Race to a Cure Authors
- Jul 6, 2020

Unique COVID-19 Innovations

Have you ever wondered what the year 2020 would look like to someone in the past? Imagine showing them a picture of a popular cafe in Germany, where all customers wore hats with pool noodles attached to them.

Pool noodle hats at Cafe & Konditorei Rothe (Facebook - Cafe & Konditorei Rothe)

Needless to say, this photograph would likely cause a lot of confusion!

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the world have come up with unique ways to ensure social distancing, lighten moods, and prevent the spread of the virus.

In this article, we will take a trip across the globe and explore the unique, astonishing, and innovative ways people are coping with the pandemic!

Pool Noodle Hats

The pool noodle hats, pictured in the image above, were handed out to customers of Cafe & Konditorei Rothe in Schwerin, Germany. The colourful headwear served as a reminder of how difficult, but extremely important, it is to maintain a safe social distance.

Bumper Tables

Let us continue with a trip to the amusement park. More specifically, to the classic attraction of bumper cars — in which electrically powered cars crash and bounce off one another as riders drive around a circular track. This amusing ride is the inspiration for bumper tables.

Fish Tales Bar & Grill, a waterfront restaurant in Maryland, introduced these tables-on-wheels lined with large tubes to ensure all customers remain 6 feet apart while dining.

Bumper tables at Fish Tales Bar & Grill (Facebook - Revolution Event Design and Production)

Built by Revolution Event Design and Production, the bumper tables help both customers and staff enforce social distancing while providing a unique and entertaining dining experience.

Hands-Free Door Openers

According to Healthline, SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—can last on stainless steel surfaces for 3-7 days. This creates a great risk of contamination in door handles, which are made of stainless steel and are frequently touched throughout the day.

To combat this issue, people across the world have resorted to the use of hands-free door-openers. Below are some of the clever designs that minimize the risk of picking up SARS-CoV-2 from contaminated door handles:

3-D printed door opener that attaches to a regular door handle (Materialise)

3-D printed door opening device created by Ray Taheri in B.C. (The Star)

Immutouch Band

“Don’t touch your face!” This piece of advice we hear constantly, and rightfully so. Through touching the face, viruses picked up from contaminated surfaces can infect the body and cause sickness.

However, it can be a challenge to abstain from touching your face out of habit. This is what led to the creation of the Immutouch Band. The Immutouch is a smartband that prevents germs from entering the eyes, nose, and mouth by vibrating each time your hand is brought to your face. The goal of this innovative device is to make you aware of the unconscious behaviour of touching your face and to build healthy habits.

In times like this, these innovative ideas are needed more than ever. Who knows? Perhaps your unique, crazy, and inventive idea may be the next brilliant invention!

Article Contributors: Victoria Huang, Valerie Shirobokov