Students' next generation devices go on display at the IDE Imperial Show

A tool to create 3D textiles and a device to combat ocean acidification in coral reefs are some of the ideas on display at this week's Imperial Show.

The show, which runs until Thursday 3 July 2014 in the College Main Entrance, features nearly 50 different devices developed by students on the Innovation Design Engineering (IDE) course run jointly by Imperial and the Royal College of Art.

Amongst the devices on display is the Pretender Project. The Project uses a series of available technologies such as virtual reality headsets, microphones and wide-angled cameras to give the wearer the sensation that they are in another person’s body. It aims to provide an experience of the world as seen through another person's eyes - allowing designers and planners to sample their projects from an alternative perspective.

“We have around 600 IDE alumni now who have gone on to set up their own enterprises or ended up working for international technology companies like LG, Apple and Sony. You’ll definitely be seeing more of these students and their ideas in the future.”

Another technology on display is student Pierre Paslier’s Advanced Activism project. The project prototypes include a number of devices, such as a quadcopter designed for fly stickering art and campaign messages on ordinarily inaccessible surfaces and structures and 3D printed stencils used to turn a bike wheel into a mobile printing device.

Pierre said: “Our toolbox is about providing creative ways for people to get their messages out there.

“This kind of idea is very relevant right now, with grassroots political campaigns combining online and local campaigning. I think this is the future of activism.”

Other highlights on display include a prototype material that mimics photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen as well as a wearable device that sends the user sensory information about the environment they are moving through, for example warning of a dangerous neighbourhood ahead by chilling the skin.