The grassy computer keyboard is designed to make office work a bit less tedious by allowing your fingers an occasional run through the 'grass.' The keyboard features a green grass like material the covers the keyboards surface and gently stimulates the wrists and palms during typing. By using a static electricity hair transplant technique, the fibers of the grass remain upright continuously, and the invigorating texture and pleasing visual design could lead to increased work...

The idea is to develop a software program that will detect when an individual's mind has wandered and will send an alert to get them back on task. The system will use commercially available eye tracker technology to observe the user's eye movements and determine if they are concentrating as expected. If the system decides the user's mind has wandered, it can pause the work session, highlight the missed content, or display the content in a different way. The device could have...

Cell phone users will soon be able to treat their phobias at home with an application, which will use psychotherapy as a way to help mitigate fears. The application will work through a combination of neuro-linguistic programming, visualization, and mind mapping methods which will help decrease the intensity of the fears by allowing the user to develop a sense of control. For example, the user can replace an image of intimidating dental instruments with a less scary teddy bear,...

The self-adaptive wound dressing can change to suit evolving wound conditions, ensuring the best treatment to promote healing and resist infection. The wound dressing can function as both a hydrating or absorbent dressing by changing its properties based on the wound's stage of healing. It can also adjust to different needs within different areas of the wound--protecting dry areas and absorbing fluid from exuding areas--while protecting the skin from maceration.

A new automobile side-mirror will take inspiration from eyeglasses to eliminate the blind spot without distorting distances. Similar to the way eyeglasses have vertical layers of focal zones using progressive additive optics technology, the prototype mirror will make use of three difference focal zones arranged side by side. The inner zone and outer zone will be optimized for distance viewing and close up viewing, respectively, and the middle zone will make the transition between...

The idea is to create a system that will let users find open parking spots, and spots about to be open, with their smartphones - and doesn't require hardware to be installed in existing infrastructure. The app will work based on crowd sourced data collected by mobile devices. By monitoring the location and movements of the user, the software will be able to determine when a person has parked and gotten out of their car, as well as when they are approaching their car and drive away. This...

A new digital system that will allow the visually-impaired to 'read' graphs could provide them with more learning and employment opportunities while also making day-to-day business a bit easier. The system will provide a way for the visually-impaired to read the graphs and statistics that are so commonly used today. The device will use pattern recognition, machine learning and segmentation methods to identify blocks of texts or pictures and arrange them in the proper reading order....