Look at this product! Didn't I describe this idea to you years ago?

Fueled by my own previous post, I have decided to list all the ideas that I have independently come up with, and that I later saw implemented somewhere. This way I can move on to posting the fresh thoughts. You have to admit - its a good feeling when you see a product and can say "Hey - I thought of this years ago!"

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1 :: I think I was 7 or 8 when thought to myself - "Hey - a spiked wheel can be used to separate items on a conveyor belt... Or something." A couple of years later I saw an article in a magazine describing a funnel with such a wheel (and a rotating handle) built in. The item was meant to be filled with sugar from the top, and rotating the handle would dispense a spoonful of it from the bottom... I know the connection is a bit lame here, but this was the very first time I experienced the feeling of "epiphany reloaded." I think this was the time I realized that some things I make up might be useful.

2 :: Why can't you press a button on your VCR or TV and have your remote beep, so you can find it easier? Apparently I wasn't the only one thinking that. A couple of months later I saw a TV commercial highlighting that very same feature of a Magnavox VCR. Philips [Magnavox] TV Model TP3697B also has this feature. Apparently Sony has it now as well, calling it a "Remote Commander Locator."

3 :: While in high school (some time between 1995 and 1997), my father and I decided to attempt to patent one of the ideas from my notebook. This was, to put it simply, a trackball (an upside down computer mouse for those who have never seen one). The difference was that the trackball was to be the size of a room, and a human wearing virtual reality goggles would be the hamster inside the ball. Functionally, it was supposed to be a two dimensional treadmill, allowing you to move on a plane, and allowing the computer to know where you've moved. Applications? Imagine actually running from monsters within the virtual corridors of Doom 3. Or actually walking through the 3D model of restored ancient Rome in a museum. Or playing a full court tennis game with Agassi at your local arcade. Basically it would improve the immersion in a CAVE system. The company did a patent search for us and it showed nothing similar on file with USPTO. Given that the company wanted five thousand dollars to prepare and file a patent, we decided it was not worth it, and let it go. A couple of years later I saw "SPIN" which was basically an implementation of this very idea. Here is a SPIN pdf with more pictures and a full schematic/description. These guys went with projecting the environment on the surface of the ball instead of wireless goggles... I still have a poor man's patent (a sealed envelope mailed to myself with a full schematic) laying around somewhere.

Update 4/11/08: As part of the Cyberwalk Project, European researchers will demonstrate their version of the omni directional treadmill soon. (Courtesy of a Slashdot post)

Update 4/12/08: VirtuSphere has a functioning model in this video. Even better is Virtual Space Devices' Cywalk video (a treadmill within the treadmill design that I thought back then would be too hard to construct; Also seen in the Darken's Treadmill. Moving tiles is another solution.)

4 :: A charger for your cell phone... a charger for your PDA... a charger for your laptop... and your digital camera... and your wireless phone... maybe even your bluetooth headset or your wireless mouse. They all want to be plugged in, like little tamagotchi pets, yearning for your attention. Why not have a big mouse pad with a checkerboard pattern of cathodes and anodes? Have the charger contacts on the outer surfaces of your "digital pets" (make "sticker" adapters for existing ones) and simply have the charger pad feed them when they are carelessly laid on top. The mouse pad would be plugged in and would simply monitor for proper resistance between its surface contacts. Once a certain resistance is maintained, a charge would be applied. No need to plug anything in - simply put the item on top of your [charger covered] desk. Imagine my surprise when a year and a half later I read about MobileWise and their approach, which is as close to what I described as it can get... Hopefully we will see the product on the market soon... Splashpower has an interesting competing technology, which seems to be based on magnetic field. Apparently, existing devices can also be retro-fitted with special batteries in order to work with Splashpower pads...

Update on 4/4/2008: Splashpower is bancrupt, but WildCharge and eCoupled are still working on it...

Update on 11/30/2008: Final product - a wireless charger for game controllers.

Well - this is all I can remember for now. If I recall any more ideas pursued by others, I'll add them to the list.