Kirjoittanut Vilma Lehto

My Christmas is always very easy-going: Christmas Eve follows the same pattern if it’s up to me (yes, I’m one of those crazy Christmas enthusiasts). Now that I’ve worked a while as a Communications Intern at the Innovation Centre, I started thinking about my Christmas celebration from an innovative perspective. What inventions would make my Christmas even smoother?

The first innovation I would need for my Christmas Eve is related to lighting grave candles. Every Christmas we visit my grandparents’ grave, and we always have the same problem: the wind blows out the flame before the candle can be placed on the grave. After all sorts of fiddling and tinkering, we usually manage to light it, but it’s not easy.

So what’s the answer? Or has the solution already been invented, but it hasn’t yet reached our family’s awareness? At least battery-operated grave candles are an option, but I don’t quite trust their functionality in the freezing temperatures of Finnish winter.

Another dilemma that comes up every Christmas is putting up the lights for the Christmas tree. Every year we argue about who will hang the lights. My family members say that it’s supposed to be my job because I demand that the Christmas tree has to be put up annually. However, I’m already responsible for putting other decorations on the tree, so wouldn’t it be fair and reasonable for someone else to take care of the lights?

This problem probably already has a simple solution available: LED nets to be put on the tree or even trees with lights already in place. But is our only option to replace our current, candle-like lights with these options? Or could someone develop candles that are easy to attach to the tree branch and even so that they point nicely straight?

The last invention that would make my Christmas celebration easier is some kind of packaging material instead of the current wrapping paper. I have seen many kinds of innovations in this regard (for example, packing a gift into another gift, such as a scarf, using newspapers as wrapping paper, or using reusable cardboard gift packages) but still, a huge amount of waste is generated from gift papers. Of course, a solution to this problem may already be under development: could self-repairing materials even be used as wrapping paper (see post on elastomers)?

These “problem points” of Christmas that I listed are small things and I know that many people’s Christmas is overshadowed by bigger challenges. However, life can be made easier even by developing such small things, so think about what bigger innovations can achieve. Perhaps one day the sweetener in (Christmas) candies will be replaced with a healthier innovation. Or maybe network technology is developed to the point where loved ones can participate in Christmas celebrations in the form of a virtual twin, even if they are physically far apart. For example, these things are currently being researched at the University of Oulu, so it remains to be seen how my peaceful and routine-like Christmas celebration may change in the future.

With this post, InnoBlog will take a small Christmas break. The entire Innovation Centre team wishes you a warm Christmas time! We’ll be back in January.

Christmas needs a touch of innovation

Lisätietoja:

Christmas needs a touch of innovation

Innovation Centre team introduction: Part 5

In Finland, the fear of failure prevents from becoming an entrepreneur – Matti Muhos is doing research on why the situation is the opposite in other Nordic countries

Lisätietoja: