The 44th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva kicked off on April 13 at the Palexpo in Switzerland. Here are the best and weirdest innovations we found this year.
Lee Ae Youn, an inventor from South Korea, debuted a pair of children's shoes that has a QR code printed on the strap. This QR code contains information on how to contact the child's parents or guardians. The QR code can be read using any smartphone device. It is an inconspicuous, easy and inexpensive way of ensuring a child has the right information to the authorities in case the child gets lost.
Italian inventor Mauro Cavagna designed a more passionate version of the so-called love seat. Quite literally, Cavagna's "Desire" sofa is an adjustable couch dedicated to improving the comfort levels of those who have back pain or people with disabilities during sex.
The sofa has adjustable hand grips and supports. Interestingly, the "Desire" sofa comes in a salmon-pink, smooth finish that reminds people of the act it was designed for.
Unlike the so-called love seats, Cavagna's "Desire" sofa is quite enormous that it might require a dedicated "love room" because, with a design like that, you really can't keep it in the living room.
Durian is a pungent fruit that remains popular in several Asian countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. A team of inventors from Thailand created a microwave sensor that can check if the durian fruit is mature enough for eating.
This maturity test can be done without opening the fruit and unnecessarily unleashing the unwanted smell. This invention can help producers with their operations, particularly in quality control.
German inventor Anton Stoehr created a line of bristle-free cleaning brushes called SpuelWunder. Stoehr said these multi-colored bristleless and antibacterial brushes can be used on many kitchen items including pans, glasses, plates and cutlery.
This year, the inventions conference has more than 750 exhibitors from 48 countries. Every year, nearly 60,000 people attend the event where some inventions land patent deals worth millions.
In 2015, the 43rd International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva awarded the Hong Kong-based Vitargent International for creating an in vivo toxin detection system without using lab animals.
"[The inventions] represent all areas of human activity, whether it be a practical every day object or a very high-tech product," said (PDF) Inventions Geneva.
The 2016 exhibit ended on April 17.
