Kids invent the darnedest things

CHICAGO, March 16 (UPI) -- Kids may say the darnedest things but five U.S. college students have come up with what could be the next-big-things in housewares.

Sarah O'Brien, a senior at the University of Louisiana, Noah Balmer, a student at the California College of Arts, Richard Hagee, a senior at the Columbus (Ohio) College of Art & Design, and Alexander Brown and Faris Elmasu, sophomores at San Jose (Calif.) State University, won this year's student design competition at the International Housewares Association trade show in Chicago, which opened Sunday.

O'Brien said she was tired of eating bruised peaches at lunch and that's what sparked her idea for the Elizabowl, which took first place. The bowl consists of mold-able compartments allowing each piece of fruit to both be displayed and stored, minimizing bruising.

"One bad apple really does ruin the whole bunch," O'Brien said, noting the gases from rotting fruit quicken the ripening process of nearby pieces.

Hagee invented the Opus, a collapsible laundry bag/basket. The handles have hooks so they can be hung and stacked for sorting.

"You can even put them on the floor to give kids something to aim at," he said.

Balmer's KitchenSync is a tablet-style computer screen that folds virtually flat and hooks into a home's WiFi network to get recipes off the family computer.

Brown came up with Della, in essence a flashlight tree that doubles as a floor lamp with always-charged removable lights.

Elmasu invented the BIN, a kitchen trash can with a built-in vacuum cleaner.