Although Many People Continue to Believe That Invention has Entered a "Dry" Period, it's Obvious That the Spirit of Innovation is Alive and Well.
By Lauri Gross Smithsonian News Service
The spirit of innovation burns in all of us. People everywhere tinker to solve problems, from holding a critical piece of equipment together with bailing wire to coming up with new ways to speed the flow of information world wide.
Several years ago, K.G. Englehardt was a waitress and mother. But her obsession with robotic kitchens and offices propelled her into another world. She eventually led a team of research scientists at the Carnegie Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, developing robots that will perform such domestic tasks as preparing and serving dinner or tackling office work, from operating computers to handling phone calls.
Australian Don Parker came up with a new interactive computer graphics program--NOMAD--which enables the visually impaired to read and create a wide range of graphics. Originally conceived as a way to help blind people travel--from navigating sprawling shopping centers to climbing mountains--NOMAD is now being used for countless educational purposes.
Innovation has been an essential human trait, setting humans apart from other species. Its fuel is imagination; its driving force, necessity. The innovative spirit asks, "What if"..."Why not"..."How best?"
As society evolves, each generation conjures up remarkable visions for the next to invent. Those who turn these dreams into realities are sometimes larger than life. They're fascinating people with persistence, intelligence and ingenuity. The pace of innovation is calibrated by the reach of their vision.
According to Christopher Koch, producer of the Discovery channels' series "Invention," successful inventors share the quality of persistence.
"They work against incredible odds to bring their dreams to life," says Koch. "They've been told they're nuts...it will never work...it can't be done. That's the basis of progress. After all, people once called Henry Ford crazy."
Louis Wichinski, an inventor from Fallsburg, N.Y., for instance, drove a car with "DEEP FRY" on its license plate--which is certainly appropriate. A born tinkerer, Wichinski found a way to recycle vegetable oil from fast food establishments into "gas" for his car.
The Grateful Dead's drummer, Mickey Hart, turned to new digital technology to help save the Smithsonian's Folkways collection of invaluable recordings. Magically, it seems, Hart has been able to remove pops, clicks and hisses from the old recordings of folk and tribal music as well as historic spoken words.
Television, the computer, facsimile machines--these have marked the 20th century as the Information Age. But there has been other ideas and whimsical thoughts that never quite made it: air-conditioned suits, masks to wear while eating grapefruit and people-powered wings.
"I think there is a perception today that the age of invention is over, that we're in a period of decline," Koch says. "But the spirit of innovation is alive and well throughout the world. In fact, every place we went, we found people inventing devices to make our lives easier or figuring out a better way of doing things."
Take Stan Mason, fondly known in his home state of Connecticut as the "Wizard of Weston." In his unique "Electronic Barn"--a virtual invention mill--Mason dreamed up a new underwire bra and the granola bar. Mason's granola bar was never patented because, although Mason himself thought it tasted pretty good, the company he worked for in the 1970s thought no one would eat it.
And to foster innovation, the International Design Conference once sponsored the "Egg-Sperience," where inventors were challenged to create six-inch packages to hold and protect fresh eggs during a 75-foot free fall from a hot air balloon. Some invented intricate structures with pyramid-shaped supports designed to keep weight evenly distributed.
The participating children cushioned their eggs in contraptions less scientific but every bit as creative as those of adults--socks, shaving cream, marshmallows and jello. One youngster protected his egg inside a raw roasting chicken.
"The outcome of contests like this may not change the world or even make it a safer place," Koch says. "But they can fire the imagination. They have a way of renewing hope in the human spirit."
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