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[ TECHNOLOGY ] Why making the bed and smoking may never be the same again

By Heather Lima
DPA, GENEVA
Saturday, Apr 05, 2008, Page 16

Heina Gruber of Germany presents his invention, a hot-air rotating grill, in which meat, fish and vegetables are roasted vertically healthily and tastefully. PHOTO: EPA

A self-making bed and a non-smoking tobacco pipe were bound to make visitors take notice. Both inventions on display at the 36th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva were creative solutions to modern-day inconveniences or dilemmas.

Italian Enrico Berruti was getting a lot of attention as his so-called Selfy bed whirred into action behind him smoothing crumpled sheets as deftly as a hotel maid in three minutes.

"I am a little bit lazy and I hope that as I am lazy other people will be too," he said as two metal clips on runners tugged the bedding up the mattress on a frame that folds neatly out of the modern chunky wood bed.

The materials engineer, who normally works for an appliance-making firm in Calliano in Asti, added proudly: "It works on any kind of bedding including duvets." A more serious purpose, he insisted, would be to help people incapacitated by illness with the household chores.

His was one of 1,000 inventions on display from Asia, Arab countries and Europe at what organizers claim is the most important exhibition of its kind in the world. Inventors showing their products here until Sunday hope they will be picked up and become everyday essentials in life.

Frenchman Denis Thevenin shows his invention, a unique system for viewing one's head and hair, during the opening day of the 36th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva. PHOTO: AFP

It was an eclectic mix. From Wales, a cat collar that unravels if the pet gets it snagged on something and a simple device to control fishing reel spools and eliminate fisherman's thumb burn.

More hard duty from Iran, students Houra Kasemi Nezad and Ali Naderi from the Azed Islamic University had developed a railway traverse from crystal concrete composite, guaranteed to last twice as long as existing steel reinforced concrete sleepers. While Mohamed Kalil Omran Eghfaier from Libya showed off his potentially lifesaving folding car. On impact the bonnet, on a kind of spring, squashes into the body to absorb the worst of the impact in a crash.

Jerry Hsu of Taipei presents his invention Znox Keypoint. He designed Znox Keypoint to collect often-used keys. PHOTO: EPA

Students from the Technology University of Malaysia were exhibiting a number of products although still minus their luggage stuck at London Heathrow's chaotic Terminal Five.

Luckily they still had their invention with them, a flat compact antenna the size of a tea plate that fit into a waterproof box. "Important in the monsoon season" said Tharek Bin Rahman whose campus has become an official test site helping provide wi-fi technology free of cumbersome satellite dishes.

One of the students, Mohammed Adib, explained his Home Automatic Powerline Technology, HAPTech, which allows you to control your household appliances remotely from the comfort of your armchair or bed.

Among the 700 inventors from 45 different countries, were two Russians who had come up with the Freedom Pipe, an ingenious device to address the needs of smokers increasingly trapped in a non-smoking world.

Russian, Dim Khabibulin, who never touches a cigarette, said he and his fellow inventor, a chain-smoking 40-a-day man, had come up with the perfect compromise between smokers and non-smokers.

The very conventional looking pipe has an enclosed bowl and is fitted with a nicotine capsule. By heating the inhaled air and producing light and sound effects, it provides the sensation of smoking while in a smoke-free zone with none of the fumes or nicotine.

"It is the perfect compromise," smiled Khabibulin. The only problem would be convincing people the very realistic pipe was nothing but a battery operated look-alike.
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