Category: Connected Objects

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Connected Objects Displays

SeeNote puts a connected sticky note on your wall

While most companies are busy trying to figure out how to get additional devices into your home, there a wide variety of tried-and-true inventions like the infamous sticky note that do their jobs exceptionally well. The team behind the SeeNote took it as inspiration in developing its always-on, connected version of the veritable yellow legend.

The SeeNote is an attractively styled 4.2 inch square with a polycarbonate body and matte finish that can stick anywhere using an integrated 3M Command strip for easy and damage-free mounting. Its 300 dpi E-paper multi-touch display communicates important information like calendar appointments commute delays, previously set reminder, or even messages from family and friends through email or the SeeNote app.

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Connected Objects Home

Noria makes air conditioning cool again

Air conditioners do wonders to help stave off the brutal heat of the summer months. They don’t do any favors for your back, though. For some reason, and for far too long, air conditioners have been heavy chunks of awkwardly shaped metal that practically required a body builder to install safely and without the risk of endangering anyone’s toes. (Or head, for that matter.)

It’s obvious that in creating air conditioning units for the average apartment dweller or small home owner, ergonomics and design weren’t taken into account. Noria’s laser focus on their many problems completely reinvigorates the idea. The result? A lightweight, attractive air conditioning unit that weighs in at just 30 pounds and is 40% slimmer than the average model, letting users keep their view even when installed. Still, it’s no pushover in the cooldown game: at 5,000 BTUs, it can effectively cool a 160 square foot room without leaving pockets of warm air like others.

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Connected Objects Health and Wellness

The ADAFlow massages aches and pains away

As much as current societal norms dictate, humans were not at all designed to sit still for extended periods of time, whether on long road trips, on cramped flights, or in the office for most of the day. This sort of sedentary lifestyle causes stiffness, soreness, and health issues in both the short and the long term.

One of the best things one can do in this situation is simply move, but that’s not always possible. ADAFlow wants to be the go-to alternative. It looks and acts like an inflatable cuff a doctor uses to measure blood pressure, but instead promotes blood circulation by generating waves of pressure that massage the upper or lower leg. The intensity and interval of the waves can be set right on the device itself, and is rechargeable so batteries need not be hassled with.  $119 can get achey, sore backers relief in the form of the ADAFlow, due to be shipped March 2017. The ADAFlow campaign is looking for $65,000 by June 23, 2016.

ADAFlow is perfect for office chair-bound employees, older individuals, and even athletes. It’s also great for recovering patients who can’t move due to a sickness or surgery, which is unsurprisingly the direction the team behind ADAFlow wants to eventually take. Still, what should be an integrated feature in Bluetooth compatibility and control is inexplicably linked to a rather lofty stretch goal — despite it being prominently advertised.

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Connected Objects Kids/Babies

Miraffe connected playmate puts a digital portal in the hands of kids

For little ones, the world is full of mystery, prompting their torrent of questions from the moment they can start forming them. For parents, this is a wonderful moment. Knowing that they’re responsible for educating their children is a huge responsibility made easier with the internet. For the most part, it’s better if a child discovers everything on their own. The Miraffe is a clever compromise between the two.

Since a child can’t just log on to Google or Wikipedia and seek out the information they need, the Miraffe acts as an intermediary. It can recognize objects in the world and give children information on it along with simply being a toy with which to entertain with. It’s essentially a Wi-Fi enabled, 4″ HD screen with a quad-core 1.3GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a 5 MP camera.

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Connected Objects Imaging

Sybrillo brings smarts, stability to GoPro

The small size of the GoPro has made it the perfect video camera to use for capturing action sports and other fast-moving activities. But its tiny size also makes it somewhat difficult to hold the camera steady and control it to perform professional-type actions including panning and tilting.

Sybrillo is a versatile, waterproof GoPro mount that makes it easier for users of the action camera to program it to pan, tilt and perform other functions typical of pro video cameras. Its gimbal provides the GoPro with gyroscopic stability. A Sybrillo app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets enables users to control the camera remotely via Bluetooth. Sybrillo also provides recording capabilities for virtual reality (VR). Users can put their smartphone in a VR headset or Google cardboard and Sybrillo will follow the user’s every move.

