Pills, prescriptions, and vitamins are all things often work best when taken on a regimen, either at certain intervals of the day or with meals. Still, the more there are to take, the easier it is to get confused or simply forget. Hi Pills is a pill dispenser box that connects to iOS or Android devices. It pushes an alert to the mobile device reminding users which pills to take and when. Additionally, an alert can be sent to that person’s caretaker if the pill box is not opened at that time, prompting follow-up care. Hi Pills and its app will launch in October 2014 for backers who pledge £59.
Category: Health and Wellness
The Premise. When being prescribed medication that needs to be taken regularly, it can be easy to get distracted and forget to take it on time. Add to that special instructions or medications that shouldn’t be taken together and it becomes more than a matter of keeping an eye on the clock.
The Product. PharmAssistant is a solution for people who need reminders on when and how to take different medications. The technology behind PharmAssistant relies on two key components: a smartphone with the PharmAssistant app, and the SmartBottle with a Bluetooth cap alarm. After programming which medications need to be taken and how often into the app, the app will send a blinking light and sound alarm to the cap of the bottle of the medicine, which will continue to go off until the bottle is opened. Additionally, a monitoring service is available that will send an alert to a third party’s phone such as a family member to notify them if a dosage has been skipped. While this service will have a small monthly fee, the bottles will continue to work without a subscription.
The Pitch. Using an animated sales pitch, the PharmAssistant team provide a somewhat over-the-top look at how hard it can be to keep medications straight. Backing up their product with shocking statistics on medication-related deaths in the United States alone, PharmAssistant sticks to the facts, explaining very simply what the product offers for both patients, family members, and even pharmacists. PharmAssistant needs $20,000 to complete the app, test the product, and then begin production.
The Perks. All of the PharmAssistant SmartBottles are expected to be delivered in December of this year. They range in price from $60 for two to $135 for six, and each set comes with a free three month minimum sample of their monitoring service.
The Potential. The intentions of PharmAssistant are noble, trying to make it easy to remember to take medicine or supplements for people every day, but the execution here is lacking. With the exception of the alarms on the SmartBottles themselves or the monitoring service add-on, there’s nothing here that isn’t offered by a simple, first-party phone notification. Programming in the extra instructions and the kinds of medicine do little when without the SmartBottles, all that would be printed with the prescription bottles anyhow. There are some good ideas with PharmAssistant, but the benefits probably won’t be enough to give this product a lasting appeal.
The Premise. On nearly any trip in public, it’s getting to the point where it would be uncommon not to see somebody wearing a fitness tracker. Getting healthy is a priority for thousands of people, and using technology to do so is a no-brainer these days. But in addition to encouraging good habits, there’s one habit that many people could stand to break in becoming healthier.
The Product. The Quitbit is a pocket-sized tracker for how many cigarettes a person smokes in a day. It, along with its proprietary app, can log how many cigarettes have been smoked, how long it’s been since a cigarette, and can even disable features until a threshold has been met. It’s able to do all of these because the Quitbit is also a flip-up lighter that functions like a car cigarette lighter, with heat coils. The device lasts a week without being recharged and can upload smoking data to social media, either in terms of how fewer cigarettes have been smoked in a week, or how much money has been approximately saved by reducing smoking.
The Pitch. The Quitbit’s campaign is extremely professional and confident, from the design of the product itself down to the supplemental materials available on its Kickstarter and Web site. The entire brand’s attitude is one of helping, not shaming, and that’s part of what makes this product so appealing for those that are cognizant of what smoking does to the human body. Quitbit needs $50,000 to get funded for prototyping, tooling, certification, and manufacturing.
The Perks. The Quitbit lighter and app are available to backers who pledge $79, and will be out at the end of this year. The lighter/tracker can be engraved with a personalized touch for $149.
The Potential. There’s a great amount of potential here for people who want to quit smoking by degrees, using hard data to do so. Because the Quitbit doubles as a lighter, it’s something that no smoker would want to be without, and the social aspects will get those who want to see their friends and family lead a more healthy lifestyle get involved with messages of encouragement. The design is simple, intuitive, and sharp, and the concept is unique enough to make this a great tool in the fight to quit smoking for good, perhaps then being passed on to a friend who can make use of it.
The Premise. Many believe that one key to optimal workouts is nourishing your body with the correct supplements. With proper nutrition, your muscles are better able to bulk up the way you want them to. You also avoid the dangers of becoming undernourished or dehydrated.
