One such Israeli startup was FilteRisk, which invented a product with possible applications for both civilians and the military. While the FilteRisk started as a project by students from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and the Hebrew University’s Agriculture and Environment Faculty, it has produced clothing that collects water from the environment, filters it, purifies it, and stores it in a hidden pouch for consumption.
“We’ve been working on this project for over a year and created a shirt out of fabric made with nanometric fibers capable of purifying and filtering the water and making it perfectly potable,” Ganit Goldstein, a Bezalel student and FilteRisk partner elaborated.
“We already have a fully functioning prototype and we are now looking for investors and interested parties,” she added.
According to the festival’s content director, Goldstein’s shirt amounts to making sci-fi a reality. “It is very much like a Stillsuit from Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel Dune,” Aviv commented.
Another line between reality and science fiction was blurred at the Geek Picnic by a real ‘cyborg.’ Nigel Ackland, known to be the world’s first person to receive a bionic prosthetic arm, arrived from England as a guest speaker to share his story with the Israeli crowds.
“We all hope that this will not just be a one-time event, but will become an annual event in Jerusalem for another ten years at least,” Carmi Wurtman said.