Tag: open

Categories
Technology

Luna personal robot juggles affordability, an open platform, your breakfast

Countless pieces of literature, television shows, and films have all hinted of a future where human beings live side by side with robots. For the most part, robotics of this kind are currently either too simple, or far too advanced and exuberantly priced as a result. As a result, there isn’t much of a middle ground, unless the something like Luna personal robot is considered.

Honda’s AISMO is a great example of a human-sized personal robot that has been attempted, but that was ultimately a dud in its potential for real-world applications. Luna differs in that its sole purpose is to exist as a personal, completely open, and affordable robotics platform for the home. Being that Luna is based on Linux, it presents developers with a familiar platform for creating applications for Luna’s app store. In addition to expanding Luna’s capabilities with apps, easily upgradeable internals along with its seven USB ports make it so that Luna can easily grow.

The Luna lasts about eight hours, making it useful throughout the day for a variety of purposes. With its movable arms and HD camera, Luna can watch over the elderly, provide light security, and even provide nursing assistance in a hospital setting. All of these functions are only limited by the community’s imagination in the kinds of apps it creates. Backers can enjoy a $300 discount on Luna’s $1,499 retail price with a reservation of $199, while a developer model can be reserved for $999. Luna is expected to ship in December 2015, should the campaign’s reach its $500,000 goal.

Applying the same apps, services, and accessories model for other smart devices to a robotics platform is a smart way to go in this category. Though its price will have to go down to get it as mainstream as it would like to be. The device is sleek and charming, but will face the same challenges most technology like this faces in its integration with the rest of people’s lives.

Categories
Connected Objects Fitness Smartwatches/Bands

$29 Jaha fitness band counts steps, saved dollars

jaha2With the likes of the Fitbit Flex, Jawbone Up, and Nike Fuelband hogging up the spotlight alongside other, lesser known fitness bands, Jaha is hoping their version will stand out. With the options to locate and challenge others nearby or take up the virtual challenges Jaha will throw at you with the accompanying iOS app, the product isn’t content with only keeping you informed, but motivated as well. Of course, the challenge is that we’re starting to see a lot of this step-counting functionality built into the smartphones themselves. Jaha’s campaign is trying to shore up $25,000 to have their band around your wrist by November 2014.

Categories
Connected Objects Maker/Development Video

Slice looks to stay a cut above other living room media players

The Premise. Internet streaming devices such as Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV offer convenient streaming of movies and music on demand to your living room. Some streaming devices can play back media on a hard drive, but they’re not optimized for large personal libraries of video files and other media.

The Product. Slice is a hard drive-based media player designed to be snappy and easy to use. It’s a minimally designed black box outfitted with an array of usual ports along with a customizable LED ring that changes color depending on its current action. This adds a unique aesthetic twist to an otherwise unassuming design. It also ships with a custom-made RF remote, giving you the flexibility to be anywhere in your home and still command Slice.

The Pitch. The team behind Slice, Five Ninjas, does a great job concisely explaining such a versatile product. The campaign features a general overview video and a video walkthrough of Slice’s interface. Easy-to-digest lists and diagrams explain the nuances of the product, and there’s a pretty robust FAQ section that actually answers many common questions. Stretch goals have included Wi-Fi, an app to control the LEDs, a bigger hard drive, a thinner design with an extra USB port, and color options.

The Perks. Slice comes in two flavors. A diskless version is expected to ship in November 2014 with a contribution of £129 . A fully loaded version requires a contribution of £169 and should ship in December.

The Potential. The market has voted in favor of less expensive media streamers that deliver movies from services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Indeed Five Ninjas’ Web site laments the loss of the original Apple TV, which stored movies on a hard drive. Western Digital has probably had the most success with its hard drive-focused living room media player since then — including one that had a built-in hard drive —  but that hasn’t seen an update for a while. One of the the product’s biggest draws besides its simplicity is its openness. Since it’s built atop a Raspberry Pi and uses the XMBC software, Slice is open and hackable, allowing more creative technical individuals to do pretty much whatever they’d like that’s within the device’s capabilities. Slice will have the most appeal to those who have large collections of movies that lack copy protection or who like a bit of a light show with their home video entertainment.