Blink by Sarah Schaible, aims to reduce unnecessary energy usage resulting from users leaving lights and other appliances on throughout the day when not in use.

Blink “features an infrared photocell which only reacts to natural sunlight, a flexible neck to aim the photocell toward natural light sources, and a blinking eyelid to fine tune or deactivate the light sensing function… natural sunlight will disable any devices plugged into Blink” [1].

There were several interesting comments on this design posted on the Core 77 blog [1]:
- "make a reverse one as well! so it turns things off at night. maybe add a timer. 6 hours after sunset, turn it off. etc"
- "how many times is the outlet behind something that always thinks it is dark? Need to have a remote sensor"

The potential for use behaviours which may go against the designers intentions for use was recognised by one respondent "most people will forget to reopen the eyelid after the first time they want to watch TV during the day and forget about the device completely" and a further comment questioned the power consumption of the device itself; "even if it uses a small amount, it will be on continuously and may therefore represent a significant energy consumption".

This project was a Semi-Finalist in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition 2009.

For more information on the Greener Gadgets Design Competition or to view some of the other product design ideas submitted this year visit: http://www.core77.com/greenergadgets/index.php