Category: Connected Objects

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Automotive Connected Objects Imaging Sensors/IoT

LyfeLens dash cam keeps watch over your car, steers incident video to phones

Dash cams are slowly becoming more popular in the U.S. as a way to record evidence of what may have happened should there be a collision involving the front of the car while driving. But automobiles are vulnerable from all their sides even when they’re parked.

LyfeLens strives to create greater accountability to those who would harm your vehicle. The aerodynamic car sentinel can record  video using its windshield-facing or interior-facing camera, track the car’s location via GPS, and alert a smartphone when it detects a break-in. It can record video on a microSD card or send it up to the cloud and on to a smartphone. During less urgent times, it can take advantage of its 4G cellular connection to create a mobile hotspot in the car. LyfeLens costs $199 and is expected to ship in fall 2015.

Anyone who has ever experienced a hit-and-run would appreciate the value of having LylfeLens on the job. Clearly, though, the biggest technical challenge is keeping it powered while it passively monitors its surroundings, records video and  serves up Internet access. The company claims the product has a high-capacity internal battery that can power a few days of active and standby use, but is looking into methods such as wired installation and solar.

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Connected Objects

Diginote lets you take digital notes without the lag

Digital notepad devices are handy devices, allowing users to jot down ideas when there’s no pen or paper nearby. A common problem with most digital notepads, however, is that there’s a noticeable lag when writing.

The Diginote digital notepad is a device aims to overcomes this pesky lag issue. The device comes equipped with a stylus, but if users prefer, Diginote’s makers note that any ballpoint pen can be used on the device as well. A version of Diginote without Bluetooth capability has already been designed and costs $59. With its current Indiegogo campaign, its maker is hoping to release a Bluetooth model for $69, provided that the campaign can raise $5,000 by April 6. Both versions of the device are expected to ship in July.

The main issue with Diginote is that most of its capabilities can apparently already be done on existing mobile devices via third party apps. It’s also hard to tell from the campaign video alone if Diginote, as promised, truly incorporates a no-lag writing experience. It’s also unclear how comfortable and natural the writing experience is.

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Connected Objects Kids/Babies

Quiet Night offers music for baby and sleep for parents, allegedly

Babies are cute, except for when they wake up at all hours of the night. When most babies wake up, they don’t really need anything. Rather, they just get bored lying in bed, thereby leaving it up to the parents to rouse themselves to entertain their child back to sleep.

patent-claimedQuiet Night offers a way for parents to sleep through the night while keeping their alert baby entertained. This product consists of a handle that lives in baby’s crib. When the baby wakes up, he/she is supposed to grab the handle which will play music. The longer the baby holds the handle, the more the system will remember that song as soothing to the child. To change the song, the baby need only let go and pull the handle again. Quiet Night features over 125 classical/soothing/acoustic songs handpicked by child psychologists.

The whole idea of soothing classical music comforting a restless child is the stuff of WASPy dreams. The actual execution is doubtful, however. How is an infant supposed to know how to control the music or that holding the handle longer indicates that they like the song? The whole things sounds a little ridiculous and is made even more so by the flaunting of partnering up with child psychologists who supposedly helped design the product. Still, tired parents dazzled at the thought of a full night’s sleep can have one of their own for $59 with delivery set for October 2015. Quiet Night is looking for $100,000 in funding on Indiegogo with a campaign end date of April 23.

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Automotive Connected Objects

SafeNet helps keep you and your family safe on the road

The car monitoring services offered by some car companies are useful, though they typically tend to be costly and can’t always be always be used with every car.

SafeNet aims to remedy this with a simple solution. SafeNet is a portable tracking and monitoring system that simply plugs into a car’s accessory jack. Once plugged in, it allows users to track, monitor and communicate with their vehicle. SafeNet is a small, square device that can be placed anywhere in a car where cellular reception is available. With no additional fees, SafeNet will even alert users when a car has been taken out for a spin by an adventurous teenager or an elderly parent. The device can even alert users when their car is being driven too fast. What’s more, if the car is an accident, SafeNet will automatically contact individuals on an emergency contact list. A 3G version of the device with just data costs $214. A 3G version with data and voice functionality is just an extra $5. While a 2G version is available for $199, the device’s maker recommends that U.S. based customers spring for the 3G model. The device is slated to ship in May provided it can raise $130,000 by May 3.

