Yes indeed, boys and girls, here you have it…
The Isolator!
In a recent article, the nerdlings at LaughingSquid.com have taken this gem out of mothballs and blown away the dust on an invention which, while perhaps ahead of its time in the mid-twenties, is a product that is ripe for our time!
The Isolator!
(Inventor and science fiction writer Hugo Gernsback wearing his invention)
As LaughingSquid writes, “The Isolator is a bizarre helmet invented in 1925 that encourages focus and concentration by rendering the wearer deaf, piping them full of oxygen, and limiting their vision to a tiny horizontal slit. The Isolator was invented by Hugo Gernsback, editor of Science and Invention magazine, member of ‘The American Physical Society,’ and one of the pioneers of science fiction.”
(An ideal blend of form and function!)
The blogger behind A Great Disorder puts it nicely in the March 10, 2010 article…
“These images are from the July, 1925 issue of the long-defunct magazine ‘Science and Invention’, which was edited by Hugo Gernsback, who later became famous as a pioneer in the field of science fiction. He also invented this contraption which, to my mind, nicely illustrates the folly of taking an excessively narrow approach to solving a problem.”
So, kids… Ask Mom and Dad for your very own Isolator!
You can get good grades AND be cool… both at the same time!
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Reminder: I will be in Toronto for the end of the Jewish holidays. I leave Wednesday morning October 19 and return Sunday night October 23.
Love it! Has a vaguely Devo aspect, non?
Are we not men? LOL! If only he thought to put a red lampshade on top! 😉
I can see the Apple ISolater on the shelves for Xmas 2012.
Why didn’t I think of this?
Ace!
This may have very well inspired Steve Jobs when he was a mere I-tot! 🙂
Wow! That doesn’t look uncomfortable at all lol
Yeah, not the most comfy looking lid, is it? Oh well.. small price to pay for a bit more concentration… I guess! 🙂
And now we just use Ritalin…
Can you actaully buy this now? im just curious and about the price then and now?
I am not sure if Hugo Gernsback made anything other than the original prototype of his Isolator helmet. It would be fun to find one, though! I’ve certainly not heard of any other ones out there but if you find one, let me know!
Thanks for the comment! 🙂
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