Welcome to TIME’s annual round-up of the best inventions making the world better, smarter and—in some cases—a little more fun.
The ‘Hoverboard’ Scooter
The Underground Park
Part Segway, part skateboard, the self-balancing
scooter—generally known as a hoverboard, even though it doesn’t actually
hover—is easily the year’s most viral product, drawing fans like Justin
Bieber, Jimmy Fallon and Kendall Jenner. Once someone hops on, the
device uses a pair of electric gyroscopes (one under each pad) to
balance automatically, allowing users to speed forward, backward and
around by slightly shifting their body weight. That enables all kinds of
fun stunts, ranging from hallway races to motorized dance routines.
Maxx Yellin, co-founder of PhunkeeDuck,
one of more than 20 companies making versions of the device, sees
larger implications. “It could evolve as a new form of transportation
for cities and colleges,” Yellin says (though British authorities
recently caused a stir by outlawing their use on public sidewalks and
streets). But convenience comes at a cost: prices range from $350 to
$1,700, depending on the brand and its features. —Lisa Eadicicco
Cameron NeilsonThe Lowline Lab Developed by Dan Barasch and James Ramsey
“It’s not like any park you’ve ever seen before,” says Dan Barasch of the Lowline,
an abandoned trolley terminal in New York City’s Lower East Side that
he and architect James Ramsey are trying to turn into an acre of lush
green space, replete with flowering plants and areas to relax in the
sun. The key: a “remote skylight” dish system that captures sunlight
from surrounding rooftops and funnels it underground via fiber-optic
cable; once there, it’s beamed out via reflective dome, enabling plants
to grow. To prove the technology works, Barasch and Ramsey opened the
Lowline Lab; it’s a prototype version of the final park, which is
still several approvals—and $70 million in funding—away from
completion. But Barasch, who attracted more than 3,300 backers on
Kickstarter, is undeterred. Even forgotten places, he says, can still be
used “for public good.” —Julie Shapiro
The Sensor That Sniffs Out Gluten
6SensorLabs’ Nima / $199 Available for preorder at NimaSensor.com
For the millions of Americans with celiac disease or gluten
sensitivity, eating out is often anxiety-ridden—any menu item might
contain traces of the protein, which is off-limits. The Nima sensor,
which starts shipping early next year, would work to put their minds at
ease by allowing them to test any kind of food or drink in as little as
two minutes. After a sample is dropped into the well of the device, a
proprietary antibody (loaded in a disposable cartridge) mines it for
traces of gluten. If they exist, a frowning face lights up; if not, a
smile appears. “My hope is that people are going to be able to eat
socially” without accidentally getting sick, says Shireen Yates, a
6SensorLabs co-founder who is gluten-sensitive. The firm also hopes to
apply its technology to detect other food allergens, including peanuts
and dairy. —Alice Park
Bionic Ears
Doppler Labs Here Active Listening Earbuds / $249 Waitlist open at Hereplus.me
If you’re stuck somewhere with unbearable noise, you essentially have
two options: plug your ears, or leave. But what if you could isolate
the most grating sound and mute it? Or just lower the volume, much as
you would on a TV? That’s the promise of the Here Active Listening
system, a groundbreaking set of earbuds from New York–based Doppler
Labs. Unlike hearing aids, which amplify or decrease all noises at once,
Here’s processor syncs with a smartphone app, so users can handpick
which frequencies they want to filter. That means you could stand on a
subway platform and have a normal conversation as a train screeches by,
or even tune out a crying baby on a plane. “It’s augmented audio
reality,” says Doppler Labs CEO Noah Kraft, who initially developed Here
for musicians and concertgoers before pivoting to a general audience.
The first earbuds will ship in December. —Alex Fitzpatrick
The Superior Stethoscope
Eko Core Developed by Connor Landgraf, Jason Bellet and Tyler Crouch
If there is one aspect of medicine that’s more art than science, it’s
the way doctors listen to heartbeats—trusting their fallible ears and
memory to detect aberrations over time. Not so with Eko Core. Once the
$199 smart adapter is attached to a stethoscope, it streams heartbeat
data to the cloud so physicians can download it to a smartphone. From
there, a companion app can analyze the audio and compare it to previous
recordings, which may help doctors detect murmurs, heart-valve
abnormalities and other conditions that “our ears are not able to,” says
Dr. John Chorba, a cardiologist (and mentor to one of the inventors)
who’s leading an Eko trial at the University of California, San
Francisco. If the device works as planned—early signs are positive—it
could not only improve overall care but also drastically reduce the need
for expensive tests like echocardiograms. —Alice Park
for the full list goto http://time.com/4115398/best-inventions-2015/
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