Online – F15 60-223: Intro to Physical Computing

“Babolat PLAY” by Babolat (2015)

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 20:59:43 +0000

The Babolat PLAY is a connected tennis racket. The racket records data about every hit, including serves, swing angle, impact location, velocity, force, and spin. It pairs with your phone over Bluetooth. Babolat’s app uploads your data to the cloud, so that you can view the data after a game to analyze your swings. The battery lasts for six hours before needing a recharge, and the racket feels identical to comparable standard tennis rackets.

YouTube / Babolat – via Iframely

]]>

“Chop-Syc” by Siobhán Andrews (2013)

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 20:26:15 +0000

Chop-Syc is a cutting board with a built-in tablet. A user can use the touchscreen to look up a recipe, and then cut the ingredients right on the tablet’s scratch-proof glass. Chop-Syc’s screen will even display a wood grain pattern to match the rest of the cutting board if desired.

YouTube / SharpEurope – via Iframely

]]>

“Universal Remotes for smart homes” by Revolv (2013)

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 16:27:44 +0000

The name of the app is pretty self-explanatory. You manage all of your smart home add-ons and this app organizes them for you on your phone so you have complete access from your smartphone. Where this is more practical, it leans on the edge of pushing people to be overtly lazy. It is amazing technology because it interfaces with so many devices and is the epitome of an Internet of Things invention but I question its usage and abuse.

Revolv Raises $4M for ‘Universal Remote’ to Control Smart Homes

]]>

“Egg Minder” by Quirky (2013)

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 05:49:25 +0000

YouTube / Quirky – via Iframely

This is an egg tray that is wifi enabled so that it can tell you how many eggs you have left. I repeat, this is an egg tray with wifi. So that you can tell how many eggs you have left. No further comment.

]]>

“Friday Smart Lock” by Marcus Kjellson (2015)

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 05:32:06 +0000

The Friday Smart Lock is a consumer electronics product in the space of home automation. It provides keyless entry: automatically locking and unlocking the door when you approach. It allows for a easy retrofit of existing deadbolts, and boasts 1 year of battery life. The lock changes the way you secure your home, letting you unlock the door remotely to let the repairman in. You can also share or revoke keys, making lost keys a non-issue. Retail $249.

YouTube / Friday Smart Lock – via Iframely

]]>

“Array of Things” By Urban Center for Computation and Data (2014)

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 05:04:17 +0000

This product is a system of sensors around the city of Chicago that collect various information like temperature, humidity, gas composition, and human activity. The information is available to residents, scientists, policymakers, and software developers for research and development. Applications of this technology include research about the condition of the city as well as methods to find the safest and quickest routes for residents.

This product is very unique because it is built around multiple different groups of users for more than one purpose. This example shows how Internet of Things can connect an entire city and provide uses to different fields like research and policymaking. It is interesting to see how people feel the need to know as much information as possible about the environment they live in, an ability that is now becoming possible.

]]>

“Canary” by Canary Connect, Inc (2015)

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 04:53:15 +0000

This product combines different aspects of home security all into a single product that you simply need to plug in and connect to Wifi. It can detect motion, audio, and air quality, temperature, and humidity. It can send notifications and live video feeds to people involved and allows you to decide a course of action. The especially unique thing about this product is that it uses machine learning to figure out the regular occurrences in your home and can sense if something is different.

This instance of the Internet of Things shows how much simpler these products can make life by combining information from different sensors to have everything in one place. It also introduces an aspect of learning and adapting to machinery so that it gets even better over time. These two concepts seem to be up and coming in the world of physical computing and can have a great affect on the scope of technology.

]]>

“Hapifork” by Hapi

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 03:47:52 +0000

Hapifork is an electronic fork that keeps track of eating habits and vibrates when you are eating too fast. It keeps metrics such as how you long you spend eating and how many times you bring your fork to your mouth. It includes an online dashboard and mobile app to view the data that it collects.

YouTube / Joyus – via Iframely

]]>

‘Dash Button’ by Amazon(2015)

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 02:42:15 +0000

The Amazon Dash Button is a Amazon ‘Internet of Things’ button for shopping that is a button that orders a product that you buy often. It is available for 4.99 but also gives a first time discount of 4.99 on the first order made with the button. When the product first came out, many people thought of it as a joke. The product brings up questions about the place of consumerism in the home.

]]>

“Pillow Talk” by Little Riot

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 02:34:23 +0000

The aim of Pillow Talk is to connect couples in long distance relationships by wirelessly transmitting their heartbeats to one another via special pillows. How it works is each partner has a wristband they wear to bed and a small speaker that’s placed inside the pillow case. The wristband then picks up the partner’s heartbeat and transmits it via a smartphone app to the other partner’s pillow. The speaker then allows a person to hear the heartbeat of their significant other.

]]>