# data[].attributes.headline
How We Chose the 100 Best Inventions of 2021

# data[].attributes.subject
How We Chose the 100 Best Inventions of 2021

# data[].attributes.body
Every year, TIME highlights inventions that are making the world better, smarter and a bit more fun. (See last year’s list here.)To assemble our list of 2021’s Best Inventions, we solicited nominations across a variety of categories from TIME’s editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process. We then evaluated each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, creativity, efficacy, ambition and impact.The result is a list of 100 groundbreaking inventions—including vaccines for COVID-19 and malaria, an emotional support robot for hospitalized children, an environmentally friendly dye for jeans and a brand new pasta shape—that are changing how we live, work, play and think about what’s possible.

# data[].attributes.body
- Accessibility
- Artificial Intelligence
- Apps and Software
- Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
- Beauty
- Connectivity
- Consumer Electronics
- Design
- Education
- Entertainment
- Experimental
- Finance
- Fitness
- Food and Drink
- Home Health
- Medical Care
- Parenting
- Productivity
- Robotics
- Style
- Social Good
- Sustainability
- Toys and Games
- Transportation
- Travel
- Wellness

# data[].attributes.body
With tech companies like Meta—previously known as Facebook—going full steam ahead on augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), or what some call the Metaverse, the need for high-speed mobile processors capable of running AR/VR applications is obvious. Enter Qualcomm’s XR2 processor, the first mobile AR/VR chip with 5G broadband connectivity, which enables high-speed AR/VR processing even on the go. Already being used in AR/VR headsets from Meta, HTC and others, the XR2 is not just fast-tracking technology lets users move freely around a space, meaning headsets using the chip don’t need cumbersome wires that can interrupt the experience. If the Metaverse is indeed our future, tech like the XR2 will help get us there. —Patrick Lucas Austin

# data[].attributes.body
The ability to tie our shoes may be something most people take for granted—but for many of us, lacing up can be a real pain. Nike aims to fix that problem with the GO FlyEase ($120), a shoe that wearers with disabilities can slip on and off, hands-free. A hinge in the middle allows the shoe to bend open, while a midsole tensioner band, crafted from surgical tubing, snaps it back into place. The shoe could help people with a wide range of conditions, from flexibility issues and arthritis to visual impairments. “The human experience is vast and broad—why aren’t we providing solutions that help people dress themselves independently?” asks Sarah Reinertsen, a Paralympic athlete and member of Nike’s innovation team who worked on prototypes of the shoe. “Nike wants to make sports more accessible, and this is a part of that.” —Jesse Will

# data[].attributes.body
The 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, the deadliest in the state’s history, was caused by a worn hook on a transmission tower—a faulty part that might have been caught had there been more frequent inspections. To prevent similar occurrences, the robotics manufacturer Percepto developed AIM, a software program that uses drones and robots to inspect and monitor infrastructure like power lines, industrial sites, power plants, refineries, and mines more efficiently and safely—and importantly, more frequently. The software automates a fleet of drones and robots on a routine, then takes the data and makes sense of it. “With better foresight, we might be able to prevent these environmental tragedies that seem to be happening on a monthly basis,” says Percepto CEO Dor Abuhasira. —Jesse Will

# data[].attributes.body
As climate change disrupts the global water supply, every industry needs to reduce consumption. For hair salons, which use thousands of gallons a day, one solution is L’Oréal’s Water Saver, which was unveiled in January and is now being rolled out to salons in free pilots. The system, which attaches to sinks, has three slots for normal shampoos, conditioners, and treatment, which are distributed directly into the water stream. The Water Saver then creates micro-ionized droplets by colliding them together in a highly pressurized stream, creating water particles that are 10 times smaller and reducing overall consumption by as much as 80%. —Ciara Nugent

# data[].attributes.body
Even diehard New York City subway devotees will admit that keeping up with service changes on the system’s 36 lines and 472 stations is nearly impossible. But now there is hope: the new MTA Live Subway Map is a web-based visualization that shows subway service in real time, redrawing itself when lines or stations are down or trains are running on alternate lines. Created in partnership with digital agency Work & Co, the map is a design feat, retaining the iconic, four-decade-old look while bringing it up to the minute with live data. “What you’re seeing is actually the current state of the subway—you don’t need to read all those posters anymore,” says Work & Co design partner Felipe Memoria. —Jesse Will

