Technology
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Teachers: help your shy and introverted students engage in discussion with the HELM OF UNRELENTING GAZE, the newest and most valuable teaching fad.
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Background: One problem that educators face is that, with so many students in a lecture hall / classroom, it can be difficult to easily interact with these students on a one-on-one basis. Specifically: Students are far away. Quieter students are difficult to hear. It’s hard to single out a specific student to talk to. Less…
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The issue: It’s quite slow and annoying to unlock a regular rotational combination lock. Also, it’s easy to overshoot your target number and have to enter the combination all over again. There are alternative types of locks, but few of them have the same form factor as the ubiquitous rotating-dial combination lock. Fig. 1: This…
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You won’t believe how I never fell into a bottomless pit again, thanks to this one weird trick. Podiatrists hate it! Probably.
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Background: One of the leading causes of sidewalk-based injury is tripping on uneven pavement and/or falling into a manhole. Figure 1 illustrates one of the dangers inherent in modern sidewalks. This danger has become even more pronounced now that people are more likely to be looking at their cell phones as they walk. Fig. 1:…
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The issue: Cell phones occasionally fall out of a person’s pockets and get forgotten. This is especially easy to do when sitting on a sofa or in a movie theater seat. If the phone could detect that it had been dropped into sofa cushions, it could notify you before it was too late to find…
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Background: It can be hard to motivate yourself to exercise—especially since you know you can always put it off until later. Proposal: But what if we could set up a situation where you would have to exercise? Specifically: You purchase (1) a stationary bicycle and (2) a special type of heavy-duty safe (Figure 1). You…
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Background: Millions of laptops are destroyed every year by spilled drinks (Figure 1). Unfortunately, this is a difficult problem to address, because laptops and beverages are frequently in close proximity. Fig. 1a (top) and 1b (bottom): You have probably either experienced this situation first-hand or observed it happen to someone else. If only there had…
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Background: The optimal tradeoff between privacy and security is a topic that is endlessly debated. In the past, omnipresent surveillance was not feasible—but technology is now at the point where implementation of a 1984-esque surveillance state is actually possible. On the one hand, it would be theoretically convenient to have immediate response to crimes and/or…
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The issue: Travel to exotic locales can be expensive, inconvenient, and perhaps even dangerous or impossible. Proposal: Using the same technology that companies like Google use to get street view images (now available in 40-lb backpack format as well: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&sa=1&q=google+street+view+camera ), we can set up a scenario where you can conduct tourism by proxy using…
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The issue: Sometimes, it’s hard to keep in touch with your friends and family, especially if you live in different cities and time zones. Proposal: The solution is quite simple—an app that keeps track of when you last met up with, texted, called, or otherwise contacted your friends and family. In fact, it could even…
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The issue: Sometimes, when you’re eating an ice cream out of a cone, you will suffer the indignity of having the ice cream drip onto yourself and/or the ground (see Fig. 1). This is especially likely to occur if you are less than five years old. This can be avoided by diligently rotating the cone…
WorstPlans: updated every Monday since July 2014! 
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