We previously wrote about the James Dyson Award and the finalists who made it onto the shortlist. That list has now been whittled down to the top 20 best entries from all over the world. 

This list represents the final phase of the competition and holds the potential overall winner, due to be announced on 26 October. It's arguable that these are the 20 coolest and most exciting inventions of the year.

Join us as we nerd out over the gadgets and gizmos that may change our future. 

Malaysia - Pumeca Pump

Pumeca Pump is a cheap, portable and easily maintainable Mechanical Centrifugal Pump. It's designed to easily transfer water to rice paddies across Asia and solve issues that farmers currently have with water irrigation.  

With this invention, all those farmers need is a motorcycle to power the pump and a suitable water source. Conventional pumps are expensive and unwieldy, so this device solves these issues and makes irrigation far more accessible to all. 

Malaysia - Auxilary driving aid

The auxiliary driving aid was invented to tackle a problem with a current lack of driving aids for those with lower-limb disabilities. This technology is not only an easy to use plug-and-play solution, but it's also 3D printed, making it lightweight, cost-effective and affordable. 

The driving aid uses a sensor system on the steering levers that applies the necessary pressure to the standard brake and accelerator pedals in a normal car. This invention, therefore, makes transport far more accessible to the people who need it most. 

Japan - Telewheelchair 

 

The Telewheelchair brings technology to an outdated and outmoded system of transport and mobility for the physically impaired across the world. The introduction of electronic systems including Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and obstacle recognition hardware, essential turn this simple looking wheelchair into a semi-automated transport system for those in need. 

With remote control via VR, manoeuvring the wheelchair can be controlled safely and effectively from another location. This allows caregivers a way to support users in more efficient ways. 

Japan - Suknee

The Suknee represents an advancement in prosthetic technology providing a light-weight robotic knee system that gives the user power to assist in the bending, extending and swinging of the knee. The result is a more capable prosthetic that assists the user with everyday life including simple activities like climbing the stairs, standing up or moving around without assistance. 

Japan - Cuboard

The Cuboard is one of the more bonkers inventions in the list, essentially a tank track powered skateboard. It's a transportation device intended to handle ice, snow and tough terrain. The Cuboard is designed to deal with situations where heavy snowfall creates gridlock on the roads. It gives the user access to transport capable of handling the situation and getting them where they need to go quickly and with ease, avoiding the pitfalls of traffic congestion.

India - Savior

Research data shows that the humble motorcycle helmet reduces the risk of death on the road by almost 40 per cent. Despite this, over 1.25 million people are killed on the roads around the world each year. 

This new helmet design is not only built to help reduce injury from impact, but also includes accelerometers and crash sensors that send alerts to emergency services when an accident is detected. 

India - Maattam

Maattam is a patient transfer system for use in hospitals. This design is intended to support with the transfer of patients between beds, preventing injury to both patient and the staff supporting them. 

The Maattam uses a conveyor belt system that can be fitted to any stretcher and used to easily move patients between bed and trolley without the need for human contact and heavy lifting. 

India - Eco-Friendly Faucet 

 

Conventional taps waste far too much water and with an evergrowing populace across the planet, we're using more and more water on a daily basis. This eco-friendly tap design atomises the water into high-velocity tiny water droplets. The result is a more efficient and effective cleaning device that removes dirt in a shorter time. 

Germany - Twistlight

 

Twistlight is another medical invention intended to support professional health-givers across the world. Vein puncture for injections and intravenous drips is one of the most common medical procedures carried out, but still, 33 per cent of all of these procedures fail on the first attempt. This leads to risk of infections and other complications. 

Twistlight uses LEDs to guide the needle into the correct place by making the vein highly contrasted with surrounding tissue. It also uses an integrated catheter feed and is battery powered allowing it to be used wherever it's needed. 

China - Push & Push 

This design comes out of China and is built to help the elderly and less abled with the struggles presented by traditional plugboards. Where usually it can be difficult to remove a plug from one of these boards, especially for those less physically-abled, turning a plug on and off with the Push & Push is easy. Pushing a plug down turns it on, pushing it down again turns it off. Each plug can be turned on and off in this way, meaning no more unnecessary unplugging to turn off individual devices. 

Canada - The Skan

The sKan is a thermal mapping machine designed to help more accurately detect melanoma by analysing the difference between skin temperatures. sKan is intended to help detect melanoma much earlier on and save more lives in future. 

Italy - Atropos

Atropos is a 6-axis robotic arm designed to carry out high-performance 3D printing tasks with far less waste than current 3D printers. It can create high-performance objects in a precise and repeatable way. 

Canada - Avro Life Science

This clever little patch is a transdermal drug delivery system capable of getting desloratadine into the bloodstream of young allergy suffers across North America. Designed to help combat the problems with getting children to take medicine, this ingenious system will help combat allergy issues while also supporting parents too. 

Australia - Utility Barrow

Flooding is a serious problem that has killed at least 157,000 people over the last 20 years. 94 million people are affected by flooding each year and with the destruction that comes from these natural disasters, homes are often destroyed along with infrastructure, leaving people without access to clean water and safety. 

The Utility Barrow is designed to help ensure safety by allowing the carrying of a person in a balanced device built to keep afloat, stable and buoyant while they're pushed or rowed to safety. A simple, affordable and useful device aimed at saving lives in natural disaster situations.

USA - Fibrefree

Synthetic clothing is a known pollutant. Regular washing of synthetic materials results in microscopic fibres ending up in the ocean that then negatively the marine wildlife. 

Fibrefree is a small laundry ball designed to catch these microfibres and prevent them being washed into the sewerage system in the first place. These balls work in both washing machines and tumble dryers helping protect the environment wherever they are used. The Fibrefree can also be easily replaced and recycled when necessary.  

UK - Petit Pli

Petit Pli is a new design of clothing that grows as your children grow. This clothing is designed to fit children from four months old and continue to fit them right up to the age of 36 months. Thereby reducing the need to spend copious amounts of money on new clothing as young children continually outgrow their outfits with terrifying speed. 

Taiwan - Epidemic Prevention

This invention out of Taiwan, is designed to help prevent the spread of the Zika virus by providing a simple, yet cost-effective testing system. This test paper just needs to be urinated on and the colour it changes to either red or blue depending on whether an infection is present. 

What really makes the paper clever is that it can then be dissolved and releases a natural insecticide to prevent further spread of the virus through vector breeding. 

Switzerland - SENCO

SENCO is a light-weight helmet for firefighters that incorporates a modular augmented reality system. This system ensures sight and communication is optimised for all firefighters at the scene of an accident or emergency situation. The intention is to improve firefighters operational efficiency and increase their safety while carrying out rescues. 

Switzerland - OMIT

OMIT is a non-electric vacuum cleaner designed to deal with the usual issues of vacuum cleaning - i.e. the noise. The design doesn't have the same power as a traditional vacuum cleaner but it is said to be "silent" which would certainly make cleaning more peaceful. It can also be used throughout the day or night without any need for electricity. 

Switzerland - KEA

KEA is an intuitive controller for camera drones that allows people to control both the drone and its camera simultaneously. Where most current aerial videography requires two people to control a drone and its camera, KEA allows a new flexibility not seen before. 

KEA makes use of a smartphone with separate joysticks for controlling both flight and camera movement while in the air. In theory, this device should result in a much more user-friendly experience for a sole drone operator.