DJI Spark
Selfies are passé. It’s the time of the dronie now.
Imagine you are at a scenic spot, maybe the edge of a cliff or by a roaring river. Got to capture the moment, right? But you’re just not getting the perfect angle for a selfie. How nice it would be if that camera could detach from your phone and fly up to click an absolutely fantastic selfie! Well, DJI Spark does exactly that, except it’s called a dronie, because the camera is mounted on a mini drone that you can control with hand gestures.
Klove Knob
So, you’re enjoying this trip, are you? But wait. Did you remember to turn off the stove? Ah. That one thought can spoil your entire vacation. Worry not. Just fit a “smart knob” onto your regular stove knob and let it do the job of reminding you to turn the gas off! It’s called Klove Knob, and it does a lot more than that. It can guide you through recipes, keeping pace with your cooking, it can keep track of number and amount of ingredients used, and over time, can even learn your preference and habits. So if you are the kind of cook who gets distracted at the very moment the milk is about to boil over, this gadget is for you.
Atomizer
Do you know there’s a clever way of saving water by simply fitting an atomizer (sometimes called aerator) on your tap? The atomizer works like a sieve, splitting the flow of water into multiple streams so it comes out as tiny droplets. This introduces air into the water flow, because of which there is less space at the nozzle, so less water flows out. But the pressure is not reduced, so you can have a satisfying hand wash and save 80% of your water too! Some aerators even send the water out as foam or bubbles, and some let you adjust the rate of water flow between 2 to 10 litres per minute. And then there are aerators that turn the tap on or off simply with a touch of the finger. No need to touch the tap at all! Just a light touch on the aerator will do. So useful in public toilets! And at home too, if you need to stop the tap for a minute to rub those soapy hands together!
Petit Pli
If the aerator saves water, the Petit Pli, a revolutionary new type of clothing, saves you the bother of buying new clothes for children as they grow! Saves money for the user, as well as the manufacturing burden on the environment. The material can be expanded both vertically and horizontally, and the mechanism is very like a harmonium, except that the pleats are bidirectional. It is designed to fit a child from three months to three years. The creator says the design was inspired by Origami!
Anti-allergy patch
Another cool invention of 2017 also has to do with children, especially those children who have allergies and don’t like taking those terrible-tasting syrups. This is a patch that can be worn on the skin, that slowly releases the medication into the bloodstream, letting the child play with pets, or in the sand pit, with no fear of contracting allergies.
MULTI
Have you ever been in an elevator that goes not only up and down, but sideways as well? Not likely, as you probably haven’t been in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, have you? But you could still experience this with MULTI, a high-tech elevator system that uses magnetic levitation instead of old school pulleys. So you could pass others travelling within the same shaft in the opposite direction, and as the inventor says, it would not only change the way people travel, but also the way buildings are constructed!