See what will bee at the ‘future-shock’ show
Student inventions include speaking mirror, hive for tiny flats and human gills
A SPACE-AGE beehive for tiny flats, a friendly mirror that checks happiness, a posture-correcting vibrating bra and human “gills” are among student innovations on show next week.
Fifty of the best inventions from the end-of-year postgraduate showcase at Imperial College’s Dyson School of Design Engineering will be on display from Wednesday. Imperial called it “an eye-opening exhibition of innovative design, revolutionary technology” with “ideas that could change the world”.
Highlights include Jacob Jelen’s speaking bathroom mirror, which monitors the user as they brush their teeth. The app-connected “personal wellbeing adviser” aims to keep the owner “happier, healthier and more productive”.
Mr Jelen, 30, from Tower Hamlets, said: “In the morning it asks how you’re doing, what you’re up to, your mental state. Based on your reply, facial expression and tone of voice there are programmes it can launch and things it can do, such as helping you rehearse for a presentation. It gets to know you through conversation and superhuman observational abilities.” The footballsized Beeosphere by David Leonard aims to aid pollination, boost the number of urban bees and inspire young keepers. It has a window to watch the colony grow. A boxful of 50 bees would be sent to the owner, multiplying to some 400 over summer.
Yikun Wang’s posture-correcting bra, InterFlex, uses sensors to detect how the wearer is sitting, and encourages them to adjust their position with vibrating pulses.
Amphibio, by Jun Kamei, is a face mask and wearable “gill” made of porous hydrophobic membrane. It looks to the year 2100 when sea levels rise due to climate change.
Mr Kamei says his secret futuristic material, which is being patented, could allow humans to breathe autonomously in water up to 10 metres deep. In initial tests the device is connected to a small oxygen tank
All students are reading innovation design engineering or global innovation design, jointly run with the Royal College of Art. The show runs from July 4 to 6 between 9am to 5pm at Imperial in Exhibition Road.