Every now and then I like to use a blog post to celebrate a few brilliant ideas. This is one such post. These two ideas aren’t just concepts–rather, they already exist.
The first idea is something I read about in NY Times tech writer David Pogue’s weekly column. Basically, it’s a pair of sunglasses that let colorblind people see colors outside (they don’t work well inside in low light). Pogue is colorblind, and he describes the experience as, “It was like a peek into a world I knew existed, but had never been allowed to see.”
I’m not colorblind, but I deal with colorblind issues when designing components for my board games. The fact that there’s a pair of glasses you could wear to eliminate colorblindness outdoors is almost beyond my comprehension, but it’s 100% real. Absolutely brilliant.
The second idea is a service, not a product. It’s called KeyMe. If you need an extra set of keys, instead of going to the hardware store, you can simply take a photo of your key and e-mail it to KeyMe. They’ll send you a copy for $5.
I rarely want to go out of my way for something as small as making a copy of a key, so I love the idea behind this service. Plus, you could do it from anywhere–perhaps you forget to leave a key for your neighbor to check on your cats when you go on vacation for a week. No problem–just snap a photo of your key, send it to KeyMe, and they’ll send a key to your neighbor ASAP. Pretty cool.
What do you think? Would you ever want colorblind glasses or the KeyMe service?
A couple of thoughts I have about these great ideas…
That key one is quite amazing, and I wish I had known about that service before last weekend, when I had to drive 30 minutes to make a spare set of keys and drop them off with a friend who had volunteered to stop by and check on my cats while I was gone for the weekend. I’m sure by the time I factored in the cost of gas, wear on my car, the price of the key, and even my time, that service would have been cheaper.
The colorblind correction sunglasses are also pretty clever, but wouldn’t it be neat to have the reverse created? A pair of glasses or sunglasses for non-colorblind people so we could see the world in a different view– I think that would be helpful for people that often have to factor in modifications to be colorblind friendly, with projects such as game design.
Katy–The reverse would be really interesting. There are colorblind apps to help you see what colorblind people see, but having sunglasses would make it really convenient to look at anything through their eyes.
I’ve been finding stuff like this a lot lately. Our firm is doing a campaign for TripCase that’s called #ShouldBEaThing, basically trying to pull together the whole world’s ideas for what they think should be a thing (these are two great examples in your post). If you want to submit any of your ideas, there are weekly prizes! It’s just getting started so it’s pretty easy to win. (www.shouldbeathing.com). I realize this sounds like a spam comment, but it’s just what I’ve been thinking about all month!
I like both of these, especially your observation about forgetting to get someone a key for your house. Smart.
Emma–That’s awesome! That link keeps taking me to a Facebook page–is that correct?
Yes, it all takes place in an app on Facebook!
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m a little wigged out that someone could just take a picture of my house key and get a duplicate made without me knowing. Do you know if they have any kind of safeguard against that? Sounds like a good tool for car thieves as well.
I read about a “brilliant” invention the other day called Liquid Lapdance. Because I’m a lady (at least in the street), I won’t go into specifics about what it does, but you can Google it (not from work, though). It’s strange but fascinating that someone thought of that idea and put forth the effort to make it a real product!
Katie–The company tries to safeguard it by requiring a credit card, presumably to reduce fraud.
Liquid Lapdance. I’m intrigued. Off to Google it!
I regret looking up Liquid Lapdance. But I’m sure the strip clubs’ janitors are happy about the invention.