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Who needs a smart tampon when you have common sense?
Does the idea of a "smart tampon" have any value?
Lighter tracks your smoking habits to shame you to quit
Ask any smoker: quitting is hard. Cigarettes become a part of your daily life, a habit that's not only hard to break, but hard to keep track of. "Tracking is one of the most important factors in one's health," Ata Ghofrani told us at a recent Haxlr8r event. "Being cognizant of our smoking behavior." Ghofrani and his partner, Kuji Nakano were looking for a way to track and reduce their smoking behavior, but found most health apps were dedicated to promoting positive behavior, not reducing negative ones. They soon teamed up to create Quitbit: a cigarette lighter that keeps track of how much you smoke.
Roadie tunes your guitar for you, tells you when your strings are about to break (hands-on)
Unless you've traded your guitar strings for an axe-shaped MIDI controller, tuning your guitar is probably one of those chores you've just learned to deal with. It's hardly the bane of any guitarist's existence, but sometimes it seems like there could just be a faster, more brainless way to get your instrument ready to jam. Turns out, there is. Roadie positions itself as the next generation of guitar tuners. Think of it like a modern String Master, a device that fits snugly over your instrument's tuning pegs and does the hard part for you. Paired with a companion smartphone app, Roadie listens your guitar's strings and turns its gears until the instrument is on key. We dropped by the team's table at Haxlr8r, and the process was dead easy, quickly tuning a demo guitar without breaking a string. In fact, it's designed not to -- by comparing a string's elasticity with its frequency, the device can actually warn you when your guitar's wires are about to break. Not a bad trick, particularly for guitarists (like this editor) that aren't completely sure when their instrument was last restrung. The device's Kickstarter page has already more than half of its $60,000 goal, and has a little over a month left to get the rest. Looking for a way to chip in (and to avoid guitar maintenance)? Check out the source link below; Roadie tuners start at $79.
Hands-on with Dustcloud, a game that lets you virtually shoot your friends... for a price
It's Monday morning at your local coffee shop, and you pause over your vanilla latte to ponder another customer. That face, you think to yourself, I know it. Whipping out your smartphone you check a social networking app, and it's as you suspected: he's an opponent. He needs to be dusted. That's not a dime-novel thriller setup, it's Dustcloud -- a Zibgbee-powered Urban Warfare game. Using discreet smartphone connected "duster" guns, an online player database and monetized virtual ammunition, Dustcloud proposes turning your everyday world into a Internet of Things battleground.
Curio is an interactive animatronic toy you can program and play with (hands-on)
It's always nice to have a little buddy around that's trained to do what you want it to. Some of us get dogs or other furry creatures, but a start-up called Curio is hoping there's a good chunk of folks who would like to have a robotic companion, too. You see, Curio is a cute little bot platform filled with a pair of motors that move its mouth and head, and has a small LCD screen that serves as its face. The toy clips to any smartphone or tablet running the associated app, which in turn allows users to set its facial expression, determine its movements and even tell it what to say. While the app will come with a bunch of pre-set actions, expressions and sounds, its makers are also working up a programming portion of the app, so tinkerers can create their own custom Curio mods. This programming interface is a series of parallel timelines that allow you to chronologically lay out different facial expressions, movements and audio simply by dragging and dropping them where you like. And Curio's built to be physically customized, too. Company founder Mike Kneupfel thinks that his bots can take advantage of the 3D printing craze by letting folks make their own tails, ears, and other accessories that clip onto Curio. He tells us that he aims to put a bunch of accessory blueprints on MakerBot's Thingiverse to make it easy for folks to print stuff out, but he's hoping that users will get creative and design their own as well.
Foc.us headset hits the FCC, ready to shock gamers' noggins into shape
It may not have FDA approval, but the noggin-shocking Foc.us headset recently passed through the FCC for certification. The unit utilizes transcranial direct-current simulation on the prefrontal cortex of the brain (forehead), which is claimed to improve short-term memory and cognitive function. Currently pitched as a cranial performance enhancer for gamers, Bluetooth 4.0 low energy connectivity allows it to be controlled via a smartphone app. Snake oil or not, Foc.us is still set to ship this month, and you can relive our weird and tingly experience with it in our hands-on.
LightUp electronic blocks and AR app teaches kids circuitry basics (hands-on)
There are plenty of kits out there designed to help kids learn the ins and outs of electronics, but LightUp hopes to stand out from the crowd with not just easy-to-use building blocks but an accompanying augmented reality app as well. From resistors and LED modules to light sensors, each block represents a real component that can be attached to each other via magnetic connectors, hopefully creating a circuit in the process. LightUp even offers an Arduino-compatible microcontroller block to help kids start coding -- clip the programming wand to the block, hook it up to your computer, and away you go. What really sets LightUp apart is the aforementioned AR app. Simply snap a picture of your circuit, and the software will let you know what's wrong with it if there's a mistake. If everything's working, it'll display an electrical flow animation atop the picture, showing kids the magic of electricity. We had a go at creating a circuit ourselves, and were delighted at how easy it was. The connectors fit in either direction, and can be attached and reattached with ease. We also saw a brief demo of the prototype application, and sure enough, it showed us when an LED block was placed backwards with an error message -- you can see it in action in the video below.
