The Innovation Economy Conference - Innovators Showcase

FEATURED INNOVATORS

Audeo

The Audeo

Show Innovator



The Audeo is being developed by Ambient as an innovative new way of silently communicating with the world around you. The Audeo allows an individual to directly utilize the minute neurological signals from the brain which control the vocal cords to speak silently. It could allow an individual to have a phone conversation silently without being heard by others in the room.


Audeo

top

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface

Show Innovator



Microsoft Surface™ is a revolutionary multi-touch computer that responds to natural hand gestures and real-world objects, helping multiple users interact with digital content in a simple and intuitive way—while leaving the mouse and keyboard behind. Surface also sees and interacts with objects placed on the screen, allowing you to move information between devices like mobile phones or cameras. The result is a fun, social and exciting computing experience like you’ve never had before. In the business realm, Microsoft Surface™ provides tremendous potential for businesses to improve communication, and be more efficient in how they deliver information and services to their customers. Surface is changing the approach to communications collaboration, data visualization and true “digital” manipulation of rich content.

Ms

top

Quizlet

Quizlet

Show Innovator



Quizlet.com is the largest and fastest growing educational flashcards site on the web, providing free, powerful online study tools to more than a million students per month globally. Founded in 2005 by high school sophomore Andrew Sutherland (now at MIT),Quizlet™ makes studying fun, and offers an ever-growing library of user-contributed flashcard sets on subjects ranging from languages to standardized test prep to math and science. Our 500,000 registered users have uploaded tens of millions of flashcards. With a strong focus on student needs, Quizlet’s goal is to provide easy-to-use study tools in a fun learning environment. For more information please see http://quizlet.com.


top

6dot Braille Labeler

6dot Braille Labeler

Show Innovator



A team of MIT students developed the 6dot Braille Labeler last year, a small and portable Braille label-maker that stands apart from the expensive and heavy Braille label-makers that are currently on the market. The 6dot can be easily used to create a variety of possible Braille characters as well as frequently used contractions, unlike previous labelers that commonly have limited utility. While the device started as a class project, some of the students went on to refine the project and have made steps to form a company to continue developing the 6dot. The labeler is battery-operated and has six buttons—one for each of the dots that make up a Braille character—that are used by placing both hands on top of the device. The 6dot uses standard label tape and, in case the user is a fast typer, has a microcontroller that can store up to 16 characters built-in. The developers plan to make the labeler even easier to use in the future (such as with a second blade to score the end of the label tape for easy peeling) as well as partner with a manufacturer to make the 6dot widely available on the market.

Ms

top

Premier Organic Farms

Premier Organic Farms

Show Innovator



Premier Organic Farms is a 21st century farming enterprise that combines organic growing practices in controlled ecological environments as the basis for its state of the art Pod Growing Unit (Aquaponics farming operation), which can grow a lot of food (5000 percent more food in the same land footprint than conventional farming). Its facilities are 100 percent covered and temperature-controlled while providing additional safeguards for producing contaminate-free food products. The Pod Growing Unit also allows Premier to produce 365 days per year, using 70 percent less water than conventional farming and remains carbon-neutral. Premier’s inspiration and operation is characterized by its ability to offer organically superior products on U.S. soil that exceed foreign competition in quality, freshness, and availability. Premier’s advanced organic growing technology will enable the company to compete effectively with foreign markets by producing certifiable premium products and higher yields per cubic foot.

top

Sketch-3D

Sketch-3D

Show Innovator



o2 Creative Solutions is an experience design firm. The inception was inspired by the need to integrate design, communications and technology to tap into the senses. It is through this multi-disciplinary approach that o2 is able to craft unique immersive experiences, and to breathe life into the storytelling process. o2 presents SKETCH 3D an interactive, integrated software/hardware system that enables users to create their own anaglyphic 3D drawings. Inspired by the original “Etch-a-Sketch,” o2 added a third wheel controller (and a bunch of electronics) to the model, which creates a 3D creative experience with the use of the device’s 3D glasses SKETCH 3D can be scaled to work with any output device, from a large-scale projection to a small-integrated LCD screen. www.o2creativesolutions.com

top

 Tesla

Tesla

Show Innovator



Tesla™ Motors is the only automaker producing and selling highway-capable electric vehicles worldwide. The Tesla™ Roadster is faster than a Porsche 911 and twice as energy efficient as a Toyota Prius—the only car that delivers performance with a clean conscience. Tesla’s goal is to produce more and more affordable electric vehicles for mainstream consumers. The company’s upcoming Model S sedan has an anticipated base price of $49,900—about half the price of the Roadster. Tesla™ also sells electric powertrain components to other automakers so that they can get affordable EV s to consumers faster. Tesla™ battery packs and chargers will be in an electric version of Daimler’s Smart city car starting in early 2010.

Tesla™ sells cars directly to consumers online and at galleries and showrooms in California, Colorado, New York, Seattle, London and Munich. The Roadster travels 0–60 mph in 3.7 seconds and gets an EPA-estimated range of 244 miles per charge. It costs about $5 to fully recharge from conventional outlets, and it’s very easy to own. Roadsters do not require any routine oil changes, exhaust system work or replacement parts such as spark plugs, pistons, filters, alternators, fly wheels or other breakable internal combustion engine parts.

Ms

top

 Greensulate

Greensulate

Show Innovator



Greensulate is a leading green roofing (and green wall) company headquartered in New York and serving North America. Green roofs (literally planted) act as an insulating method for buildings as well as providing other tremendous environmental benefits such as storm water management, improved air quality, and reduction in urban temperatures. Columbia University scientists have touted the installation of green roofs (combined with other urban plantings) as the best strategy for mitigating the effects of global warming.

Greensulate was just nominated one of the top five most innovative start-ups by Opportunity Green. Greensulate transforms buildings, the environment, and helps businesses and building owners meet their sustainability goals while making the world literally greener and cleaner.


top

 Intel Health Guide

Intel Health Guide

Show Innovator



The Intel® Health Guide is an FDA-cleared remote patient monitoring system designed to help address the challenges of chronic conditions for patients, their family caregivers, and the healthcare professionals responsible for their care. It combines an in-home patient device (the Intel Health Guide PHS 6000) with the Intel® Health Care Management Suite, an online interface that allows clinicians to monitor patients and remotely manage care. Healthcare professionals are able to customize care, gather timely information about the status of their patients, and collect and prioritize data, while patients gain an intuitive means to have timely interaction with their care providers and receive relevant self-care education. This helps minimize time-consuming and costly office visits. The system’s customizable educational content capability also makes it an ideal vehicle for delivering information to support family caregivers. Patients and their health care teams connect via cable/DSL broadband, cellular wireless, or residential phone service.

top

 Kiva

Kiva

Show Innovator



Kiva™ is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend to unique entrepreneurs around the globe. Kiva™ connects individuals who would like to lend with entrepreneurs around the globe in a mission to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva™ partners with existing microfinance institutions to gain access to communities worldwide. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6–36 months), you can browse entrepreneur profiles before selecting, receive email journal updates and track repayments. When you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else. Utilizing the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery, Kiva™ creates connections that previously were prohibitively expensive. Kiva is continuously working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle and to illuminate what effect it has on the people and institutions lending it, borrowing it, and managing it along the way.


Ms

top