# data[].attributes.body
Online videoconferencing can make it easy to connect with people all over the world—provided, of course, that everyone speaks the same language. Kudo Marketplace, a scheduling tool tied to a Zoom-like platform, takes care of that. The system, launched in January, lets meeting hosts book skilled human interpreters, fluent in more than 90 spoken and 147 sign languages. Once the meeting begins, attendees simply go to a pull-down menu and select their preferred language. Clients include Microsoft, Etsy and U.S. government agencies. Booking time isn’t cheap, though: 30 hours of interpretation runs about $3,000. —Alejandro de la Garza

# data[].attributes.body
Syng founder Christopher Stringer spent 22 years at Apple, where he helped design the iPhone, iMac and other iconic products. Now he’s hoping for another hit with his Cell Alpha ($1,799), a wireless, design-forward speaker that produces audiophile-quality sound. During setup, the Cell Alpha—which resembles Star Wars’ Death Star—uses tones and microphones to calibrate itself to the shape and acoustics of the room it’s in for maximum aural quality. Then bass-booming woofers and drivers emit a sound that seems to come from all directions. Move it, and it’ll automatically perform a new sound check; if you have two, they’ll calibrate to each other. —Don Steinberg

# data[].attributes.body
In 1569, when Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator flattened the earth’s cylindrical surface onto paper, he gave sailors the tools to navigate ocean voyages. But he also distorted the size of countries nearest the poles—North America appears abnormally large, for example. Despite the inaccuracies, the Mercator projection became the norm, and was even the basis of Google Maps until as recently as 2018. Astrophysicist J. Richard Gott, along with colleagues David Goldberg and Robert Vanderbei, set out in 2019 to fix the inaccuracies and came up with a double-sided map that is similar to a vinyl record in shape. It improves geographical parity between continents, finally representing the southern hemisphere as fairly as possible on paper. The map is free to access online, and the scientists are working with publishers to make it widely available for sale in the future. —Eloise Barry

# data[].attributes.body
Research shows that the best remedy for reading disorders is early intervention. Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough teachers and tutors for one-on-one instruction. Amira and the StoryCraft was developed to help. Using speech-recognition software, the app ($7.99) listens to students read aloud, pausing when a child stalls or makes a mistake on a word. Then, the app teaches them how the word is pronounced. A Carnegie Mellon University study found that students using the software for 20 minutes posted twice the gains as those using traditional methods. —Chad de Guzman

# data[].attributes.body
Watching a video demonstration of Synchron’s Stentrode in action feels like watching something out of a science-fiction movie. A man sits at his computer, writing emails, texting and searching the Internet—but he never touches a key. Instead, he operates the machine with only his thoughts. Intended for people with paralysis, the Stentrode system digitizes signals generated by the part of the brain that controls movement, translating them into commands that a computer (equipped with the right software) can execute. So far the device, which remains in the experimental stage, has proved successful for two people with ALS(Lou Gehrig's disease), and the Food and Drug Administration has given its sign-off for a larger study in the U.S., bringing the technology one step closer to widespread use. —Jamie Ducharme

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
(Capitalize Online 401(k) Rollover Platform)

# data[].attributes.body
Millennials change jobs often, and when they do, many neglect to bring along their 401(k)s(a retirement savings plan sponsored by an employer), put off by the hassle of long phone queues and locating obscure documents. Gaurav Sharma co-founded Capitalize to make the process less arduous. Simply enter the names of former employers or retirement-account providers, and Capitalize does the rest—unearthing accounts, handling paperwork and suggesting IRAs(Individual Retirement Account) where old money can make new gains. Since launching in 2020, the free service—it makes money through referral bonuses when customers set up IRAs—has helped tens of thousands of users roll over millions of dollars. —Abby Vesoulis