Helios handlebars add LED blinkers, GPS and more to any bike (hands-on)
Technologically bent cyclists have their choice of advanced bicycles these days, but it's a little hard to justify getting a specialized vehicle if your existing two-wheeler still functions just fine. However, swap your bike's handlebars with one of these handsome aluminum ones from Helios and all of a sudden your beloved ride is equipped with a 500-lumen headlight, a pair of rear-facing RGB LED indicators, Bluetooth 4.0 for smartphone communications and, yes, even a built-in GPS. Join us after the break as we give you a brief tour of the Helios Bars and how it's well worth its $200 price point.%Gallery-188819%
Foc.us headset claims to shock the brain for better gaming, we go forehead-on
We've seen a number of headsets tap into the mind, to geotag your mood, grant you remote control over gadgets or simply let you wiggle a pair of cat ears. None of those are quite like the foc.us, however, which serves up transcranial direct-current simulation (tDCS) -- a controversial form of neurosimulation that transmits current to a particular area of the brain. Originally used to help patients with brain injuries, tDCS has supposedly been found to increase cognitive performance in healthy adults. These claims haven't been proven yet though, and shocking your own cranium isn't exactly FDA approved. Still, the foc.us is one of a few tDCS headsets designed for the consumer market and can, the inventor Michael Oxley claims, improve your working or short-term memory when the electrodes are placed on your prefrontal cortex. A low-intensity current is passed through the different nodes, exciting that part of the brain. Interestingly, Oxley is positioning it as a way to boost your video gaming prowess for the "ultimate gaming experience," a concept we found a little odd. That said, you don't actually have to wear the headset while shooting up bad guys or other brain-draining tasks. The idea behind the foc.us headset is to put it on your noggin, fire it up, and wait for around five to ten minutes, then take it off and go about your day. We did just that and all the gory details are after the break. %Gallery-188614%
Axio's EEG headband helps you teach your brain to focus (hands-on)
Usually when an EEG sensor headset graces these pages, it's used to peer into your thoughts or grant the wearer the power to control other gadgets with his or her mind. While such uses have appeal, start-up company Axio has a new EEG headband that aims to help you learn to better control your own brain. It tracks your level of mental focus in real-time and provides positive reinforcement audio feedback when you're mentally locked in. The neoprene band packs a trio of electrodes, a PCB with a Bluetooth radio and audio out, and a battery pack to power everything. It works by identifying the brainwave readings that correlate to ideal executive function in your pre-frontal cortex and shooting that data to your computer or phone via Bluetooth. Axio's software then shows an onscreen graph that charts your focus level in real-time, and for folks who prefer a more literal tracking method, there's a photo above the chart that moves in and out of focus along with your mind. Additionally, the headband provides pleasing audio neurofeedback when you're focused in order to train you to stay mentally engaged.%Gallery-158654% Unfortunately, we couldn't get much more information about the neurofeedback functionality, as the technology behind it is the company's secret sauce, and it won't divulge more until it's got the cash to bring the band to market. We also weren't able to actually test the band to see how it works, as it's still in the prototype phase and there's still a kink or two left to work out. Axio did tell us that the prototype we got our mitts on was the result of just six short months of work, and that after hacking together the original design using Arduino, the current iteration has a custom PCB better suited to Axio's needs. Co-founder Arye Barnehama also informed us that the band should be on sale by the end of summer, though he wouldn't say for how much or where we'll be able to pick one up. Sometime after it hits store shelves, Axio plans to release an SDK so that enterprising devs can make their own focus-aiding software and implement whatever audio feedback they prefer to help them take care of business -- a dose of Bachman-Turner Overdrive ought to do the trick.
Shaka turns smartphones into wind meters, gives surfers and kiteboarders the gnar they need (hands-on)
Ever missed an amazing set in spite of your sick surfboard because you packed it in not knowing that the wind was picking up and about to deliver the perfect wave? Or maybe you didn't realize just how hard the breeze was blowing and as a result, your tee shot wound up deep in the rough. Good news, sporting friends, because start-up company Shaka is here to make you more air-aware with a wind meter that plugs into the 3.5mm jack on your smartphone. It's a small, plastic fan, not much bigger than a box of matches, that pairs with the company's app to deliver wind speed and direction wherever you are -- and it works by simply holding the thing up in a stiff breeze. The app then keeps a record of all your measurements and allows you to share them via your favorite social networks. Not only that, it also overlays the results on a map so you can see where the wind is just right for all your favorite wind-reliant activities. It's currently iOS-only, but we're told Android and Windows Phone versions are in the works as well. The price for knowing when wind perfection is upon you? For now Shaka's seeking to sell them for around $59 bucks, but that could change if the powers that be (read: investors) decide otherwise.
Sassor wants to let users know just how much electricity their gadgets are wasting (hands-on)
Everyone knows that their game consoles, appliances and HDTVs are energy vampires, and while Energy Star-certified products tell us which gadgets are more green-friendly than others, we still don't know just how much juice they're actually sucking down in a given day. Enter Sassor, a start-up from Japan that's created a system to monitor the electrical consumption of anything plugged into a wall outlet -- from PCs to refrigerators. It tracks power consumption using current sensors clamped onto power cords, which communicate wirelessly via ZigBee with a module (based on an Arduino design) that uploads the info to the cloud. Through the web portal, users can track energy consumption on a per-device basis in real-time, letting them figure out which gadgets are most responsible for their sky-high utility bill -- and take appropriate steps to correct the problem. Currently, it's aimed solely at businesses, but once Sassor's on its feet, funding-wise, the plan is to also put them in people's homes. The company told us it'll ditch ZigBee in favor of a WiFi solution in such future iterations, and it'll make an SDK and the system APIs available to all so that people can program for the platform and improve it in ways currently not contemplated. Alas, there's neither a timetable nor a price for the consumer version just yet, but you can see some pictures of the hardware's innards below.