The Espresso: Edition 144

A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away. All the neighbors came by saying, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said, “We'll see.” 

A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses. The man and his son corraled all 21 horses. All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” The man just said, “We'll see.”

One of the wild horses kicked the man's only son, breaking both his legs. All the neighbors came by saying, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said, “We'll see.”

The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer's son was spared, since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted. All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” The man just said, “We'll see.”

We are all for innovation that makes the world a better place. Each year Stanford University hosts a competition for undergrads who attend a two month advanced computer program course at which they must compete to find the solution to a challenge.

This year's winner developed software that helps people who are visually impaired to type using a standard touch screen. Instead of a visually impaired person having to find the buttons on the screen, this technology builds buttons around the users own fingers. By touching the fingers to the screen, the keys orient themselves and the keyboard is built. To interact with the menu options you simply drag your finger across the screen and the computer talks to you, allowing you to know where you are, find the menu and when you have found what you want, you simply lift your finger off the screen and the menu is set.

This is a great example of the Spin Cycle where rather the finger having to find the keys, somebody asked, "What if the keys found the finger?".

Evoc is a small premium brand that produces outdoor equipment. They have manufactured a backpack which has been structured in such a way to help prevent spinal injury for those in the great outdoors. They have also come up with a very cool interactive concept which has made a lot of noise in social media.

The thing that the Espresso team love about this ad is that it combines all the modalities for learning i.e. visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. You hear it, you touch it, you see it, plus it has got a lot of people talking about it and with the way social media is these days, a good idea can spread quickly.

The concept was to build an interactive billboard that appeared at bus stops and when people waiting for the bus saw the billboard, they were invited to punch, kick or slam themselves into the backpack which formed part of the ad. The billboard then displayed how much force was placed into the backpack by the user before posting a photo and the results on their website. Naturally you could then post your result on Facebook and help spread the message. This idea has received enormous talk around the world and we think it's pretty cool. All the Espresso needs now is to get a hold of one.

You may read this and think it's a bit quirky but there's probably some interesting innovations in amongst it's quirkiness. Japanese manufacturer Sharp have invented a vacuum cleaner that not only cleans your carpets but also acts as a friend! Here's the concept.

The Cocorobo is a voice activated automatic household vacuum cleaner that also has emotions. Yes, you read it right! Sharp reckon the more you talk to it, the more it gets in a good mood. It has 36 different responses to your commands including "I understand" and so on. It's also equipped with a 1.3 megapixel motion camera and wireless internet connection so if you are out and about you can connect to the device through your smart phone to check that state of your home.

The Japanese do some weird stuff and you'd have to say it's innovative but we wonder where the technology for a vacuum cleaner will end up. However a word of warning, be nice to your Cocorobo or you may get home from shopping and find your dog is missing!