Tag: sensor

Categories
Smart Home

Monolyth may not be full of stars, but it can learn how you use air conditioning

The Premise. The smart home may not be as smart as inventors have led people to believe. Sure, it can detect various data and respond to it whether it’s temperature, motion, light, or network connectivity, but are these devices really learning, or are they just trained? The real smart home revolution is about to begin, and it’s starting with a clever bit of climate control.

The Product. The aptly-named Monolyth is a device that can control air conditioning units based on set times, temperature and humidity sensors, air quality, or manual control over Wi-Fi or infrared. What makes the Monolyth different is that it detects the presence of users and begins to build its own schedule around what it learns, turning on based on thermostat levels to keep the air cool, but setting the appropriate temperatures based on if anyone is around to enjoy it or how cold they want it.

The Pitch. The first look at Monolyth gives a strong first impression based on what it’s capable of. With its own sense of personal style and ability to learn, the excitement for this device carries through to its campaign as well. Monolyth wants to raise $50,000 for tooling, components, and packaging.

The Perks. The Monolyth system can be picked up for just $79 and will arrive in January 2015, which is great news for those in the Southern hemisphere and in the middle of summer. Higher tiers include multiple units to control additional air conditioners.

The Potential. We’ve already looked at a few smart air conditioning units in the past, like Sensibo and tado°, but Monolyth really challenges the idea of what a smart device should be. By learning usage patterns and building an automated schedule, Monolyth does more than just look for a phone or tablet within range before starting up, it adapts to its users and expends only the energy it needs to in order to create a climate control system tailored specifically to its users. Sure, it can be overridden as needed, but the idea of a device that anticipates a customer’s needs rather than react to them is something that could really push the entire smart home market forward and will no doubt be picked up by complements and competitors moving forward.

Categories
Safety Smart Home

NOVI portable security system eases burdens of safety, high expense

The Premise. Modern security systems promise innovation and quick response, but can be too complex in the way they work. In addition, they’re expensive and not portable, leaving renters and office owners at risk. 

The Product. NOVI is a portable security system. With three features, this small device looks like a typical smoke detector and attaches to the ceiling. It has an HD camera, motion sensor, siren and smoke detector. Information is sent to an app on one’s smartphone if there is any activity. This allows the user to see exactly what is going on at their home at any time. NOVI is also a learning device, keeping track of typical habits so it knows when to arm itself if the user has forgotten to do so. The app asks for a response when an image is sent including call the police, ignore, or request another image.

The Pitch. The campaign video goes through the downside of working with typical security companies and the upside of NOVI. Scary statistics about the false alarm rate common with regular security companies and the costs associated with that permeate the rest of the campaign. NOVI’s creators also really emphasize that their product requires one payment instead of bothersome monthly fees and contracts. NOVI needs to raise $80,000 for a successful run on Kickstarter.

The Perks. Early birds will receive one sensor and the base station for $149, regularly priced at $199. Higher tiers offer more sensors, great for larger apartments, homes or for landlords who’d like to equip the apartments that they lease. Estimated delivery is set for January 2015.

The Potential. Portable home security systems do exist on the market, but not all take the same approach as NOVI. The Tattletale alarm works remotely as well, but costs $500. Similarly, the SimpliSafe alarm system is portable and connects to one’s cell phone, but the company charges a monthly rate for each added feature. NOVI truly is simple and refined. While it could have more features like a carbon monoxide detector, NOVI’s genius lies in its affordability making it the best option for safety for home owners and especially apartment renters. 

Categories
Connected Objects Cooking Sensors/IoT

Range Oven Intelligence delivers the goods on your grill to your iPhone

rangeoiAccident-prone or otherwise disasterous chefs take note: the smart kitchen may be a savior when it comes to getting a meal prepared just right. Products like iGrill are designed to keep users informed of temperatures so no food comes out black and burned, and no kitchens burn down. Now comes Range Oven Intelligence, from the makers of TWINE. Range OI is a complete kitchen monitoring tool that can keep an eye on almost all kinds of cooking heat, give detailed reports, and send alerts to smartphones, smart TVs, and smartwatches. Range Oven Intelligence is available for $98, but backers will have to be patient: this product will be slow-cooked to quality with a release date of March 2015.

