Presentation of 9 technologies in the given categories.

References

• https://www.solarshop.online/en/gravity-light.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santander_Cycles
• https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/united-kingdom/photo/detail/P90161653/robots-working-on-the-side-frame-of-the-mini-5-door-in-plant-oxford-s-bodyshop
• https://sugru.com
• https://www.starwars.com/news/the-mandalorian-emmy-awards
• https://juneoven.com
• https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/459859811922314041/
• https://gravity.co
• https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/1/5861062/sony-walkman-at-35

1. Gravity Lamp
   1. Very innovative way of providing power generation in disaster zones or developing areas of the world. I think the design is really effective because It uses affordances with the colour coding of chains to show how it is operated. It also seems to be very durable and fairly easy to service with limited tools unlike something like solar power.
2. Santander Bikes
   1. These bikes are interesting because they provide a green alternative to other forms of public transport in cities. I think there is a safety concernn there because It makes owning a bike and cycling it in a city more accessible to people who have never ridden bikes before. It makes it easier for someone who has never tried cycling before, to be able to have their first bike ride on the roads of London which I think could increase the risk of accidents.
3. Mini Factory
   1. I went on a tour of this factory a couple of years ago: They use their website and make the cars to order in a process called masss customisation. This is where on the website you can select the options you want on your car (colour, trim, engine etc.) and this goes into their production computer. All the parts are then assembled by the robots automatically without the need for a human to input any data. They also use very impressive quality assurance processes where each part is checked as it is finished (by a machine) and each tool is measured for how much wear it has on it  so it can be changed out automatically when its out of tolerance.
4. Sugru
   1. This is a really cool technology that allows people to repair more stuff at home. It makes fixing stuff almost into playing with playdoh which adds a fun aspect to it. I think its a really valuable thing to be teaching people: that there’s a value in repairing things not just replacing them.
5. Mandalorian set
   1. The big advancement with the way the mandalorion was shot is it was done in front of curved LED panels instead of a green screen. Usually with a green screen, its very tough to get the correct lighting, shadows and reflections on real objects in front of them. With the LED screens, you get around this issue because the backdrop actually looks real whilst filming happens so all the reflections and lighting can be made as they should be before the editing process starts.
6. Smart toaster oven
   1. This oven can send you updates to your phone about what you’re cooking. Some ovens like this are able to send you a live video feed of what’s inside the oven so you can check how cooked your food is remotely.
7. Roman Ballista
   1. The Romans were said to have been so effective because they were better builders than anyone else. One of the cornerstones of their military strategy involved quickly building walled encampments that they could defend from others and part of that was the ballista. This was a huge siege crossbow that fired giant bolts and rocks. They were massively more advanced than anything else around at the time and incredibly deadly.
8. Gravity Jetpack
   1. This is made by gravity industries and uses 6 jet engines strapped to a suit to make a person fly around like iron man. They are very impressive bits of kit but require a lot of strength and training to operate and obviously having a jet engine and therefore jetfuel strapped to you is not the safest in the event of a bad crash.
9. Sony Walkman
   1. This was a hugely influential bit of teach that made listening to music a completely personal and private thing. It was thought when it came out that it wouldn’t take off because you’d look silly walking around listening to music! Interestingly the first walkman had 2 headphone slots so that you could listen with a friend but they dropped that feature after the device gained huge popularity.