Some inventions are so common that it’s difficult to imagine they started as an idea written on paper and then a patent application submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The ballpoint pen, the computer mouse, and the microwave oven — these are just a few examples of great ideas that became essential products we now take for granted.

Nevertheless, of the 520, 277 applications that inventors filed with USPTO in 2010, chances are that not even half will be granted patents, and far fewer will become commercial successes. In that spirit, here are three of the technological advances:

Mind Control Helmet

The helmet is equipped with the trans cranial pulsed ultrasound (经颅脉冲超声) technology, which delivers high-frequency sound waves to specific regions of the brain. Under the influence of these sound waves, neurons (神经元) send impulses (脉冲) to their targets, taking control over them.

Body Armor with Flashlight and Camera/Phone Charger

The flexible arm, which is armored with Kevlar and hard plastic, contains a rechargeable battery pack that powers a special device built into the arm’s artificial skin. It is also equipped with a bright LED flashlight, an HD camera capable of sending pictures, and a charging slot into which a phone apparently fits nicely.

Robot That Eats Mice and Insects

The robot would chase and eat mice and insects, and then digest their bodies to produce its own power. There are five different concepts, including the mousetrap coffee table robot, which is designed to attract careless insects onto its surface, which contains a trap door set off by motion sensors. Victims trapped by the device would be chemically separated and fed to a microbial fuel cell. A light on the side of the device would inform the owner of how much energy is being produced.

These inventions push the boundaries of innovation, yet they seem unlikely to gain widespread acceptance.

Music is said to be a universal language. But for Chase Burton, a deaf filmmaker from Texas, music has always been a profoundly different experience.

“When I was a kid, I'd lie on the floor above our garage so I could feel the vibrations from my brother’s band rocking out below my body,” the 33-year-old told CNN. “That was one of the first times I began building a relationship with music.”

In 2016, his ability to experience music changed dramatically, thanks to California-based technology company Not Impossible Labs.

It designed a vibrating suit that enables deaf people to “feel” music through their skin. Consisting of a body harness, ankle and wrist straps, the device translates audio into a range of vibrating pulses that are felt at 24 contact points. Burton has been testing the suit for four years.

The sound hits different parts of your body, said Burton. “Maybe it will strike me down in my ankles first. And then I'll start to feel the vibrations in my back. And then I'll feel some pulsations in my wrist.”

The creators want to extend the tactile musical experience beyond the deaf community. In 2018, they gave out 150 of the wearables at a rock concert in Las Vegas where half the audience members were deaf and half were hearing.

Since then, Not Impossible Labs has been working to improve the technology and says it's ready to go to market soon. Eventually, the creators want the device to become a consumer product, accessible to all. The company’s talent and business development director, Jordan Richardson, told CNN that the technology could be incorporated into live sports broadcasts, video games, theme parks or museum installations. The newest digital streaming movie releases could have built in ‘vibe-tracks’ to ‘feel’ the movie. He said. “We truly think that anything that has an audio element can also have a vibrational experience associated with it as well.”

Everybody hates rats (big mice). But in the earthquake capitals of the world-Japan, Los Angeles,Turkey- rats will soon be man’s best friends.

What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.

How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal (信号). This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelt that person.

Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christiane Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “Robots’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity!

The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of the International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be wonderful. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to, and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course)