TIME magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2021” list names 100 “inventions that are making the world better, smarter and a bit more fun.”
Four of these are Israeli: ElectReon wireless vehicle-charging technology in the transportation category; SupPlant ag-tech solution in the smarter-farming category; OrCam Read in the accessibility category; and Percepto AIM for automated inspections in the artificial-intelligence category.
ElectReon invented an in-road wireless electric vehicle (EV) charging technology for commercial, public and passenger vehicles. The charging infrastructure wirelessly charges EVs on the road when they’re in motion or at rest. The company is working on pre-commercial projects in Germany, Italy, Sweden and Israel. with plans to expand into North America.
SupPlant uses sensors to monitor crops’ temperature and moisture, providing highly accurate instructions for farmers in 14 countries to maximize yields. A sensor-less approach, intended for 450 million “smallholder” farmers in the developing world, is coming next.
OrCam Read is a first-of-its-kind handheld device with a smart camera that seamlessly reads text from any printed surface or digital screen. It’s intended for people with mild low vision, reading fatigue, reading difficulties including dyslexia, and for anyone who consumes large amounts of text.
Percepto Autonomous Inspection and Monitoring (AIM) software solution for industrial sites employs drones and robots to automate inspections, emergency response and security. From data capture to AI-powered insights and reports, Percepto AIM is used by Fortune 500 companies around the world. The 2022 AIM upgrade will be unveiled November 17 and features AI-powered analytics for specific sectors such as solar, mining, energy, and oil and gas.
To assemble the 2021 list, TIME solicited nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world, as well as through an online application process. TIME then evaluated each contender on factors including originality, creativity, efficacy, ambition and impact.
This report first appeared in Israel21c.
