Lightbulb Moments: James Dyson AwardsA cyclist's jacket that uses technology from the Nintendo Wii to control automatic brake lights and indicators; a smart loo that emails your doctor a health assessment; a wheelchair that uses caterpillar tracks to lower a patient down a flight of stairs.
Some of these brilliant ideas are bound to wing their way into our homes and lives, while others are flights of fancy that may never get off the drawing board.
But all the ingenious designs on this page, which were shortlisted for this year's James Dyson Awards, suggest that the instinct for innovation among young people is in rude health.
For the vacuum-cleaner tycoon Sir James Dyson, 60, whose foundation coughed up more than £8,000 in prize money, the quality of the designs is no surprise.
"I'm continually impressed by the original ideas that young people are generating to solve everyday problems," he says.
"One advantage they have is that they have no fear of trying something that might go wrong."
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