Month: October 2014

Categories
Food and Beverage Sensors/IoT

Smart Coaster measures liquid intake for those who don’t move much

Dehydration is a common problem among adults. No one ever drinks the recommended amount of water each day either due to lack of time or fear of bloating. Riding on the trend of every product imaginable smartening up, the Coaster Talk is a smart coaster. When a glass is placed upon it, it measures your intake of water using an accompanying app. Coaster Talk isn’t only for adults, however, it also works well for babies. By measuring a baby’s milk intake, parents can tell when to feed them and prevent overfeeding them. Coaster Talk will cost backers a $36 AUD (~$32 USD) donation for delivery by January 2015. This product is looking to raise $6,000 AUD (~$5,300 USD).

The design of the Coaster Talk limits its potential. First of all, the idea that one would use the same coaster for every drink is slightly off base. Second of all, it would be difficult to track water intake all throughout the day if leaving the house is involved. Vessyl, a smart drink container, detects what you’re drinking, keeps track of calories, hydration and caffeine intake. It makes more sense because it’s easier to carry around a cup rather than a coaster and has a larger range of uses. If the Coaster Talk can evolve to include more kinds of drinks in its analyses then it may be able to contender with the Vessyl.

Categories
Connected Objects Lighting

Waves connect with each other for elaborate light and sound shows

On any given day, there are a myriad of things that can and will stress you out, but what’s most important is how you deal with it. Drinking a calming tea, yoga, breathing exercises — there are a variety of ways to decompress when you need to. For inventor Frank Cohen, the colors, lights, and rhythms of a lava lamp helped him after particularly draining days. After so many years, he now feels the humble lava lamp deserves an appropriately modern upgrade.

Waves is the modern lava lamp that comes in the form of a Bluetooth speaker within a slim box that can sit desk-side or be mounted onto a wall. Thin diffusion filters stand atop the unit, allowing pre-programmed light shows to do everything from brightening up a space to soothing someone who may be feeling weary after a long day. The inexpensive diffusion filters are also easily cuttable, giving more artistic types the room to explore whatever designs might interest them.

The product is also incredibly social. Along with being able to sync up to most popular social networks and act as a push notification hub instead your buzzing phone, each Waves unit can talk to each other. This communication between five, ten, or even fifty units can facilitate light shows with all of them participating and gives the product the versatility to be used in ways that haven’t even been thought of yet. Fortunately, new ideas will be in abundance as Waves is supporting a strong communal aspect where members can create sell their own filter designs and share light shows, with the option of earning royalties on our show. Control everything with a Web app or your iOS or Android device. Two Waves are going for $149 and are to be delivered by December 2014. To do that, the campaign is looking for $10,000 in funding.

For now, Waves must be hard-wired which severely limits its aesthetic appeal. But, all in all, Waves is an imaginative product that will make a great conversation piece in any environment. Its open-nature also stands out as a great entryway to technology and its use of the Processing language will ensure it more converts. A product like this is only limited by how much interest there is in it, so only time will tell if this can be what Frank Cohen wants it to be.

Categories
Toys

Bildy is a big toy construction kit for teaching STEM skills

Mounting evidence supports the theory that children need to build in order to develop important spatial, cognitive skills. Many toys are designed to hone just those skills, giving kids the tools they need to build boxes and other small structures. The British-made Bildy blows up this concept, using squares and connectors, allowing kids to build large-scale projects like forts or puppet theaters. Each kit features differently designed boards and patterns to build a variety of castles, houses, forts and even rockets. The board can be decorated either with marker or stickers that come with the kits. For the most basic package, backers can donate £35 (~$55) for estimated delivery in April 2015. Bildy hopes raise £8,000 (~$13,000) on Kickstarter.

Bildy is a great toy for younger kids. Not only does it use larger, chunky connectors difficult to swallow, it also comes with preordained sets for building. This way, kids can put together familiar structures that they can play with when assembly is done. WoodyMac features a similar concept of sets for kids to build. However, it lacks the same imagination that Bildy does and only offers houses and shops instead of forts and rockets. Also, Bildy looks easier to play with after construction is completed. Bildy may not be great for kids who like to think outside of the box, but is just the thing for the younger set of future engineers.

