7 Concept Gadgets We Want to See Brought to Market

Photo via Yanko Design
Air Quality Monitor
This little clip-on-concept is also pretty great, especially for urbanites. A concept device by designer Yasuhiro Akama, it uses different colors of LED lights to alert users to the quality of the air they're breathing. It takes in samples of air, measures the quality,and lights up either red for dirty air, white for "normal conditions," or green for clean air. It might help you avoid areas that are less than ideal for your health, and alert you to situations you may want to bring to your community's attention.

Photo via Ecofriend
The Solar Tree
This is a bit bigger than a simple gadget, but a concept we're interested in seeing nevertheless. It is designed by Gurdeep Sandhu, and is called the Solar Tree. It has adujstable wing-like solar panels that automatically adjust throughout the day to get the best exposure to sunlight. Working in a yard or a rooftop, it attempts to maximize how much energy is absorbed throughout the day. Issues with the design of course include the amount of space required on each side of it to allow for adjustment of the panels. One large panel that rotates to capture the sun could be more space- and resource-frugal. However, it's still an interesting idea that we think holds potential.

Image via Visible Energy

This company is still in stealth mode so not a lot of details about their products are available. However, they were at the LaunchPad at Green:Net, and presented their idea for making energy consumption visible. It's somewhat similar to other concepts we've seen, but with a very compact design for when not in use. You can extend the device and plug items into it to view energy consumption, or, when you don't need it, it compresses into an easily storeable disk-shape.

Photo via Yanko Design
Elegant Water Purifier
This water purification device idea combines two things we love - simple design and reuseable water bottles. A user simply fills the BPA-free bottle with tap water, and, like a french press, pushes down on the water filter. Purified water can then be sipped from the container. Simple, elegant, and easy to use - three qualities we love in design - and it's great for people who want to quench their thirst on the go, even if all that is available is a questionable water source.

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