Nearly two and a half thousand years ago the great philosopher and teacher, Plato, said (among myriad other musings) that necessity is the mother of invention. I would add that perhaps boredom is, too, but either way it is mostly a win situation. Over this past extraordinary year inventors have had time on their hands to potter and therefore come up with some cunning new ideas. These range from face masks with clear plastic windows over the mouth so that the deaf can lip-read while keeping safe; a mask with a slit that automatically opens like lips when a fork comes near; hands-free door handles so supermarket fridges can be opened with an elbow; many robotic solutions for the delivery of goods; a range of smart phone aps; and some silly but effective ideas such as attaching two-metre pool noodles to hats so patrons in a German pub could keep their social distancing. There were sanitising, hand-washing and ventilator projects; smart helmets for police so they could scan passers-by to detect high temperatures; and a huge rise in the use of robotic solutions in all aspects of life. 

It’s not the first time a crisis has fine-tuned creative minds. Isaac Newton was sent home from university while the Spanish Flu raged. He subsequently said the year-plus he spent away was his annus mirabilis, the ‘year of wonders’, when he came up with several theories – including that incident under the apple tree – that made him one of history’s greatest scientists.