Innovations that change lives

Up to 90% of the world's population has little access to basic products and services. Half of them, about 3 billion people, lack food, shelter and clean water. But paradoxically, inventions seem to mainly serve the remaining 10% of the rich.

The school is worth $ 1 million. Cars run extremely fast. New computer. Toothbrushes, electric drills or MP3 players constantly improve every little detail. Museums, books, magazines and blogs are full of information related to such products, and tens of thousands of designers spend almost all of their time continuing to create products, service of this type.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with that, but if you try once to look at the larger picture, you will realize that perhaps we are spending too much time, effort and resources on creating products. products that are too luxurious, only used by a few, while the vast majority need something more practical, more urgent, for life. At that time, the question is why redesigners are so focused on serving the remaining 10%?

The simple answer is ' Money '. Designers also have the right to make a living like everyone. The inventions and initiatives to satisfy the needs of the wealthy group in the world can bring huge profits.

However, if you look back on history, you can see that not all are like that. Examples include the emergency housing type of R. Buckminster Fuller architect, or sustainable products invented by Victor Papanek for use in developing countries. Their initiatives are all very influential. Fuller's dome house architecture has helped hundreds of thousands of people to live in seemingly hopeless situations; and Papanek is praised as a pioneer in the field of design with high responsibility for society.

Today, designers are also becoming more interested in using their talents and creativity to contribute to change, or at least reduce difficulties for the majority. Some designers have voluntarily devoted part or all of their time to working for non-profit organizations working for the community.

The National Design Museum Cooper-Hewitt in New York has an exhibition of products designed for 90% of the world's population ("Design for the Other 90%"), introducing 30 design projects. Leadership has helped solve basic human needs such as housing, health, water, education, energy and transportation, some of which are people's initiatives through practicality. live, and others are the products of professional designers and collaborative products.The purpose of this exhibition program is to appeal to the community.

The technical complexity of the initiatives is diverse. There are really simple innovations that have a big and direct impact on many people's lives. For example, the Q-Drum box helps people transport water more easily, by dragging a rolling box on the ground like a tire instead of carrying or carrying it as usual. Or like a Pot-in-Pot Cooler used to preserve vegetables, by putting food in a ceramic jar placed in another ceramic pot filled with wet sand. The X01 laptop project costs US $ 100-150 which requires a high quality investment, to help poor children around the world have the opportunity to access modern education.

We present 12 innovative initiatives at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum:

In the dry season, farmers can use this pump to bring water into the field . This is a product developed by Gunnar Barnes of Rangpur / Dinajpur Rural Department in partnership with Nepal International Development Organization in 2006. This pump system consists of 2 metal, piston-operated cylinders. How to pedal on 2 pedals. These pumps can be made in small local production facilities and are now widely and effectively applied in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Zambia.

More than 1 million people around the world currently do not have safe drinking water.Combining the ceramic refining ability with colloidal silver, ceramic water filters significantly reduce the risk of bacterial infection for people in countries that lack water. clean . This water filter has been developed into different types in Cambodia, Nepal and Nicaragua, and is used by more than 500,000 people around the world.

Designed to be able to convert surface water into drinking water, LifeStraw equipment is now made and manufactured by Danish company Vestergaard Frandsen. Widely used in Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan and Uganda, this device can remove contaminants of only about 15 microns in size and help reduce the risk of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid. .

Nigerian engineer Mohammed Bah Abba invented in 1995 to preserve fresh, pot-in-pot food, consisting of a large ceramic pot filled with wet sand, in the middle of a small ceramic vase.

Food is placed in a small ceramic vase. The water in the volatile sandy layer will absorb the heat in the small tank, thereby cooling the food inside the small tank. This type is used in many countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Niger.

With the goal of bringing learning opportunities to poor children, the nonprofit group called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC - Every Child with a laptop) , by Nicholas Negroponte of the Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the leader, has developed a project to provide laptops for $ 100.

As a result, the introduction of the XO1 computer is fully equipped with the basic features of a regular computer. In particular, the LCD screen of the device can switch from black to white to help users read in the sun. The project is being tested in Nigeria, Pakistan, Uruguay, Libya, Thailand, Brazil . Initially the machine will cost 150 USD / unit but when the output increases, the price can be reduced to 100 USD as the target. fabricate.

For millions of people around the world, water transport is an essential but heavy and time-consuming task. Instead of lifting up buckets, buckets, or water tanks as usual when they want to transport water, two designers PJ and PS Hendrikse have created a Q-Drum (Q-Drum) container that can roll over. ground like wheels, with a capacity of 75 liters of water.

This type of barrel is currently being used in some African countries such as Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana. Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania

Big Boda bike is an improvement from the traditional bicycle to be able to carry more goods or can carry 2 more people. This product was researched and developed by WorldBike team from 2002 to 2005 and produced in Kenya.

The people of Uganda and Kenya all use this bike.

Built with biodegradable materials, the houses of Global Village Shelter do not require complicated tools to build.

This is Ferrara's initiative in 2004, implemented by Weyerhaeuser, which provided temporary accommodation for victims in Afghanistan, Grenada, Pakistan, victims of Hurricane Katrina in the US and disaster. Tsunami in South Asia.

Millions of people around the world currently live in places without electricity; so bringing light to them is the main concern of many developing countries.

Sierra portable light is an initiative of women working in textiles in the untouched San Andreas region of the Sierra Madre province, Mexico. These lamps, also known as lighting mats, use light-emitting diodes (LEDs), switches and rechargeable batteries, which are currently being tested in Mexico and Australia.

Malaria is one of the most common and dangerous diseases in the world. Designed by the company Vestergaard Frandsen in 2000, PermaNet is a kind of high-strength polyester fiber- impregnated mosquito net that kills and expels mosquitoes that spread malaria.

Widely used in Africa and Asia, this type of curtain is effective for 4 years, 5 times longer than traditional insecticide-impregnated drapes.

The oldest invention in the creative exhibition program because the community is probably the fake leg . Cheap, healthy and waterproof, prosthetic devices designed by Ram Chandra Sharma and PK Sethi are based on traditional craft techniques, and can be produced at small local establishments.

Desiring to build a free housing for homeless people in Atlanta, a group of architecture students at the Georgia Tech School in the United States set up a Mad Housers project in 1987 .

Made from cheap materials available such as sawn timber, each temporary house is built and can be erected in less than half a day. This type of house is quite popular in the US and Canada, each has a locked door to ensure security, a attic to sleep and storage, a stove to cook and heat.

Dang Le

According to International Herald Tribune, People