Category: Connected Objects

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Connected Objects Luggage and Bags

The Modobag carry-on won’t ride into the sunset

The last time Backerjack covered the Modobag, a numerous luggage-turned-transportation projects had already failed before the team behind the Modobag LLC went out to attempt raising $160,000 in 2015. Unfortunately, that Kickstarter ended up being a dud, raising just $21,000 of its original goal.

Modobag LLC is back at it again with its Modobag rideable carry-on luggage, this time opting to focus its crowdfunding efforts on a flexible Indiegogo campaign instead. Despite the lukewarm reception the last time around, the product is receiving a much warmer welcome this time. That’s not surprising: At its core, the Modobag is a compelling offering, which is why it’s still pretty much the same bag the team offered last year. It still combines a roomy 2000 cubic inches of interior space with a motor within that can achieve a top speed of eight miles hours per hour with a range of about six miles. (This isn’t Fast and Furious, folks.)

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Connected Objects Imaging

Find Dory (in Ultra HD) with the Octospot 4K diving camera

editors-choiceWhile action cameras like the GoPro are more popular than ever, none of them address the particular challenges divers experience. Factors like pressure, temperature, and quality require equipment that balance toughness with quality.
The ideal diving camera is versatile, durable, easy-to-use, and able to generate high-quality stills and video. The Octospot does all of this and more. The cylindrical device is made of anodized aluminum and polycarbonate for a sturdy design that doesn’t require an external casing like other action cameras. This allows divers to get to a max depth of 656 feet without any adverse effect on the product. While they dive, the Octospot constantly monitors depth, temperature, and pressure data, displaying it all on the device’s 0.5″ OLED display for quick reference or overlaying that information later over the 12 MP stills and 4K-caliber video divers can review and easily share using the Octospot iOS/Android app. 

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Connected Objects Sleep

This smart pillow has you covered from A to Zeeq

Both the quality and amount of sleep people get are directly correlated with their quality of life. Despite that common knowledge, most Americans report not getting sufficient sleep because they engage in the bad habit of snoozing their alarms, or they suffer from snoring. Snoozing an alarm starts a new sleep cycle that can’t be completed, and snoring shaves two to four hours of restorative sleep each night.

Inventor Warren Bell and Miguel Marrero are approaching the problem of sleep with their Zeeq smart pillow. This smart pillow works with a companion app used to activate the pillow every night. Before going, users set an alarm and answers some optional questions about their day on the app itself. Zeeq’s eight internal speakers can stream music from services like Apple Music and Spotify (that only the person can hear — not their partner) to help guide them to slumberland. While they’re sleeping, Zeeq gently vibrates when its built-in microphone detects snoring to encourage a change in position, all while analyzing sleep patterns throughout the night with its three-axis gyroscope.

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Connected Objects Health and Wellness

IBaby Air helps little ones avoid cute little coughs

Air pollution inside and outside the home is a common problem that many people confront each day –- often coming from places it’s least expected, including common household items. Small children are especially vulnerable to volatile organic compounds because they can’t process the chemicals as effectively as adults.

IBaby Air is a smart Wi-Fi air monitor and ionic purifier that allows its users to monitor their homes’ air quality. The purifier turns on automatically when air quality is low. It detects several common pollutants that are found all over the U.S., many of which are invisible and/or odorless, including carbon monoxide, methane and ammonia. It works in conjunction with a companion app for Android and iOS mobile devices. iBaby Air sends alerts and daily room reports to the user’s mobile device.

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Connected Objects Music

The GoDJ Plus is a lightweight DJ system that still drops tons of bass

Being a DJ is a glamorous job, filled with the people, parties, and music that would make anyone jealous of the lifestyle. But truly doing a great job means knowing music history and having the right equipment at the ready. The problem is that all of that equipment together usually ends up being heavy and awkward to effectively move around.

The advent of tablets have been great at lightening a DJ’s load but lack all the physicality of a true DJ deck. Enter the GoDJ Plus, a fully featured, portable DJ system that’s the size of A4 paper with a weight of just under two pounds to match. The sleekly designed, aluminum system sports two decks with two screens, two sets of LED-backlit pads, and a full set of tools from an EQ to a sampler to a sequencer. Interestingly, the GoDJ Plus doesn’t require a smartphone or a laptop to operate. Instead, 16GB of internal storage and an SD card slot lets DJs load in their own music or download songs from major streaming services using the device’s Wi-Fi connectivity, with dedicated CPUs within dedicated to each track, hardware, and software for optimal performance.

