Tag: water resistant

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Connected Objects Safety

RoboRanger serves as your personal safety device

Portable safety devices can come in really handy when there is an emergency. But many of them require being tethered to another device or Bluetooth connection to a smartphone, which a lot of consumers –- especially senior citizens – don’t often have.

RoboRanger is a water-resistant personal safety device that features a loud, 130-decibel alarm, around-the-clock monitoring, and friends/family notification. It also has a standalone connection to 911 and provides 24/7 coverage virtually anywhere in the world, its makers say. Plus, it connects directly to GSM and GPS without a smartphone or other device. It requires one simple motion to activate during an emergency situation: users just have to pull its pin and that will activate the alarm and transmit the user’s exact location to a professional 911 response team.

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Categories
Connected Objects Food and Beverage

Proscan scans food for nutritional content

It’s always best for everybody to know exactly what’s in the food they’re eating -– especially if they’re on a diet or have a serious allergy to foods such as peanuts. Unfortunately, a list of ingredients isn’t always available.

Proscan is a water resistant device that quickly scans any food and displays a list of the calories, energy, carbohydrates, protein, cholesterol and dietary fiber that it contains. The device works by using a load sensor, optical sensor (spectrometer), other advanced sensors and complex algorithms to analyze food and then display its nutritional content on the device’s touch-sensitive display screen or on a Bluetooth-connected iPhone, Apple Watch, Android device, or Windows Phone. In speaker mode, all scan results are read aloud via Proscan’s speakers.

Provided that a $50,000 goal is reached by April 14, Proscan will ship in December in a choice of a Beam (rectangular) model or a round version. The entry price is about $349 for a regular model. Proscan Mini versions will cost about $238, while customized versions with color options and engraved wording will cost about $419. The Indiegogo campaign is slated to end on April 14.

There have been other food scanner campaigns in recent memory. The SCiO is one product that comes to mind, although that product was designed to analyze surrounding environments as well. If Proscan works as easily and seamlessly as it appears to in its Indiegogo campaign video, the product may very well hold some promise. Still, a pocket device like SCiO seems much more practical, especially when dining at a restaurant or traveling, which would seem to be when users would want it most.

Categories
Wearables

Digitsole smart insole lets your phone provide toastier tootsies

The Premise. With the onset of a blustery winter comes all of the discomfort associated with it. Delays in public transportation, crowds of people seeking warmth in the recesses of coffee shops, and snowstorms that can slow cities down to a grind make the season unbearable at times. Short of wearing bulky boots or multiple socks, there isn’t much one can do to avoid walking around in the cold with wet and stiff feet.

The Product. Digitsole wants to melt that dread away with the market’s first connected insole. More than a novelty, it has the capability of independently heating up each foot through a companion smartphone application, so you never have to worry about your toes feeling like they’re going to fall off. It multitasks as well, tracking your fitness throughout the day while warming your feet and boasting an advertised battery life between seven hours and a few days, depending on use.

The Pitch. The company’s excitement at having created Digitsole comes through in both the campaign video and text. The video is clear and features company figures speaking about the product and what went into creating it. Rounding out the campaign, the text provides backers with more technical information about Digitsole, including material, weight, and large images breaking the product down into its many parts. A successful goal of $40,000 brings Digitsole to life by the end of the year.

The Perks. Early birds can get these awesome insoles for $99. At a regular price, $179 can also get potential backers a pair, while larger pledges can net them a customized pair, the possibility of multiple pairs for family and friends, or even a pair molded to their feet. All of these perks will ship in December 2014.

The Potential. Digitsole comes to the rescue of all those who have to work or travel long distances throughout the worst of winter, and, for that, its utility has to be praised. There just isn’t anything like this on the market so its uniqueness will ensure Digitsole’s success, as long as it does so without cultivating an unpleasant stench. Digitsole’s one drawback is that it’s only water-resistant, not waterproof. Similarly, even though battery life was addressed in the campaign, testing out capacity and putting it through its paces in real-world situations will definitely yield contrasting results. Let’s see how it works out this winter.

Categories
Apparel

Evalino designer clothes use nanotech to shrug off stains

Evalino 370ec56ac9e26d32f012b7661558b42a_large[1]If you’re the type who is bent on never letting them see you sweat, or you just work with people who are ridiculously clumsy, Evanilo has you covered – literally. The designer suits and shirts combine textiles with technology that keep you free of sweat rings in the summer, and protected from stains whenever. One drawback right now, though, is that sizes are limited. Of course, there are other stain-resistant pants for men and women, as well as a spray based on more traditional water resistance means that could be used to make clothes stain and water resistant. Nevertheless, for $50, backers get a size “slim fit” designer shirt with an expected delivery of August 2014.