The Product. Taking a cue from popular single-cup coggee brewers, Podlife offers several different supplemental powders featuring different flavors such as Whey Protein in Chocolate & Vanilla, Thermogenic Fat Burning Whey Protein, Pre-Workout in Tropical Pine, Nootropics Pod, and SuperGreens: 100% Vegan Superfood. With the 300ml Podlife Shaker, health nuts can keep a pod safe in the bottom of their bottles and then simply push down to release the powder into the water and shake to mix it up. The Podlife Shaker looks like a simple, clear water bottle with black trim. It comes apart and is dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.
The Pitch. This Australian-made product’s video shows Podlife being used by beefy Aussies in the gym. The rest of the campaign talks about the products, shows the different pods being sold as well as pods that are slated for manufacturing in the future. Podlife is also donating 30 grams of rice to Rice for Cambodia for each pod sold. The podophiles hopes to raise $55,000 USD in a 45-day Indiegogo campaign.
The Perks. For $38, backers can enjoy the Podlife Shaker and a box set of 12 assorted pods. Higher reward tiers offer lots of bulk packages of pods and shakers alike. All tiers include free shipping to the US and Australia.
The Potential. People seem to love anything that combines health with convenience. Other bottles like the PROMiXX offer safe supplement storage, but don’t come in conveniently portioned out pods. PROMiXX, however, doesn’t rely on shaking, but has its own agitating device to make mixing easier. Based on the success of Keurig machines that offer coffee, tea and iced tea beverages, Podlife could have strong appeal to gym rats to keep themselves supplemented up before and after exercising, but of course one key will be making it easy and affordable to get the pods.
The Premise. A trip to the local superstore will confirm that we have too many options when it comes to selecting a toothbrush. While most of us prefer the traditional “manual” implement which also offers more superhero themed designs, some of us have gone electric (boogey woogey woogey) to satisfy our brushing needs.
The Product. Issa is a toothbrush created by the Foreo Institute in Sweden. Throwing traditional concepts out the window and focusing strictly on performance, it was designed to revolutionize the electric toothbrush with new material, function and form.
The Pitch. The campaign video explains that in 60 years electric toothbrushes have not drastically improved and have failed to convert most “manual” toothbrush users. Seeing an opportunity to create a better electric toothbrush, Foreo developed Issa and Issa Mini to overcome problems like abrasive bristles, non-ergonomic brush heads, short battery life, and more. The campaign page explains why its silicone material, unique design and new functionality make Issa superior to both manual toothbrushes and today’s electric brushes. We also learn that Issa Mini is intended for kids use or as a travel brush – it features parental controls which ensure kids brush every 12 hours and shows a happy face once its user has successfully brushed for two minutes. While we learn that Issa was unveiled at CES 2014 and has been featured in a number of publications, the campaign page lacks endorsements from dental authorities.
The Perks. Many levels of support for backers include both a beta tester and first edition level. For $199 you can become either a Beta tester or a first edition recipient with Beta testers receiving the product a month in advance of the others with a commitment to provide feedback to help refine the design in time for first edition users to benefit. For those with serious green to drop on their pearly whites, you can order a Gold or Platinum personalized edition Issa for $2,000 or $3,000 respectively.
The Potential. With the interest garnered so far by major publications, it’s no doubt that Issa has potential in the market and that the toothbrush paradigm could use a little shaking up. It would be ideal if Issa partnered with a known dental organization to bring a little more credibility from dental authorities vs. scientists who have determined reasons this brush is better. While Issa is no doubt unique, Kolibree also seeks to improve on today’s electric toothbrush by making it connected. Issa faces a looming battle of form versus feedback.
Increasingly there has been a push for office employees to work standing up instead of sitting down. This is supposed to increase health as well as productivity and we’ve already seen a number of products aimed at this goal, like the Stand Desk and ChairBot. Similarly, the StorkStand is a mobile desk that easily attaches to the back of any office chair. It provides a sturdy surface to work from that can hold up to 50 pounds. The wooden stand features a mobile phone holder and also folds up, making it extremely portable. One StorkStand costs early backers $129 or $149 at a regular price of $179 with estimated delivery in October 2014. This mobile desk hopes to raise $50,000 in a 35-day Kickstarter campaign.
Selective hearing is about to go from being a figure of speech to a new reality. Smart Earplug offers the option of controlling sound that’s being blocked. Through the use of a built-in sliding window, users can gradually decrease or increase the sound that is impacting their eardrums. Whether it’s a noisy work environment, a rock concert, air travel or parents seeking peace and quiet from noisy kids, volume controlled earplugs let users decide how loud is too loud. For $18, backers can get the early bird special of one pair with an expected delivery of August 2014.
