The past few years have afforded many new ways to charge mobile devices, and we’ve covered innovations in this area extensively. Recently, however, we came across a quirky approach we hadn’t seen before: a rocking chair capable of converting motion into energy to power an iPhone or iPad.

Much the way a tiny chip implanted in the sole of a shoe can collect energy for charging a mobile device, so Swiss Micasa Lab’s iRock rocking chair converts motion into energy that can be used to power an iPhone, iPad or other Apple gadget. An extended arm includes a dock to hold the Apple device, while speakers are built into the head rest. Sixty minutes of rocking in the chair can recharge an iPad 3 up to 35 percent, Micasa says.

Handcrafted out of Swedish pine, the iRock is still in development. Estimated pricing is EUR 1,300, and availability will include five different colors. Tech and furniture retailers around the globe: one to get in on early?

Website: www.irocknow.ch
Contact: press@irocknow.ch

Spotted by: Murray Orange

We’ve already seen Ikea-style flatpack wooden boats courtesy of The Balmain Boat Company, enabling daytrippers to build a working vessel. Now we’ve come across the Ar Vag by design student Thibault Penven – a DIY canoe that can be packed away after using.

Created as part of his degree at the Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne in Switzerland, Penven’s design is built out of lightweight waterproof material and rigid board panels. Users can simply unfold the boat and insert metal poles to give the vessel its shape, much like a tent. A wooden slat supports the sides and also acts as a seat. Once the boat is finished with, it can be packed away and fitted into the trunk of a small car. The video below shows the device in action:

Although the boat was created as part of an educational program, it is easy to see how the design fills a niche in the outdoors market, requiring little investment and effort for daytrippers. Are there any other products that could be reimagined to make them more portable?

Website: www.ecal.ch
Contact: ecal@ecal.ch

Spotted by: Judy McRae

We recently covered the Kenyan iCow SMS service and now comes word of a like-minded innovation from Switzerland. Focusing this time on cows’ fertility cycles, Anemon is testing sensor technology that alerts farmers via text message when a cow is in heat, enabling them to better time the expensive insemination process.

Amid increasing pressure to boost milk production rates, Swiss cows are showing fewer signs of heat than they used to, according to a New York times report, making it ever more difficult for farmers to know when to attempt insemination. That’s where Anemon comes in, with a system to track cows’ fertility electronically. First, a removable wireless temperature sensor is placed in the cow’s vagina. Then, a waterproof transmitter is attached to her collar, complete with SIM card, a radio frequency transmitter/receiver, a microcontroller and a GSM/GPRS module. Also included is an accelerometer to measure the cow’s activity. By combining its measurements of temperature and activity, the Anemon system is 90 percent accurate at detecting a cow’s heat – an 11 percent improvement over traditional methods, the company says – and it sends the farmer a text message when that happens. Anemon also reportedly achieves a 15 percent increase in the conception rate to 95 percent. All data, meanwhile, is accessible to the farmer via the Aneweb server.

Pricing is expected to be at least USD 1,400 per unit, according to the Times, but ROI can be achieved in 480 days, Anemon says. Agricultural entrepreneurs around the globe: one to get involved with?

Website: www.anemon-sa.ch/index.php
Contact: contact@anemon-sa.ch

Spotted by: Murray Orange

We’ve seen a couple of ideas that aim to help illiterate people navigate text content on the web, from Question Box to Wordia. Now, EasySMS app is offering a more visual and aural way for those who can’t read or write to understand and reply to text messages.

Developed by students at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, the Windows 7 Phone app takes received text messages and breaks down each word into an interactive button. Users can hear the whole text message read out in a synthesized voice, or click on individual words to hear them read out and then drag those words into their own reply. The app also contains a dictionary of visual symbols which can be incorporated into the text message reply. The user’s contacts list is also made more visual by adding avatars, which can be customized to contain memorable features. According to the team behind EasySMS, the dropping price of mass produced smartphones and greater mobile coverage means they are already being used in poorer rural areas of the world, where many of the more than 800 million people who are illiterate reside. The app enables those who can’t read or write to take full advantage of the technology, as well as easily keep in touch with relatives and friends. The following video explains more about the app:

EasySMS was a finalist in the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 and is still being tweaked by the development team. One to get involved in early?

