Designers
James Dyson
Alexander Graham Bell
Vacuums
Popularised due to the removal of bags that needed to be continuously replaced
Used a large rubber ball to steer instead of wheels
Binbags needing to be continuously replaced
Objects such as bikes have hard to steer wheels
Hand dryers
Uses a thin layer of air to squeeze the water off one's hands
Normal dryers use heat to evaporate water on one's hands
People need to dry off after swimming/wet rides
Later design incorporated V shape for "hands-under" method
V shape could be used for things such as soap dispensers
could be used to dry wet electronics
Bladeless fans
Air is drawn in through a compressor and directed to shoot out the slit of a ring
Plane turbines highly dangerous due to turbine blades
Air is multiplied at least 15 times greater than when it enters the fan
The telephone
The photophone
Precursor to fibreoptic communication - communication with light
Landline calls not travelling fast enough
The metal detector (early version)
Metal detectors not being quite as efficient as they could be
Nikola Tesla
A/C current
Rotating magnetic field
Consistently flipping poles
Current needing to be switched from A/C to D/C power
D/C current is not useful over long distances & high voltages