Inventions week - Day 2

Pushing the fecundity envelope of the human mind once more, here are today's ideas:

• The umbrella-ella-ella-ella. Normal, single canopy umbrellas clearly don't work in anything other than light rain and the absence of wind. One's legs are exposed to precipitation if one is engaging in bipedal locomotion, and in a strong wind, the umbrella is wildly unstable. I propose, therefore, a gyroscopically-stabilised, quadruple canopy umbrella. The greater surface area of the umbrella-ella-ella-ella protects all parts of the body, and the gyros prevent excessive perturbation of the ella axes.
• The colour piano. Existing pianos are monochromatically keyed, and topologically linear. I propose, therefore, that two sets of piano octaves be curved into semi-circles, and joined end-to-end, to form a circle. The keys can then be colour-coded as in the Munsell colour circle, so that the colours of keys on opposite sides of the circle are complementary; i.e., adding the two colours together produces a shade of grey. The phase of the notes on opposite sides of the piano can then be offset by 180 degrees, so that if opposite notes are played, the sound waves interfere destructively, producing silence. This piano is ideal for duets.
• Rainfall energy production. Energy from falling rain is wasted as sound energy, (and a little heat energy). Hydrovoltaic cells should be installed on rooftops, roads, and across the open countryside. These cells absorb the impact energy of falling raindrops, and convert it into electricity.