Category: Connected Objects

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Connected Objects Toys

It’s your very own light show with the GLOW smart cubes

If someone didn’t know any better, they’d think cubes were the only form crowdfunding campaigns were aware of. With such a large variety of already clever cube-shaped devices like the Sugr Cube wireless speaker to the LED-studded Cuberox, it takes something truly innovative to stand out.

The GLOW interactive smart cubes try to do so but fall a little flat. They react to music and gestures, lighting up in a wide array of colors at various levels of luminosity depending on the stimulus. The company behind GLOW, Yume Cloud Inc., envisions it being used as a device to be played with, a piece of decorative flair for the home or even larger events like weddings, or simply as a visual accompaniment to music at, say, a concert. A set of two GLOW cubes is going for $106 and is expected in April 2016 should its $20,000 goal be met by February 3rd, 2016.

While the accompanying iOS/Android app can be used to play games with the cubes, the product seems like a throwaway. It doesn’t bring anything completely new to the table. Backers would most likely want something with a bit more functionality, and the GLOW doesn’t quite deliver.

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Connected Objects Personal Transportation

This compact scooter can take you wherever you Zar

That pesky last mile: the scourge of all commuters worldwide. After a long day spent working, the last thing anyone wants to do is extend their trip by another 20-minute walk. Fortunately, the last few years have seen an explosion of options. The Zar by Crazyfire Technology is another.

While claims of having created the world’s best anything is usually met with doubt, Crazyfire’s Zar might just be the lightest, smallest e-scooter to date. Weighing in just 8.8lbs, with a length of almost one and a half feet and a height of almost 4 feet, the Zar is tiny enough to be folded up into a bookbag. This is due to the aluminum and fiberglass construction of its frame. The Zar boasts a 6.2 to 12.5-mile range depending on the battery configuration, with both being able to reach a top speed of 12.5mph.

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Connected Objects Nutrition/Hydration

Hydrate Mate helps maintain a fluid performance

For runners, hydration bladders are undeniably better than having to stop and grab a sip of water through a bottle. One of the biggest drawbacks is not having a clue how much water is left. In many cases, it isn’t a problem but for more serious runners, the last they’d want to happen is to have empty hydration bladder with miles left to go.

The Hydrate Mate is a simple solution to what can be an annoying or even dangerous problem. It’s a small, Bluetooth-enabled attachment placed at the end of the hydration bladder’s tube and it’s opening that measures the pressure of the bladder itself, with an algorithm to maintain accurate readings no matter its orientation. These measurements are fed into its iOS/Android app to inform users of water levels through their run.

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Connected Objects

Alger prevents a stranded smartphone, uses tags for everything else

Despite the advanced, technologically-connected aspects of everyday life, simple yet small annoyances still abound. Some examples of these types of annoyances range from forgetting to lock the door to locking the door and forgetting keys inside altogether. The beauty of crowdfunding, though, means there’s most likely a solution for life’s tiny bothers.

Alger is billed as the world’s first preventative anti-loss system, improving on the overdone item finder category by informing users of things left behind as they leave their front door. Without any additional accessories, the Alger’s Bluetooth door attachment communicates with a smartphone’s motion sensor to keep users from leaving it at home. By combining the door attachment with more traditional tags, users can keep tabs on other important things as well, from keys to pets.

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Connected Objects

Map your face to better skin with the MAPO connected face mask

The largest organ the human body has — its skin — is probably the most misunderstood. While it’s certainly tough, over time it puts up with stresses ranging from pollution to excessive sun, requiring constant care to make sure it stays in top shape. This is doubly true for the face. Going to the dermatologist routinely, though, is a difficult proposition given a lack time and, in many cases, the money needed.

Designed to maintain optimal levels of water content, the MAPO connected beauty mask is equipped with Bluetooth LE and interfaces with a companion app to make it easier to stay on top of skin health. Within the mask are flexible electronics featuring a four-electrode array that work together to analyze skin characteristics in less than one minute. Over time, these analyses form a profile that is compared to others in the MAPO community to offer helpful, crowdsourced solutions to particular problems.

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Connected Objects Imaging

Pinout decks out your camera with enhanced features

Camera accessories are among the most popular devices on crowdfunding sites, but many of them are focused on enhancing a single bit of functionality.

patent-claimedPinout is a small device that connects to DSLR cameras and provides them with enhancements including remote shutter release, geotagging, time lapse, high dynamic range (HDR) and loss prevention. It uses Bluetooth LE technology and works in conjunction with an app for Android and iOS mobile devices.

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Connected Objects Organization

QUICKCUBE combines smart design and touch of tech for more orderly stuff

Fully functional yet aesthetically beautiful storage solutions are few and far between. Usually, those horrid looking blue tubs or even spare cardboard boxes are used to put away extra things in the home. For the Boland family, these weren’t good enough. Thus, the QUICKCUBE was born.

The QUICKCUBE’s design is based solely on physics. While its nigh-transparent plastic walls may look weak, they’re made from a plastic that is three times stronger than the standard, supporting 450lbs in weight. This, along with its honeycombed lids for even more strength, all comes together to form an incredibly strong and perfectly stackable set of storage solutions for anywhere in the home.

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Connected Objects Imaging

The bright side of the Luna is filmed in glorious 360°

The advances in imaging technologies have resulted in ever smaller form factors incorporating an increasing amount of functionality. But while established companies are creating insane rigs for 360° video and VR content, Luna is offering the same functionality in a much more petite package.

Luna is a billiard ball-sized sphere containing two HD cameras that are able to create full 360° video without a single blind spot. Its durable, IP68 waterproof shell is super portable and can withstand tough conditions. Embedded Wi-Fi allows it to connect to iOS and Android devices to transfer data, geotag photos and videos and even live stream 360° video or virtual reality content.

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Connected Objects Imaging

Enlaps Tikee enables endless time lapse photography

Time-lapse photography is a popular film and video shooting technique that allows viewers to see a long event completed in just a few seconds, such as the full blooming of a flower or the construction of a building from start to finish. But there are three common obstacles to shooting over an extended period of time with a digital camera: battery space, storage capacity and processing.

patent-claimedEnlaps Tikee is a plug-and-play device that removes all of those constraints and allows unlimited time-lapse photography, according to its Kickstarter campaign. It’s powered by an integrated adjustable photovoltaïc solar cell that allows for long-term time-lapse capability. Once captured, photos are wirelessly transmitted to the cloud, which provides a theoretically endless amount of storage space.

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Connected Objects Food and Beverage

Auroma One offers a smart solution for waking up to aroma of fresh coffee

Many coffee machines do a pretty good of making it easy to brew some java each morning.

Auroma One, however, is a modern take on the coffee machine –- a smart, single-serve coffee maker that brews the beverage based on each user’s preferences. The device learns how users prefer their coffee based on feedback from the accompanying Android and iOS app for mobile devices. Auroma One provides control over the brewing process that includes how finely the coffee beans are chopped and the coffee’s exact temperature. It also informs users when coffee beans are running low. Any coffee beans can be used with the device, according to its Kickstarter campaign.

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