Website: www.design.epfl.ch/easysms/blog
Contact: www.twitter.com/texting4all

As the amount of content online grows larger every day, there has been a concerted effort to develop tools to help users organize and sift through the wealth of information. We’ve already seen ReadCube, which allows users to search multiple PDFs and receive article recommendations, and now Squirro aims to provide researchers with a data filtering platform that offers content based on the way the service is used.

Revolving around the central service of a digital research assistant tool that scans the web for content based on keywords, Squirro finds results from webpages, social media sites and private databases and presents them as one feed. Users can control which sources the service trawls when looking for relevant content based on their needs and can also import their own local data – from documents or content management software – to be incorporated into search results. Once the service has been customized to users’ needs, Squirro recommends new content tailored to each user, meaning that the feeds become a source of data that is constantly updated. The site has been developed for both one-off searching and ongoing research projects and users can share their feeds with colleagues or other people searching similar topics, adding a social element that could help build relationships between those in similar industries. In addition, the Digital Fingerprint function tracks when a search is saved, deleted or shared with the community, enabling each account to ‘learn’ how it is being used and tailor content based upon that data. The video below offers more information about the platform:

Aimed at those researching for professional purposes – such as journalists or people working on pitches and projects – Squirro is available for a 30-day free trial or USD 9 a month and USD 99 a year for full usage. Filtering online data down to the most relevant material could offer an advantage to companies that rely on niche digital content – one to get involved in?

Website: www.squirro.com
Contact: info@squirro.com

Sportswear has been considerably refined over the years for enhanced breathability and performance under various weather conditions, but improvements to protective gear that must be worn by police officers and others in the line of duty have been less forthcoming. Enter Swiss Empa, which has created a new bulletproof vest with built-in air conditioning.

Kevlar is the material that gives many bulletproof vests their protective properties, but along with that impenetrability comes a lack of breathability. For the wearer, the result is considerable discomfort and a tendency to sweat profusely in warm weather. Empa’s solution includes an integrated cooling system based on the company’s Coolpad technology, which was originally designed for use in medical applications. The vest’s internal Coolpad is filled with water, which is allowed to evaporate to promote cooling. A miniature built-in fan, meanwhile, blows air though a soft and flexible fabric spacer behind the pad, providing further cooling. To refill the coolpads, a portable filling station can be attached to the vest with a quick-release fastener. At the same time, mini fans can be exchanged for those with freshly charged batteries ensuring the vest is ready for another three to four hours of duty, Empa says.

The new vest has already been tested by Zürich’s police force, and production will begin soon, according to the company website. Specialty clothing entrepreneurs and retailers: one to get involved in?

Website: www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/3/119954/—/l=2
Contact: markus.weder@empa.ch

Spotted by: Hemanth Chandrasekar

There will be few travelers around the world who are unfamiliar with the experience of waiting at airports, and we’ve already seen efforts designed to ease this pain with specially designed experiential spaces. Now hoping to keep their travelers entertained while they wait for their flights, Zürich Airport has recently launched an interactive information center at its Dock B.

Zürich Airport, in collaboration with ART+COM, has revamped its Dock B with an observation deck featuring state-of-the-art equipment designed to deliver information about the airport to travelers. The space houses four observation points which enable those waiting for their flight to interact with the airport and request information about its buildings and aircraft. Looking through the newly installed telescopes, for example, travelers can explore the airport’s runways and airplanes from afar, with the live images appearing overlaid with information on a plane’s type, point of origin or destination. Research by the company has shown that nearly half of all airport visitors are children, and the space includes 12 entertainment stations for kids. Each child also receives a ‘play and learn book’ to help engage them. Dock B is open from 9am to 6pm each day.

ART+COM’s installation space entertains travelers having to wait before boarding while simultaneously engaging them with the airport brand. Plenty of inspiration here to give travelers a helping hand as they pass your neck of the woods.