# data[].attributes.body
When hardware engineer Aly Orady decided to lose weight, he devoured research about the science of strength training to figure out how to build muscles and shed pounds more effectively. His fitness journey led him to develop Tonal, a wall-mounted digital weight system that uses electromagnetic resistance rather than traditional metal plates, allowing users to change weight resistance with a tap on a screen. Tonal collects heaps of user data—about how much you can lift, at what pace and so on—to customize workouts. And unlike other high-tech exercise machines, it alters workouts in real time based on your performance, as a personal trainer would. That’s led athletes like Serena Williams, Stephen Curry, and LeBron James to sign on as endorsers and investors. All told, Tonal has raised about $450 million in venture capital and was valued at $1.6 billion in early 2021. Tonal costs $2,995 and requires a yearlong $49 monthly membership. —Guadalupe Gonzalez

# data[].attributes.body
Tasty and nutritious plant-based alternatives for meat and chicken have been available for years. But seafood? Not so much. That’s the void that Kuleana is trying to fill with its 100% plant-based, sushi-grade, ready-to-eat tuna made from ingredients including algae, koji (a fungus that grows in East Asia), radish, bamboo and potato. Deep red in color and designed to be prepared as sushi, nigiri, carpaccio, poke or ceviche, the alt-tuna retains the iron, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acid of the real thing—without the microplastics, mercury or high cholesterol. And the benefits are more than nutritional—it may also help to alleviate reliance on industrial fishing in the face of increasing demand for fresh food. The product is currently available at select markets in Los Angeles, restaurants in the Midwest and Poké Bar locations nationwide, with a wider rollout via e-commerce slated for the near future. Next on the menu: high-quality, sushi-grade, plant-based salmon. —Sanya Mansoor

# data[].attributes.body
No pasta shape was good enough for Dan Pashman. The obsessive foodie and host of the Sporkful podcast judges pasta shapes on sauceability (how readily sauce adheres), forkability (ease of getting and keeping it on a fork) and toothsinkability (how satisfying it is to sink your teeth into). “Most of the pasta shapes out there are only good at one or two,” he says. So Pashman set out to create his dream pasta shape, an experience chronicled on The Sporkful. Three years and several prototypes later, he finally unveiled Cascatelli, with a half-tube shape to catch sauce and ruffles to provide a dynamic bite, all in a short noodle that’s easily forked. Now manufactured by Sfoglini ($19.96 for 4 lb.), it’s sold nearly 300,000 lb. since debuting in March. —Eliana Dockterman

# data[].attributes.body
Amid growing concerns about airborne diseases and pollution, sales of home air purifiers are surging. But while high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters have been shown to reduce most bacteria and a bevy of fine airborne particles, there is at least one problem: “Most air purifiers look like refrigerators sitting in the corner,” says Grant Prigge, CEO and co-founder of Mila. So Prigge set out to make something that looks as good as it performs. His company’s eponymous purifier ($349) not only boasts sleek midcentury-modern aesthetics but also includes a slew of consumer-friendly features not found on competing models, including a radar detection system that senses when people are present and turns down the noise. Backed by Electrolux and Vulcan Capital, Mila also sells a subscription-based menu of filters (from $59) tailored to pet owners, home renovators, the allergy-prone and more. —Alison Van Houten

# data[].attributes.body
This year looks very different from the last when it comes to the pandemic, and that’s largely thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines—three of which, from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson–Janssen, are approved or authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The vaccines use different technologies and have reduced rates of severe COVID-19 as well as hospitalizations and deaths. But with new variants, including Delta and Omicron, that protection, while still strong, is waning. That’s why countries including the U.S. are authorizing booster shots to strengthen that immunity. —Alice Park

# data[].attributes.body
After buying an expensive crib and organic mattress as an expecting parent, Amazon employee Herman Chan was bummed to learn that what he really needed—for the first few months, at least—was a small bedside bassinet so that he and the baby could sleep in the same room. But “everything we looked at was made with a lot of plastic and smelled horribly,” says Chan. So along with another now former Amazon colleague, he decided to build something better. Made of sustainably sourced corrugated paperboard, the minimalist Juno Bassinet ($148) is coated with a biodegradable water-repellent coating and paired with an organic cotton zippered sheet. When not in use, the Juno can be folded and tucked away for storage or travel. And when baby is ready to move to the crib, the Juno Bassinet can be recycled. —Jesse Will

