6. Wasabi Alarm

Wasabi Alarm How would you wake a deaf person in the middle of the night if there were a fire? How about releasing a cloud of wasabi? This is no joke. Japanese researchers have recently come up with the wasabi alarm system. For their unique invention they received the 2011 Ig Nobel prize, which honors achievements that "first make people laugh and then make them think." "People with hearing difficulties may fail to wake up with sirens or flashing lights. Thus, another way of communication is necessary to save their lives," said Makoto Imai at Shiga University of Medical Science. "The wasabi alarm uses a stinging smell to stimulate people's noses." Japanese researchers tried hundreds of smells, including rotten eggs, before they ended up deciding on wasabi, the famous Japanese seasoning. The alarm works quite simply. When smoke from a fire is detected, the wasabi is released, irritating the noses of people it comes into contact with. The system was tested on sleeping people with normal and no hearing. In the test, the device woke nearly all subjects within two and a half minutes of the smell hitting the nose. Further tests were conducted to determine the ideal intensity of wasabi to wake people but not hurt their eyes, and allow them to safely escape a fire. The wasabi alarm is not just an award winner. People are taking it seriously to use in real life. It has already been offered to one hotel in Nagoya for guests with hearing difficulties. It may also work well in noisy environments like karaoke bars where music is too loud for people to hear an alarm. Can you think of any other environments where this alarm could be useful?   <a href='javascript:fileFilterViewer("http://cfile272.uf.daum.net/attach/262F934F548118B1383D8A", "/cfile272/26/2F934F548118B1383D8A", "6. Wasabi Alarm.hwp", "grpid%3DslL5%26fldid%3DLG2D%26dataid%3D2%26fileid%3D1%26regdt%3D20141205113033&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcfile272.uf.daum.net%2Fattach%2F262F934F548118B1383D8A")'><img src="https://t1.daumcdn.net/daumtop_deco/icon/icon.hanmail.net/editor/p_hwp_s.gif" border="0" alt="첨부파일" class="vam"/> 6. Wasabi Alarm.hwp</a>