You know how they say that in the public arena, bad (or awkward) news is better than no news at all? Well, the creators of the HomeHero Fire Extinguisher will find out soon enough: A week after winning a Gold award at the 2007 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) this past summer, the HomeHero submission was found to have violated contest rules by not being available for distribution at the time. It was just released for purchase at Home Depot today.
The HomeHerois designed by the Arnell Group LLC in collaboration with Home Depot's "Orange Works" design arm and brings an ergonomic outlook to the old-school safety gadget. It features a single-hand deployment trigger with a molded rubber grip, an easy-set rubber mold at the bottom, and a visually appealing design. The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), which co-sponsors the contest with BusinessWeek, put out a release about the controversy earlier this summer:
IDSA became aware that the HomeHero was not yet available for purchase by the general public, despite competition rules specifying that, in order to qualify for an award, a product must have been placed in distribution (available for sale in its final form through normal retail channels) between February 9, 2005 and February 9, 2007.
While the mistake doesn't seem like a big deal, it caused the IDSA to make 'major' changes to the rules for future entries:
Beginning in 2008, entrants in consumer products and other categories will be required to submit actual physical products for juror review, not models or renderings. Jurors also will verify that all products
(except for those in the Concepts category) are actually available for purchase by the intended end user as part of the eligibility determination process.
The actual item could be huge if makes extinguishing a more accessible activity. It seems that many people don't know how to use regular FE's, and a few are even intimidated to use one. The molded design should at least make for a more comfortable, controlled grip and you could place it anywhere and not worry that it’ll scratch a table. It also includes a wireless 2-in-1 Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm that links to
HomeHero Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms, and has a voice command feature instructing you on what you need to do in an emergency.
Update: It looks like IDSA is currently working on updating their site, which included the press release detailing the rule change. You can still find it in the cache of the page when performing a search.
