Tag: safety

Categories
Apparel

BulletSafe Bulletproof Baseball Cap offers protection without provocation

Working in law enforcement or professions that require the transport of money or jewels can mean that one’s life is consistently on the line. While professions such as these often offer a bulletproof vest, protective head gear for daily, non-emergency activities often isn’t offered.

BulletSafe Bulletproof Baseball Cap offers people in dangerous vocations the benefit of protective headgear without the drawbacks of a ballistic helmet. The cap is made of the same material as the repurposed military helmets, but it is more lightweight and easier to wear. The six-panel twill product offers a flexible fit in small, medium and large. Though a ballistic helmet seems to offer better protection for the side and back of the head, the baseball cap looks less intimidating or hostile to the average person.

As a safety option for daily wear, this may be an ideal product, but a baseball cap hardly looks professional in a law enforcement setting. While protective headgear may be in demand, something styled like a deputy’s hat may have a more professional appearance. This campaign seeks to raise $3,500. Backers get one BulletSafe Bulletproof Baseball Cap for $99, with an expected delivery of December 2015.

Categories
Automotive

GloStep Truck Steps shed light on dark running boards

When forced to park one’s truck in a low light or no light setting, it can be painful to try to guess where to place one’s foot when entering or exiting – especially of one happens to be vertically challenged.

GloStep Truck Steps offers users the opportunity for a bit of light on those dark and perhaps stormy nights. There isn’t a great deal of information in regard to this product, and so the installation process, necessary tools for installation, and how the product works isn’t entirely clear. But backers looking for an easy way to have extra lighting at their fingertips may also want to check out the LureViewer or MuleLightOrb. Also, WakaWaka is a great emergency item to have in a truck or car.

This campaign seeks to raise $150,000. For $500, backers get one set of steps with an expected delivery of June 2015. Backers, however, may reserve their donation until they have a better idea of how the GloStep Truck Steps work.

Categories
Safety Wearables

Ayefi provides personal safety in the form of a handbag, or so it claims

Most of us rely on smartphones to do everything for us, from sending e-mails to notifying us about special calendar events. However, we’re limited to apps to provide functionality and few offer options for personal safety.

Ayefi is a wearable open-source smart computer that promotes personal safety. When a special button is pushed, it triggers a message asking for help. It will take a video of what’s going on and send the video to help. Ayefi will also display images as well.

This device is, at best, very confusing. The campaign claims it has functions for education and fashion, but never really explains what that means. It claims Ayefi has a sleek look, but judging from the photos, it doesn’t. In addition, the personal safety functions don’t seem to do much more than simply calling 9-1-1 would. The campaign is selling messenger and handbags that integrate the device, but it’s confusing as to why. The handbag will go for $100 with deliver in February.

All in all, this device is trying really hard to be something innovative and cool, but it’s functions are too confusing to get excited about. Ayefi is hoping to raise a huge $79,000 goal on Kickstarter.

Categories
Home Kids/Babies Safety

Toddler Safety Electrical Plugs play hide and seek from little fingers

It seems like baby-proofing the house is one of those tasks that is really never done – kind of like parenting. And for whatever reason, toddlers seem to be especially fascinated by electrical outlets. Toddler Safety Electrical Plugs is kind of an out of sight, out of mind gadget that hides the electrical outlet from small fingers, but still allows mom or dad to easily access it when it is needed. Initial installation may be somewhat inconvenient, since it involves using a screwdriver and removing the existing faceplate, but after that, the product is touted as offering one-hand operation convenience.

There is actually a wide variety of outlet covers out there with child safety in mind. This particular product seems to have a similar design as the KidCo Outlet Plug Cover. One of the more popular covers among parents is Munchkin because they are extremely easy to use and inexpensive.  Backers with toddlers may also want to check out the PopSwitch and Bright Switch campaigns. This campaign seeks to raise $5,000, however may have trouble doing so as it is offering no reward tiers.

Categories
Safety Smartwatches/Bands

Bluetooth iChild tracker monitors skin temperature to detect a snatching

With the ubiquity of smartphone use, child tracking solutions continue to surface. Some are hit or miss, but all are better than walking around with your child on a leash. The iChild is another product that promises to make keeping track of your little one easier. It comes in the form of a red or blue watch that pairs with a companion smartphone app and does exactly one thing only: every 10 seconds, the watch sends a ping to the smartphone with your child’s temperature.

How does that help? This ping of information does two things: receiving the information at all lets you know your child is within 50 feet of you, and also alerts you to abnormal temperatures as well so that you can head off that cold or fever. While the iChild is a novel idea, its premise is a little flimsy and does more to fuel worry than actually help you solve the problem of a lost child. With no GPS, it can hardly compete with the scores of other child safety wearables. In addition, even if you were to receive abnormal temperature readings, wouldn’t it be too late to do much of anything? The iChild’s one saving grace is its $40 price point, but even that is too much for a product that isn’t really useful in the long run. The campaign is aiming for a ridiculously high $1,000,000 funding goal.

