Dubai, UAE: Music for the blind and deaf, ventilation jackets for labourers and a software that can read a camel’s body language are some of many creative inventions at the Think Science Fair this year.
Hundreds of students displayed their science projects at fair, which was launched in 2012.
Emirati student Rashid Al Hammadi and his teammates from Al Ma’ali International Private School in Abu Dhabi built the ‘Hertz Design’. They created a piano with Braille letters for the visually impaired. They also invented a small stage where the deaf can feel the vibrations of a guitar’s strings.
Hammadi, 17, said: “We wanted to help the people who can’t see or hear. They should be able to listen to and feel music like everyone else does. Each of the guitar’s strings has a different vibration and sound, so they’ll be able to feel the music and different patterns.”
Alaa Haroon and her team members from the UAE University designed a method that can predict what mood a camel is in. The invention was made to help prevent the deaths of camel.
“Camels are very important in the UAE heritage and we have to keep them safe and healthy. In camel racing, they get very stressed after the race and some of them die, we have to prevent that,” Haroon said.
“We use a software that’s already available for free and we take photos with a 3D camera that is used for gaming. We upload the pictures onto the software and it tells us how the camel is feeling and what mood it’s in.”
The project by Saeed Abdullah Sharat from the Al Itihad School displayed an idea for a ventilation vest that can cool off the labourers who work long hours under the heat. The vest traps cool air inside and eliminates heat within the vest, keeping the workers in a comfortable temperature.
“This vest can really help the workers because they work in areas where there is no shade. In the summer, we have unbearable heat. We should think more ways of keeping the workers cool,” Sharat said.
Other projects included a system where cars on the UAE roads can produce electricity to power street lights and signals. Rifah Mohammed Al Filasi from the Dubai Model School said pressure plates can be installed on roads, which will transfer mechanical energy into electrical energy.
“The energy will be stored in batteries and can be used to power street lights and other things on the roads,” Filasi said.
There was also a project by Mohammad Kasem from the Dubai National School called ‘Drext’. It’s a software that can be used to switch off WiFi signals on phones. It’s been designed specifically for drivers who use mobile phones while driving.
The science fair is taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre until April 20
© Khaleej Times
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