People

Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Michael Rosenberg
Invention: Media-Dispensing Apparatus and Method
Patent: Application No. 11/827,032
Brand Name: The Game Chamber

Michael Rosenberg’s kids have a lot of games for their Nintendo DS handheld system, at a cost of 30 or 40 bucks each. As kids will do, they sometimes let their bedrooms get messy, and games get lost or broken. Finally, out of frustration, Michael decided to invent a gadget that stores games in a way that ensures they don’t get lost: in order to remove a game from the Game Chamber, you have to put the one you’re using back in.

Here’s Michael with a Nintendo DS and his dog Busta (click any photo to enlarge):

I can’t imagine how a toy could get lost in this room:

And finally, here’s Michael in the plastic injection molding factory where the Game Chamber is made, standing among various molds for dozens of products made at the factory.

The current model Game Chamber holds 6 Nintendo DS games, but Michael is developing models that hold more games, and that come in different shapes and sizes appropriate for different age groups and different game systems.

The Game Chamber website: www.gamechamber.com

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Categories: Inventors, People

Last year, I set up a temporary photo studio in my building’s lobby and photographed kids who came to the building trick-or-treating. Afterwords I posted some of the pictures on my other blog Ironic Sans. This year, I’ve just taken all those photos plus a few never before seen and created a new Halloween Gallery in my on-line portfolio.

The photo of “Superman” below was chosen for this year’s American Photography 24 annual, which comes out next month.

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Categories: People

Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Chris Garvey
Invention: Temperature Responsive Roof Vent
Patent: No. 7,127,855

Chris Garvey isn’t just an inventor. He’s also a patent attorney, so he’s endured the process that he takes his clients through. He invented a skylight that uses a mechanical system to open and close itself in response to changes in temperature, letting in fresh air. Look carefully at these photos and you’ll see that the prototype, currently installed in his home, is made partly out of a shower door:

Chris is also a pretty hard core libertarian, and was the libertarian candidate on the ballot for Governor of New York (in 1998) and also Attorney General (2006). He didn’t win, but he’s still hard at work, if the mountains of papers in his home office are any indicator:

One more photo of Chris in his office, plus one in his attic, beneath the skylight:

Chris’ website: Collard & Roe, PC

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Categories: Inventors, People

I shot these photos at a denim factory in Kentucky that specializes in distressing high-end jeans for a few top designers. I used to scoff at paying a premium for jeans that come with holes in them already. Then I saw just how much work goes into distressing jeans, and I realized that these people are artists. You can’t just have any loose threads, you have to have the right loose threads. They can’t just be faded. They have to be the right color. A lot of work goes into making these jeans look just right.

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Categories: People, Photo Essay, Places

Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Tony Pagoto
Invention: Personal Computer Wire Management System
Patent: No. 7,247,798
Brand Name: WireMate

Tony invented a system that keeps the overwhelming mess of unruly wires under your desk tidy.

Tony’s a photogenic guy, but so is his living room. Even though it’s not related to his invention, I couldn’t resist setting up another photo:

While some people his age are heading into retirement, Tony and his partners, all over 60, are just getting their company off the ground. In his own words:

“Dreams and determination aren’t only for the young. My partners and I are ‘older guys.’ I am 64 and my partners Don and John are 64 and 68. I am President and do operations, Don does marketing/sales and John is our patent attorney/treasurer. We have known each other for over 50 years. They say never to go into business with friends and relatives, but we have done that and have benefited greatly from it. My Uncle Anthony and Cousin Stephen manufacture the WireMate for us here in the US. They also handle product inventory and order fulfillment for us. My uncle is 81 and has been an inspiration to me in terms of his vitality, support and belief in what we are doing. My son-in-law Eben is our webmaster. My neighbor Maria is our graphic artist and my neighbors David and Lorraine are our focus group. It has been an interesting trip. I have no doubt that the WireMate will sell millions of units/year as it finds its way into more and more homes and corporations.”

WireMate website: www.wiremate.com

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Categories: Inventors, People

Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Julia Truchsess
Invention: Digital Picture Frame
Brand Name: Digi-Frame

After building a successful career inventing electronic toys including MicroJammers, Rhythm Rods, and Singing Bouncy Baby, Julia came up with the idea for digital picture frames in the late 90s. When the Digi-Frame debuted, larger companies were also launching similar products, but Digi-Frame was the “Rolls Royce of Frames” according to reviewers. The story of how Digi-Frame came to be, and why it’s no longer around, is a pretty interesting one, and Julia tells it in her own words after the photos. Here is Julia with one of Digi-Frame’s large models:

Julia in her home office with her husband:

And here’s Julia’s workspace, full of electronic stuff I don’t understand, and a display of dolls and toys featuring technology she invented:

What follows is Julia’s explanation of Digi-Frame’s history. The product no longer exists, but the original Digi-Frame website is preserved here. And now, Julia:

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Categories: Inventors, People

Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Brian Fried
Invention:Wrist Band Construction for Balloons
Patent: No. 6,938,275
Brand Name: Balloon-O-Band

Brian has invented several products for the home, but this one (modeled below by his daughter Alana) is for the outdoors. It makes the point that sometimes inventions can be simple.

Here’s what Brian has to say about his invention (along with artwork from the patent):

“My daughter Alana was the inspiration for the Balloon-O-Band. She lost 3 character balloons ($8 each x 3 = $24) at one kids show. Then we went to an amusement park and she was taking the balloon on and off between rides and I had to keep untying the ribbon, and I noticed that this was happening to parents and children all around me all the time. I couldn’t take it anymore, so like with many of my inventions, I needed to find a solution to keep our kids happy and parents keep their sanity and investment!”

Brian’s website: BalloonOBand.com

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Categories: Inventors, People

The first in an ongoing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: James Delaney
Invention: Trampoline Sensor MK II
Patent: Pending

James Delaney built his video game controller prototype out of a trampoline, LEGOs, and a few electronic components. Here is James with his invention. Scroll down to see video of the Trampoline Sensor MK II in action.

The trampoline is sensitive to even slight movements, and James has written a few programs to demonstrate its capabilities. For example, he demonstrates how it can be used to control a character walking, running, and jumping. It can be used to control a Space Invaders style game (lean to stear, and jump to shoot). It’s quite fun. Here’s a video of the trampoline in action:

Here’s what James had to say about the invention:

“My wife, Nyssa, asked me to get her a mini trampoline as a gift. After about a week of using it, she said it was getting boring. Then she asked if it could be hooked up to a video game. I figured that this would be easy. It turned out to be a little harder than I imagined. The biggest obstacle was finding one sensor that would be capable of detecting running, jumping, bouncing, leaning, and tapping on the rebounding surface. I tried many different sensors, including accelerometers and sonar sensors before deciding to make a sensor using potentiometers. The accelerometer would have been my second choice of sensor but it required too much signal processing to get usable data during trampoline use. The next problem was interpreting the data from the sensors during each of the states I wanted to detect. This was solved by hours of experimentation, calibration and analyzing data.”

James’ website: UnfocusedBrain.com

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Categories: Inventors, People