Have you ever dreamed of building your own time machine? Do you wish you could invent something new?
The Sinclair C5
The C5 was a simple vehicle which moved at 24 kilometres per hour and had three wheels. You didn’t even need to have a driving licence to use it. The C5 was invented by Sir Clive Sinclair in 1985. He spent millions of pounds developing this product and even encouraged Stirling Moss, winner of sixteen F1 Grand Prix motor races, to advertise the vehicle. Unfortunately it had many problems. It did not work well on hills and the battery was easily damaged by rain. It also wasn’t very safe. The C5 was so tiny it was difficult for much larger vehicles to see it. Only 12,000 were ever sold and Sinclair lost a lot of money. This didn’t stop his enthusiasm for inventing and in 2006 he started selling the ‘A-bike’ a lightweight folding bicycle.
Adaptable Glasses
Do you wear glasses? If so, can you imagine life without them? In 1985 Joshua Silver was a professor at the University of Oxford. One day a conversation with a colleague about lenses for glasses gave him an idea. He thought “Can I design a pair of glasses that could be changed by the wearer?” In places like Africa there are often no opticians in small towns and so people can’t buy glasses. He designed two plastic lenses that are filled with a special liquid. Using syringes you change the liquid between the lenses until you can see clearly. The glasses are not beautiful but they are easy to use and cheap to make. So far 30,000 pairs have been sold and this is also helping people to learn to read. Silver continues to think big and dreams of the day when millions will be using his technology.
The Wind-up Radio
When you switch your TV on tonight think about all those people without electricity. Trevor Baylis was thinking about this in 1989 when he came up with the idea of designing a radio that could be powered by hand. In common with Joshua Silver he wanted his invention to be cheap and easy to use. He wanted even the poorest people in developing countries, who don’t have electricity and cannot afford batteries, to use it. The radio has a generator which is powered by turning a handle. In 1996 it won a BBC Design Award for Best Product and Best Design. Baylis often stays awake all night working and has also designed a range of inventions to help disabled people. All this from a man who started his working life as a stunt man!