Website: www.artcom.de/en/projects/project/detail/visitor-deck-dock-b
Contact: info@artcom.de

Spotted by: Florent Lesauvage

Regular readers of Springwise may remember our article last year on ifttt, an application that aimed to enable users to link and automate certain online activities. Now hoping to achieve a similar goal offline, we recently came across EVRYTHNG, a new service which connects physical objects through a digital dialogue.

EVRYTHNG works by first creating Active Digital Identities (ADIs) for the physical objects it is going to manage. A camera, for example, could be given an ADI, which would then act as its online presence in much the same way as a Facebook page does for humans. These profiles, called Thngs, store textual, binary and geo-location information about their associated object, which can then be used to drive third party applications and services. EVRYTHNG provides developers with an API toolkit, which enables them to manage these Thngs, access the online data associated with the physical objects, and create new services, enabling objects to communicate with one another and with the user. The result is that users are able to interact with EVRYTHNG objects in a way that would have been previously impossible. For example, a user’s camera could be setup to recommend a good time and place for a photo shoot, or smart meters could be used to turn on a washing machine at the cheapest times.

Currently in private beta, open only for developers, EVRYTHNG will soon offer a free plan enabling users to create 1,000 ADIs with 100Mb of storage, while a paid Pro package will also be available for larger needs.

EVRYTHNG haven’t released any details on their product plans as yet, but the premise of the project should be of great interest to brands, manufacturers, developers, academics, marketeers, and service providers everywhere. As we continue to take steps towards an Internet of Things, this is definitely one to watch.

Website: www.evrythng.com
Contact: info@evrythng.com

Regular Springwise readers will be familiar with the numerous carpooling services to feature on our virtual pages. However, most still require the user to search for a suitable ride, which comes with no guarantee. Now, in France and Switzerland, Green Monkeys aims to create a safe ridesharing community and connect members automatically based on best-matched journeys.

Users register on Green Monkeys website for free, and they can then add a photo and enter the details of the journey they want to make using the “plan a ride” tool. Green Monkeys works out user combinations and makes suitable matches based on start and end point, time of departure and arrival, and user preferences. Users can access their ride details and calendar on their smartphone and contact their ridesharer via the Green Monkeys chat facility. Cost per kilometer is fixed and all payments are managed by the service. If a ride is cancelled they aim to find a suitable replacement, providing a taxi if there are no alternatives. Green Monkeys also works with businesses, providing statistics to demonstrate the success of ridesharing schemes.

Ridesharing is an increasingly popular, eco-friendly way to travel and the Green Monkeys concept removes the hassle and risk factors. Could a similar scheme be a popular solution in a city near you?

Website: www.greenmonkeys.com
Contact: www.greenmonkeys.com/#contact

Spotted by: John Elbing

As newspapers and magazines struggle to find solutions to decreasing audiences — a problem driven by competition from digital media — Switzerland-based Paperboy hopes to offer a solution, with a smartphone app that uses image recognition technology so users can easily share, save and digitally explore content from printed media.

Paperboy is available for iPhone and Android devices, and claims to benefit readers and publishers alike. To recommend an interesting article to friends, users snap a photo of it on their phone using Paperboy, which will recognize the page and allow sharing via email, Facebook and Twitter. The app will also suggest related articles, images and videos, and recognize URLs on the printed page. Pages marked with a shutter icon indicate exclusive digital content can be unlocked by using Paperboy, and there is also the function to save favorite pages in a personal archive. For publishers, the Paperboy platform means printed content can reach a much wider audience, quickly and easily, and offer greater engagement for readers. Paperboy currently supports printed titles in 16 countries around the world, and publishers can choose from two versions of their Interactive Print product. The basic package is free and enables every page of a printed title to be recognized by Paperboy. The PRO package costs USD 399 a month and has additional features such as SmartAds, which claims to increase the value of print advertising space by serving relevant, interactive ads to consumers via Paperboy. The video below explains Paperboy in more detail:

Paperboy has the potential to increase audience numbers along with advertising revenue. One for newspapers and magazines who don’t want to be left on the shelf?

Website: www.kooaba.com
Contact: info@kooaba.com

Spotted by: Regina Fischer