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INVENTION

Sapphire-toughened screens win Swiss invention prize

A Hong Kong professor on Friday won the grand prize at this year's Geneva inventions show for a new method of toughening screens for smartphones and other devices to avoid cracks and scratches.

Published: 16 April 2016 18:15 CEST
Sapphire-toughened screens win Swiss invention prize
The Grand Prix was awarded to Hong Kong Baptist University professor Cheah Kok-wai, of the Cathay Photonics company. Photo: Cathay Photonics

The announcement came after more than 750 exhibitors from 48 countries came together in Switzerland this week at the show, the world's largest event of its kind.

The Grand Prix was awarded to Hong Kong Baptist University professor Cheah Kok-wai, of the Cathay Photonics company, for his process of reinforcing glass screens by applying a thin layer of sapphire.

“This method can be used in many different areas, but especially for smartphone screens which are vulnerable and are often scratched or broken,” the organisers of the 44th International Exhibition of Inventions said in a statement.

A “very thin layer” of sapphire, one of the hardest materials in existence, “is enough to guarantee excellent protection,” the statement added.

Applying the extra layer, which is done at a high temperature, does not diminish transparency, since optical transmission of the sapphire film is very near to that of glass, it explained.

This method can also be used for glass and quartz screens on watches and televisions.

The inventions fair rewarded 45 other inventions among the 1,000 presented.

The exhibition ends on Sunday.

HOUSING

Not your average student digs: ‘amazing’ plastic bubble

20 students at Bochum University have created the “Bloon”, a plastic bubble on top of a converted telephone box in between two houses, reports Spiegel.

Published: 27 July 2016 16:17 CEST
Not your average student digs: 'amazing' plastic bubble
Photo: DPA

In Bochum student halls are overcrowded, renting your own flat is pricey, and finding a WG (a shared flat) is near on impossible.

A group of architecture students have come up with an innovative solution: Bloon, a transparent plastic bubble squeezed between two houses on Hugo-Schulz-Straße in the town of Ehrenfeld.

“It’s surprisingly amazing”, Alexander Rakow, one of the students, told Der Westen. “The temperature is pleasant, you can see the stars, you feel a sense of security,” he added.

Perched atop a converted telephone box which now contains a miniature bathroom and a ladder, the transparent bubble has a soft and springy floor, a cross between an air-bed and a bouncy castle. So there's no need for a sofa or a proper bed.

“It’s not as solid as a concrete floor, but nevertheless it has one, and walking around is a nice feeling,” Rakow went on to say.

A pump ensures that fresh air is constantly circulating in the bubble, which is 50 cubic metres in size.

But isn’t the whole contraption too minimalistic? It doesn’t have a kitchen, after all. Well, the inventors claim that “nowadays, students don't need much more than a place to sleep […] and their laptop.”

Passers-by are somewhat amazed yet somewhat sceptical about the creation. “I need solid ground under my feet, and four walls”, a man observing the bubble told Der Westen. 

He was also put off by the transparency of the walls. But his girlfriend argued, “Today we’re all transparents – everybody posts their life on Facebook.”

The idea arose off the back of Architecture lecturer Agnes Giannone’s challenge, “How can a town like Bochum be developed, a town which needs to reinvent itself and, thanks to its students, has incredible potential?”

David Keuer, who invented the Bloon, said that at first, “they all agreed that my project was out of the question, because it would be difficult, if not completely impossible, to carry out.” Despite initial doubts, his dream has finally been made reality.

But the wacky experiment has not been cheap – a chemical company’s urban coexistence funding programme provided tens of thousands of Euros to bring the idea to life.

The futuristic invention is currently being tested for a week. Residents will decide whether they feel comfortable in the bubble, and whether they can sleep in it at all.

Although the Bloon is transparent, residents have some privacy whilst they sleep. Every evening, photos of the residents are projected onto the outside “skin” of the plastic bubble, so that people can’t see inside.

Tomorrow, the students will be discussing their creation with experts at the Art Museum, Der Westen reports.

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