Month: June 2016

Categories
Health and Wellness Wearables

BioRing tracks your biology for a better body

The hectic pace of the modern world is leaving more people stressed, sleep deprived, and lacking the proper nutrition to get through the day. That’s why information on all these various elements of daily life is crucial to make better choices. The team behind the BioRing is looking to help people do so in a tiny, unobtrusive package.

The BioRing is a simply designed, scratch-proof ring equipped with a 3-axis accelerometer, a bo-impedance sensor, and an optical heart rate sensor. The ring uses all of these sensors to track calorie, fat, and protein intake, stress levels, sleep status, heart rate, water levels, distance, and steps. The sensors by themselves aren’t enough to accurately track such a wide a range of factors, which is why the ring uses a proprietary algorithm to help make up for the gaps in technology, resulting in a margin of error of 14% for now, something the team expects to improve by the time of its expected delivery in November 2016.

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Categories
Connected Objects Cycling

It turns out the BEST e-bike conversion kit really is the best

patent-claimedA lot of standard e-bikes on the market operate at the 250W configuration, even in places where it’s legal to have a more powerful motor. And in those other places, more powerful configurations mean more speed, but without the torque to truly make it powerful enough to climb steep hills, for instance.

Inventor Matteo and his brother Luca Spaggiari were challenged to create a motor that could push the limit in terms of the hills it could climb and loads it could tow. Together, they created the BEST e-bike conversion kit. The name isn’t just for show: their design has been recognized by companies like Ford and Edison for being an extremely small yet generating the kind of torque it does. The secret lies within how its brushless motor sports a 10:1 ratio, allowing for a constant, high-level of torque across a wide range of speeds. This means that no matter if backers choose the BEST’s 250W, 500W, 749W, or 999W option, the type of power it generates will be the same.

 

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Categories
Sensors/IoT Smart Home

Knocki lets you turn surfaces into a remote for anything

editors-choiceIt’s 3 a.m. and it would be nice to turn the TV and lights off without getting out of bed.

patent-claimedKnocki is a short, cylindrical device that attaches to any surface and transforms that surface into a touch interface that can control other devices. Users set Knocki to perform specific actions through a set number of taps. It uses non-acoustic sensor technology to detect gentle surface gestures that are even a short distance away, but Knocki also has the ability to filter out random vibrations. The device works anywhere there is Wi-Fi, and there is a companion Android and iOS app for it.

 

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Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Imaging

Vyu360 lets you view 360-degree images, video on your smartphone

Capturing and viewing 360-degree video is becoming increasingly popular thanks to a growing number of virtual reality headsets and cameras.

patent-claimedVyu360 is a top-mounted, patent-pending smartphone accessory containing two panoramic lenses that capture 360-degree video and still images. It works in conjunction with Android and iOS smartphones, and uses their front and rear cameras. The accessory is made of elastic plastic housing, with a rigid rear and front lenses mount. A lens adjustment mechanism allows lenses to be aligned into position and work with different configurations.

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Categories
Fitness Kids/Babies Smartwatches/Bands

Kids hooked on Owl fitness system get wise to healthier habits

Childhood obesity is a problem that continues to grow in the United States: over the past 30 years alone, the rate of obese children and adolescents has more than doubled, which means that almost one-third of them are obese. One of the best ways to combat obesity is a healthy lifestyle that includes physical exercise, something most don’t get as more spend longer playing mobile games. OWL LLC wants to gamify the development of positive exercise habits and make them easier to engage with its Owl Fitness Tracker.

The Owl iOS app essentially replicates the nostalgia-laden experiencing of caring for a Tamogatchi or a Pokémon Pikachu with the Owl fitness tracker acting as a pedometer. The more a user walks, the more points can be earned to grow the Owl,  buy food to keep it happy, and accessorize it for fun.

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Categories
Fitness Wearables

SenseON exercise monitor sticks by your side for better data

The glut of fitness trackers on the market and being peddled on various crowdfunding websites either wrap around the wrist or chest. Unfortunately, bands need to be very still to be effective; chest strap monitors are more accurate but they can chafe, retain odor, need battery replacements, and can be simply uncomfortable.

