Innovation Videos :: IdeaConnection

The Rewards and Responsibilities of Big Data

Kennet Cukier discusses how although "big data" may be our greatest tool in solving some of our global challenges, it will also bring some new challenges and responsibilities.

DAQRI Smart Helmet Brings HUD to Industrial Workers

Developed with industrial workers in mind, the DAQRI Smart Helmet integrates an HD display into a protective visor—providing workers with immediate, hands-free access to information and job task specifics.

The Future of 3D Printing

Avi Reichental discusses why instead of bemoaning how 3D printing is changing conventional manufacturing, we should celebrate its potential to allow everyone to have the chance to enjoy locally-made products uniquely suited to individual tastes.

Zenytime Games Teach Mindful Breathing

The Zenytime App aims to encourage mindfulness by teaching users how reduce stress through a series of games controlled by breathing.

Putting the Fun into Wearable Tech

Billie Whitehouse, wearable tech designer and co-founder of Wearable Experiments, discusses why wearable tech should get a bit more intimate—and fun.

SHORE Identifies Emotions in Real-Time

Designed for use with Google Glass, the SHORE app can identify and gauge emotions in real-time—which could have applications in marketing and gaming as well as provide a way for autism sufferers to interpret facial expressions.

Building Better Robots With Less Motors

Researchers at the Morita Lab are designing robots based on fundamental design research that allows them to replace motors and sensors with simpler, mechanical designs that can be applied in different ways.

Using Animation to Test Ideas

Janet Iwasa discusses how cartooning and basic animation skills can help biological scientists visualize and test a hypothesis.

A Universal EEG Controller for ALS Patients

Philips and Accenture demonstrate their proof-of-concept for using an EEG reader to allow severely disabled people, particularly those with ALS, to maintain a level of independence.

Fluidic Channels Lead to Smart Building Blocks

Flexible, Lego-like building blocks equipped with fluidic channels able to alter the blocks' shape and function could provide a significant step toward self-replicating robotic structures.

Translating Thought Into Motion

Miguel Nicolelis discusses how translating thought into motion led to a robotic exoskeleton that allowed a parapalegic man to kick off the World Cup.

Robotic System Tests for E. Coli in Water

A new robotic system able automate all stage of water quality testing, including detecting E. coli, is faster than human-managed testing and also reduces the chances of error.

Safer Surgeries with Physics

Nikolai Begg discusses how physics helped him re-design the trocar—an important and common surgical instrument that requires great delicacy to ensure a proper incision.

ClearSight Continuous, Non-Invasive Blood-Flow Monitor

Based on the technology used to monitor astronauts in orbit, the ClearSight system from Edwards offers a minimally invasive way for continuous hemodynamic monitoring, which could have significant benefits for fragile, post-surgery patients.

Embracing Innovation by Embracing the Now

Joi Ito discusses the benefits of innovation by becoming a "now-ist," a form of bottom-up thinking that does not try to predict the future, but instead takes advantage of observing what's happening around you right now to think quickly and innovate constantly.

Bio-Bots Combine Nature and Technology

Inspired by how tendons interact with muscles and bone, researchers have developed a 'bio-bot' made up of real muscle and 3D-printed hydrogels that can controlled by electricity.

SAM Junctional Tourniquet Works Where Traditional Designs Struggle

Designed for use by soldiers in the field, the SAM Junctional Tourniquet can be strapped around the patient like a belt to quickly apply the correct amount of pressure to the wound—even under fire.

Downdraft Tower Creates its Own Wind

The Downdraft Tower from Solar Wind Industry, Inc. relieves the burden of relying on the whims of nature by creating its own wind to spin its internal turbines.

Why Innovative Science Requires a Leap into the Unknown

Uri Alon suggests that researchers feeling stuck or stymied can take some lessons from improvisational theater and an optimistic leap.

Trikelet Ultra-Compact Electric Scooter

Being hailed as the world's most compact electric scooter, the Trikelet prototype can fold small and tidy enough to be treated as carry-on luggage, fitting under a train seat or in the luggage compartment.

CityHome Cube Adds High-Tech Space to Urban Apartments

Created by MIT's Design Lab, the CityHome prototype can transform into different functions—such as a bed, table or cooking range—through gesture, touch and voice control, adding up to three times more space to small apartments.

Mid-Air Images from Sound and Dust

The Pixie Dust display creates images in mid-air using tiny particles and sound waves, opening the door to a new generation of display potentials.

Inexpensive Glasses-Free 3D Projector

MIT researchers have created a glasses-free 3D projector that could provide a feasible, short-term alternative to true holographic videos.

Building Extreme Robots

Robots are going extreme at Keio University, where a research group is studying the dynamics of sand and working to improve environment recognition in order to create robots suitable for space missions.

Super-Strong Hydrogel

The team from the Wyss Institute demonstrates a tough new hydrodgel that could have applications in robotic or medicine—as well as a range of other uses.

The Best Computer Interface Could Be Your Hands

Founder and principal of the design firm Patten Studio, James Patten discusses how specialized physical objects could help people interact with computers and software more easily—from streamlining emergency dispatches to conveying emotion during a video chat.

Gesture Recognition Mechanical Keyboard

The Type-Hover-Swipe prototype keyboard from Microsoft can recognize gestures performed both on and directly above the keys.

3D Printing More Comfortable Prostheses

MIT Media Lab researcher David Sengeh discusses how MRI mapping and 3D printing are helping to usher in a new generation of comfortable prostheses.

Wearable Intelligence in Healthcare

Wearable Technologies explores the ways Google Glass could one day be used in healthcare in this conceptual video that follows a stroke patient through the different clinical settings.

Bravo Lifts Where Other Cranes Can't

The Bravo lifting device can raise solar panels and other construction materials to the top of a roof without needing a ladder-shaped rail, which allows it function in areas too narrow for standard cranes.

Bridging the Gap Between Ability and Disability

With compassion and humor, Hugh Herr, head of MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group, discusses the coming generation of bionic limbs and how the human body can never truly be broken.

Meruru Finger-Free Contact Lens Tool

The Meruru lets users insert and remove their contact lenses without ever touching the lens with a finger—both simplifying and sanitizing the process.

Starshade Could Make Distant Planet Photography Possible

The starshade, a prototype spacecraft currently under development, will make it easier to study the darker objects in the sky—such as distant planets—by shading the telescope from the bright light of neighboring stars.

Water Harvesting Billboard

A billboard in Lima, Peru—designed to encourage students to pursue studies in engineering—is able to produce about 26 gallons of water a day by capturing and filtering the humidity from the air.

Folding Paper Microscope

As part of his goal to bring new technology to global health, Manu Prakash demonstrates his 50 cent, folding paper microscope, which won a $100,000 grant from the Gates Foundation in 2012 and could help to bring disease research into the field and developing countries.

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