19. The AC that Lowers Your Energy Bills

幫你節(jié)省電費(fèi)的空調(diào)

The Aros air conditioner, which is developed by Quirky, the GE-backed site that turns people’s concepts into creations. It’s smart. Thanks to a companion mobile app, Aros can track owners’ movements via GPS and turn itself on and off depending on their proximity to home. It also tells people exactly how much money they’re spending to cool their residences. That’s how Quirky knows it’s working: so far, the company says, Aros owners who use the “smart away” feature that turns the unit on and off automatically have trimmed their energy use by nearly 10%.

Aros空調(diào)是由通用電氣公司自助的創(chuàng)意網(wǎng)站Quirky研發(fā)的。它是智能化的。利用一款配套的手機(jī)應(yīng)用，Aros空調(diào)可以通過GPS跟蹤主人行蹤，并根據(jù)他們離家的遠(yuǎn)近自動(dòng)開關(guān)機(jī)。它還能告訴用戶他們正在花多少錢來(lái)給屋子降溫。Quirky網(wǎng)站稱，使用自動(dòng)開關(guān)機(jī)功能的Aros空調(diào)為用戶節(jié)省了近10%的電費(fèi)。

20. The Prison Room that Helps Inmates Relax

有助于囚犯放松情緒的監(jiān)獄活動(dòng)室

For 23 hours a day, the 200 inmates in solitary confinement at Oregon’s largest prison see nothing but a tiny, white-walled cell—an experience some research suggests can heighten mental illness and make prisoners prone to suicide attempts and violence. Last year, officials began letting some of them spend their free hour in a first-of-its-kind “blue room,” an exercise space where a projector plays video of open deserts, streaming waterfalls and other outdoor scenes. That imagery, says creator Nalini Nadkarni, who studies how nature affects behavior, is designed to calm prisoners.

每天有23個(gè)小時(shí)，美國(guó)俄勒岡州最大監(jiān)獄里被單獨(dú)關(guān)押的200名囚犯除了白色的牢房墻壁什么也看不到。有研究稱這種體驗(yàn)會(huì)提高精神疾病發(fā)病率，使囚犯容易具有自殺和暴力傾向。去年，監(jiān)獄官員們開始讓一些囚犯在獨(dú)創(chuàng)的“藍(lán)屋”里度過1小時(shí)放風(fēng)時(shí)間，這是一個(gè)內(nèi)有放映機(jī)播放空曠的沙漠、奔流的瀑布和其他室外景色視頻的活動(dòng)室。這個(gè)屋子的設(shè)計(jì)者納利尼?納德卡爾尼的專業(yè)是研究自然界如何影響人類行為，而這個(gè)屋子也意在使囚犯平靜下來(lái)。