The team at CardioCycle is looking to fund its solution: the SenseON. The heart rate/breathing monitor attaches to the torso rather than the wrist or the chest for greater accuracy and claims of clinical accuracy. The .4 ounce SenseON is made of silicon and as such is flexible enough to flex with a body’s movements, important so that the three electrodes it has always maintain contact.

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Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

Pebble 2, Time 2 come to the smartwatch field with integrated health monitoring

The smartwatch field has become crowded with players since the first Pebble model launched via Kickstarter in 2013 and demand exceeded supplies.

Now, Pebble introduces updated versions of its Pebble and Pebble Time smartwatches that add, among other features, integrated health monitoring. Each features an e-paper display, heart rate monitor, microphone, and built-in activity and sleep tracking, and are water resistant down to 30 meters. They are also each compatible with Android and iOS smartphones. Pebble 2 has a high contrast black and white display, while Time 2 has a 53 percent larger color display than its predecessor. Pebble 2 can last seven days on a full charge, while Time 2 can last 10 days.

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Categories
Connected Objects Food and Beverage

Portable Voltaire smart grinder mixes in science with your brew

The perfect of smooth, delicious coffee is an elusive beast. That’s because the myriad of factors that affect the final pour’s quality all stem from the proper care of the beans used to make it. Most of the time, the beans used aren’t well-taken care of, leading to sub-par brews. With its Voltaire, the team at Get It Right combines elegant design and algorithmic intelligence to pull off a satisfying result every time.

Voltaire is a connected, freshness-sensing portable grinder whose singular goal is to ensure only the highest quality, freshest beans are ground in a manner that maximally retains all of the positive aspects that contribute to a great cup of joe. Design-wise, its locking lid retains freshness, canonical ceramic burrs ensure consistent particle size for all types of coffee and a long life, stepless adjustment collar allows for fine-tuned grindings, and an LED timer allows for a user’s desired presets.

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Categories
Connected Objects Music

Point Motion motion-based MIDI controller gives your beats pyramid power

As technology advances, new and exciting ways to interact with the programs available continue to emerge. Music is no exception: at no other time in history has there been such a democratization of the art. Purists may deride the ease and apparent lack of skill needed to make music today, but the fact remains that anyone with a creative soul can express themselves without having to jump through hoops first.

A product further lowering and innovating the bar is the Point Motion, a camera-equipped device that tracks movements and gestures to allow for music control and creation. The open platform works with the built-in cameras in computers to recognize gestures and use those gestures to control or trigger over 1500 instrument and vocal effect. These gestures can be chosen from what’s pre-loaded or customized by a user, each of which can be used to trigger things like guitar pedals, piano chords, or DJ scratches.

Two applications are also available, too. PuppetMaster lets users create music freely and control acoustic effects, and Point Wellness integrates music into health and wellness practices. Any music created with Point Motion can be transferred via MIDI or OSC to major digital audio workstations like Logic or Ableton Live, and a companion iOS/Android app can offer remote control of Point Motion’s features. Point Motion is going for $175 and is expected to ship in August 2016 should its Indiegogo campaign raise $50,000 by July 2017.

Alternative forms of music interaction are becoming increasingly common, a promising trend for music aficionados everywhere who like to be experimental. Point Motion follows the trend and innovates with a Kinect-like interface, perfect for younger creatives, those who are health conscious and want to use it as an exercise aid, or for older people and their physical therapy needs. Music-wise, it’s similar to the Remidi T8 glove in that it’s a novel, but still practical, way to explore music creation — and more tools to do never hurt.

Categories
Connected Objects

DoodleVU connected mirror starts the day off with widgets

The biggest “screen” in most people’s lives isn’t a screen at all, but rather the mirror every morning is spent in front of to make sure a suit and tie combo is just right, or makeup is applied evenly. Nothing more is asked of a mirror because it does what it does simply, and well. AppSmith Studios is pushing the complacent home object further with its DoodleVU connected mirror.

DoodleVU is a Raspberyy Pi-based Wi-Fi mirror that displays widgets from its companion mobile or web app. For now, there is a small range of apps available, but the company claims that list will grow. Out of teh box, users can do things like display a Twitter feed, leave notes on the mirror for others, stay up to date on sports scores, and a few others.

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