Crowd protection device

Kind of a riff on the rave idea below, I was thinking about how people get killed when crowds press forward without regard to fallen individuals and wondered if technology could help by signaling when someone has fallen down. For example, imagine a watch that can detect when the wearer removes it or falls down (e.g. using an accelerometer). Suppose this watch also has the ability to notify similar devices in the area when one of these two events occurs, and those watches continue to spread the message outward. Then if everyone in a crowd was equipped with such a device and someone fell, the watches would alert people to stop moving forward (e.g. by vibrating and playing an audio message). Because the message propagates locally, and entire densely packed crowd would be alerted as the message spread from watch to watch. This might work to control low-speed crushes occurring at organized events like the Haaj (spelling?), sporting events, etc. It probably wouldn't make much difference in case of a fire.

Interactive Rave Lights

Got this idea while watching the visualizations on my computer. Ravers have been twirling glowsticks for some time, but I haven't heard of any type of wearable interactive lights. The idea is to recreate the visualizations that you see in an MP3 player on the dance floor, using devices that pulse to the beat, but that also react to other devices in proximity. For example, a necklace would probably work best because, worn outside of the clothes, it can "see" 360 degrees around you. The devices might pulse at a specific frequencies (different devices at different frequencies?) and talk to other local devices using IR. A specific device might be designated the "center" and devices around it would pulse slightly later in time, at a lower brightness. This might continue outward for some number of hops. The effect, if seen from above, would look like a wave spreading outward. A given device might respond to different frequencies in different colors, and then you could have overlapping waves of color. Different algorithms would produce different effects. Would be cool to see this in action and a simple program could probably model what it would look like on a computer screen.

Kid-friendly furniture

Was looking at the Crate and Barrel (or Crap in a Barrel, as I call it) catalog and much of the furniture is downright unsafe for a house with kids. Glass, sharp metal corners, unstable designs, etc. Seems to me that there is an opportunity for furniture designs that take kids into account. For example, no sharp corners or glass, slight padding under tables (to prevent painful head-banging) and possibly on edges, no small pieces to fall out and become choking hazards (like the screw covers that are common on many chairs), built in earthquake straps for book cases, etc. Sometimes I wonder if having straps or a low-height bar across the front of a shelf would prevent books from spilling out during an earthquake. Another important factor is ease of cleaning.