WCCB News Host:

Alright, 8:17 right now. Touching public surfaces is a major concern during the COVID-19 crisis. A local designer has made something that might help.

It’s time for Wilson’s World.

Wilson:

Hello. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Wilson’s World Homeschool. Listen, if you follow me on Twitter, the social media, you know I love gadgets and I love science and I love new things and all this kind of stuff. And with everything we got going on, with all the microbes and viruses and everything, there’s been a lot out there. But we’re kind of combining that with some gadgets. That’s David right there. David in Charlotte with the BOLTGROUP. Hello. Good morning, David.

David:

Hi there, Wilson. You doing all right today?

Wilson:

I’m doing pretty good. I want to kind of get into this with your story here, and we’re going to talk about this, and people are watching this are like, what in the world is this? But before we get to this.

David:

I know, I’ve got mine too.

Wilson:

Well, you should, because you made them. But people may be seeing some gadgets like this where we’re all concerned about what we’re touching these days. How did this come into your brain? What made you want to do this?

David:

Yeah, well, it really was something that I discovered needed to exist. I’ve been a designer myself for many, many years, including a lot of history of making medical devices. And it just so happens that with this COVID-19 crisis, I happen to be a person of particular vulnerability. With that, living in a big apartment building like so many other people in Charlotte, I noticed that all these common touch points like elevator buttons and mailboxes and lobby room doors, all those things just were kind of spots that for me created anxiety moving around the building.

What I did was I came up with this device that really just acts as a natural extension to your hand. It’s actually inspired by some tools that you see in operating rooms used by surgeons. Because it’s based on those types of things, it naturally works really well as an extension of your hand. It can push buttons and it can hook doors and you can push or pull really most openings that you find in offices or big buildings, and you use this to touch things so that your hand doesn’t have to.

Wilson:

And I love this because you’re right here in Charlotte.

David:

Yes, sir. And the company that I’m a part of at BOLTGROUP, we’ve actually been in Charlotte for 35 years and doing lots of things like this. We’ve been in the design innovation space this whole time, being a native Charlotte institution. And this is actually just one small part of a much broader COVID response that we’re actually participating in.

Wilson:

Well, listen, I want to talk about that because you guys—we’re going to hold you over and do another segment here with you—because you’ve got something you’re working on that fascinates me. Talking about the mail and talking about getting packages to your house and all that. We’re going to talk about that in just a second. But before we do that, is this available? Where can people find out more about this device right here?

David:

Well, that’s actually the best part—it’s completely free because we wanted everyone to have it right away and to use any 3D printer available, whether it was their own, a friend’s, or another third-party service. Anyone that goes to boltgroup.com/COVID-response can actually download the designs for this device today for absolutely free and print it using any means at your disposal.

Wilson:

Wait a minute, it’s free?

David:

Yes, it is.

Wilson:

Is this guy legit? Is this real? Wow, well, that’s pretty good. That’s amazing right there. I love that you’re doing that. I love that you’re here in Charlotte, but I also love that you’re doing it for free. If you got a friend or somebody like this, we’ll have a link up at wccbcharlotte.com with that.

I want to talk about something you guys are doing with some of those packages when we have you back here in just a second. This is some great stuff. And listen, thank you for making this available for free because that’s kind of a big deal because I know you know this this took some work just kind of designing and coming up with this so that’s some pretty amazing stuff.

We’re gonna have more with David right here at the BOLTGROUP and talking about viruses and gadgets and craziness that’s coming up on Wilson’s World Homeschool we got more coming up in just a bit.

Hello. Good morning, everybody. Wilson’s World Homeschool part two with David right here. If you’re just tuning in David might be my new best friend. We just found out this device—he’s with the BOLTGROUP—this is available for free online. This is something so you don’t have to touch surfaces. You can push buttons and open doors and all that. There’s a link up at wccbcharlotte.com. We’ll have that up for you here in just a little bit.

David, I know you all over at the BOLTGROUP are working on something and you guys aren’t new to this. You’ve been in Charlotte for a long time. Another one of the things you’re working on is when we’re bringing things into our house through the mail or packages and all that. What did you guys come up with for that?

David:

Well, we’re actually working on a really cool concept right now, and it’s only in the early conceptual stages, but for all of us at BOLTGROUP being in this design innovation business, we think it’s really interesting. It’s basically a big box for your mail or packages or really anything that’s coming into your home. and it uses some upper UVC range lighting solutions to actually disinfect anything that you put in the box. If you have a package from Amazon or your mail or groceries you’re bringing in, you could put it in this locker and let it do its business for a little bit, and they’ll come out completely sterile and ready to be safe to be in your home.

Wilson:

Listen, I want to have you back on again, because this is great Wilson’s World Homeschool content right here. Because I’m seeing people, as we’re all kind of doing the best we can right now, people are really getting creative. And, if you missed it earlier, this is a great idea and all kinds of different ideas. It is amazing, though, when we come into these challenges where the scientists are working as hard as they can with so many different data things that are changing every day to try and get us out of this, you’re kind of doing the same thing and kind of looking at it with everyday life. How can we make this safer and better for people?

David:

Exactly, and I think really just as designers and creatives, we’re really beholden to do that. This is a time where—it’s been said to death but it’s so true—we’re all in this together. For everyone that’s got a great idea, this is a great time to use great ideas. For all of us to be thinking openly and to be thinking beyond what looks like is scary today, that’s really what real innovation is about, and so for all of us at BOLT, and myself as a designer, we really just want to be a part of that.

Wilson:

I love it. I love you’re in Charlotte. Listen, get more details about this and everything we’ve been speaking about with David here at wccbcharlotte.com. Welcome to the curriculum here at Wilson World Homeschool. You’re now on the staff. Listen, we’ll have more details at wccbcharlotte.com.