SafeNet holds promise as it features functionality that not all on board diagnostics (OBD) devices offer. For example, unlike Truvolo, SafeNet doesn’t require an app. Further, SafeNet offers users free access to its SkyNet service which hosts free online mapping software on its website. As an aside, the SkyNet name might not have been the greatest choice considering its association with the villainous intelligence system from the Terminator films.

 

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Connected Objects Cycling

YERKA transforms bikes into their own locks sans Transformers sound effects

It doesn’t matter how much precaution a cyclist takes when locking up their bike; just one slip-up can result in a missing ride. With millions of bikes stolen every single year, there are a multitude of options available for keeping bikes out of the hands of thieves. However, most of these solutions are heavy and ungainly to carry around.

The team behind YERKA is doing away with the need to use a standalone solution by making the bike itself its own lock. The collapsible YERKA frame works by securing the frame’s bottom halves with the bike’s seat on any pole or fence up to eight inches long. A user can also use an iOS or Android companion app to remotely lock and unlock YERKA via Bluetooth. Made from the same type of hardened steel found in Kryptonite locks , YERKA is incredibly hard to break. Even if a thief were to impossibly break through the hardened steel, the bike would remain safe as the locked position would prevent anyone from riding it anyhow. An included anti-theft nut protects the bike’s wheels as well. Interested backers can purchase just the frame for $199, or an entire bike outfitted with YERKA for $429. If successful, the $50,000 campaign with an April 18 end date is looking at an estimated ship date of October 2015.

YERKA is an innovative idea that sits in very good company. Products like Quick Caps or Skylock also offer novel solutions to the problem of bike security. Ultimately, the real question when it comes to bike safety is which solution a user prefers as opposed to a lack of options.

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Cell Phone Accessories Connected Objects Displays

headsUP outfits motorcycle helmets with HUD, no bank rolls necessary

The fascination most have with motorcycles has as much to do with culture as it does with the feeling of danger and the exhilaration that comes from riding. All the same, safety should always be part of the motorcycle riding equation.

One of the more dangerous actions a motorcycle rider can do is to check his or her speed. At 60 miles per hour, riders can cover 150 feet in the split second it takes to quickly look down and check the speedometer.

Inventor Tyler Collins is hoping to make checking motorcycle speed a safer endeavor with headsUP. headsUP, as the name implies, is a heads-up display that can be affixed to any motorcycle and display both speed and navigation information. As a result, riders can keep their eyes on the road while at the same time maintaining an increased level of awareness. The device’s Bluetooth connection allows the helmet to pull navigation data from both iOS and Android devices, transforming that information into a simple to read message on the HUD itself. Backers can purchase their very own headsUP unit for $200 if a campaign goal of $125,000 is met by April 2015. First shipments are expected to begin in January of 2016.

Offering simplicity while not having to shell out an exuberant amount of money makes headsUP an attractive option for any rider interested in this sort of technology. The headsUP succeeds in offering a bare-bones alternative to something like Skully’s AR-1, a far more feature rich, pricey take on the motorcycle helmet.

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Connected Objects Fitness

Smart Rope skips the gym, provides fitness and feedback in one sleek jumprope

Many people who work out require fancy gadgets, large equipment, or complicated machines to get the job done. They forget that fitness doesn’t have to be so complex and that a good workout can be had with one or two simple tools.

The Smart Rope takes one such humble tool, the jumprope, and ushers it into the 21st century. Smart Rope works with an accompanying smartphone app that tracks the number of jumps, calories burned, and the duration of each workout. It also lets users input their height, weight, and BMI so that the app can come up with the best training regimen for each individual user. Best of all, the rope itself comes equipped with LED lights that, when the rope is in use, displays to the user either the number of jumps made or calories burned.

While Smart Rope’s app isn’t the most sophisticated workout app on the market, it’s a great start for a product that plans to add many more features as funding comes in. Smart Rope doesn’t have the same portability as the very similar Sophia, but it does boast a much sleeker look. For their own, backers can donate $60 for delivery in September 2015. Smart Rope is hoping to raise $60,000 in funding on Kickstarter by April 6.