Categories
Cycling

Veloloop helps cyclists trip traffic signals

Traffic signals are a cyclist’s worse enemy. An ill-timed red light can be an unnecessary obstacle on an otherwise smooth bike ride. This wouldn’t push a responsible cyclist to skirt safety in the name of convenience, but it does get under the skin waiting at a red light at an empty intersection with no traffic to speak of. Since bicycles are so small, the systems responsible for triggering traffic signals never really see them, leaving you stuck for what feels like an eternity.

 The Veloloop is small, electrically charged antenna that lets your bike cast a car-sized shadow onto the loop sensors that govern signals on the road. It attaches to the rear wheel and works by detecting when there is a sensor below the bicycle, reacting by returning the frequency that particular sensor is looking for, thereby changing the light. And since it does this with so little energy, even a pair of AAA batteries will last for a year or more. Combine this with the Commuter x4 to make sure other motorists see you at night and increase both your convenience and safety all at once. The product will ship in January of 2015 for $99, and the campaign need $84,000 to be successful.

 

Categories
Camping Chargers/Batteries

WakaWaka returns with a solar charging power kit

Kickstarter success story WakaWaka already has a history of creating simple, innovative devices that harness solar power into personal electricity. Now, they tackle a situation in which electricity stops being an option. The WakaWaka Base is a portable “power and light first aid kit” that includes a foldable solar panel and base that can connect to LED flashlights, phones, or any USB device to charge it. The solar panel is strong enough to charge even on cloudy days, and the base can hold enough charge to power a week of light or five full smartphone charges with no additional solar energy.

Ideal for any storm preparedness kit, camping gear, or car trunk, the WakaWaka Base ensures that nobody ever has to worry about being stranded and having their phone battery die on them or having to wander around in the dark. WakaWaka needs $70,000 to test, manufacture, and release the Base. The peace of mind the Base provides costs only $89, and will be out in May 2015. This kind of product innovation is what makes WakaWaka products so popular, and there’s no reason why any smartphone user or homeowner should be without the WakaWaka Base.

Categories
Cooking

MasterPan has the master plan for cooking a whole meal at once

When cooking a quality meal on the stove, multiple pans are always needed in order to keep everything separated. This results in more energy used, more pans to wash and a cluttered kitchen. The aptly named Master Pan combines the functionality of several different pans into one. The non-stick skillet has five separated sections, one long one in the middle and two on each side. This product is perfect for cooking a variety of delicious items. Safe for the dishwasher and oven, the Master Pan is a great addition for the kitchen. One will cost backers $49 with estimated delivery in December 2014. The Master Pan hopes to cook up $45,000 on Kickstarter.

Other sectioned skillets on the markets have fairly specific functions, like the Lodge Cornbread Skillet which has eight pizza slice looking sections and is intended for cooking cornbread. The Master Pan features differently-sized compartments, making it easier to cook different types of items at once. With the added bonus of saving energy and pans to wash, the Master Pan has many desirable features. The campaign shows several examples of menu items that can be cooked with the pan, including an egg sandwich in progress with bacon in the middle, and eggs, onions and peppers on the sides. Because of the smaller sections, the Master Pan couldn’t really be used for large families, however, it is still a great product for those living alone who don’t want to dirty large pans for small food.

Categories
Chargers/Batteries

Pronto charges up quickly to provide juice on the go

In this day and age of charging wonders, with everything from fast to wireless charging capabilities available, it’s a shame most smartphones need to be recharged every day or so if we’re lucky. It’s a practice that seems extremely antiquated, especially with the demands placed on us by our every day lives requiring us to move as much as we do. More and more people have opted for portable battery packs to keep their devices topped up in the time between outlets, but most of the time they themselves take forever to charge and charge devices too slowly even when they are.

