Tag: health

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Pets Wearables

Arden Collar combines LEDs, GPS and Bluetooth to help find and identify lost pets

Pets have the tendency to wander off, much like children. When they do, they have a much harder time finding their way home. Not only that, but they run the risk of getting hit by a car or snatched up by some Cruella de Vil type. Once pets are gone, pet owners must resort to flyers which usually produce no results.

The Arden Collar works to keep your pet safe at all times. This silicone collar features a GPS tracker which hooks up via Bluetooth LE or Wi-Fi to an app so that you can see where your pet is. In addition, with the help of NFC, those near the lost pet will be alerted to its missing status. The collar will display the pet’s information on their phones, including name and address as well as the vet’s name and address. This makes it possible for others to easily help Fido find home.

This collar isn’t only useful in times of emergency. With Hi-LED lights that can be activated at the push of a button, owners can walk their dogs at night with maximum visibility. Also, the collar tracks the dog’s activity, temperature and other vitals and stores the data in the cloud. This way, owner and vet can make sure the pet is healthy. For maximum convenience, Arden has a detachable battery to make charging possible without removing the whole collar.

The Arden Collar has lots of cool features that will make it useful to lots of dog owners. It takes GPS tracking a step further by giving strangers the opportunity to help. In addition, it monitors the dog’s health like a FitBit does for humans. The one major drawback of this product, however, is that it may cost up to $45 each month for the services it provides. For those who don’t mind the monthly bill, one will cost $149 for estimated delivery in October 2015. Arden is looking to raise a ridiculous $400,000 on Indiegogo.

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Health and Wellness

Clamp-like EnerQi offers DIY accupressure

Acupuncture has long since been recognized as a great way to treat pain and relieve stress. It’s difficult to find the time to make it to the acupuncturist, however, and it seems a little frivolous to go for every ache and pain. That’s why the folks at EnerQi have come up with a way to get that same relief no matter where you are. This product is a clip that can be used to target those pressure points for relief. The pressure it puts out is adjustable and, best of all, it doesn’t use any needles. In addition, EnerQi uses different rubber covers for a range in size and hardness.

Many people need quick ways to lower their stress levels so they can continue to work or do whatever else that causes them anxiety. EnerQi is a great way to get that relief no matter where you are. While they look a little silly when worn, and look like a torture device in general, this is a great way to calm down. To get the EnerQi, backers will need to donate $25 with an estimated delivery date of March 2015. This product is looking to meet a symmetric goal of $8,888 on Kickstarter.

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Connected Objects Health and Wellness

Amiko seeks to make medicine compliance smart and connected

Any trained medical professional will agree on how very important it is to take essential medication on a timely and consistent basis. If it isn’t, there could be severe consequences for the person who needs it. With that as the central idea, the folks behind the Amiko have created a wearable device that acts as a personal medication assistant, connecting to a wide range of inhalers to help make sure medication is being taken correctly and on time.

The product comes as a small but attractive leaf-shaped attachment that clips on to a wide range of inhalers. Onboard MEM sensors are highly tuned to track when the inhaler is loaded, how it is positioned pre-delivery, and upon actual delivery. These values are all combined to create an accurate and thorough view of dosage trends and can even be used to create reports for physicians to use in their treatments.

Perhaps its most valuable capability, however, is the ability to be connected to smartphones and tablets to alert users and family about upcoming or missed doses, keeping everyone in the loop. If that person happens to be technologically averse, the company’s Amiko Hub ($79) allows non-smartphone users to still receive alerts from the product itself, family members, or caretakers. Amiko’s early bird special is currently going for $39 with a $10 premium on it when those supplies run out, with an expected delivery date of March 2015. The folks behind Amiko are looking for an infusion of $50,000.

Amiko is a very promising device not in just what it does, but in how it uses the cloud and the various connectivity options it has to make a process that can be potentially life-threatening so much less stressful. It extends wearables to a market that needs it beyond the fitness enthusiast.

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Health and Wellness Sensors/IoT

Darma smart seat cushion reminds you to take a stand

Back pain, poor posture and lots of lazing around are realities for many folks. Each one of these problems feeds into the other, so it’s hard to break the cycle of discomfort. Darma is a smart seat cushion that doubles as your posture coach. It monitors your sitting habits, posture, breath, and heart rate to give you helpful tips. If you’re slouching, Darma tells you to sit up straight through a smartphone alert. When your heart rate is high indicating stress, it suggests taking a walk to calm down. Similarly, if you’ve been sitting too long, Darma advises taking standing breaks.

