Fresh Takes on Innovation

This is propably the most high tech bar in the whole world. The IBar finds out which drink you’re having by using sensors that calculate the glass shape and then link it to the content of the glass. So if you drink a prosecco, the IBar will recognize that because you won’t usually have a whiskey on the rocks in a similarly shaped glass.

So what’s happening, I ask myself, if you’re drinking a cosmopolitan… How will the bar recognize that you’re not having a Martini? Will the IBar identify it because of the customer’s gender? Men don’t usually drink cosmopolitans, or do they now? What if the guest is a gay man or a female whiskey amateur?

But experts say that within a few years we’ll be using it to pay for our drink by simply placing a credit card on it. They also say the interactive device will be able to upload pics and videos from your mobile to show off to other bar guests in the same way. Plus punters will be able to flick through food menues, special drinks offers and jukebox tracks on the multitouch bar surface.

The first ever iBar was this week installed at London’s swanky Soho nightclub 24.

Did you know that shampoo was invented in 1759, a hundred years before the oil drill, and another hundred year before the laser? Take a look at Wikipedia’s Timeline of Invention, a collection of particularly important or significant inventions. Take notice, that the term “invention” is reduced to technology, ignoring cultural, social or scientific occurences. So you won’t find “pyschoanalysis”, “democracy”, “central perspective” or “binary numeral system” on that list.

When browsing through the items, I can’t help but reflect on the concept of invention. Like Bianca asked two days ago: What distinguishes invention from innovation? Not always easy to tell. Let me add another question: When should we rather talk about a discovery instead of an innovation? How about the “golden section”: Invention, innovation or discovery?

In the last years a lot of people have pointed out the difference between innovation and invention. They are of the opinion that “invention is turning money into ideas” and “innovation is turning ideas into money.” So basically, invention is coming up with new ideas and innovation is bringing a product to the market in a way that people appreciate.

Techdirts opinion is:

Innovation is a lot more important than invention. Successfully bringing a product to market is what makes the world a better place — because it satisfies needs in the market and expands the economy. There were music players before the iPod, but Apple innovated the iPod into more of a “must have” device. There were cars before Ford, but he innovated to make it affordable for the average person.

What’s your opinion?

When working with individuals who are not trained in creative problem solving techniques, you need to work with a variety of methods and triggers. One of the fun and efficient tools we invented at BrainStore is the BrainRace. For a specific question – e.g. “what would be a great new claim for this new coffee machine” a variety of subquestions is generated (e.g. “claims that appeal to wiches”, “claims that sound warm”, “claims that are scary” etc.).

Then, the participants get a clipboard and a form with ten lines to write down 10 ideas. Loud music is played, and the participants write down 10 (legible) suggestions on their form. When they have 10 suggestions, they have to run a defined parcours (about 50 meters) as fast as they can, until they reach the “control table” where their form is checked (are there 10 ideas? are they legible?).

If everything is fine, they get an “OK” stamp on their form and they get a second form, where they write another 10 suggestions.

Whenever there is a BrainRace going on in our IdeaFactory, a lot of the staff come down to our great yard (where this exercise usually takes place) and cheer for the participants.

What happens during BrainRace? The Brain actually shuts down, people focus on the competition and thus write down the first ideas that come to mind. This way, we collect subconcious and silly inspirations that can be very useful when later combining these inspirations to ideas.

BrainRace always is a highlight at every CreativeTeam and is a lot of fun as well as a good wake-up exercise in the morning or after lunch.

Ever saw yourself standing in front of yourself? Ever hovered in a room, looking down at your body lying on the bed? Out-of-body-experiences are reported regularly in all cultures. As they are virtually impossible (physically speaking), scientists have been searching for a neurological explanation for a long time. Now, a British and a Swiss team of scientists have conducted some interesting experiments that led people to believe that they are standing outside their body.

Check out this BBC News-article.