Environment
China Disrupts the Rain Gear Industry with the 'Air Umbrella'
This weather wand blows raindrops 3 feet away (and perhaps onto other people).
In the future, pedestrians caught in a downpour might whip out a plastic stick that looks like a hairdryer crossed with a massage wand. This would be the "Air Umbrella," a prototypical device from China that blows rain away in a circle measuring 3 feet or more.
That's the vision of Chuan Wang and other university types in Beijing and Nanjing, who have waged a very successful Kickstarter campaign to fund their magical rain-rod. They've managed to slim their umbrella down to under 2 pounds with a battery charge of 15 to 30 minutes, and promise to ship weather-ready "Air Umbrellas" by the end of 2015.