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Connected Objects Television

IRMimic provides simple way to control all your AV devices

It can sometimes be frustrating to need several remote controls to power all the different AV devices in the living room. That’s especially the case when one or more of those remotes gets lost or stuck under the couch.

IRMimic is an infrared learning remote that’s built into a set- top box. It knows the status of the TV and cable or satellite box and sends out IR commands when the TV turns on or off. It can be programmed to perform specific functions. For example, it can be set so that when the TV turns on, the iRMimic automatically sends commands to turn on all of the AV devices, change the TV to the correct input, select the correct audio settings on the AV receiver and change the TV to the user’s favorite channel. IRMimic ships in November. Future pricing isn’t provided. But early bird Kickstarter backers can order one for a pledge of $119. Its maker hopes to raise $75,000 by July 31.

The device is something that may come in handy for some consumers. But it solves a problem that, for some consumers, is already solved by a high-end universal remote. Setting IRMimic may also be too complicated for at least some of the consumers it’s targeting.

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Connected Objects

Keep your digital eye on the stove at all times with TOCH Smarturns

In the home, everyone has the expectation of being safe. But dangers, however controlled, can still find ways to strike. This is especially true in the kitchen, where the majority of fires are caused by unattended cooking. There are devices that make fridges and washers smarter: the TOCH Smarturns does the same for stoves.

patent-claimedTOCH Smarturns automatically monitors the activity within the area around a stove when the burners are on by replacing one of its knobs with an intelligent one and working together with a motion sensor. When a user walks away from the stove for an extended period while the burners are still on, the system will first alert them through an alarm from the separately connected hub along with a mobile phone notification to return to the unattended stove.

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Connected Objects Kids/Babies Sleep

Suzy Snooze helps Suzy –- and everybody else –- get some sleep

Every parent wants their babies to get some sleep because if an infant doesn’t sleep, the adults don’t either.

patent-claimedSuzy Snooze is a three-in-one device that uses light and sound to soothe kids to sleep — helping their parents get some sleep in the process — and also helps wake kids up. Suzy evolves with children through their early years — serving as first a baby monitor, then a lullaby nightlight, and then a toddler sleep trainer. It plugs into a wall socket and comes with U.S., U.K. and European adapters.

Suzy works out of the box, but also in conjunction with a mobile device app that allows parents to control the device’s functions remotely, including whether to leave the nightlight on or off.

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Connected Objects Imaging

The Nico360’s tiny frame streams everything around you

From action sports to brand activations, there is really nowhere 360° doesn’t work. It’s enjoyable, effective, and adds a new dimension to family outings, sporting events, and a bunch other gatherings and get together. And while the equipment needed to produce quality 360° footage is shrinking, there’s always the possibility for even smaller form factors.

Jim Huang out of Hong Kong is chasing the very smallest form factor with the Nico360, a square-shaped camera that packs a lot into its tiny size. Its crowning achievement is a 32MP sensor that allows for 1440p WQHD 360° video recording that, combined with a 5G Wi-Fi radio, allows users to live stream 360° video.

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Connected Objects

Connected Bagel tape measure is high on functionality, low in carbs

In 2016, every single thing we come across is more than likely connected to the internet. Over the last few years, the crowdfunding world has made sure of that, touching everything from the kitchen oven to thermoses. One outlier is measuring tape, a tool people still use every single day for pretty important reasons despite its unwieldiness.

Bagel Labs, Inc. is out to right this oversight with its charmingly-named Bagel connected tape measure. The cleanly designed tool three measuring modes, voice memo capability, and mobile app connectivity for a device that’s simple to use. The String mode is the first, used to measure short distances along lines and curves and around corners. The self-titled Wheel mode is perfect for irregular and odd-shaped surfaces and can be used with one hand to measure up to 33 feet. Finally, the Remote mode takes advantage of a laser pointer and the device’s built-in standing support to perfectly measure straight distances to objects too far out of reach.

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