Design
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Background: Back in the ancient days before iPhones, people would store files in a hierarchical fashion in “folders” or “directories” on their computers. The issue: Sometimes, despite relatively descriptive folder names, it is not clear what a folder / directory actually is. For example, on Mac OS X, a casual user may be flummoxed by…
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Background: If you stay in one apartment or house for a long time, you tend to accumulate a large number of superfluous possessions. But it’s hard to get an idea of exactly how much stuff you have. Proposal: Moving trucks should have a weight sensor on them to tell you how many pounds of stuff…
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Background: Many cities have serious shortages of buildable space in the most desirable areas—most land that is available for development has already been taken. Proposal: Allow building of a “second level” of city on the un-used space above the streets Fortunately, there actually is a large amount of unused space in each city (generally, approximately…
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Never be confused by a signaling bus again, assuming you frequently drive behind buses instead of taking public transit (you monster)
automotive, blinker, car, emergency blinkers, hazard lights, is amber even a color or what, is the light yellow or amber or orange or what, official color names are lacking, what are those emergency lights even called, what if the lights are like tangerine or something, who came up with that double triangle icon anyway
Background: Every vehicle has two turn signals on the back. These can indicate one of two things: 1) Car is turning left / right. 2) If both lights are blinking: “hazard / emergency / vehicle is stopped in roadway.” Fig 1: The emergency / hazard lights are usually activated by this button. The issue: Unfortunately,…
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Background: Housing is incredibly expensive in many major cities. Some people try to cope with high housing prices by living in their cars. However, it is generally illegal to sleep in a parked vehicle. Additionally, there are often restrictions on vehicle height for parked vehicles. Proposal: None of the caveats above apply to a moving…
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Background: Relatively few games have equipment choice as an element. For example, in tennis, there is no such thing as a “lob racquet” versus a “serving racquet.” Presumably this is because of the difficulty in quickly switching out equipment in a time-sensitive sports. But in a game like golf, where there is plenty of time…
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The issue: When driving long distances, maintaining situational awareness on a boring stretch of road can be difficult. Additionally, distractions such as in-car music may prevent natural audio cues (for example, the sound of nearby cars) from being noticed by the driver. Proposal for the “AudioNav” car navigation aid: By using an array of rangefinders…
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Background: Conference posters are frequently 4 by 6 feet, which means that in the best-case scenario, they will still be four feet long when rolled up. This is still quite cumbersome. Although relatively few individuals are plagued by the difficulty of handling rolled-up posters, their plight has not gone un-noticed. The state of the art:…
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Background: Art galleries are generally arranged by either genre (for example, “portraits” or “landscapes”) or a period in history (e.g. “Renaissance Italy, 1350–1500”). The issue: This traditional organizational scheme results in dozens of similar works in close proximity, which leads to the following problem: after a person has seen ten masterpiece portraits of Venetian nobles,…
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Background: Phone woes: when you use text or call someone, there’s no way to differentiate between the following scenarios: Low priority (not time-sensitive): “Let’s chat, if you have time.” Medium priority (time-sensitive): “I just showed up at the crowded convention center, but I can’t find you.” High priority (important and time-sensitive): “Your car is about to…
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