Asians at
it again with their inventions..bet it would suck in a downpour or thunderstorm..
It’s not at all surprising though that after centuries of
intense technological advances, the design of the umbrella hasn’t changed that
all – it’s practical, cheap and it works. Korean designers Je Sung Park and Woo
Jung Kwon aim, however, to shift the paradigm in terms of how we
might shelter ourselves from the rain in the streets. At first glance, their
design – the air umbrella – is nothing more than a plastic stick or … an
invisible umbrella. However, don’t let the simple fact that this is an umbrella
with no canopy fool you into thinking this is useless – far from it!
Instead of a canopy, the air umbrella works by creating a wind shield, as air is sucked through the bottom of the stick, then shot out of the top in a pattern that mimics the standard canopy. Power and canopy size controls reside toward the bottom of the shaft, providing users with the ability to strengthen the force of the air and widen the canopy in order to adjust for heavier rains. Not only would these features protect against storms when a standard umbrella normally may not, but the air curtain has a better chance to survive strong winds than a flimsy nylon covering.
The
user can also adjust the size of the handle, so you can make your umbrella as
tall as you’d like. Also, there’s no more need to shake and dry your umbrella
when coming indoors. It does have on significant flaw, however – battery life. Apparently, a short trek through the rain might find you
right in the middle of a power outage, making a plastic stick all that’s
between you and the thunder storm upstairs. This is still only a concept
though, and if the design can be improved, as in battery life, I’ll be one of
the many to line up for one!
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