With anything unfortunate in life, there are dreadful details that have to be handled. But you can also look for the silver lining. So in amongst all the bad things surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic—the small, irritable bad things and the very large, very life-altering bad things—you can still find a silver lining. Mr. Rogers had a spin on this when he told us to cope with national tragedies unfolding on TV by looking “for the helpers”.
Because I have a nine year old at home, and because she both understands and doesn’t understand what’s happening with COVID-19, we’ve been looking at all the inventions—some that are cool, some that are flat-out weird, all of them certainly unique—that have come about as a result of the pandemic. By talking about what each one does, why it was needed, and how it was put together, it allows her to grasp what’s going on in her own way. Plus it makes me realize I probably would have made a terrible inventor.
What’re some of the weirder things we’ve found? See the list below. And don’t worry, there are none of those dime-a-dozen “antimicrobial brass door opener” key fobs in here or made-by-a-distillery-look-at-the-funky-bottle hand sanitizer on here. The three things below are well-and-truly weird.
FaceFence – Remember when everyone had a car alarm, and all the endless chirping and squealing you would hear if you happened to get too close to their tricked-out S-10 pickup? Imagine that, but as a pendant worn around your neck, and you have the FaceFence™. Available for the low, low price of $29.95, the FaceFence™ is a small, electronic device that’s essentially a battery, a proximity sensor, and an alarm. If two such devices get within 6’ of one another, they beep. I imagine this was intended for kitchens, offices, and other open environments where people routinely move around one another and an employer would provide one to every person there. As a personal device dependent on everyone around you owning, charging, and wearing one… well, we’ve seen what happens when we try to get everyone to wear a simple mask correctly.
UV Tech Tub – While sounding vaguely like a UK reggae band from the ‘80s, the UV Tech Tub is… a tub… for tech… with a UV sanitizing light bulb built in. While it’s intended as a way for hospitals and schools to safely store & sanitize multiple portable electronic devices, it looks all the world like a mini fridge with a $20 light fixture bolted in it. A cart with two of the UV Tech Tubs—capable of cleaning six devices at a time—will set you back between $1,100 and $1,500. Whether or not you could accomplish the same thing with a Harbor Freight hand truck, a couple of Rubbermaid bins, and two $20 UV lights off Amazon… who can say.
Plex’Eat – The restaurant space was where a lot of us really got to see the “throw everything against the wall, see what sticks” method of invention put into practice. For example, where I live, our local pizzeria made a takeout divider out of a heavy plastic tarp, Duck Tape, and paracord last spring. And I’m sure you saw your share of restaurants eating up parking spaces with all manner of canopies, Jersey barriers, and folding tables (what happened to those tents and tables when they got left outside in the snow is another story…). One French designer created the Plex’Eat after watching too many episodes of “Get Smart” to better allow restaurant patrons to dine maskless. He claims there was interest from more than 200 restaurants. No idea how many diners were interested in using them, however.
While I’m sure we all can’t wait for the pandemic to be over, for the needless deaths to stop, and for the pandemic-mandated restrictions to be lessened, it sure is interesting to see what people have made to try and keep us safe. Or to cope. All of them destined to be relics in the future.
Although hopefully we can get the whole “stay six feet away from each other at Walmart” thing to hang around…