Where
Things Work RightWhere
Things Work Right
** New ideas added 07/04/06 starting at number 290.
290. False Memories Inc. -
Help them remember you - tie the past to the present.
While we're waiting for a cure for Alzheimer's disease we may be able to
use the fact that people who have it
lose their most recent memories first and only gradually lose those further
and further back in time. That's why
old photos are give them a sense of comfort. The way we'd use this
fact is by giving them false memories of
those times back-in-the-day that included their more recent friends and
family in them. It might take a little
creativity to come up with a storyline that would make sense after an image
of these people had been photoshopped
into an old picture but it would be doable. In fact, part of the
business plan could include paying people to
come up with these stories.
291. Talking Dolls -
Teach them what you want them to say.
I was watching American Inventor the other night and one of the 'inventions'
was a multi-cultural doll that could
speak pre-recorded phrases in 3 languages. When I googled 'talking
dolls' I found out there are voice-recognition
ones out on the market now (they recognize their 'mommies' voice) and object
recognition ones. I didn't see any
that would let you record your own messages (in whatever language or dialect
you choose - think southern US
and the plural of y'all - alls y'all) so they could be made more specific
for your child.
Several options could be included. One would be a voice converter
that could change a father's voice into a girl's
voice so the dad could record messages for his daughter. Another
would be a remote that linked certain messages
with a number on the remote. For instance, pressing #1 would get the doll
to say 'Please put me away. If you don't
I'll run away.' Okay, that would be a little cruel, but you get the
point.
292. Waiter Call-Button -
Don't bug me until I call.
This might already be available somewhere but I couldn't find it.
The idea would be to add a call button to each
table just like they have on airplanes. When you wanted your waiter
you'd just press it. That would keep you
from getting interupted with questions about the service right in the middle
of a conversation and make the waiters
waste less time asking those questions.
293. Electronic Garbage Can -
For raccoon-infested areas.
We make remote controls for our garage doors and car doors so we should
be able to make one for garbage can
lids. If keeping track of the remote is a problem a simple coded
access panel on the lid that would lock and unlock
the lid should do. If any raccoon can figure out the key sequence to open
one of these lids then we'll know which
species is going to succeed us on this world.
294. Driving Through Storms -
Sonar vision.
Driving through a thunderstorm on an interstate the other day where visibility
was about 20 feet it occurred to me
that it would have been a lot safer if I had a little picture screen that
used a modified version of sonar to show where
my car was relative to the cars in front of me. Since some people
had chosen to slow down to 30 mph in the fast
lane I could have seen myself approaching them much too quickly and slowed
down accordingly. (I'm thinking of
something like a modified fish finder here.)
295. Slo-Mo Binoculars -
For bird watchers.
This would be a set of binoculars that worked kind of like a Tivo. In slow-motion
mode they would tape what
you're looking at and show it to you slowly. There would have to
be logic built into it the software that could
spot what was moving and discreetly show you which direction to move the
binoculars in so you'd capture the
image you wanted to see while watching the slowed down picture (maybe an
arrow in the upper left or righthand
corner of the picture would do the trick). This might also be useful
for watching boxing matches at the arena where
sometimes the fists fly so fast you don't get to see their effect as more
than a blur.
296. To Hear Your Messages -
In reverse order.
Where I live the same phone company that tells me I have to redial a number
because the part of the next-door
area code I'm calling requires it (instead of just saying hey, the call
will cost you an extra 25 cents, press 1 to put
it through) also offers another aggravating feature. When I want
to hear the most recent message I have to work
my way through all of the recent ones that have been saved by my wife and
kids for one reason or another. This
idea is really simple, just add a button I can press that will play the
messages in revese order, newest to oldest.
297. If I have to listen to that story one more time -
Something for couples.
This would be a small vibrating pad that could be triggered remotely by
someone within 20 feet or so. The target
market would be couples who had been together a long time and are tired
of hearing the same story or joke over
and over again when they visit friends. The receiver would be stuck
under a watch dial or some other form of
camoflage. The remote control would be similarly concealed.
It would have to be versatile enough to put in different
places so the listeners wouldn't know if it was being used.
298. Flash Mob of Helpers -
922, 933, 944, etc...
This idea would take advantage of the fact that any cellphone that's turned
on can be located within 50 feet using
current technology. It would work something like this.
Suppose your car breaks down and you've already called a road service company
that said they'd be there in the
typical hour or so. In the meantime another car pulls over and out
jumps one or more suspicious-looking characters.
You dial 922 which then sends a special ringtone to every active cellphone
within 100 yards or so. The pre-recorded
message it sent would say something like - 'Possible danger. Please notice
everything.'
Or suppose you're walking through a park and you come across a couple that's
having a loud argument which looks
like it might turn violent at any minute. You dial 933 which sends
a different ringtone to every cellphone in the area
with the message - 'Domestic quarrel. Please notice everything.'
Hopefully it would draw enough eyewitnesses to keep
the situation from turning violent.
After discussing this idea with a couple of other people we ended up with
a split decision over its usefulness. Some
said they'd never dial one of the numbers because it would be more likely
to draw negative people to the scene than it
would be to draw positive people. Others thought more positive people
would show up. Personally I fall into the latter
group, thinking it would act more like a mobile Neighborhood Watch Committee
than an all-call for nutcases.
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