To take some of the guesswork out of waxing skis, the smart skis from will be equipped with microchips that will allow the user to know exactly where they should apply the wax. For elite cross-country skiers, the placement of the wax can make the difference between a gold medal and an honorable mention. The smart skis will feature an embedded microchip that will contain information about the ski's design and material, which can be accessed via the accompanying app. When the user is...

Created with the visually impaired in mind but useful to everyone, the bump mark bio-reactive label will change texture as the food within begins to spoil. The bump mark will be used with existing packaging, and will be made up of a layer of gelatin (which decays at the same rate as other proteins) coated over a bumpy plastic sheet. The sheet will feel smooth at first, but as the gelatin ages and becomes less solid, the bumps will begin to emerge. The gelatin will be applied in...

A new curved contact lens with a full display could one day project images and texts right in front of our eyes. The contacts will feature a spherical curved LDC display able to receive wirelessly projected images. It is believed that the lenses could be used in a variety of applications, including adaptable sunglasses and controlling light transmission to protect damaged retinas.

By combining a series of colored filters, it is possible to create the world's most efficient warm light LED. The tube-shaped lamp will be the first to attain 200lm/W while still maintaining a high quality of light. To create the warm light, one red LED will be combined with two blue, then a green filter will be applied. It will convert one of the blue LEDs to green. This process will result in a warm light with more than twice the lumens per-watt of conventional LED bulbs.

The ring concept will translate ordinary text to Braille that can be felt with a fingertip. The ring will be equipped with a scanner and an array of six bumps able to raise or lower according to the letter read by the scanner. It will be worn like a regular ring, and then slipped onto the fingertip to allow the user to feel the Braille bumps as they change in response to the scanner moving across the text. The ring will also be able to convert the text to spoken words, which will...

The idea is to investigate ways to make objects 'invisible' to earthquakes by applying some of the same principles involved in the light-bending cloaking technique used to render objects invisible. The cloaking technique works by bending light of specific frequencies around the object meant to be hidden. I propose the idea of drilling a precisely tuned system of boreholes around an earthquake-prone city (or vital building like a power plant or hospital). In theory, the boreholes...

The application will transform a smartphone into a peephole, letting you see who's at the door even if you're not at home. The device itself will be made of high-density polymer and will include an infrared camera able to capture video at both day and night. When visitor presses the LED illuminated push-to-talk button, the video and audio will be sent via the local Wi-Fi connection to the user's smartphone.

A parasitic worm could inspire a new type of bandage for skin grafts that will not only hold well, but will also inject drugs into the skin. The bandage is inspired by a small, fish-infecting worm with a spine-covered proboscis on the top of its head. When the worm infects a fish, it inserts its proboscis to the fish's intestinal wall and then plumps the proboscis with its muscles, which gives it a strong hold inside the fish. Taking a cue from the plumping proboscis, the new...

A new, sustainable lamp design will use algae to illuminate a room while consuming carbon dioxide, potentially scrubbing as much as a ton carbon from the air in one year. The tube-shaped lamps will be filled with algae, which will grow well inside the structure and use photosynthesis to emit a green glow. The lamps will also store the energy created during photosynthesis for later use, such as at night or in low-light settings. A single light will be able to absorb about a ton of...

The body dryer will be designed to replace germy and environmentally unfriendly bathroom towels with a more environmentally sound solution--compressed ionized air. The body dryer will be equipped with angled vents that will be adjusted according to the needs, or size, of the user. The arrangement of the vents will send a cylindrical tunnel of compressed air up from the footplate to dry the individual in about 30 seconds, with no towel required. The air temperature will be adjusted...