We love this technology! John La Grou, a long-time electronics inventor, audio designer and entrepreneur, and a team have created a new, smarter type of electrical outlet that will save lives, money and wasted energy. In a recent presentation at TED (see above video), La Grou began with a slide of a smoke detector- “a world changing invention” that has saved countless lives. But, La Grou points out, the smoke detector detects fires, it does not prevent them. Since one of the main causes of fires is electricity- faulty and misused wiring and appliances- La Grou and his team set out to prevent electrical fires before they begin. They created an inexpensive data receptacle that could be embedded in an appliance- in its plug- that could communicate with the power supply so that, if a fault is detected, it could shut off the electrical flow. The Intelligent Electrical Outlet- thanks to the Electrical Fault Circuit Interrupter (EFCI)- prevents overloads before they happen.

The invention also eliminates the need for parents to worry about those pesky “fork in the socket” mishaps. Each year in the U.S., over 2500 children are admitted to emergency rooms due to accidental electrocution. The Intelligent Electrical Outlet would make those accidents a thing of past, since the power is always off unless a smart plug is detected. Genius! And yet such a simple concept. A green, life-saving invention!

[source: TED]