Back in early 2020, TrendWatching launched ‘Covid Innovations’ to inspire entrepreneurs and marketers to serve their customers better in dire covid times.
With covid no longer deeply impacting daily life, we’re fully focused again on all innovations that make the world a little bit better - check out MakeShift, our free weekly publication to stay on top of the latest trends, insights and innovations.
Bike2Box launched a modular bicycle parking box, which allows to transform a car parking slot into a locker accommodating 12 bicycles. It is designed to meet a growing demand in parking bicycles in post lockdown era, when people return to offices and seek for safe ways to commute. It’s quick, safe, uses existing spaces, does not require any mounting and can be rented for as long as needed.
Read MoreThe buses have exterior displays that could be used to tell riders stepping up to the van which side to board on. Maximum passenger capacity is rated at 125 people, but things can be configured to ensure social distancing practices are adhered to. Plexiglass screens separate riders and passengers use no-touch bells, or their smartphone, to request a stop, so they won't have to get their hands “dirty”.
Read MoreCruise America and Cruise Canada offer their self-contained RVs to help for a variety of matters: one-way trips (moving family members via RV), house or garage extender, mobile medical clinics or staging units, mobile sleeping quarters...The vehicles can be easily reserved anywhere in North America and are fully self-sufficient with a bathroom, shower, and kitchen along with onboard generator and propane.
Read MoreCentro Manufacturing Corporation is developing anti-COVID dividers for modern PUVs also available as ready-to-install kits that can be retrofitted to any existing utility vehicle (UV) and public utility vehicle (PUV). Installation can be done at any of Centro’s production facilities in the Philippines.
Read MoreThe testing of robots is made using Kiwibot, a delivery robot from a Colombian owned company in California, and is part of a pilot in Medellin, with potential to expand. The project aims at limiting contact in times of COVID.
Read MoreTo help local business owners struggling to meet an increased demand for online deliveries during COVID, HERE Technologies helps them move their business from storefront to delivery with their route planning tool, at no cost until the end of 2020.
Read MoreUK Innovate agency has awarded UrbanThings a grant to develop COVID social distancing and contact tracing platform for public transport operators. It will capture occupancy information in transports from sources including smart card tap-in data, and forward it to the operators and passengers.
Read MoreWith services running to revised timetables and passenger capacity reduced to as low as 10 per cent, this flexible new design can potentially alleviate the pressure on bus and underground services that are also under severe capacity constraints and commuters may be reluctant to use.
Read MoreThe Metropolitan Transportation Authority is testing social distancing markers at some stations to indicate where riders can stand to maintain proper distancing. CEO Pat Foye also explains that users in the future could be asked to reserve a space on a bus before taking it in order to facilitate distancing.
Read MoreThis project, carried out by the organisers of Vilnius International Film Festival, is a sign of support to both the aviation and movie industries, which are going through difficult times as a result of the restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Read MoreImperfect Foods, which partnered with Jet Blue Airlines, offer their cheese and snack trays to the public via its online produce marketplace for $2.99 each. In addition, United Airlines is also encouraging nostalgic flyers to order its signature in-flight Stroopwafels for home delivery.
Read MorePittsburgh Airport is the, so far, only airport in the United States with these specially equipped floor-cleaning machines using ultraviolet light, and will soon also start using UV disinfecting technology in the sterilisations of handrails on escalators and moving walkways, elevator buttons and other high-touch areas.
Read MoreOne of the initiatives they will carry out is about covering the seats with foil screens, so the train is covered with stickers and prohibition signs to ensure a social distance of one and a half meters.
Read MoreThe company designed two concepts to combat the spread of COVID-19 during flights. The first is ‘The Janus’, a two-faced seat that allows three passengers to be isolated and separated with a transparent shield. The second option is a kit-level solution called ‘Glassafe’ that doesn't require the plane’s interior to be modified.
Read MoreThe initiative will help those most vulnerable self-isolating members in London with transportation and delivery through a free bike taxi service. The project will launch later in the year across Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney and other neighbourhoods..
Read MoreBright red ‘Voices of Brussels’ buses have started to deliver personal messages of love like ‘We are sending you a big kiss’, throughout Brussels. The public bus company STIB-MIVB has called on people to send voice messages and addresses to then deliver those messages via loudspeaker when driving by.
Read MorePowered by artificial intelligence, the Fever Screener identifies individuals with high body temperature, a major symptom of COVID, and could help scanning people flow at airports, hospitals, and other high-traffic areas.
Read MoreZipline made its first coronavirus test flight on April 1 and will now deliver samples collected from more than 1,000 health facilities in rural areas to laboratories in the capital Accra and to Kumasi, the second-largest city in Ghana.
Read MoreStarship began working with the Broad Branch Market in early April, when the corner store was forced to close to shoppers, with up to 10 robots each day delivering goods in the Washington neighborhood. The store handles 60 to 70 deliveries daily, half by robot.
Read MoreA video, posted on Facebook by Maam Yaa, shows an automatic hand-wash unit placed on the taxi of a Ghanaian driver, and a passenger is seen making use of the creative invention.
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