A spin-off company from Tel Aviv University, Unispectral Technologies, promises to unveil their prototype ‘Tricorder’ this month. They claim to have developed very powerful optical lens and image processing software that can transform a smartphone into a hyperspectral sensor. The system works by vastly improving the resolution, not only to give better images but also allowing the camera to break down the chemical composition of objects – from a distance! As well as the head

Over the years I’ve met many inventors who have proudly shown me their safety inventions and then uttered the dread words: “All we have to do is get the law changed!” It is the earnest belief of such inventors that their invention is so important that it must become compulsory for all others to use it. I’m not suggesting for one moment that there is also the scent of commercial advantage in the air – heaven forfend – but legislation, as a route to market, is a long and exce

If you, like me, are fascinated by the stories of inventors and their wonderful inventions then you're in for a treat on BBC2 (and BBC iPlayer) at present. 'How We Got to Now' is airing on BBC2, Saturday evenings, 7.35pm. Conceived and presented by innovation expert and best-selling author, Steven Johnson, this series of six programmes explores and explains how inventions have shaped and changed our world - sometimes in the most unexpected of ways. Johnson is an amiable and

My hat’s off to the European Patent Office for managing to do ‘cool’! Who would have thought that a fusty old Patent Office had it in them? - "Where do we stand today when "change is the new status quo”? One of today's most appreciated and Emmy-nominated futurists, Jason Silva, shares his view on innovation and change" says the EPO blurb about this film. This piece particularly resonated with me as twenty years ago I wrote my first editorial for Inventor’s World Magazine. I

“One of the reasons that the QEPrize was founded was to make clear the contribution of engineering to everybody’s lives… He[Dr Robert Langer], as an engineer, developed an engineering solution to a medical problem.” So says Professor Brian Cox who was one of the judges for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Chemical Engineer, Dr Robert Langer, of MIT, USA, has changed the lives of millions by inventing methods of drug delivery on a molecular scale. His pioneering wo

It’s not often that I can recommend an initiative from Nesta – the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. I was one of the first trustees of Nesta and it breaks my heart to see how far away from its original aims and objectives it has moved, but that’s another story. In this case, the newly announced Inclusive Technology Prize can’t be sniffed at. Inventing for the disabled poses many challenges. Not least of which is the problem of seeing any sort of com

Boffins from the University of Southampton (my home city - yay!) have won yet another prestigious award for their invention 'StarStream' - a portable cleaning system that, by using ultrasound and micro-bubble 'smart scrubbers', negates the use of harmful detergents and is effective with just cold water. This latest prestigious award, the S-Lab 'Best New Product of 2014', makes for a hat-trick, having previously won the Brian Mercer Award for Innovation in 2011, and the 2012

Sometimes you see things that make your heart sing with the joy of human ingenuity. These beautiful and mesmerising door designs made me feel just that. They are the brainchild of Austrian artist Klemens Torggler who has been working on different designs for some years. The steel version is, in engineering terms, beautifully elegant - but impractical. I can envisage some nasty trapped finger moments. The latest origami-like 'Evolution' model poses no such problems, having

It's early days but these shape-changing, origami inspired robots could herald a real 'transformation' in robotics. This is a great invention that literally can stand on its own two (or more) feet! Scientists at Harvard University have taken the principles of origami, fused with flat-pack furniture thinking, and produced a razzle-dazzle prototype that transforms from a flat sheet to a walking robot in just four minutes. The robots are constructed from a stiff, paper like co

I love inventions that are cases of simple, elegant, lateral thinking. Charged with finding a way to connect the millions of people worldwide in remote areas to the internet, Google have launched (literally) Project Loon. The idea is so simple and charming - launch a flotilla (if that's the right word?) of balloons into the stratosphere and have them carry transmitters to create a network of coverage. A sort of sub-orbital, wind blown, satellite network. Magic! I have to