Categories
Connected Objects Sleep

Say hello to better mornings with the Kello bedside companion

For most people, mornings are a drag because of a lack of sleep. This leads to haphazrd, rushed mornings with barely any time to take a sip of coffee let alone wake up appropriately. And with more and more people dozing off to the drama of late-night Netflix binges or the glow of a smartphone, they’re experiencing more difficulty getting the kind of sound, restful sleep crucial to a successful day.

With the prevalence of this problem comes a glut of products designed to address it. Kello Labs’ Kello is a bedside companion not designed to be an alarm clock but rather a sleep trainer to help people achieve the kind of restorative sleep they need. Kello boasts a wide range of sleep programs in its tiny frame. Together, they can help users do everything from fall asleep faster (with a program that asks users to match their breath to a pattern of lights to more easily relax), snooze less (offering users just three chances a week to snooze), wake up earlier (by shaving minutes off each morning until users naturally wake up earlier), and even take better power naps. 

Categories
Nutrition/Hydration Sensors/IoT

The One X biosensor lets you pick up on your body’s vibes

Everyone is generally aware of the elements that contribute to a healthy lifestyle: nutrition-dense foods, ample water, some exercise and plenty of sleep, just to name a few. But the one issue most people have is actually quantifying the kind of lifestyle being led with something other than that vague sense of ‘feeling bad’. Luckily, the One X does exactly that.

The One X is a nutritional biosensor that can effectively measure the body’s antioxidant level, a reliable metric for understanding how well the body is able to cope with various lifestyle challenges along with the body’s reaction to elements like sun, alcohol, nutrition, exercise, pollution, stress and sleep. It’s able to do this through high-quality optic sensors that analyze critical skin antioxidants called carotenids with a 20-scan of the palm. Since carotenids absorb light in the blue spectrum, the One X pumps blue light into the palm and reads how much is absorbed for an accurate measurement of the body’s overall health. The worse the lifestyle, the lower the score: This gives up to five users (courtesy of a handy fingerprint sensor) clear incentive to make better decisions throughout the day.

Categories
Aquatics Imaging

The Paralenz action camera is a breath of underwater air

The undersea wonders of the oceans house some incredible sights, which is why millions of scuba divers globally take the time to photograph, record and otherwise document their experiences in the deep blue. Unfortunately, clunky design and unimpressive depth tolerance have relegated the equipment now available to the not-quite-good-enough category.

A small team out of Delaware wants to change that. And with its Paralenz dedicated diving action camera, it has a very good chance of doing so. For one, the Paralenz looks like a creation born out of rapid prototyping principles: it oozes ruggedness with its tiny black anodized aluminum frame with a collection chunky and clicky magnetic switch buttons. This design is not only rugged and good looking but also practical, allowing the Paralenz to be used with any type of diving gloves. Another way the Paralenz was designed to be practical was through its attachments: it can be connected to any T-rail, an adapter can be used to attach it to other equipment, or a third-person viewer can float the Paralenz behind a diver sort of like an underwater drone for brand new underwater perspectives. 

Categories
Connected Objects

The Sound Reactive Fire Pit dances the night away with you

The idea of a Ruben’s tube dates back to 1905, the year German physicist Heinrich Rubens invented. Flash forward 116 years, and the idea is experiencing a radical overhaul in the Sound-Reactive Fire Pit currently funding on Kickstarter.

Instead of being just an antique tool and cool conversation piece, Music Fire City Company’s invention is the first fire pit of its kind to add music to the mix. The result is a fire pit that reacts in real time to music played through its integrated, Bluetooth-connected 2.1 channel speaker system — and a fascinating addition to any home. Of course, it can engage other modes that are less intensive: a fire-and-music mode for a more relaxed environment, a music-only mode, and a fire-only mode. In addition, multiple Sound Reactive Fire Pits can be synced up for a grander experience.