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Connected Objects Music

Instrument 1 gets your groove on no matter how you play

The power of music apps have opened the door to a wide range of controllers — things that look like keyboards and disco floors and guitars. The incredible variety of sounds they offer when paired with the right software, however, pales in comparison to their relatively limited ways of producing those sounds.

That’s not the case for unfortunately named Instrument 1, a bold MIDI controller and musical instrument that allows mixing and matching of sounds and play methods. One can strum it like a guitar with its “digital strings” that don’t break, pluck it like a bass, tap it like a drum machine or play it a bit like a piano keyboard. There’s even a way to emulate guitar playing when used with an iPhone or watch. About the only traditional way of producing sound from an instrument that isn’t supported is blowing into it.

The compact Instrument 1 can run for about three hours off its built-in battery (alas, it uses too much juice to charge via USB) and i1s companion app  allows owners to define their own sounds. The versatility can keep backers’ hands occupied for $349 come January 2016. Artiphon  seeks $75,000 by April 12th. Curiously, particularly given how many organizations helped in the product’s development. the company is shying away from committing to producing more Instrument 1 units after fulfilling its Kickstarter obligations

The Instrument 1 is reminiscent of the Zivx Jamstik that was successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo back in 2014, but that product — while also portable and less expensive — is more focused on replicating a guitar experience on the go for learning and practice. But this latest MIDI-compatible plaything should evoke a lot of fun for newbies who want to experiment with different methods of producing music as well as experienced musicians who want something compact and versatile.

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Connected Objects Writing

Rocketbook connected notebook erases scribbles in microwave, literally cooks your books

As popular as tablets have become, many people prefer the experience of writing on paper. After all, the medium is tough to beat when it comes to cost and ease of sharing. But of course it’s difficult to distribute electronically.

The Rocketbook notebook uses paper with an invisible array of markers (dots) to allow the transfer of handwritten text and drawings and transferring them from the notebook to a companion app. On the surface, it’s similar to Livescribe, another system that uses dot paper. However, there are some distances between the two products. While the Livescribe system requires its own pen that can include audio, the Rocketbook can work with any pen. Also, the Livescribe system can relay information to an iPad or the cloud in real time as you write.

In contrast, Rocketbook pages must be scanned by the book’s app at some point  via a camera-like interface during or after their creation. A series of seven icons, including things like an airplane and a fish, can be designated to route scanned documents to different folders and cloud services, but good old letters or numbers would be a welcome alternative.

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Connected Objects Music Tech Accessories

Keys MIDI keyboard gestures create new wave with a hand wave

MIDI controllers are already hugely popular with music making aficionados, from lone bedroom creators to DJs dropping beats in front of enthusiastic crowds around the world. Typically, music makers are extremely creative types who are always open to  different ways of interacting with their homegrown sounds.

Keys, a product from Team Opho, provides a new way of doing just that. Keys is a modular, LED-equipped MIDI keyboard designed for both novices and pros alike. Along with being compatible with widely used music software suites like Logic, ProTools, and Ableton, Keys can also be hooked up to computers and smartphones. The weighted keys on the keyboard offer users a comfy and responsive touch.

Additionally, Keys incorporates gesture controls and an embedded proximity sensor which enables users to control a number of different parameters like octave and pitch while giving them the ability to sustain them with different movements. If that’s not enough, Keys are modular and can be linked together immediately. In other words, without any wires or configuration, 24 keys can become 48 or 72 keys instantly. Keys can be had for just $92, and Team Opho, which previously created the gTar,  is looking for $50,000 in funding to get it off the ground.

Unlike other illuminated keyboard controllers, Keys needs to be charged. Its slick quick-attach networking happens without Bluetooth, so backers will need a Keys dock for its magic to take place (semi-)wirelessly. Still, the product’s gestural control, modularity and feedback truly makes it a stand out. Advanced musicians and deejays will appreciate that it’s compatible with many products already popular today even as the company preps its own apps. Those interested in this sort of experimental product can look to Skoog for another colorful take on the MIDI interface.