Albeit some inventions are commonplace and we consider them an integral, given part of our lives they weren’t always that way. The Patent and Trademark Office of the United States holds hundreds of thousands of patent applications, though many of them never make it and even less than those succeed in becoming a commercial hit. Unlike the ballpoint pen, microwave oven, adhesive strips and more some technologies are simply plagued by flaws that make them impossible to implement in their current stage. This is a list of a Top 5 Inspired Technologies which are inspired, yet not yet completely possible:
The Mercedes-Benz BIOME Concept Car
Although we all know Mercedes-Benz as a source of luxury vehicles and innovation for decades now, they have really taken a bold step forward with this idea. The concept was revealed back in 2010 and it is in essence an organic vehicle being grown from seed pots. Although this seems like something out of a children’s book or a fairy tale in reality it is a plausible concept. As our understanding of bioengineering and genetics grows we will theoretically be able to create a biodegradable vehicle that runs on organic fuels while expelling oxygen. When the vehicle has lived out its life it can be composted and completely reintegrated into the environment. The sad part is this is merely a concept for a vehicle by Mercedes-Benz, however it is something plausible in the future if scientific progress allows it.
Paperless Printing by Sanwa Newtec
It has been a long time since printing has been invented and a shorter time since the emergence of the common, household desktop computer. There were many variations of printers as the years rolled by: the daisy-wheel, dot-matrix, inkjet and then laser printers were all implemented as a way of printing out relevant data. The main problem with all of those however was the fact they all needed paper to operate. The sheer quantities of paper used in the business world of today have an adverse effect on the environment and trees in general. Although the idea of electronic paper is hardly a new one with Xerox working on it since the 1970s, Sanwa Newtec has created their version of it a little bit differently. Using special leuco dyes that change color with temperature variations during the printing process, they allow the reusing of each sheet of up to a thousand times before it becomes useless. The problem for this technology’s implementation at this moment is its considerable price compared to the traditional printing-methods.
[ad name=”bnr-middle-post”]The Armstar Bodyguard 9XI-HD01
What looks like a piece of futuristic body armor is actually an invention patented by an inventor from California back in 2007. It allows one to store their smartphone within an armored gauntlet. But that is not the only thing the Bodyguard does. It is flexible, armored with hard plastic, cotton, Nomex and Kevlar, a rechargeable lithium battery with an electroshock device built into the surface of gauntlet. If anyone is grappling that arm all the wearer has to do is pull a pin to shock the assailant into submission. It also has a built-in LED flashlight and an HD camera that allows one to transmit photos as well as a charging slot for an iPhone or a similar device. It may one day be seen as a tool for security officers or police, though its price will be a deterrent for the casual user.
The Wingsuit
What is essentially a “batsuit” that reminds us of the way DC Comics’ character Batman soars has been patented in 2012. It was inspired by the way bats fly and while we won’t truly become airborne after wearing one of those they can greatly boost our free fall control as we leap off a plane wearing a parachute. Alternately you can be towed by a vehicle on rollerblades or water ski to achieve flight velocity, though that seems like a dangerous gambit. We hope the design will see some improvement in the future.
P&P Office Waste Paper Processor
As we mentioned earlier in this article there are many companies out there who use truly staggering quantities of paper each year. There are recycling programs in place so this can be reduced, however they are hardly as efficient as they can be. The Paper Processor is a very interesting invention, the work of three bright Chinese inventors. It essentially turns paper meant for recycling into pencils. It has a feed slot where the paper is being placed. The machine then rolls and compresses the paper as it inserts a rod of lead from its storage chamber combined with some glue. The end result is a brand new pencil. Although the idea is great, in reality many people simply don’t use pencils in an era of growing digitization, so that seems to be its only drawback