Best of all, by collecting data about you specifically, it can give you customized stretches that will alleviate the pain present in different parts of your body. Designed with sleek black leather, it’s unobtrusive and will blend in well with your office chair. One will cost backers a $189 donation on Kickstarter.

Darma is an interesting new take on the type smartphone-powered health assistance we’ve seen a lot of recently. Most of these devices are wearables in the form of clip-ons or bracelets. While we’ve seen previous products aimed at improving posture, Darma blends into its surroundings. The constant alerts may prove to be annoying at first, like a nagging mother telling you to sit up straight. However, the long term health benefits will likely be worth the hassle. All in all, Darma is a great solution for the sedentary and actually one of the least obtrusive solutions to too much sitting.

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Health and Wellness

Movi wheelchair gives its users a lift

The wheelchair is meant to keep people struggling with sickness or injury from being completely immobile. Yet for all the good the wheelchair does, its design has remained unchanged for decades, and it is certainly not the picture of comfort.

Movi Medical has developed two new kinds of wheelchairs designed to be a comfortable sitting surface as well as a mobility solution for those that need it. With a host of ergonomic improvements, the Movi Transport Chairs are easier on the patient and anyone responsible for helping the patient move, from hospital staff to friends and family. The curving shape of the Movi seat is easier on the spine, and the improvements made to the footrests make standing up out of the chair not only easier, but less hazardous. The chair leans up and forward, putting the footrests flat onto the floor, making it easy to step off and out of the Movi.

The Movi M2, a slightly more deluxe chair, features padded armrests, storage compartments on the sides of the wheelchair, and an adjustable headrest designed to create an experience that is just as much about comfort as it is mobility. Movi Medical has partnerships lined up with hospitals and medical companies already, but is looking for $50,000 in orders to show an interest in home buyers for their products. The base M1 Movi chair costs $2,395 and will be delivered by the end of the year.

When one first looks at a Movi Transport Chair, it’s actually a little insulting that the base design of wheelchairs has gone unchanged for so long. Movi chairs emphasize patient comfort as much as their ability to get around, and anyone who has had to sit in a wheelchair for even a couple of hours can appreciate that. It’s a niche buyer’s market, but it’s a product worth supporting.

 

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Health and Wellness

CLEARsmile uses microbubbles to clean your teeth

The Premise. Brushing, flossing and rinsing are three essential ways to keep our mouths clean. The problem? Most skip the flossing and rinsing and decide to just brush their teeth putting themselves and their teeth at risk for bad oral health. Good oral hygiene is essential not only for a great smile but for lifetime health as well.

The Product. CLEARsmile is an overall oral health product that keeps your mouth clean in one easy step. It uses power washing and a special solution to clean your mouth. A mouthpiece goes against the teeth and, when activated, the device uses pressure to clean the teeth and suction to pump the solution into the sink. The product is about the size of a Polaroid camera with tubes hanging out of it.

The Pitch. While not the flashiest campaign video in the world, the creator of CLEARsmile is captivating in explaining his product. After seeing lots of dirty mouths in the elderly and underprivileged, he decided to invent something that would make oral hygiene easy by replacing the traditional toothbrush, floss and mouthwash model. As a dentist himself, the authority he has in speaking about his product makes him trustworthy and competent. CLEARsmile is looking to raise a modest $16,500 on Kickstarter.

The Perks. Early birds can clean their teeth with CLEARsmile for only $99. At a regular price, one goes for $125. Estimated delivery is set for December 2015 as the product has yet to be made yet.

The Potential. The possibilities for CLEARsmile are endless. Not only will this product be a smash hit for parents trying to keep track of their children’s brushing habits, but also for the underprivileged as well as sick. Since the product is created by a dentist, there is little doubt that CLEARsmile really replaces the daily morning and evening brushing routine. The one downside of this product is that it lacks any kind of tongue scraper. Even so, CLEARsmile is a smart, relatively cheap and innovative way to keep your mouth clean.

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Connected Objects Sensors/IoT

Smart Plant is a smarty pants plant monitoring system

Smart PlantFor those with only green-tinged thumbs, it can be difficult to gauge the health of your plant. Smart Plant is a device from Turkey that tells you whether your plant is good, thirsty, over-watered, too hot or too cold. The device is inserted directly into the soil and even hooks up with a smartphone app via Bluetooth. The Smart Plant can even be programmed to water your plant for you, much like the Daisy.si. However, unlike the Daisy.si, Smart Plant provides a bit more information regarding the plant’s health and does so with cute smiley faces. One of these intelligent plant monitors costs $185 with estimated delivery in January 2015. Smart Plant is going for $26,000 on Kickstarter.

