March 3rd, 2008 · No Comments

Judging from what made the event’s “Notable Entries” list, this particular batch of innovators definitely leaned toward the “startup” category even if its thinking wasn’t always “independent.” Plenty of the designs fell into categories shared by already-existing products, some of them offering only superficial improvements.

There was, for instance, a wide array of gizmos following in the footsteps of gizmos like the already-available Kill A Watt, which gauges how much energy your assorted household electronics and appliances are using. Some, like the Eco-Tap and Eject Powerstrip, were straightforward attempts to control the “phantom power” waste that occurs when devices are left plugged in when not in use. (The well established company Belkin has already announced a Conserve surge protector with this in mind.) Others promised to collect data about users’ lifestyles and measure a carbon footprint with easily understood biomorphic visuals. Some were quite pretty, like the Conscience, but seemed like a lot of trouble to go to, to make a simple point: “Turn the thermostat down!”

The most prominent in this tab-keeping category actually won first place in the competition. The EnerJar was less a commercial product than a do-it-yourself plan, and its triumph came as a surprise to many. Inhabitat’s Jill Fehrenbacher explains that the judges “selected the top eight entries, and had the audience pick the winners using a very unscientific applause system.” The EnerJar “was not originally in our top four, but we eliminated one or two of those based on comments from the audience” pertaining to feasibility. Once it was a finalist, the EnerJar drew a surprising amount of applause — afterward, Fehrenbacher realized that the designers “live in Brooklyn [the conference was held in New York City], and I thought maybe they had a posse of friends in the audience.” (EnerJar’s web site lists its inventors as students of Washington University in St. Louis.)

Fehrenbacher says that the design competition got a good enough reception that she hopes to bring it back again, though she would “make it more rigorous and set more rules up for what we’re looking for.” She emphasizes that the event was intended to encourage speculative designs, not to limit participants to things that could go into production in the immediate future — which may explain why the Second Place winner, an ingenious and stylish lamp called the Gravia, is an idea that wouldn’t work without substantial improvements in LED technology.

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