The 100 Best Inventions of 2020 Include Innovative Ideas and Products From Companies of All Sizes

Time Magazine’s 2020 best inventions provides hope for both a brighter and more interesting future.

The impressive list new products and services confirms that a wide range of businesses, industries and challenges are in the crosshairs of creative individuals and innovative companies. Below is a full list of the inventions and highlights of two of the winners.

X-Ray Vision for Surgeons

It all started when Augmedics CEO Nissan Elimelech got a superhero-inspired idea: Wouldn’t it be cool if surgeons had X-ray vision? Several years of R&D produced the next best thing: xvision, a headset that uses augmented reality to turn a patient’s CT scan into a 3-D visualization that helps guide a spinal surgeon through operations in which every millimeter counts.

The headset superimposes a 3-D image of a patient’s spine over their body, allowing surgeons to (almost) see what’s under the skin without ever looking away from the operating table. Cleared by the FDA in December 2019, the device is already in use at top U.S. hospitals like Johns Hopkins and Rush University Medical Center. —Jamie Ducharme

Adaptive Gaming Kit for Persons with Disabilities

Another winner, Logitech, provides a package of adaptive game controllers for people with disabilities:

“More than 46 million gamers in the U.S. live with a disability, and for some, standard controllers, mouses and keyboards can be challenging to operate. In 2018, Microsoft introduced its Adaptive Controller—a hub enabling users to plug in their preferred controls setup.

Controllers for the disabled

Now Microsoft has partnered with Logitech to produce the Adaptive Gaming Kit. For $99, players get 10 buttons, two triggers, and hooks, pads, loops and other assorted gear that further enables them to customize their controllers. One reviewer, YouTuber Daniel O’Connor, described the kit as “honestly revolutionary.” —Matthew Gault

Buy now: Logitech Adaptive Gaming Kit

The full Time 2020 invention story, including the magazine’s methodology, can be found here. The full list and 24 categories are below.

ACCESSIBILITY