Categories
Kids/Babies Wearables

1Decision Bracelet alerts you when the little one wanders off

1decisionKids have a nasty habit of wandering off at the worst of times. There’s nothing scarier than realizing your child is not where you thought he or she was. The 1Decision Bracelet offers safety and security for your child out in public. One bracelet is worn by the child and the other by the parent. As the fearmongering campaign video shows, it is programmable so that when the bracelets are out of a predetermined range from one another, the parent’s will vibrate alerting them that the child has begun to wander off. Unlike GPS bracelets and watches, however, it doesn’t provide any clue on how to find them once they;re out of view. One set of bracelets costs an early donation of $55 or a regular donation of $75 for delivery in October 2014. The 1Decision Bracelet hopes to raise $65,000 in a 40-day Indiegogo campaign.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Connected Objects Sensors/IoT

FIND 2.0 searches for its spot in a crowded market of Bluetooth finders

find20With the number of crowdfunded solutions to lost objects out there, it’s surprising to think that anything is still lost. FIND 2.0 is another keyring solution that works in tandem with a smartphone app to alert users when they are leaving the vicinity of belongings, or through a reverse notification, the phone itself. Where FIND 2.0 falls short is in its manual search, where the FIND vibrates instead of the app using proximity detection like its competitors, but the ability to crowdsource a truly lost item and have anyone with a FIND app privately ping its location back if it is moved past is a great addition that would make this invaluable if widely adopted. FIND 2.0 is available for $17 and ships in June.

Categories
Input

Motix ties touch screen controls to any standard keyboard

The Premise. It might be hard to realize, but a good deal of time spent doing anything on the computer is moving from the keyboard to the mouse and then back again. It’s an insignificant blip when it happens once, but it more likely will occur over and over, adding up into lost time. No amount of keyboard shortcuts can prevent this from occurring.

The Product. The Motix is a touchless, hands-free sensor that sticks onto a keyboard and reads finger gestures above the keys to enable mouse-like or touch-style controls over a computer, regardless of operating system. By simply lifting an index finger off the key and pointing it forward, simple finger motions allow for scrolling, navigation, and anything else that can be done with a mouse.

The Pitch. The campaign focuses on how much easier and responsive computing can be if only one input device needs to be used. The Motix plays well with mice, however, making it a perfect solution for things that it’s designed to do without shutting out mouse functionality. Motix creators Technology Launch, LLC want to raise $50,000 to finalize the product’s design and complete its production. If the project reaches 400 pledges for the Motix itself, the included keyboard in the higher tiers will be upgraded from a standard release keyboard to a custom keyboard with built-in Motix capabilities.

The Perks. The Motix sensor is available to backers who pledge $80. At the $185 level, the Motix Pro is available for those that want to customize keyboard and mouse gestures. These perks will ship out in November, but for those that can’t wait, an early release with API documentation is available for $1,000 in September.

The Potential. Motix is designed to keep control intuitive and uninterrupted, but unless people are skilled typists with only a few of their fingers, moving from keyboard to Motix is still a full-stop process, albeit with less arm movement. Leap Motion has already shown off this kind of touchless control in the marketplace optimized for a more immersive interface, albeit doing so in a fashion that is more about 3D space manipulation than economy of movement. At least with Motix, the hands can stay anchored on the keyboard, but for typists that don’t subscribe to home row methodologies, there may be reason to worry about accidentally setting off the motion detection and sending a mouse cursor somewhere unwanted.

Categories
Sensors/IoT

Daisy.si waters houseplants when you’re not on home turf

The Premise. People love to have plants in their houses and offices. However, sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re watering those plants too much or not enough. Sometimes we have to guess, which can have deadly consequences… for the plants that is.

The Product. Daisy.si is a smart plant watering device. This small product has two prongs that rest in the soil. The LED light on top indicates if the soil is fully wet, moist or too dry and also shows battery information as well as how much light the plant is getting. The device then uses this information to gauge how much water it should dispense to the plant. A long tube goes from the moisture source into the soil. A program allows the user to adjust watering settings from their phone or computer. They can either choose to water the plant manually or use the auto-detect function. Daisy.si runs on a battery that lasts up to two years.

The Pitch. Daisy.si’s video shows the device being used in a number of different settings with lots of different kinds of flowers, herbs, vegetables and the like. The creators from Slovenia use a bit of broken English throughout the rest of the campaign to describe the prototyping process as well as showing the accompanying program’s interface. Daisy needs to raise $18,000 in its 45-day Indiegogo campaign.

The Perks. For only $30, early backers can enjoy the Daisy.si with free shipping worldwide at a regular price of $33. Reward tiers go up to $303 offering different quantities of the product, but not much else. There is no estimated delivery date specified.

The Potential. The Daisy.si is perhaps the most sophisticated plant watering system around. Others claim to be as smart, but fail in their delivery like Jobe’s Smart Watering System that really only acts as an IV drip for plants. Daisy.si not only detects moisture, but sunlight as well which is a necessary detail to take into account when caring for plants. All in all, Daisy.si’s versatility in moisture detection and its ability to be controlled remotely make it a great product for green-thumbed backers.

Categories
Sensors/IoT Smart Home

SmartMat welcomes visitors into your smart home

The Premise. How many things pass through a front door step in a typical day? A door mat never gets to rest with packages, family and pets constantly making their way to the front door. There’s be value in a product that could keep a constant eye out, particularly if it were literally just underfoot.

