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Lifehacker
The picture is funny, but the invention is actually legitimately neat. The Alongo Happy Landing Escaper is a wire system that mounts to an emergency exit or beefy window frame, deploys mechanically (without a need for electricity) and allows riders up to 180 kg to slowly descend from a high rise building safely while wearing just a modest safety harness.
The large elderly population in Japan has manufacturers clamouring to develop devices to assist them. Not surprisingly, they are coming up with some pretty unique ideas. Take this human airbag for instance. The airbag system is strapped onto the body and inflates in 0.1 seconds when it detects rapid movement toward the ground. Strangely, one pocket will be behind the head and another behind the hips—but there is no protection for a forward fall. So, Grandpa is on his own if he should trip and fall face-first in the street. Walk it off, Grandpa...walk it off. [BBC]
Mexico has a pretty serious kidnapping problem--so serious that there is now a market for a US$4,000 RFID implant procedure (plus a US$2,200 annual fee) that promises to help track victims down. The system uses an implanted capsule under the skin that talks to an external GPS transmitter that you'll need to be kidnapped with in order to beam your location to the folks at Xega, who are selling the service. Anyone else see a gigantic hole in this setup?
The quest to protect ourselves and our property from thieves has given rise to some of the most bizarre and deadly devices ever conceived by man. OObject has compiled 10 burglar alarms that fit neatly in this category with devices that range from a mousetrap alarm that managed to capture a couple of schoolyard criminals "green handed," to a gramaphone alarm from 1939 that dials a telephone number and plays a message from the record when tripped. Ingenious. [OObject]
If laws about driving and using mobile phones in American cities are cramping your style, move to scenic India where anything goes! Watch in horror as this lunatic barrels down the highways of New Delhi sending text messages. Hey, why stop there? Yeah, go on and take that nap. Your fellow motorists will love it and the police...haha what police? [Geekologie]
What are nudists to do when enjoying their favourite watersports? I mean, safety is one thing, but wearing a traditional lifejacket means unsightly tan lines and breasts yearning to be free. Fortunately a Korean company has manufactured a transparent lifejacket dubbed the "Zak Nudevest" that ensures buoyancy and exposure for the discerning naked consumer. I suppose that the jacket could also be used for clothed individuals that simply feel foolish wearing big, orange lifejackets--but that problem is not nearly as arousing. Available for around US$15. [Earlyadopter via TFTS]
If everyone living or working in precariously elevated positions could shoot Spidey-silk from their wrists in case of an unexpected fall, there would be no need for the Wizard rapid-descender concept from UK design shop HJC. But a sleek Dyson-esque backpack housing up to 250 meters of woven liquid polyester that can hold you and two tons worth of distressed damsels is a fair second option. If this thing comes to market, I think I've found my new treehouse-egress solution. [Yanko Design]
Sure, the iPhone can help you make calls and check your email and settle arguments in bars, but when was the last time it helped keep a stretch of skin on your leg from getting peeled off on a hot stretch of pavement? Not recently, I'm guessing. But that's just what happened to an avid cyclist who got a popped tire while travelling at about 40kph.
There are few things in this world that are more infuriating than getting into a car accident--but one of those things would definitely be getting into an accident where the blame is being disputed. For the innocent party, a Roadscan Drive Recorder could be indispensable. The device mounts easily on your windshield or rearview mirror, and will continuously record graphical 3D-G accelerations data. If you happen to get into an accident, it will save the digital video starting 14 seconds before the incident and 6 seconds after--so you would be armed with all of the data you need to dispute a ticket. Or totally incriminate yourself.
We've already seen a version of this: Autoliv's hood airbag system, but Toyota Gosei (an offshoot of, no prizes for etc etc, Toyota) has gone one better. As well as protecting the pedestrian from being squished like a bug on a windscreen, it has airbags down the side of the car, both front and back, protecting passengers from injury in the event of a nasty shunt from every which way in the car.