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Cell Phone Accessories Health and Wellness

SandPiper taps an app for early detection of lung issues

The Premise. Lung health can be overlooked in a world obsessed with heart rate, nutrition and blood pressure. Most lung problems are caught only once they’ve developed into serious conditions. Without a doctor present, it can be difficult to monitor lung health to ensure that everything is okay. 

The Product. For lung health on the go, try the SandPiper. This product is a mini spirometer that plugs into any standard smart phone headphone jack to delivery immediate information about one’s lung health. You simply blow into the product and the information is immediate on the accompanying app that provides a full spirometric analysis. It’s made of medical grade ABS and uses an adapted type of wind power for energy. This power comes directly from the user when they go to test their respiratory function. 

The Pitch. SandPiper’s video shows a doctor talking about the realities of poor lung health. A bit obvious, perhaps, but quite effective. It also shows the product in use displaying how easy it is to carry around, facilitate and even wash (just throw it in the dishwasher). The rest of the campaign goes through what exactly the product measures and its other uses, including training your lungs to have better strength and capacity. SandPiper has a huge goal of $275,000 on Indiegogo.

The Perks. Early breathing backers will get the SandPiper for $55 or $64 which includes the product and ability to download the app. Regular price for the product on Indiegogo is $73 with estimated delivery set in December 2014. 

The Potential. Portable spirometers aren’t anything new. One that connects directly to an app on a smartphone is. The Orbit Portable Spirometer connects directly to one’s computer, but doesn’t organize the information on said computer. SandPiper’s app collects and remembers data, making it more effective in tracking lung health and history. The device itself couldn’t be simpler to use, wash or carry making it super convenient. All in all, the SandPiper is just the product for those concerned with their lung health. While it may not be needed by all, it is definitely essential for an older crowd that will appreciate its ease of use. 

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Health and Wellness Safety

LifeKeeper learns how to protect your heart from episodes

lifekeeperCardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world with over 13 million cases each year. People know how to engage in heart-smart diets and behaviors, but sometimes that isn’t enough to protect oneself from a cardiac episode. The LifeKeeper is more than just a heart rate monitor, sending vitals to a user’s smartphone and assessing the data to determine if there are any health risks at that present time. LifeKeeper collects data through questions, activity tracking, sleep analysis, and creates a profile which can be viewed or that will trigger an alert in a potentially health-hazardous scenario. A LifeKeeper can be had with a pledge of $199, complete with sensors and the app, arriving in December 2014.

Categories
Health and Wellness Wearables

SunSprite fights SAD, offers feedback to keep you grazin’ in the sun

The Premise. For years, doctors have suggested that a major factor in the rise of depression, energy loss, and insomnia is a result of the increase in time most people spend in doors, bathed in the glow of computers and televisions. The remedy to this concern is simply exposure to the sun, but concerns about complications from ultraviolet rays keep people unsure about just what to do.

The Product. With a clip onto any article of clothing or accessory, the SunSprite is available to tell consumers how much bright light exposure they need in a day for optimum health benefits.  The SunSprite itself is solar-powered, meaning that charging it is as easy as using it. A line of lights on the product’s surface measure how much light its owner has basked in that day, and a companion app helps people plan for harsh UV exposure, advising them to use sunscreen or other protection. The SunSprite comes with no extra cables or attachments and is roughly the dimensions of a house key.

The Pitch. SunSprite is the brainchild of the Harvard-educated doctors and engineers at GoodLux. The message in their introductory video is simple – the human body was designed to be out in the sun, and their device will help make sure its owners are getting enough exposure. Additional videos include a product unboxing and the medical background behind the product’s inception. The graphics help explain the different reward tiers, how the SunSprite works, and how bright light affects the human body. GoodLux needs $50,000 to finish tooling, production, and certification for their creation.

The Perks. The Sunsprite and its companion app are available for contributions of at least $99, and is expected to be arriving in June in time to get plenty of sun. Pledges of $399 also include a SunBox SunRay II (or different model for European backers) that will allow backers to get light exposure even on the cloudiest of days.

The Potential. This simple device is sure to help people make sense of an easy holistic solution to their ailments. Outdoor enthusiasts will surely be adding these to their list of essential gadgets. While it may not become a common accessory based on the price and limited functionality, the self-powering, non-invasive SunSprite will become a fast favorite to those who are serious about lighting up their lives.