Categories
Cycling

Veloloop helps cyclists trip traffic signals

Traffic signals are a cyclist’s worse enemy. An ill-timed red light can be an unnecessary obstacle on an otherwise smooth bike ride. This wouldn’t push a responsible cyclist to skirt safety in the name of convenience, but it does get under the skin waiting at a red light at an empty intersection with no traffic to speak of. Since bicycles are so small, the systems responsible for triggering traffic signals never really see them, leaving you stuck for what feels like an eternity.

 The Veloloop is small, electrically charged antenna that lets your bike cast a car-sized shadow onto the loop sensors that govern signals on the road. It attaches to the rear wheel and works by detecting when there is a sensor below the bicycle, reacting by returning the frequency that particular sensor is looking for, thereby changing the light. And since it does this with so little energy, even a pair of AAA batteries will last for a year or more. Combine this with the Commuter x4 to make sure other motorists see you at night and increase both your convenience and safety all at once. The product will ship in January of 2015 for $99, and the campaign need $84,000 to be successful.

 

Categories
Pets

The Watchdog lights up the leash

It doesn’t take long for savvy parents to refrain from asking, “Whose turn is it to walk the dog?” and just draft one of the kids to do it. The Watchdog may very well change all of that. With flexible, cable light technology exclusive to the company, The Watchdog is a strong, illuminated leash that also offers functioning as a steady or flashing stream of light, which makes night walks safer for pet and owner. The principle behind the 360º cable light technology is similar to neon, except that cable is very flexible. The item must be kept charged in order to function properly, but this is done easily enough with the included USB cord. Pet owners will likely rejoice at their new disco leash, but may be a little halted by the price tag. Backers get one product for $100 with expected delivery in March 2014. This campaign seeks to raise $70,000 on Kickstarter for the chance to give pet owners more enthusiasm to walk their dogs.

Categories
Pets Sensors/IoT

Pod pet locator can withstand the elements

When a pet goes missing, it creates a tense situation full of nerves and panic as the family members try and locate a living being that could be absolutely anywhere and is unable to pick up a phone or write.

Pod is a GPS tracker that can be clipped onto a pet’s collar that provides a mixture of tracking and social features to push notifications to phones when a dog or cat goes wandering off  unsupervised. In addition to being able to simply locate a pet, Pod functions as a sort of local social network for pet owners to compare running speeds or area explored. The tracker is lightweight and waterproof, so it won’t risk shorting out and won’t weigh the pet down or make it uncomfortable. Pod needs $50,000 to do its part in preventing lost pets. At the $149 pledge level, supporters can get this real time tracker and attach it to their beloved pets.

Anything that can prevent a lost or endangered pet is a great tool to have, although a lot of the core design is built around letting pets run free. That kind of attitude is not global, and owners will still be responsible for their pet’s behavior, so buyers beware.

Categories
Health and Wellness

Rockwell razor ditches cartridges for customization

Every few months, it seems like a new razor hits the market. One with more blades, or with all kinds of bells and whistles that promise a better shave while men continue to struggle with razor burn and other problems.

The Rockwell 6S Razor from Rockwell Razors takes a step in the other direction. Inspired by the classic safety razors used generations ago, the 6S has a classic, minimalist feel to it. What makes this razor unique however is the presence of three double-sided plates that provide a customized shave designed to work on any kind of face or facial hair. Rockwell Razors has set a goal of $12,000 CAD for this project. For $69 CAD, supporters will receive the 6S Razor with all the plates, cap, handle, and blades in December 2014.

Younger shavers may be intimidated by going back to using an actual razor blade to do their shaving, but it’s a method that’s been used by men for years prior to the introduction of the Gillette Mach3. That it uses normal, inexpensive and replaceable razor blades is just the icing on the cake for those who want to save money.

Categories
Smart Home

Campoint brings your home security footage into a central point

Over the past decade, home monitoring and security systems have been reduced from elaborate systems requiring hundreds of dollars of start-up and maintenance costs to just a few in-home, Internet-connected cameras requiring less money to maintain. Problems still abound, though, namely in the form of monthly service fees to store and view a user’s own video, false alarms, and privacy.

CamPoint’s in-home monitoring system is looking to address those problems. The device connects via Wi-fi to up to three HD cameras, allowing a user to enjoy the features of a monitoring system without a monthly fee. What’s more, CamPoint uses an algorithm that constantly learns what’s important by sending alerts to a user’s smartphone for review. Once decided, CamPoint will never send another alarm about the event again. CamPoint also liberates users of the worry associated with streaming video to unknown places for review by unknown people with both local and cloud storage depending on the user’s location. Even then, it doesn’t eat up all your bandwidth with the capacity to schedule your day into the system. Potential backers can go all in with a pledge of $279, which nets them a CamPoint with three cameras. If the cameras are unnecessary, a CamPoint solo can be had for just $149. The company is looking for $50,000 for mass production and assembly.

The elephant in the room when speaking about home monitoring is certainly Dropcam and all of the privacy issues the company has spurred. Addressing privacy concerns with smart design is good business sense, and CamPoint has hit the nail on the head. Although users of the system will appreciate that, the included seven days of cloud storage and its three camera maximum might be problematic. CamPoint has potential, but the company will need to keep innovating: the features they present can easily be copied.