Categories
Connected Objects Sleep

Snore Circle could end the cycle of endless snoring

Snoring is a problem that many people suffer with for several years — often without realizing how much of a toll it’s taking on both their sleeping and overall health, as well as the sleeping and overall health of their loved ones.

Snore Circle is a device made up of a control unit and earplugs that works in conjunction with a mobile app for Android 4.3 or later smartphones and iPhones (4S and later) to detect snoring. It’s able to precisely identify snoring sounds using bone conduction and sound recognition technologies, and then intervenes physically with micro sounds and micro vibrations at 54 levels to stop snoring and allow the user to sleep better.

Categories
Imaging

Lomo’Instant Automat camera makes film creativity easy  

Automatic cameras have often provided photographers with convenience at the expense of creative shooting capabilities.

The Lomo’Instant Automat, however, is an instant camera that combines automatic settings with a wide variety of creative features. Aperture, shutter speed and flash output adjust automatically to make sure that the user’s shots are perfectly lit — foreground and background — in each and every shooting situation.

Users can take quick and easy snapshots or create surreal works of art with the camera, its makers say.  Bulb Mode, for example, lets users shoot long exposures of up to 30 seconds, and is ideal for low-light shooting.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories

MovieMask provides cinema-like movie experience wherever you are

The displays on smartphones keep getting better all the time. But the one thing that none of them provide is an immersive cinema-like experience when watching a movie.

MovieMask is headwear that encases a smartphone and provides a 2D cinematic viewing experience by blocking out everything surrounding the video one is watching and surrounding it with blank space much like a screen does in a theater. The device can be used virtually anywhere, including on an airplane.

The device ships in December. Future pricing isn’t provided, but Kickstarter backers can get one for a pledge starting at about $54 for early birds. Its makers are out to raise $12,525 by Oct. 6.

Categories
Smart Home

L.U.C.Y! brings digital assistants to the big screen

The effect of Amazon Echo’s voice-controlled versatility on the industry has led to consumers expecting competing products to offer as smooth of an experience — if not better. Creating that better experience is a tall order with how much the Echo can learn and do, but that’s not stopping the team behind L.U.C.Y. from trying.

While L.U.C.Y. is a digital assistant in the same vein as something like Amazon’s smart canister, the first and most obvious difference lies in its design: L.U.C.Y. boasts a large 17″ to 24″, tablet-like form factor with a Full HD, IPS-equipped display that sports a 1920 x 1080 resolution, an HD camera, a microphone, and facial recognition for different users.

Categories
Kids/Babies Smartwatches/Bands

The BRILLAR kid’s watch gamifies the real world

The sedentary nature of today’s youth is well-documented, leading many to deride the role screen time contributes to the problem. With applications like Pokemon GO leading a change in mainstream attitudes about how screens can be a benefit rather than a nuisance, BRILLAR looks to capitalize on this renewed awareness with its own twist.

BRILLAR is a chimera of a kid’s smartwatch. It not only tells time but also boasts a micro-SIM slot for its phone function, the ability to store 11 pre-set contacts, a walkie-talkie, a GPS unit, and a pedometer. This forms the basis for the Roodymentary application, a challenge-based gaming experience that offers children real-life challenges that get them up and moving by completing scavenger hunts to workouts for digital rewards they can show off to friends.

Categories
Connected Objects Cycling

The BEAKOR bike system outfits your ride with a little of everything

Urban areas in the United States are experiencing an uptick in the amount of cyclists roaming the streets. While this is great for individual fitness and the environment, more bikes on the road means more accidents. This makes products like BEAKOR even more valuable.

Put simply, BEAKOR is the swiss army knife of cycling devices, combining a staggering array of functionality into one system. It consists of front and back equipment that interface with a companion iOS/Android smartphone application. Together, the system combines strong front and back illumination and turn signaling with features like live front and rear HD video recording and streaming, automated accident alert messages with GPS coordinates in the case of an accident, and metrics tracking.