TIS Weekly (#68): A Little Bit of Magic. And Robots.
[September 25th, 2016]
This week we were present at the European Social Innovation Week in Tilburg (NL). One of the topics that struck me most was Urban Ageing — how can we create an inclusive city of the future? Involve the elderly in smart city planning! Read this WHO report for more background on the topic. And now, on a lighter note: some Harry Potter wizardry. Things we’ve never thought possible, made possible! And robots!
Theme | FASHION
Water repellent clothing
“We focus on producing only the essentials and creating a line of apparel that is unparalleled in terms of quality, functionality and style.” Bold statements, guys at Threadsmiths. But seeing, is believing. Watch this review of the Hydrophobic T-shirt, a water repellent (and apparently also salsa repellent) shirt.
Theme | RANDOM
Reading through closed books
Barmak Heshmat, Research Scientist at MIT Media Lab, was really curious to see whether technology would let him read a closed book. Okay, current tech has only got him to read the first few pages, but imagine the possibility when this tech progresses. We could be able to study fragile classical documents and papers without opening them.
Shoutout to Gerard van Enk for sharing the video!
Theme | ROBOTS
They’re here: Autobots!
They don’t walk and aren’t quite road-worthy yet, but at the touch of a button this red BMW transforms into a giant robot with kinetic fingers, arm movements and a powerful wrist action. The Turkish company Letvision is still looking for investors, so if you’re interested in your own Autobot, give them a call!
Theme | SOCIAL INNOVATION
Changing the lives of many
One reason to invest in biogas that struck us most was: ‘it frees up time’! Of course, because building a traditional fire is time consuming. But there are so many other good reasons to move away from traditional fires being expensive and unhealthy. Our partner Hivos invests in small-scale biogas plants, providing a clean solution for whole communities.
“A Swiss family using natural gas for heating their houses, their apartment, emits just almost the same amount of CO2 emissions that one biogas installation in Indonesia is reducing.”
Read more about the Hivos’ biogas program: http://hivoscarboncredits.org/.
Add your own videos and maybe they will feature in the next TIS Weekly. Questions? Remarks? Ideas? hello@tis.tv is the address! From TIS with love, Simone de Bruin.
A weekly dose of innovation? Subscribe here to the TIS Weekly.
