Saturday 18 October 2014

This Is In The,

what a neat idea department,


a team of engineers in China is currently involved in developing something called the ‘Air Umbrella’ – a revolutionary new device that uses blasts of air to shield people from the rain, the high-tech umbrella, shaped like a plastic microphone, is capable of producing horizontal gusts of air that repel raindrops, creating a dry, one meter wide circle around the user’s head, great news for people that get poked in the eye by normal umbrellas, but there is a downside the batteries only last for 30 minutes or so, but how convenient to use it for short trips keeping one say in your car as you nip out to the shops and back, the product is the brainchild of a group of graduates from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics – they’ve set up a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds, and they’ve already collected $60,0000, exceeding their target of $10,000 with seven days to go,



the Air Umbrella consists of three ‘sections’ – a motor near the head, a lithium battery at the centre, and an controller with a switch at the bottom, according to their demo video, the product will be available in three variants – a ($88), b ($98), and c($108), these are early bird prices, but once it hits the market, the average price of an air umbrella is expected to be about $200, Air Umbrella-a is compact in design and can only operate for 15 minutes before running out of charge, while b and c can last for 30 minutes each, with the latter featuring an extensible handle, what a neat idea.


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