Author: Nicholas Echevarria

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Imaging

The LyfieEye tosses Android users a bone in 360°

While the technology industry pivots toward more immersive experiences, the ways in which users can actually create this content are limited. And those that are available can be prohibitively expensive.

The LyfieEye is a spherically-shaped 360° camera designed with Android phones in mind. It takes HD quality photos and can record videos of up to 30fps with its pair of dual cameras, each of which takes a 180° video. The camera’s proprietary system then stitches the two videos together in real time for the final product, which can then be shared on Facebook, Youtube or to a virtual reality headset and consumed that way.

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Categories
Imaging Wearables

Blincam spectacles snap pics with just a wink

The rise and tumultuous fall of Google Glass was a case study in dealing with a product that was too progressive for its time. Outside of the privacy concerns it generated, one of the more widely appreciated features was its ability to take pictures with a single tap of the finger, leading to more natural and candid shots of friends, family and other important moments.

The Blincam takes this feature and makes it central to what the product does. Designed as a super lightweight wearable that clips onto any pair of glasses, all it takes is a single wink for the Blincam to take a photo. Then, through a Bluetooth connection, it will send those photos to a paired smartphone for storage and sharing.

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Categories
Connected Objects Cooking

The Cuciniale helps whips up whatever you want without a fuss

Much to the chagrin of the many who aren’t well-versed with the kitchen, cooking with consistently good results requires years of professional cooking experience. Unfortunately, most people don’t have that and end up serving a lot of under- and overcooked food. To help address this issue and to cut down on the time spent in the kitchen overall, the Cuciniale cooking system was born.

The Cuciniale intelligent cooking system consists of a multi-sensor wireless probe, an induction cooktop and a companion mobile app. Together, it guides users through the process of making any meal. While the induction cooktop is fairly straightforward, the key to the cooking system is the wireless probe which serves as its brain. Users simply select the food and desired preparation style from the app and stick the probe into the food itself. From here, the app will not only calculate the size and density of the food to accurately control the cooktop’s heat but also alert users when to participate themselves.

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Categories
Robots/Drones

With Mimic, see how the robots live

Most crowdfunded robots fall in one of two camps: Either it patrols the home or is serves as a tool to better teach robotics and programming concepts. The Mimic, though, is a different beast. This rotund little robot combines robotics with elements of virtual reality to create something completely new.

That said, the Mimic is pretty small. At a little under 13 inches, it doesn’t impress at first glance. But the robot itself isn’t the draw, even though it does sport patent-pending technology — but more on that later. The Mimic really shines is when a user puts on its googles, grabs its arm controller, and places their feet on the Mimic’s foot controller. Like this, users can quite literally see what the Mimic sees and change its line of sight accordingly, naturally touch, grab and grip whatever they come across, and move its wheels in any direction. Together, it makes for a brand new experience that’s not centered around security or education.

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Categories
Kids/Babies Maker/Development

The SBrick Plus hides STEM education inside toy bricks

As a child, there’s not much better than having a full set of Legos to go to town on. As adults, there isn’t much out there as fondly remembered as the classic building blocks. Now, with the explosion of IoT technology, the SBrick Plus take clicking together plastic bricks up a notch.

The sequel to the successfully funded SBrick back in 2014, the SBrick Plus is a Bluetooth-enabled brick placed into Lego models to control them remotely using a smart device like a phone, tablet, gamepad or PC. What’s more, the SBrick Plus uses sensors from the WeDo 1.0 family that can be programmed in several languages and track variables like tilt and proximity for fun uses in model planes, for example. What the SBrick really allows for are dynamic educational experiences in the home and in the classroom, something the team behind the product facilitates with a series of lessons designed to teach the fundamentals of programming and robotics.

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Categories
Connected Objects Home

A little birdie told us that CuCu has reinvented the wall clock

No matter most do, time is a hard thing to really get a grasp on. Getting enough sleep, making sure meetings are attended and errands are done in a timely fashion — people routinely mess these things up. The team behind the CuCu wants to make it a lot easier — and more stylish — to keep your day in check.

The CuCu clock is a smart alarm clock that attaches to the wall and tells you the time by reviving the age-old idea of a cuckoo clock for the modern age. Obviously, CuCu works in tandem with its companion mobile app owners can use to do simple things like set alarms, integrate with iCal, check battery or change up the device’s customizable LED lighting.

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Categories
Connected Objects Sleep

Aladdin will show you a whole new world of lucid dreaming

The elusiveness of dreaming has long puzzled humans for thousands of years. It’s known to be essential, but why has yet to be figured out. What’s more, the phenomenon known as lucid dreaming, where people report being active in the dreams, has seen more and more mainstream coverage.

Lucid dreaming is powerful because it can offer people something nothing else can: anything — think VR to the nth degree. And not just for fun, but with very real psychological benefits as well. That’s why the Aladdin lucid dreaming band is interesting. It uses EEG technology to apply a gentle electrical current to the prefrontal cortex (the part of the mind responsible for reasoning that’s usually dormant during sleep) to allow users to gain agency in the dream.

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Categories
Smart Home

Put a Gate on your front door for smart lock-level protection

The cornerstone of any truly connected home is the smart lock letting everyone that walks in know the house is indeed on the forefront of technology. And with the front door as prime real estate, many companies over the years have come up with wildly different interpretations of what the best smart lock is. Now, the Gate smart lock is up to bat and currently funding on Indiegogo.

Technically, the Gate isn’t one product, but three in one: A smart lock with key cylinder for physical entry, a keypad for coded entry and a motion-activated camera with 2-way audio and video. Together, the Gate offers users the versatility of other smart locks out there while expanding its features. Like others, users can assign temporary keys to Airbnb visitors, for instance, while its system of registered visitors help automate deliveries so that a one-time use code is sent to delivery personnel for scheduled drop-offs.

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Categories
Imaging Smart Home

The SENS8 is aware of your abode so you don’t need to be

The internet of things is all about securing the home. Every week, some newfangled security system starts a crowdfunding run sometimes peddling new features, sometimes not. In the end, the urge to want to keep a family safe usually wins out despite lack of innovation.

Sometimes, innovation isn’t needed, but rather a solid design, slightly tweaked and offered at the right price. The SENS8 is that product: It’s an all-in-one solution designed to protect the home through its combination of high-quality 1080p-capable HD camera and set of sensors. Together with its motion detector and 95dB speaker and alarm, users are alerted to break-ins and other mischievous behavior with the constantly recording device coupled with a siren to deter intruders. Or, users can use the speaker to engage in two-way conversation.

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Categories
Connected Objects Health and Wellness

The U-Gym Mini offers less stress at your desk

There’s nothing worse than the aches and pains generated the stresses of the workday slowing someone down. One of the best tools for relaxing the body and relieving this stress is massage. Most of the time, though, they aren’t readily available.

The U-GYM Mini is a great alternative to a traditional massage. It works by generating medium-frequency vibrations to simulate a deep-tissue massage for shoulder and lower-back pain relief in as little as 15 minutes.

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