Design
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Background: Frequently, a person planning an event (e.g. a party) will have a hard time pinning down the guests as to whether or not they are definitely planning to arrive. This can be annoying for the host: it’s hard to plan an event without knowing how many people will show up! Additionally, most people have…
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Background: Many cities have restrictive zoning requirements that, perhaps justifiably, prevent certain types of construction (for example, building a pesticide manufacturing plant next to an elementary school). Some restrictions are a bit more arbitrary: many “homeowners associations” (HOAs) enforce extremely specific details about the exact shades of beige that a garage door can be painted,…
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The issue: The presence of windows in a house is a major factor in determining of whether a house is dark and cavern-like or bright and uplifting. Unfortunately, it is usually impractical or impossible to add windows to a home after its has been constructed. Additionally, windows generally have a negative effect on climate control:…
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The Issue: Sometimes, people go to new locations and feel a sense of unease (Figure 1), due to their lack of familiarity with the local surroundings. Proposal: Thankfully, the solution is easy! The tourist can simply tour while wearing a VR that has been calibrated to change the exotic foreign landscape into a familiar environment…
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Background: Every so often, a ridiculous story comes out about someone driving 400 miles to the wrong location because they went to the “right” address (“123 Snake Street”) in the wrong city. In the ancient “paper map” days, this type of mistake would be nearly impossible, but modern GPS systems make it possible for a…
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Background: A cat owner may install a “cat door”—a cat-sized flap—in a door in their house (Fig 1). This allows a cat to travel freely even when the human-sized door is closed. A cat door also removes the need for the cat to carry a set of keys. Proposal: But why should cats get all…
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The Issue: Frequently, people are reminded of tragic events in their past on the anniversary of that date, e.g. “August 1…. ahh, that was the day that my beloved dog was eaten by a crocodile… I’ll never forget the trauma of AUGUST FIRST.” Proposal: As world-renowned therapists and psychologists would presumably agree, the important thing…
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Background: Typing emoji (e.g. 😀😑😬😭😱) on a desktop computer’s physical keyboard is a surprisingly involved process. The Issue: On a phone, a user can invoke a special emoji keyboard. But on desktop computers, there are only two solutions: 1) selecting the emoji from a giant on-screen list or 2) hoping that the application you want…