# data[].attributes.body
For the past 18 months, millions of Americans have spent their workdays staring at screens featuring grids of their colleagues’ faces. Teamflow offers an alternative. Though the remote-work platform was conceived before the pandemic, it offers a much needed antidote to Zoom fatigue. Teamflow allows companies to create virtual offices—replete with desks, meeting rooms and whiteboards. Users’ faces appear as bubbles that can be moved around the virtual office, similar to a video game. When you want to talk to a colleague, simply drag your bubble to theirs—a kind of virtual approximation of the much missed spontaneous work conversation. The application ($15 per employee per month) has been embraced by companies like Netflix and Shopify. —Abhishyant Kidangoor

# data[].attributes.body
Rangers across Africa’s national parks and wildlife reserves are in a constant battle to protect endangered species from poachers. But those rangers are at a disadvantage: their loud gasoline-powered motorbikes alert poachers to their presence. Swedish electric-bike company CAKE worked with the Southern African Wildlife College to adapt their Kalk bike, giving it a super-quiet electric motor and a portable solar-panel charger. For $25,000, consumers can buy their own solar-powered bike—which will also pay for another to be sent to the anti-poaching fight. —Ciara Nugent

# data[].attributes.body
When Ebeling set out to tackle the food-insecurity crisis that affects 1 in 8 Americans, he envisioned something useful and convenient that could also protect users’ dignity. The answer: cell phones—more specifically, a text-messaging service called Bento that partners with local organizations and government agencies to enroll people in need of food assistance. Once signed up, users can text “order” to a number associated with the service. They can then select a no-cost meal from nearby participating restaurants, which process Bento orders as they would any other—allowing users to pick up their meals without drawing attention to their situation. Bento has provided 150,000 healthy meals since its launch in March 2020, Ebeling says. —Guadalupe Gonzalez

# data[].attributes.body
Jeans are a perennial fashion favorite, with more than 4.5 billion pairs sold every year. But their synthetic indigo dye takes a toll on the environment, contaminating water with toxic chemical runoff. Biotechnology company Huue has specially engineered bacteria that turns natural sugars into indigo-identical dye—without the environmental impact—by mimicking how enzymes in plants create colors. In September, the company partnered with the cell-programming platform Ginkgo Bioworks to scale up production, and plans to start shipping to denim designers by the end of the year. —Aryn Baker

# data[].attributes.body
Plenty of companies want to cut their carbon footprints, but it’s hard to know where to begin. Watershed can help. The company collects data from every corner of a client’s business that generates emissions—from supply chains to electricity usage to the commuting patterns of its workforce. The data is plugged into software that gives clients like Sweetgreen and Shopify a dashboard view of where the emissions are highest. Watershed’s climate-strategy team then helps create a comprehensive footprint-reduction plan. —Leslie Dickstein

# data[].attributes.body
About half of the world’s PET(Poly-Ethylene Terephthalate) plastic—which is used to make plastic water bottles and containers—winds up in landfills. Someday soon, a good amount could end up in LEGO sets instead. The LEGO Group, which has vowed to make all LEGO bricks from sustainable sources by 2030, spent the past three years testing 250 variations of recycled PET materials and in June finally unveiled its prototype for a recycled PET brick that is nearly identical to the usual brick. That milestone achieved, the Danish toy giant hopes to integrate the recycled blocks into LEGO sets in the next 18 to 24 months. The impact could be considerable: the company uses some 100,000 metric tons of plastic resin in its products each year. —Rebecca Katzman

# data[].attributes.body
Urban bike-sharing programs are more popular than ever, and on-demand transportation firm Lyft is building on that momentum with its latest shareable two-wheeler. An electrified pedal-assist bike offering up to 60 miles of range (double that of older shareable bikes), Lyft’s new model—which can be charged at docking stations—was developed to withstand more journeys with fewer battery swaps, meaning lower operating costs and reduced environmental impact. Lyft’s team put safety top of mind too, with features like retroreflective paint to keep riders visible at night. The new bike will roll out across Lyft’s markets in the coming months, starting in Chicago. —Alex Fitzpatrick