Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Would you like to train your dog to clean? How about a hardwood floor that converts to a swimming pool, and then a robot fish to put in that pool? Jay McFarland has searched high and low on the internet to bring you amazing ideas and inventions.
Are you struggling with the decision to instal a swimming pool or a basketball court? No? Neither are we, but this Belgium designer has a cool concept: hydroflooring. It functions as a normal floor until you want to take a dip. At the flick of a switch, the floor gives way to a swimming pool.
MIT engineers have developed the first self-contained soft-robot fish. Soft robotics is a growing area of research for scientists because as humans interact with robots more, a soft exterior makes these interactions safer. Not only is this robot fish soft to the touch, it is extremely maneuverable.
Dogs are like 8-year-olds that never grow up, and like young people, dogs rarely clean up their own messes. Tidy Dog thinks it's figured out a way to train your pooch to pick-up. Every time Rover puts a chew toy in the box, a compartment on the bottom delivers a few tasty treats. Thus, training your dog that cleaning means eating!
