Every year, TIME selects the best inventions that are making the world better, smarter and—in some cases—a little more fun. Here's which ones made this year's unranked list.
The Levitating Lightbulb Flyte is a lightbulb that relies on electromagnetism to levitate and spin, and on resonant inductive coupling—a technical term for wireless power transmission—to shine. Flyte has sold so well since its official January launch that the company is planning to introduce a whole ecosystem of floating products, including a planter, Lyfe, which debuted in June.
The Folding Bike Helmet People refuse to wear a helmet because they’re thick and bulky. Morpher, a bike helmet made from interweaved plastics that is just as strong as its traditional counterparts (it meets general safety requirements in both the US and Europe), but flexible enough to fold almost totally flat, making it easier to transport. Morpher has raised almost $300,000 on Indiegogo and may be available for sale in stores in future.
Shoes That Tie Themselves Almost everyone who sees Back to the Future want a pair of self-lacing shoes. Now, thanks to Nike, the shoe dream is a reality. When wearers press a button near the tongue, the HyperAdapt 1.0s automatically tighten and loosen around their foot. Simplified shoe fastening could give athletes an edge during competition, and it’s especially useful for people with impaired motor function.
Soccer Fields That Fit Anywhere The Khlong Toei district in the heart of Bangkok is packed tight with buildings and people—which doesn’t leave much room to build new parks, let alone giant rectangular fields on which kids can play soccer. So real estate firm AP Thailand used aerial photography to find what developer Pattaraphurit Rungjaturapat calls “untended areas,” or unusually shaped patches of land that weren’t being used. Then it covered them with concrete, paint and anti-slip materials—all the trimmings of a proper sports venue, without the typical boundaries. The first two fields, which opened earlier this year, are packed with kids as soon as school lets out. This December, AP Thailand plans to open a third.
The Ultimate Alarm Clock It's hard to believe that an alarm clock could not only be beautiful but also improve your sleep. That it could gauge the temperature, humidity, light and even air quality in your bedroom to help you engineer a perfect sleep environment. That it could monitor your sleep cycles and wake you when you’re least likely to feel groggy—all thanks to simple voice commands.
Dishes That Work Around Cognitive Decline It is hard for Alzheimer’s patients to use silverware without spilling. Eatwell Assistive Tableware is a dining set designed to make mealtime easier for people with Alzheimer’s and other diseases that affect brain and body function. The tableware uses bright colors to help people distinguish their plates from their food and putting wide rubber bases on the cups to prevent spills.
The All-Purpose Shelter Last year, Ikea helped launch Better Shelter, a line of temporary houses—equipped with features like door locks and solar-panels—that could be shipped flat and assembled in under four hours. But now that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has helped send more than 16,000 of these units all over the world, they’ve taken on a life of their own. Refugees and aid agencies are turning Better Shelter structures into hospitals, reception areas and more. In Greece and on its border with Macedonia, the shelters are being linked together and used as early-childhood-development centers. Now designers are trying to revamp the Better Shelters to allow for even more flexibility.
Sweet Potatoes That Could Save Lives In sub-Saharan Africa, vitamin A deficiency afflicts more than 43 million children under age 6, leaving them vulnerable to blindness, malaria and more. Plant scientists from HarvestPlus and the CIP are helping countries grow their own solutions—in the form of sweet potatoes. The key is biofortification, or cross-breeding locally grown sweet potatoes with versions rich in vitamin A, so that over time the crops naturally get better at addressing the deficiency. Plant scientists have also bred them to be more resistant to droughts and viruses. This year, the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes won the World Food Prize and have been seen as “a healthy crop for all.”
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