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Connected Objects

Whether indoors or out, the Globio security system has your back

Despite the smart home segment’s myriad of options — and the many standards that come from them — companies still continue to churn out proprietary smart home hubs that don’t play nice with other connected devices. This ultimately adds to the issue of fragmentation, something the team behind the Globio wants to address.

Put simply, the Globio is an all-purpose, modular security system. Its main difference is making a smart home hub out of a user’s smartphone. With it, Globio uses the camera as a motion detector, its microphone as a noise detector, along with most smartphone’s proximity and light sensors. Presented by itself, Globio would be limited, so a set of pill-shaped modules expand the system’s functionality. Some, like the #Pia, is a motion sensor to be installed on doors and windows, while other, like #Shane, monitor temperature, pressure, and humidity.

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Connected Objects Toys

Leka smart toy appeals to parents of developmentally-challenged kids

Not every toy can meet the unique needs of autistic and other special needs children.

Leka is a ball-like, robotic smart toy with a display that has been designed for kids with developmental challenges. The customizable toy is equipped with sensors that enable users to play fun and educational games that motivate social interactions, increase motor, cognitive, and emotional skills, and also stimulate autonomy. Leka can detect and respond to a child’s interaction through autonomous behavior.

For example, if Leka is mistreated and thrown on the ground, it appears to become sad and turns red. An interactive response like this aims to help users better understand social cues and improve their social skills.

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Connected Objects Health and Wellness Smart Home

Fixo is a well-rounded smart home disc

Those who’ve made the leap to outfitting their apartments or homes with smart home devices can quickly recall the horrors of trying to figure out how make everything work together. The tired Internet of Things trope of disparate standards is anything but, still making things difficult years into the IoT craze. And to add insult to injury, each of these products can look so wildly different that choosing to put them all in a single space can result in a serious decorative crisis.

Some smart home systems, like the Oomi and Kasia, present potential backers with an all-in-one system that avoids these issues. Fixo, however, takes it up a notch with a stylish design that looks great presented on a table or on the wall anywhere in the home. The HD-camera equipped multi-face smart clock features a dedicated suite of apps along with a wide variety of integrations so that users can do everything from check weather forecasts, remind themselves of their next Google Calendar appointment, consult recipes in the kitchen, refer to the bountiful knowledge of Wikipedia, or just snap some selfies or video call loved ones and friends.

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Connected Objects Health and Wellness Home

EcoQube Air desktop greenhouse clears the air while growing your plants

Growing plants in a home or office can be challenging due to several factors, including the need for adequate light and the messiness involved in using soil and water.

patent-claimedEcoQube Air is a desktop greenhouse that makes growing plants indoors much easier. As a bonus, it also has been designed to improve the user’s quality of life by purifying the air and providing smart light therapy to combat seasonal affective disorder.

The device uses hydroponics, which provides benefits that include low maintenance, a reduction of water usage by a whopping 90 percent, faster plant growth, and a drain spout for easy water change. Hydroponics is a method of agriculture that grows plants without the use of soil. Using this technique, plants can be grown with a fraction of the amount of resources (water, energy and space) required to grow plants the traditional way, in soil. Plants thrive by absorbing only as much nutrients and water they need.

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Connected Objects

Askey helps you remember if you locked the door

While a number of of sophisticated smart locks that one can control from around the world have made their debut, many folks just want a little help remembering whether they locked the door.

patent-claimedAskey is a device that easily attaches to a key and tracks when the key has been used via a motion sensor that accurately registers the key’s movement. The accessory is activated and starts to record the key’s movement when the user moves the key from its resting position. It comes in a choice of five colors and works in conjunction with a mobile device app, available now for Android only, but a port for iOS is coming also.

Askey uses Bluetooth 4.0 LE and ships in March at future pricing of about $60. But Kickstarter backers can get one at the early bird price of about $36. Its makers hope to raise $51,493 by May 30.

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