The Premise. When out in the sun, it can be hard to achieve the level of shade needed to read, look at your phone or cool down. Umbrellas are great for several people, but can be large and blow away in the wind. Most opt to use towels or shirts to get the sun off of their faces, but this doesn’t let them do much else.
The Product. ShadyFace is personal shading device that lets you enjoy the sun without squinting too much or getting burned (for at least part of your body). Made out of canvas and aluminum, it is lightweight enough to be portable and swivels so that it can be moved based on the sun’s position. ShadyFace consists of a stand that can rest on the sand, a beach chair or even on a boat. The top part protrudes out to cover the top part of your body when lying down in the sun. It has pockets on the inside as well to hold all of the accessories you may need while sunbathing.
The Pitch. The campaign’s very long video details the product’s inception, prototyping process, features as well as lots of pictures of those without the ShadyFace who would have better luck if they used the ShadyFace. A dermatologist even makes a cameo to testify to the healthful benefits of staying out of direct sunlight, with sunscreen of course, he says. ShadyFace hopes to raise $38,000 in its 30-day Kickstarter campaign.
The Perks. Backers looking to cool their face will have to fork over a cool $139 for one ShadyFace, which includes its own carrying case to ease transport. Higher tiers also offer the ShadyFace Bluetooth speaker which blasts music inside of the ShadyFace space. All tiers have an estimated delivery date of July 2014.
The Potential. ShadyFace won’t provide complete sun protection for your body, but it is definitely useful for those wanting to enjoy easier reading or more comfort in a sunny spot . It seems to work well for using a tablet with a lounge chair in a fully-reclined position or using a laptop if one is lying face down, but isn’t quite tall enough to handle laptop use sitting upright in a lounge chair
ShadyFace’s best features are its portability and ease of use; it likely represents the most shade one can provide in a carryable product. It seems a bit much for an everyday commute to a pool club, but could justify its space in the luggage for a tropical location. In any case, the product is definitely easy to adjust, which may help its success in the summertime accessory market. ShadyFace could be a helper in the battle against the burn in summer 2014.
The Premise. Sunscreen is perhaps the messiest safety measure you have to take when outside, but applying it out of a squeeze bottle requires that you — oror someone you don’t mind touching you — wind up with greasy hands. Spray cans leave your hands clean but tend to get everywhere and leave spots unprotected. They’re also highly flammable, which could be a possible hazard particularly around campsites.
The Product. BlokRok is a patented sunscreen application system that is designed to take the messy out of sun protection. A plastic case holds the sunscreen or sunblock while a porous roller on top both dispenses and applies the lotion at the same time. The roller has a cover for when it’s not in use and is detachable making refilling easy. This product also comes with a carabiner attachment making it more portable. BlokRok is small and fits right in your hand for maximum convenience.
The Pitch. The fun campaign video displays the messiness and even danger of regular sunscreen applicators along with some scary skin cancer facts. The campaign also pokes fun at existing sunscreen applicator products, showing how unsophisticated and lame they are. BlokRok hopes to raise $45,000 in a 50-day Kickstarter campaign.
The Perks. Early-bird backers can enjoy the BlokRok applicator for only $25. For $35, backers get the BlokRok along with a wrist lanyard. Reward tiers go up to $5,000 with an estimated delivery date for the product of August or September 2014.
The Potential. BlokRok’s campaign is correct in saying that other applicators look completely ridiculous. Most go for a sort of paint roller technique with a weird inconvenient shape. In addition, they don’t actually hold the lotion, but need the lotion to be spread over the roller and then applied which doesn’t seem to cut down on the mess at all. The BlokRok is designed well, holds lots of lotion and is easy to use. The video mentions that the product works well with viscous lotions, implying that perhaps thicker lotions may not be compatible. All in all, however, BlokRok looks like the perfect way to avoid burns while keeping your hands and eyes sunscreen free.
For those who prefer working out in the privacy of their own home and don’t feel that they need a human fitness coach to get six-pack abs, Ab Monster offers a workout routine and machine straight out of infomercial land. The item comes with access to online videos, which seem to suggest movements that are somewhat reminiscent of scrubbing the kitchen floor and other cleaning activities. One plus is that the item seems to be compact enough to take on the road, so that late night at the office or traveling doesn’t mean missing out on workouts when the workout of cleaning the house is not an option. Those who may miss out on the $40 early bird special can pick one up for $45. Expected delivery is July of 2014.