There are 192 finalists in the 2017 World Changing Ideas Awards, in categories from health to urban design to food. They run the gamut from internet-connected wells that collect water data to vegetable-based hamburgers that bleed like real meat. Here are eight more of our favorites.
Correcting Vision From The Cloud
Connected Eyes, Microsoft and L V Prasad Eye Institute
There are around 55 million visually impaired people in India, up to 80% of whom could be helped by everyday procedures like Lasik. Medical and surgical resources, however, are limited. In April 2015, nonprofit L V Prasad Eye Institute, in Hyderabad, India, teamed up with Microsoft India to create Connected Eyes, a cloud-based machine-learning research project that uses data from tens of thousands of eye patients to identify the likelihood of success for new surgery, plus a probable regression rate, so that doctors can deploy those resources most effectively. Last December, Connected Eyes linked up with institutions in Brazil, Australia, and the United States to create the Microsoft Intelligent Network for Eyecare, which will build a universally available service that offers eye doctors immediate predictions for their patients. “This will be a global pool of knowledge that everyone can benefit from,” says Anil Bhansali, managing director of Microsoft India R&D. —Ben Schiller
Rethinking The Factory
South Side Soapbox, Method Products and Gotham Greens
Recognize your company's culture of innovation by applying to this year's Best Workplaces for Innovators Awards before the extended deadline, April 12.
