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EggMap – zoom in the city
Contrived by Hungarian designer Dénes Sándor, this truly two-in-one invention simultaneously makes navigation easier and less stressful in Hungary’s capital. The breakthrough is a city map of Budapest in the form of a stress ball, made out of stretchable rubber that its user can squeeze to inflate different surfaces. As we “zoom in” on certain parts of the city, this waterproof map reveals detailed city info like street names, major urban hotspots, transport hubs, parks, and other features marked in 11 Budapest districts. While the production of this playful map is not scheduled before spring 2017, the inventors aim to take the EggMap worldwide, so we soon be able to hold many major cities in the palm of our hands.
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Gömböc – the inner balance
First introduced to the public in 2006, the convex three-dimensional homogeneous body has been formulated by Hungarian scientists Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi, and it’s the first and only known homogeneous object with one stable and one unstable equilibrium point – no matter how Gömböc is placed on a flat surface, this carefully shaped creation always returns to an upright position. Created in a diverse range of shapes, Gömböc is a hypnotic object that helps relax the mind and provide inspiration, and now this invention is available in various materials – like steel, bronze, aluminum, and plexiglass – from the official Gömböc webshop; however, a more affordable version of this “toy” is expected to hit stores in the coming months with an initial price tag of around 10,000 forints (about 30 euros).
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Kenguru – an accessible ride
Designed to provide environment-friendly electric transportation to those with limited mobility, the Kenguru vehicle was launched in the United States in 2011 based on the plans of Hungarian inventor István Kissároslaki. This cutting-edge development is a low-speed electric automobile suitable for use by a single person in a wheelchair, as the opening is at the back of the car, so drivers can wheel their chair directly into the vehicle without an aid; plus, the car can be navigated with a handlebar instead of a steering wheel. With a top speed of 40 kilometers per hour and a maximum distance capacity of 80 kilometers per day, those with limited mobility can use a Kenguru to drive independently around their neighborhood.
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Puli Moon Rover – the sky’s the limit
Hungarian Team Puli – named after the renowned Magyar shepherd-dog breed – has been participating in a $30-million competition of the Google Lunar XPRIZE project to be the first privately funded team to build a rover that is capable of traveling 500 meters on the Moon while transmitting high-resolution videos and photos back to Earth. The Hungarian team has already invested around 70,000 hours of work in this project that aims to make Hungary the fourth nation to ever send a machine to the Moon. The team schedules the lunar landing for the second half of 2017, utilizing the landing craft of one of their competitors; however, to achieve their goals they require further support. Learn more about the project and how you can help the mission on the official website of Puli Space Technologies.
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ReHydrant Project – urban relief
During the summer months, many of Budapest’s fire hydrants transform into eco-friendly drinking fountains to bring cool liquid relief to those who want to beat the urban heat. Invented by the Hungarian Ivócsap Projekt (“ReHydrant Project” in English), this creative endeavor utilizes a little device to turn ordinary hydrants into drinking fountains across the city without compromising their original function, and we can easily spot these temporary sipping stations by their blue attachment. After pushing the button on the blue-colored device on the fire-red hydrants, the tap will flow for 15 seconds before it closes itself. There’s only one point on it where the water spouts, and we can drink straight from it or fill our bottles.
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“Smart Egg” – a puzzling invention
Born from an in-depth experience gained as an architect, András Zagyvai created a three-dimensional labyrinth-like logic puzzle in the form of delicately designed wooden eggs, initially to help develop his children’s problem-solving skills. However when the inventor’s “Washington Egg” won the The Best New Puzzle award in 2012, Zagyvai’s contrivance enjoyed rapidly increasing success. Offering a selection of one-layer and two-layer eggs, each model being made complete with a wand, the Smart Egg game is a unique type of puzzle with one simple challenge – getting the wand out of the egg by following a path. “The egg-shape is a symbol of fertility and creation, and the wand goes through its maze like we advance in life as our time passes. Sometimes we reach forks in the road and we have to take decisions on the directions we choose,” says the inventor.
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Teqball – table tennis meets football
Inventors of Teqball, Gábor Borsányi and Viktor Huszár, dreamed up a novel sport that at first glance looks like a combination of table tennis and soccer – on random occasions in the past, Borsányi used ping-pong tables for playing soccer, hence the inspiration. Played with the same ball as ordinary soccer, the main equipment of the game is the Teqboard, a curved table that is developed to enable the ball to bounce off of all parts of the board, while forcing the players to handle and control the ball every 2-3 seconds without touching the equipment. Teqball can be played by two (singles), by four (doubles), or by even more (round) players, while during the game it’s forbidden to touch the opponent. The Teqboard is available for purchase on the official website of Teqball.
