Business Opportunities Weblog

Business Opportunities Weblog
   

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Look What $0.02 Bought You in 1914
Invention: Snow Skiing With a Jetpack
Idea: Floor Plan Light Switch
A Sight for Sore (Or Degenerative) Eyes
Eliminating Smelly Water Bottles
Look What $0.02 Bought You in 1914



Posted: 07 Mar 2013 07:49 AM PST

Today you can’t buy anything for 2 cents, but way back in 1914 you could buy any of the following:

A Cake Pan
3 Yards of White Tubular Corset Lace
A Hardwood Butter Ladle


According to the Inflation Calculator, $0.02 in 1914 is worth $0.43 in 2011. To bad that $0.43 still doesn’t buy much.

via The Best of Our Past.

  

Invention: Snow Skiing With a Jetpack

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 07:49 AM PST



If stuntman and extreme sport fanatic Troy Hartman has his way, we might see high speed uphill snow skiing in the Winter Olympics some day.

Did I say uphill?

Hartman built himself a jetpack, strapped it to his back and put on his snow skis. At 50% throttle, he was able to ski at nearly 50 miles per hour on flat terrain. Who knows how fast he’ll be able to ski up the mountains after tweaking his design?

Video after the jump.



  

Idea: Floor Plan Light Switch

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 07:49 AM PST

Do you have a wall in your house with half a dozen light switches in a row? I do. Which one turns on the outside light? Which one turns on the fan? Which one turns on the accent lighting? A bunch of switches in a row aren’t the most intuitive way to layout the switches.

I don’t know if this would work in your situation, but the floor plan light switch from designer Taewon Hwang makes sense to me. The switches are laid out like the floor plan of the home. A click on the kitchen turns on the light in the kitchen. A click on the area outside the front door turn on the outdoor lights.






This is a concept, not a real product. Go ahead and make it!

  

A Sight for Sore (Or Degenerative) Eyes

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 07:47 AM PST



A prosthetic eye has gained clinical approval in Europe and is now available on the market in the UK, Switzerland, and France. The prosthetic is called the Argus II and is valued at $115,000. It functions to restore partial sight in those that suffer from degenerative eye disease. Though the Argus II now only restores partial sight, Robert Greenberg, CEO of Second Sight, manufacturer of the Argus II is confident that this breakthrough “marks the beginning of an era” of restorative vision technology.

Fast Company tells more about how the Argus II works.


The retinal prosthesis bypasses damaged photoreceptors with a mini video camera housed inside a pair of glasses. The camera sends signals to an implanted chip near the retina, which stimulates retinal cells and produces visual light patterns.

Second Sight’s system only works for people with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disease, because the disease only damages the eye’s photoreceptors and leaves retinal cells intact. For these patients, the retinal prosthesis is effective enough that they can recognize objects, see people, and follow movements, according to MIT Technology Review.

Second Sight isn’t the only company working on a bionic eye. A startup called Retina Implant AG is also performing trials on a prosthesis to help patients with retinitis pigmentosa. But Europeans eager to get their hands on an implant now should find the Argus II in clinics in Switzerland, France, and the U.K. The device is expected to receive FDA approval next year.”


Photo by alanapost.

  

Eliminating Smelly Water Bottles

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 07:47 AM PST



Chris Hotell was tired of the smell that came from water bottles as they got old. The only way to eliminate that smell is to give the bottle a thorough cleaning, but that’s nearly impossible due to their odd shape. Determined to do something about it, Chris created something a little different. Naming it the ALEX Bottle, his water bottle is designed to be water tight while still allowing someone to unscrew and wash it, reports Sign On San Diego.

Hotell is the co-founder of Carlsbad-based Nice Reusables. Its ALEX Hydration Bottle, won “Best in Category for Tabletop & Beverageware” at the 2011 Housewares Design Awards.

“When we started this, we had no idea where it would go, and obviously the functionality was what we started with,” Hotell said. “To be recognized for the design part of it is such an accomplishment for us.”

Hotell’s invention is stainless steel that you can snap open for a thorough scrubbing. It snaps back together along a silicone seam (under a patent-pending “Clean Seam Technology”) that keeps it watertight. The water bottle project led Hotell and several partners to establish Nice Reusables, a parent company focused on creating products that make sustainability simple. So far, the bottle is the only product.

The ALEX bottle is made of 50 percent recycled stainless steel and its strap is made from recycled water bottles, according to the company. It retails for $25.95 for a 20-oz. or $29.95 for a 32-oz. at The Container Store in Mission Valley.