These inventions were made by people like you, thanks to help from GE and Quirky.
Back in April, GE released thousands of patents for innovators and developers to utilize in creating amazing new products. The giant appliance manufacturer and innovator partnered with the crowdsourcing product development group at Quirky – and the first of those creations are now available.
This is a very generous and community-minded approach by GE, who will still profit from the new inventions, but has taken a more open approach to working with new inventors and innovators. The “Inspiration Platform” has rolled out thousands of patents for independent developers to use so far.
Here are the first GE + Quirky home appliances to become finished products.
Spotter – The Multi-Purpose Sensor
The Spotter is an all-purpose sensor for your home.
Spotter is the brainchild of Denny Fong, who created the concept for the invention while his wife was balancing home life and her professional life after the birth of their first child. With the help of over 2,000 others, he created the multi-purpose sensor.
The $50 device is capable of sensing motion, light, humidity, temperature, sound, and other changes in the environment. By interacting with the device via an app for your smartphone, you can use it to let you know when your washer or dryer are done, when someone walks into a room in your home, or as a baby monitor.
The Egg Minder
The Egg Minder lets you know the quantity and quality of the eggs in your fridge via your phone.
The Egg Minder monitors the freshness and quantity of the eggs in your refrigerator. You can then check the current stock and age of your eggs via your smartphone. The concept was developed by inventor Rafael I. Hwang.
The $69.99 egg tray may seem to be a bit much, but it is a promising example of what the future could hold for grocery shopping and keeping tabs on your remaining food supply in the pantry and fridge.
Pivot Power Genius
The Pivot Power Genius is a truly smart power strip.
The Pivot Power Genius is a power strip with several useful features. First of all, it can be adjusted to fit any plug – no more frustration of having that big brick of a charger blocking more than one outlet on your power strip. Jake Zien of Milwaukee submitted the original idea to Quirky.
However, the really “smart” idea executed by the $69 Pivot Power Genius is that you can control each outlet with your smartphone. Remotely turn off the TV, video game system, curling iron, computer and more when away from home, or even from your bedroom before turning in for the night. This easy universal shutoff switch could be a real money saver.
The Nimbus – Universal Dashboard
The Nimbus is a dashboard for your life.
The Nimbus provides you with the data and the numbers you want to know about. Have it display the time, the number of emails you have received, the number of Facebook likes you just got, and so on. The Nimbus was thought up by Ryan Pendleton of Grand Rapids, MI.
At $129, the Nimbus can save you a lot of time of checking your email, Facebook, and other internet data, or you can have in interface with other devices or programs such as the Spotter or Egg Minder to really keep on top of things.
