Inventions Consumer Insights

Implications - The lure of a multi-functional product is strong, and so are add-ons that increase multi-tasking capabilities. Especially in the mobile phone arena, modifications to amplify productivity, efficiency and effectiveness are now saturating the marketplace. The drive for more personal time and better performing products will see this trend incorporated into a variety of goods.

Implications - Earlier this year, Trend Hunter uncovered 'Hands-Free Tech,' innovative eyewear giving consumers extra functionality, whether it's connecting to social media or taking photos. Now, we're seeing even more hi-tech eyewear that provide display and projection features to create a completely enhanced and unprecedented viewing experience. These include everything from virtual reality contact lenses to bluetooth-enabled specs that can display images from your phone or tablet, all of which stand to transform the way today's media is delivered and digested.

Implications - Getting medical treatment can be incredibly time-consuming, but thanks to innovations that speed up the entire process, now consumers can do everything from treat and diagnose themselves to getting emergency help from a trained medical professional closest to you with the touch of a button. Consumers like taking matters into their own hands, and having emergency help always on the ready definitely falls into this category.

Implications - Ergonomics, the study of designing products that aim to "fit" a person's body to enhance productivity while preventing repetitive stress injuries, has long been an important part of design -- whether it be furniture, equipment or tech gadgets. While ergonomic design has lately been focused on tech gadgets such as computer peripherals, designers are now increasingly paying attention to the ergonomics of everyday items, ranging from crowbars and walking sticks to coffee mugs and razors. Consumers place high importance on comfort, so anything that offers enhanced usability will likely stand out, no matter how mundane the product might be.

Implications - Natural disasters, crime, freak accidents -- there is much to fear in today's danger-ridden world, which is why consumers are now more cautious than ever, cognizant of decreasing risk wherever and whenever they can. Thankfully, there are many different innovations (however bizarre some may be) to alleviate their anxiety. Ranging from shopping bags that double as helmets to pepper spray phone attachments, the number of tools designed to protect consumers while they go about their day-to-day lives is increasing. Since it takes advantage of a consumer's desire to feel safe and secure, appealing to fear, as many brands have uncovered over the years, can be an extremely effective marketing strategy.

Implications - Ordinary reading glasses may be a thing of the past, now that designers and innovators are coming up with hi-tech eyewear that can serve a myriad of purposes, including taking pictures, connecting to Facebook and completely overhauling the multimedia entertainment experience. Leading the wave is Google, whose 'Project Glass' is setting the stage for the future of technologically savvy eyewear. With more consumers embracing mobile applications and requiring convenience in day-to-day living, this direction in hands-free gadgetry is certainly a logical next step in tech innovation.

Implications - Increasingly, the paperless office is becoming the goal of many organizations and has since extended to the day-to-day lives of the average consumer as well. To aid in this goal is the availability of electronic forms of information and communication, which range from digital business cards and touchscreen paper to erasable photocopiers. Considering, however, that the average American office worker prints abut 10,000 pages annually (according to GoPaperless.com), society still has a long way to go. Nonetheless, innovations that encourage paperless living will provide extreme benefit and appeals to eco-minded consumers; even if society never goes completely paperless, the use of less paper still counts toward a greener planet.

Implications - Consumers are increasingly being bombarded by social media spin-offs and extensions both offline and online. Twitter, in particular, is becoming a part of daily reality -- not just in the form of branded merchandise, but in the form of offbeat extensions that range from devices that will read updates from your Twitter feed to you, to innovations that are dependent on tweets to simply function. Since Twitter is more one-dimensional than other social networks, it is more easily translated into such offline extensions, which in turn can help elevate once-ordinary products to a new level of virtual connectedness.

Implications - Increasingly hectic schedules are causing consumers to look for convenience wherever they can find it. One area that can meet this need is tech design; as consumer demand grows for gadgets and innovations that offer multiple functionality and practicality, creating devices that offer multiple uses is one way tech companies can maximize the appeal of their products.

Implications - With the popularity of projection-based marketing, which was used throughout 2010 and 2011 for everything from fashion campaigns to celebratory events, it wasn’t long before technology companies everywhere would begin creating projection-based gadgets for individual consumers. From computers to watches, these innovative creations are taking consumer electronics and technology to the next level, allowing tech users the ability to project their own holograms whenever they want.