Author: s.aoki

A new bike helmet won the James Dyson Award with its unique property. It is a foldable helmet made out of recyclable material. The idea is that the helmet will be storable in a vending machine, so riders don’t need to worry about carrying a bike helmet at all times.

The design of this helmet could be a starting point for other types of environmentally friendly, disposable products. The coating which is used in the helmet resists rain and moisture and is biodegradable. Therefore, it would also work on other appliances. I think this product contains a lot of innovative ideas and it costs less than $5.

There is an informative page about EcoHelmet on the James Dyson web page

There is an interesting art project on Kickstarter that merges a small Zen garden with a coffee table. The table is a soothing machine to watch, it draws circular patterns on sand, which is enclosed by a glass surface. The project has gained $1.9 million so far and had a lot of backers. I think this would be a great addition to a coffee shop. It could add a lot to the tranquil atmosphere and provide some entertainment for the customers as they are sipping their coffees. It could also attract customers out of interest into the shops. Of course, because it is magnetic, I am not sure if it would be wise to place a cell phone or wallet on this kind of table.

Recently on Youtube blog, there was an announcement about a virtual reality version of Youtube. The new application is available for Google’s headset, Daydream, and supports playing back virtual reality videos. Users say that the experience of watching a video this way is more immersive than watching it on a TV screen. Also, having no obstructions in the way makes the experience more engaging. The Daydream headset is a simple, and cheap virtual reality solution and currently only Google’s new phone Pixel supports it. With the help of Pixel’s motion sensors and fast graphics abilities, it should be possible to place the user in the middle of movies and other entertainment content such as concert videos and games. I think using phones for virtual reality video is a good idea, and combined with other technologies, could provide a new way for us to view images. Imagine using a drone while watching what it sees in VR, or being able to look around your house remotely with two cameras to check what your pets are doing. Google seems to have a good idea here.

IBM Watson for Genomics is a DNA analysis software running on the cloud. It can analyze genome data and estimate mechanisms behind tumors. Currently, researchers are training it to recognize how brain tumors, leukemia, and other cancer types work. IBM Watson is then going to help researchers by recognizing disease and genome information, going through the patient’s health record, comparing the case to literature, and finally, suggest the best treatment approaches. The article is here.
I think this is a significant step for cancer treatment. A typical doctor has very limited knowledge about maybe one type of cancer, even if he reads dozens of books and articles every day without sleeping. Compared to 50 million articles per second speed of Watson, this is next to nothing. Having Watson assist doctors by at least making a better assessment of the patient’s situation, while evaluating everything about a patient, would reduce wrong treatment and loss of life to a minimum. I hope eventually this is accessible to everyone and helps diagnose and cure other diseases without human error.

Tufts University researchers have developed a technique to use the stitches on a patient to monitor their health. The stitches used in the device are made from carbon nanotubes and contain a variety of chemicals. Each element lets the stitches detect a different property, such as temperature, strain on the tissue, or chemical balance. By combining a variety of these threads with a small circuit, doctors can monitor a patient’s status as long as the stitches stay in the operated area. This site contains more details on how the technology works.
I think this is an elegant technology. Once this technology is mature enough, a patient can be sent home after surgery. Her phone can then pick up vital signals from her body and send it to the hospital for monitoring. It also means no more expensive and bulky health monitor systems that have to stay with a patient for a long time, limiting the capacity of hospitals. It improves the quality of life and should hopefully make medical costs less over time, due to the simplicity of the technology.

A new startup company co-founded by former Google employees, named Osmo, is building an augmented reality game to educate kids on running a simple business. Pizza Co. is the name of their latest game, and the company has previously developed similar games to teach programming, drawing, and math before it. The company website is here

The game makes the kids build different types of pizza from cardboard cutout pieces and handle payment and change. The Osmo camera on the iPad on which the game runs then picks up the shapes and gives animated feedback to the kids, teaching them math and shape recognition skills.

I think this is a smart idea, to educate kids about money and transactions in early ages. If they learn the necessary skills early on, they might grow into more responsible adults and have the simple understanding of how money and transactions work in business. It is an essential skill later on in life, and making it into a game which uses physical objects is as close as it can get to the real learning experience at young ages.

Transmedics has developed a new way to transfer organs while they are active to patients for an implant. Currently, they can deliver a heart, liver or lungs in working condition. Organs in this state beat or breathe while being transported. It is possible thanks to a medical device the company has developed which keeps organs active instead of the frozen transport method. Blood from the donor is circulated through the organ by the instrument to hold it in the best condition possible. More information about the process is available on the company webpage, but please do not click the link if you are disturbed by sight of blood or medical images. The device is currently ‘investigational’ which means it is not entirely ready for health use yet, but the company is still working on it. I think this prevents loss of life due to failed transplants because the organ does not have to go through the freezing and thawing process which destroys tissues and reduces success rate. The devices ability to contain the organ disease free and in good condition helps with lower mortality rate. Maybe soon startup companies such as Organovo or Cyfuse Biomedical who aim to print 3D organs for implant can also test and deliver the organs in a safer way, reducing mortality rates.

Plant-based foods are becoming more popular and the plant based food industry is growing twice as fast as the rest of the food industry. This is mainly due to recent health, environmental or animal welfare concerns, which the public is made aware of thanks to vegan or animal rights movements. This change helps a company called Daiya Foods. They are a producer of non-dairy cheese substitutes. According to an interview at this article, they expect a 100 million USD revenue this year from non-dairy cheese products alone. The total revenue from non-dairy beverages alone this year was 4.1 billion USD. I think this is a good opportunity for startups in the food business, to get into the plant-based food industry. There is a high potential of growth and a big market available already, from which they can benefit. This also gives the consumer more choices, and increase the availability of non-diary products. If this type of product is available everywhere, from the smallest convenience store to the biggest supermarket, it will eventually help the environmental effects of dairy farming.

Hi, I found an interesting news.

There is a company in China called Ehang which is building self-flying drones. These drones can carry one person from one point to another. The passenger does not have to do anything except get in the vehicle, and select where to go. This machine works exactly like the smaller drones sold by many companies. It can lift straight up and land straight down, eliminating the need for a landing strip or airport. I think this is a lot easier way to commute compared to self-driving cars, which still have to sit in traffic and go around buildings. It seems reasonable to use the air for travel, because the technology is already available. Once this and other self-driving vehicles become the standard, I think the phobias related to flight or being in a car will be extinct. As human error decreases, the stress levels related to vehicles should go down considerably. In my opinion, this and similar technologies help human life on more levels than they realize.