To the average person, technology is a blur of cell phones, tablets, cars and appliances, sometimes dipping into the realm of oddities like facial recognition, fingerprinting and home security.  We know what we see at the coffee shop and in advertisements.

Some technology never sees the light of day.  It is so strange and mysterious, it only appears in obscure informational websites and Kickstarter campaigns.  This kind of tech, my friends, is wonderful, and the people designing it are brilliant.

A few of these unexpected inventions might be the next big thing.

Bionic Boots

Ostriches can run insanely fast, and they inspired one man to create what he calls Bionic Boots.  These boots allow a human to run up to speeds of 25 miles per hour through the use of specially designed joints and super powered tendons.  The springs in the boots give the human leg more power behind each step as well as a longer stride length.  The inventor, Keahi Seymour, envisions them as a futuristic mode of transportation.  To see Bionic Boots in action, visit the website.

Oral-B Connected Toothbrush

Everything else connects to your iPhone, so why not your toothbrush? This Bluetooth toothbrush is an ingenious way to keep the dentist off your back.  It is sure to improve the health of your pearly whites.  It connects to an app on your phone and gives you information about how long you brush and if you’re using the proper pressure.  Released this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it runs about $125.  For more information, click here.

Bike Washing Machine

While this invention might seem a bit primitive, it is a pretty darn good idea.  Who wouldn’t want an all-in-one exercise bike and clothes washing machine?  Simple insert the clothes, soap and water, and jump on the exercise bike for half an hour.  Exercising becomes necessary unless you’re comfortable in grungy duds, and it helps keep your electric bill as slim as your waistline.  The bike washing machine is a concept design now, and probably needs a lot of testing before becoming a consumer product.  See the design here.

Wearable Drone

For those of you that have wild and entertaining lives, meet the Nixie wearable drone.  A bracelet until you need to capture a shot, detach this drone from your wrist.  It will fly into the air on command and take some footage.  According to the promotional video, the drone will even follow you as you’re doing something awesome.  My life surely isn’t exciting enough to warrant the expense of a wearable drone, but some of Validity’s readers could probably do a lot with this device.  It is geared as “the camera that goes beyond arm’s reach,” and I’m sure it is more impressive than my husband’s selfie stick.  To see more about Nixie or sign up for product updates, click here.

Circuit Scribe

Circuit Scribe is a conductive pen that allows a hardware designer to actually draw an electrical circuit.  This might be a greatly useful invention for engineers, who previously had to use breadboards, wires and components to get a test circuit working.  Circuit Scribe kits come with components as well as wire and resistor pens.  You can order Circuit Scribe kits here.

Under Skin Information Exchange

If you thought tapping your phone to exchange information was bizarre, you’ll really be disturbed by the implanted wearables category of technology.  Imagine, instead of carrying a stack of business cards with you to a networking event, you might just tap your hand against someone else’s to have all your information transferred to them.  You’d have to get the chip embedded in your hand, and they’d have to have one in theirs, but so what? In ten years we’ll all have our brains uploaded to the cloud anyway.  Before you guys freak, I was just kidding about that last part.  See more here.

Data Stickies

With this invention, what looks like a pad of sticky notes is actually a pad of digital storage drives.  Simple pull one off, stick it to your computer, and transfer your data.  When you’re done, stick the drive inside a notebook or to your desk, and no one will ever know it contains your family pictures or the Power Point for this afternoon’s meeting.  The sticky note flash drives are literally as thin as a piece of paper and communicate to your computer through a designated plastic sheet that connects to the USB port of your computer.  To see the concept design, visit the website.

Maybe some of these inventions will become mainstream in the near future.  I think for each of these designs, I can quote Amy from the movie Fly Away Home, “Every home should have one!”