Hasta La Ideas

In 2008, Australian industrial designer Andrew Smith was at a summer barbecue. Anyone who’s eaten outside will recognize what he observed that day: “Our beautifully prepared food was being bombarded at almost every instant by a swarm of pesky flies.” Smith subsequently invented this ShooAway, a fly-repellent fan:

The battery-powered fan blades are soft and will stop once they touch your hand. You can place the device directly over a plate of food and reach in with no worries.

The dots you see on the blades aren’t aesthetic: “Our patented Holographmatic Repel Dots work as a spinning fly deterrent – the refracting light and movement is what flies hate and is the most effective way to shoo away flies!”

Today, Smith’s ShooAway company has branches in both Australia and the U.S., and the product is sold globally.

Sadly, the ShooAway has attracted pirates. A company called Belfans Technology is producing a knock-off version.