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Five Swedish innovations that might just change your life

The Local Sweden
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Five Swedish innovations that might just change your life
Can you guess what all these inventions do? Photos: Airinum/Volumental/Sensus

Sweden produces more inventions per capita than almost any other country in Europe. So how might some of the latest efforts change our lives in future?

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Sweden is one of the top ten most innovative countries in the world. It is home to some of the best-known tech inventions in recent years, from Spotify to Skype, and this week it was singled out this for submitting more patent applications per capita than almost any other European nation.

Here are five of our favourite recent inventions that might just change the future.

1. The guitar that brings concerts to your social network's living rooms

Dubbed the world's first 'smart guitar', this instrument uses buttons and motion sensors as well as traditional strings to create a range of different sounds including drum beats and echo effects. You can connect the guitar to the internet and link up with social networks, allowing you to create and perform virtual concerts that can be seen all over the world.

 

2. The game that allows you to grab a virtual drink

Who needs a joystick or a button to swipe when you can use your very own hands to catch things in a video game? This is the revolutionary 'Virtual Grasp' technique created by Stockholm-based start up Gleechi. It enables games who wear a virtual reality headset to see a proper hand and grab virtual items from glasses to cleaning products or swords.

 

 
3. Tech textiles that mean you'll never be cold again

Body heat-adjusting clothing is already a massive market in Sweden, a cold country where people love to work out. The Swedish research institute Swerea IVF is at the forefront of new inventions, experimenting with the latest textiles that can help regulate your body temperature, whether you are too cold or too warm. And it's not just sportswear that could use this invention in future. The institute is working on sofas that keep you warm when it gets chilly and even surgical instruments that will prevent patients feeling cold metal on their skin.


Photo: Sofia Sabel/Image Bank Sweden

4. 3D scanners that help you go shopping

You know that feeling when you go shopping, find the perfect pair of shoes in just your size...and then try them on and they don't fit? Swedish firm Volumental, one of the world's leading scanner companies has created a 3D machine that scans different parts of your body to create clothing that is perfect for your shape. So in the future you could find yourself wearing not only custom-made shoes but also sunglasses and even headphones. 



Photo: Volumental

5. The (very nicely designed) mask to help you breathe

Probably the most scary one. Not because of the design - Swedish design has nothing to prove. Worried about air pollution in the future, four Swedish young men adjusted a trendy mask to wear and hang out in Södermalm. Hurry, early-adopter, it is possible to pre-order.


Photo: Airinum

Article by Violette Goarant

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