Rick is accustomed to using specialized tools and wanted a specific tool for marking his loads. But there wasnt any. There is no tool or pickup truck accessory for this purpose. In fact, Rick discovered that what he was using as markers were illegal. Its a big risk to take, even more so if youre in an accident, he admits. So Rick decided to create a tool for this task. It had to be attachable to any load, convenient, easy to use, durable, reliable, and conform to all the legal requirements for markers. After years of designing and testing, Rick invented a marker tool that is fast becoming a popular pickup truck accessory. As most inventors can tell you, its not easy getting their inventions into large retail chains. But with no help, that is exactly what Rick has done. Dozens of retailers started selling his product as soon as it was available, and theyre reordering. I think if you carry loads, or have a pickup truck, you will like this tool, says Rick. Source: rickayotte Vibrations Relieve Pain An orthapeodic surgeon has invented a cool new gadget for relieving lateral epicondylitis - commonly known as tennis elbow. Vibration therapy has proven to be the most effective method for treating tennis elbow as supported by research published in medical literature. However, the treatment has required large and expensive equipment which is only available in hospitals. Dr. Vhadra has created a portable, strap-on device that can generate the same low frequency vibrations generated in much larger machines used for treating lateral epicondylitis. The device, known as Tenease, stimulates blood flow to an afflicted area, which stops pain and promotes healing. Tenease has been rigorously tested and awarded approval as a medical invention by the MHRA (Medicines and Healhcare Products Regulatory Authority), a government regulatory agency of the U.K. Department of Health. Source: /tenease Unclogging Drains Inventor Scott Turner had an idea on how to quickly and easily unclog a sink or bath drain. Most sinks or tubs become clogged or slow draining because of hair accumulated in the drain trap. Chemical cleaners, plungers, and compressed air devices are not very effective in removing hair. Scotts invention is the clever use of a hook and loop pad attached to a 26 inch long flexible cable. The pad has tiny barbs that instantly snags and pulls entangled hair out of a drain. It works. Its also inexpensive, eco-friendly, safe and reusable, which is why the Flexisnake has become such a popular tool in many households. Source: flexisnake - See more at: inventor-strategies/cool-new-gadgets.html#sthash.KfAyCibr.dpuf
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 12:18:13 +0000
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