Trajan
Veteran
Edible water container made of gelatinous membranes has been likened in appearance to a jellyfish or a breast implant
An edible “water ball” designed to replace plastic water bottles has been shortlisted as one of five ideas that could radically change the world.
The product, named “Ooho!”, consists of a double layer of gelatinous membranes, created using brown algae and calcium chloride.
Unlike conventional plastic bottles, it can either be eaten or thrown away because it is biodegradable.
Its appearance has been variously likened to that of a jellyfish – or a breast implant.
The Global Design Forum, a UK government-backed event as part of the London Design Festival, said the novel water packaging could one day “make the ubiquitous and unsustainable plastic water bottle obsolete”.
Ooho! Was created by Rodrigo García González, a postgraduate student of the Royal College of Art and the Imperial College of London.
The design is intended to replicate natural membranes, such as the egg yolk, and is created using the culinary technique of 'spherification'.
Its designers concede the product needs more work to be a commercial success, including making the membrane strong enough to transport safely and finding ways to reseal it.
It is one of “five ideas to shake the world” shortlisted by the forum, alongside a tile that harvests the energy of those walking on it.
The other ideas include a beehive that automatically detects unusual activity to help prevent colony collapse disorder, and a mobile phone app with a clip-on device to enable non-experts to carry out eye health checks.
Global Design Forum said the shortlisted products “demonstrate disruptive innovation with the potential to radically change our futures, rendering objects and experiences familiar to us today obsolete and old-fashioned”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...your-water-Now-eat-the-bottle-it-came-in.html
