The best and worst start-up ideas of 2012

It’s been a big year for business ideas, with everything from Twitter toiler paper to transparent solar panels. Encouragingly, some of the best ideas have come out of unexpected places, such as Nigeria.

As a way of offering you some inspiration for the New Year, StartupSmart has selected five of the best start-up ideas of 2012, outlining why they are set to be big.

We’ve also handpicked a few of the silliest ideas.

Best start-up ideas of 2012

Virtual tape measure

Earlier this month, we wrote about a “virtual tape measure”, which aims to reduce the return of clothes bought online by 30-60%.

The tape measure, known as Body Shape Recognition for Online Fashion, takes detailed body measurements via webcam or smartphone.

All it needs is a photo and height measurements. It then produces a three dimensional image advising which size to buy at participating stores.

“The potential benefits for the fashion industry and for shoppers are huge,” says Philip Delamore from the London College of Fashion.

Given the uptake of online shopping over the last few years – and the rate at which it is expected to grow – we’re tipping this sort of technology will become increasingly common in the future.

Transparent solar panels

Transparent solar panels, developed by university researchers in the United States, aim to ease consumers’ concerns that solar panels are an eyesore, which, let’s be honest, they are.

The latest solar cell produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, making the cells almost 70% transparent.

“These results open the potential for visibly transparent polymer solar cells as add-on components of portable electronics, smart windows and building-integrated photovoltaics, and in other applications,” says study leader Yang Yang of the University of California, Los Angeles.

According to Yang, there has been worldwide interest in so-called polymer solar cells, which isn’t surprising when you consider the rise of solar power throughout the world.

Urine-powered electricity generator

Last month, we wrote about four Nigerian teenage girls who have invented an electricity generator powered by urine.

This idea might not sound like it deserves to be on the list, but it has the potential to aid people in third world countries.

Urine is placed into an electrolytic cell, which cracks the urea (a chemical compound found in urine) into nitrogen, water and hydrogen. The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which gets pushed into the gas cylinder.

The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas.

This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator, with one litre of urine providing six hours of electricity.

More than half of Nigeria’s 162 million citizens have no access to electricity, and even those who do can’t guarantee having power every day, so this idea is sure to be a success.

Virtual supermarket

In August, Tesco launched the UK’s first virtual supermarket at Gatwick Airport in the hope bored holidaymakers waiting for their flights would order a delivery for when they return home.

Tesco says the facility builds on its launch of a virtual store in South Korea, which allows commuters to shop in subways and at bus stops by pointing their mobile phones at billboards.

Following on from that, Tesco set up 10 screens in Gatwick Airport’s departure lounge as part of a two-week trial.

Travellers could avoid returning home to an empty fridge by scanning images of products like milk, bread and cheese with their smartphones, and arranging a home delivery.

Virtual stores are taking off all over the world – with Tesco not the only retailer getting in on the action – suggesting the concept will continue to gain pace in the future.

TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit – an online and mobile marketplace that allows people to “live a smarter and more fulfilling life” – is gaining traction in the US. 

It connects users with people in their neighbourhood who can help them complete the tasks on their to-do list.

Users simply post a task, including the maximum amount they are willing to pay for it, and the TaskRabbit who makes the lowest bid is assigned to run the task.

TaskRabbits are paid online, so no cash is needed, with only a small percentage going towards a service fee.

TaskRabbit says it is forming a “virtual neighbourhood”. A similar service has been launched in Australia in the form of Airtasker.

It will be interesting to see how the story plays out for TaskRabbit and Airtasker in 2013.

Story continues on page 2. Please click below.