Power Practical is looking to alleviate some of that difficulty with their fast-charging Pronto battery pack. It comes in two flavors: the Pronto 5 has a 4500mAh capacity, while the Pronto 12 boasts a 13,500mAh capacity — enough to charge an iPhone 5 nine times. An integrated “smart chip” tells any device to receive charge at its maximum amount, and a hard-anodized aluminum enclosure makes certain nothing can happen to your precious power while you wait. The Pronto 5 can charge using both USB and a wall outlet while the Pronto 12 can only be charged by the latter, but at least both aren’t tethered to the wall like the Tiny TravelBuddy is. The products will launch in June of 2015; the Pronto 5 can be had for $79 while the 12 can be had for $119.

Categories
Tech Accessories

Ledge takes the edge off the front of your MacBook wrist rest

Typing on the MacBook’s keyboard is surely a joy. The steps Apple has taken in order to produce a keyboard that is comfortable, clicky, and just plain fun to use have always hid a darker side to it — a side your wrists all about. It may be something that isn’t talked about, but those sharp edges on MacBooks can be a little uncomfortable. While it obviously isn’t a deal breaker, it can still be annoying to feel its edge pushing into you simply because you’re typing. The folks at Applied felt the same way and what started out as a personal solution quickly became something they decided to make for everyone.

Their product, Ledge, is an aircraft-grade aluminum attachment for MacBooks of all sizes that adds a round corner to the laptop’s edge. It’s an extremely simple solution that maintains the MacBook’s form factor and weight while adding a marked change in comfort. Its $39 price point places Ledge firmly in impulse purchase territory for now before it jumps back up to $60 on release; expectant backers will wait until April 2015 for this one. Until then, Applied hopes enough people make the jump to fund their $12,000 campaign.

Categories
Fitness Wearables

SensoTRACK envelopes the ear, tracks many vital signs continuously

Although wearable technology is on the up and up, you still need to wear a a few different bands along with a watch of some sort to get a mostly full picture of the way your body works across disparate variables. Even if you were fully equipped with all this technology, they wouldn’t necessarily talk to each other — leaving you to figure out what it all means.

SensoTRACK was born out of the desire to give a user as much connected data as possible to not only benefit  their daily lives, but their exercise regimens as well. Sensogram Technologies, Inc. sets out to make a device that could withstand the rigors of physical activity, and so constructed it from a weather-resistant, sweat-proof shell that fits around the ear. The SensoTRACK houses a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a proprietary “optical biosensor” that measures heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation with a high degree of accuracy. It also includes a speaker that gives users real-time feedback on what exactly to do in order to increase the efficiency of their workout, based on goals that can be entered into the web portal or the mobile app.  SensoTRACK can be had for $199, and the company hopes for enough backers to fulfill their $250,000 goal.

The crowdfunded world is full of the types of wearables that make the criticisms of the market seem justified. Some, like Arcus or Olive, are focused on one type of user benefit. On the other hand there are a few, like Zoi or LEO, are aiming to use the data in real-time to benefit the user. SensoTRACK falls into the later camp but shrinks the device down and places it on the ear where it’s out of the way. Add this to the claimed sensitivity of the proprietary sensor and it may be something to look out for, only if the seemingly unending number of features don’t end up hampering it as a result.

Categories
Pets

WindowKitty lets your tabby see the world without the world seeing you

Every cat lover knows that cats are watchers. Especially when they can find a sunny window that overlooks a high activity area outside. Unfortunately, that can also mean that they bend, break or chew on blinds to hone out their coveted seat. That’s why WindowKitty was created. It fits up to a 36 inch wide window, is collapsible with pushbutton technology, and is portable so it can be moved from window to window or easily stored when not in use. There is a lip on top to keep blinds from falling over the product and a carpeted ledge for kitty’s comfort, as well as a place to hang a toy to add to kitty’s enjoyment. It’s not clear what the product is made of overall, whether a heavy-duty plastic or some other sturdy material. And speaking of pet enjoyment, backers might also like to check out the Pawly interactive pet toy. This campaign seeks to raise $50,000 by November 22, 2014. Backers get one product for $75 with an expected delivery of June 2015.