The Product. The device is called the SmartMat, and it lies under your normal door mat. The Wi-Fi connected sensor can be customized with your smartphone or computer to respond to different types of triggers that respond to changes in weight input on the mat. If your pet wants to be let in to the house, an alert will be sent to your phone as they wait patiently on the SmartMat. It can even distinguish different waits to identify which users use the front door. The SmartMat also seamlessly integrates with other smart home devices, so you become immersed in your connected home even before you step through the front door.

The Pitch. There’s nothing fancy about the SmartMat video—just Dr. Andrew Clark, a tripod, and the product. Clark takes viewers step-by-step through each part of the SmartMat to explain how it works to customers. He demonstrates the simplicity of setting up the mat for use, but the video never shows the application or the mat in a real life situation. This leaves a lot up to the customer speculation as to just how well it works, which isn’t a great sign for a crowdfunded project

The Perks. The standard SmartMat comes at a price of $75 for the priority shipment (expected delivery around June 2014), and the price will rise to $99 with an expected delivery date of August 2014 after that. There’s also a SmartMat with Controllable AC option that controls the house climate controls by using a Wi-Fi AC power strip that responds to a trigger on the mat. This option comes with a $145 price tag, which will eventually rise to $169.

The Potential. There are other sensor mats already available on the market, but that’s not the entire issue. While the idea is useful, there is other technology that can do the job much better. Try this for example: Set up a connected motion-sensing camera in view of your front door step. Any movement will send an alert to your phone, and from anywhere in the world, you’ll be able to see exactly who or what is at your front door step with absolute certainty. This is more durable, not to mention cheaper, than the SmartMat and you get way more out of it as well. That said, the Smart Mat might be an option in, say, apartment buildings where there is no visible access to the front door and might be a better option for pets and packages that would be outside a camera’s field of view.

Categories
Input Music

Kyub takes MIDI mini, offers six-sided sonic synthesis

Screen shot 2014-03-26 at 1.53.40 PMMusical instruments can be large and bulky, but technology allows people to make music without needing the actual instrument. Kyub is a three-dimensional feather touch MIDI keyboard that fills in the gap between relying on a QWERY keyboard and using a physical MIDI keyboard. What that really means is that it is a compact cube with metal sensors all over it and an accelerometer inside of it. When you touch the sensors, the Kyub makes music and sounds like a piano with different experimentation options. While it certainly entails foreign fingering for experienced keyboardists, this unique little product uses USB for power and is compatible with different software synthesizers. Early backers can enjoy a fully assembled Kyub for $199 by July 2014. Kyub hopes to raise $20,000 in its 33-day Kickstarter campaign.

Categories
Smart Home

Kumostat controls temperature, saves money and energy

The Premise. Traditional thermostat controls are incapable of adjusting to the constant fluctuations in temperature throughout the house. There have been a few temperature sensors that make the heating and air conditioning more responsive to the environment, but most of them are incapable of gaging the different temperatures throughout the house.

The Product. The Kumostat is joining the market of Internet-connected thermostats, but expanding the range of possibilities. By connecting with cloud-connected “Kumo Sensors” and existing Wireless Sensor Tags, the Kumostat gives a more accurate and precise reading of the environment in all the different parts of the house. You can customize the setting of the heat and air conditioning to reduce your energy bill while also guaranteeing a comfo-rtable temperature whenever you’re in the house. For example, the Kumo Sensors can automatically turn off the air conditioning when three or more windows are open. All of this can be done through the seamless interface of the iOS or Android smartphone app.

The Pitch. The video starts off in a Kumostat utopia (Kumopia?) where all the walls an windows are equipped with Kumo sensors. It explains how the sensors sense motion, and automatically adjust the temperature to benefit the room with the most activity for optimum efficiency. It switches to graphics of the smartphone controls that allow for the customization of your environment; the seems like a simple app for anyone to use, yet complex in the ways it can be personalized. Lastly, the Kumostat video makes a pitch to businesses by highlighting the fact that the Kumostat can work in large buildings—and reap large energy saving benefits.

The Perks. There are many different combinations of sensors that best fit your needs. If you already own Wireless Sensor Tags, the Kumostat itself only costs $36 and is compatible with Ethernet Tag Manager revision 5 or higher. If you don’t know what any of that means, it probably means you’re building your connected thermostat from scratch. The best option for you then is the $136 pledge category that includes a Kumostat, a Reed Kumo Sensor (door/window, temperature, humidity), a PIR Kumo Sensor (infra-red occupancy, temperature, and humidity), and one Wireless Sensor Tag Hub. That should be more than enough to get you started, and you can expand your collection of sensors if you enjoy the benefits of the connected thermostat.

The Potential. The Nest brought connected thermostats into the mainstream of the public eye, and now others are looking to join the market. These thermostats are going to start appearing in more and more homes as more people realize how much money and energy they save. Kumostat adds an interesting twist by factoring in the possibility of there being different temperatures in the house. It doesn’t have the same aesthetic appeal as the Nest, but there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be able to succeed in the market of people with larger homes and a desire for more control over their home environment.