The brain of the organization – Louisville think tank owes its name, acclaim to Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate idea man

Ideas are constantly bouncing off the walls of The DaVinci Institute http://www.davinciinstitute.com/ , a futurist think tank based here that caters to the frontiers of imagination.

Thomas Frey founded the institute in 1997 to help foster the growth of new inventions and businesses.

By Andy Vuong
Denver Post Staff Writer

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~2167685,00.html

Some of the ideas are far-reaching; others are simple. Some may change our lives; others might never go beyond a single conversation.

The seemingly outlandish include space hotels, instant sleep chambers and time-travel machines. Others, like "brain fingerprinting" and "smart shoes," could have commercial value.

Adidas announced this month that it is developing "smart shoes" with built-in computer chips that can automatically adjust the shoes’ cushioning level – a concept that Frey wrote about in 1999.

"There are some ideas that are perhaps pie in the sky, but they’re still fun to talk about," said Jerry Rifkin, a member of the think tank. "Maybe the ongoing conversations will inspire someone to take what sounds like a hare-brained idea and turn it into fact and reality."

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The nonprofit organization has 245 members, a collection of idea junkies and entrepreneurs. Frey falls into both categories as a former IBM engineer who said he launched 17 businesses from 1983 to 2000.

"I like to be challenged," Frey said in a recent interview at the institute’s office, located in a retail/office complex at 511 S. Boulder Road.

One challenge for Frey is to push brain fingerprinting, a controversial technology that uses a headband with sensors to measure brain waves to test whether a person reacts to an image that may have been seen previously.

For example, the sensors may indicate a brain-wave reaction to an image of a crime scene.

Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories, a Seattle-based company, developed the technology and is trying to get brain-fingerprinting test results widely accepted as scientific and legal evidence.

Last month, Frey created a task force to make Colorado a hub for the technology. He also submitted a grant proposal to the Colorado Institute of Technology to develop brain-fingerprinting curriculum.

Frey believes that brain fingerprinting can help law-enforcement officials identify suspects more quickly and accurately, leading to fewer wrongful imprisonments and creating a fairer justice system.

"Tom is deeply entwined in the inventor mindset," said Phil Watts, a Longmont inventor and a member of the institute. "He is willing to engage a new idea to see how it fits and would be woven into the future fabric."

Frey, 50, says he was "born and raised on a John Deere tractor" in South Dakota but never quite fit in with the agricultural community.

"It didn’t fit with the way my head was wired," Frey said. "I’m a techie person."

The burly futurist named his group after his favorite inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, the brilliant Italian artist and visionary who lived from 1452 to 1519.

"Da Vinci dedicated over 500 drawings and 30,000 words to the topic of flying, and this was hundreds of years before people were realistically thinking we were able to fly," Frey said. "He was light-years ahead of everybody else."

Many of the ideas Frey touts seem at least hundreds of years away from reality, which has led to some criticism.

The DaVinci Institute "is way out there in the ozone," said Bonnie Kaake, president-elect of the Rocky Mountain Inventors Association, a nonprofit organization that educates inventors on how to turn their ideas into businesses. "It seems to lack focus."

Frey claims he’s able to help entrepreneurs because he has traveled the same path, over and over again.

Arvada resident Theresa Degroote, a member of The DaVinci Institute, said the group has been instrumental in the growth of her home-based company, Phlare.

Phlare takes images from space and turns them into educational products, such as flash cards and maps.

"Tom has really helped me with networking and has given me the opportunity to showcase my company," Degroote said.

With the help of The DaVinci Institute, Denver-based MagnetiCare has created magnetic creams and liquid drops that are said to strengthen the body and eliminate chronic pain.

MagnetiCare founder Robert Kirschbaum says that some Denver Broncos, including cornerback Willie Middlebrooks, have used the products. Middlebrooks wrote a testimonial to MagnetiCare that Kirschbaum has published on the company’s website, http://www.magneticare.net

Frey acknowledges that scientists and inventors sometimes pursue bizarre concepts, but he says that a constant flow of new ideas is critical.

"Innovation is the lifeblood of the economy," Frey said.

Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1260 or [email protected] .