I sometimes wonder why a big company that has been doing this for years needs to use something like indiegogo to get customers to pay up front for a product that isn't in manufacturing yet.
Also. I think it's a really cool idea and I want one. I would use one to secure a suitcase on a bus from getting nicked when they stop to let someone off.
You could prototype a variety of product ideas and let the customers guide you on what to work on, instead of committing to an idea right away that might not get any traction once it is released.
I missed details on how the pairing works, for privacy reasons it seems desirable that the tags are locked to (preferably a set of) cell phones.
Some more information about the battery would be nice too, what counts as "usage" for the tag exactly, and do they expose any idea of the battery's state? It would be nice to know that a tag is nearing it's projected end-of-battery, I guess.
Also didn't much enjoy the example with tagging the wife's car. Bleh.
My first thought was, "I'd plant one in my boss's shoe, so I'd always know when he was on his way over," and realize that that's probably just about as weird and distrust-based as the wife example.
I have always wanted a 'google' for your house to find things. Search: "ruby on rails book" would return: "Bedroom 1 North Corner." Search: "keys" would return: "Laundry Shelf".
Also: "wallet" would return "John's Lounge room, click to see directions"
Love this idea, but as I understand it, their iOS app will be rejected unless they go through the MFi Program licensing process. Apple doesn't allow open access to the Bluetooth stack for anything besides audio hardware. Hope they have someone taking care of that, I don't see any mention of it in their sales pitch.
Also, I really hope some of that money goes towards hiring a designer to polish their apps and branding. They certainly have the tech side covered, but style goes a long way. See: Nest.
That's one of the coolest "features" of Bluetooth LE: Apple has decided that the risks to battery life and overall system integrity are low enough with BLE that they've left it quite wide open from an app-developer perspective. There's even an officially-supported background mode.
It remains to be seen exactly how far they are willing to go with unregistered protocols and custom hardware, but this type of "electronic leash" is an officially blessed protocol, so there should be no issues with their app.
FYI, if anybody from IndieGoGo reads comments here, with IE10 on first page load it says I'm using IE6 and the browser is not supported. Refreshing clears this message.
They should be able to use the gyro/accelerometer to give their radar 'direction' as well no? You would just need to move around slightly for it to combine the data with the BT signal distance.
You could do this with multiple devices at known locations. E.g. if you always keep your (latest-generation) Mac mini in the office, and your MacBook Air in the kitchen, and have programmed them as such, they could communicate with the app and give you a rough location for any tag.
Which would actually be a pretty cool project for someone: create a system for triangulating the approximate location of stuff in your house with strategically-placed fixed Bluetooth LE devices ("stuff" in the degenerate case meaning powered-up BLE hardware like an iPhone, or with these sorts of tags, things like keys and pets). Sort of like this project but wit less of the "getting warmer…getting colder" hide-and-seek aspect.
There's a lot of cool stuff going on with bluetooth-le. I can see these having other uses besides just finding your stuff. You could use a bunch of these as a primitive location service inside a building.
They're still a bit expensive, but I'm hoping the price will approach $1 each in a couple years.
I wonder if they used Indiegogo instead of Kickstarter because of the new rules that you can't tell people they are pre-ordering for something that doesn't exist yet?
they would have to be active rfid tags. i've been using some active tags from http://goo.gl/DkZkB for vehicle home/away detection for the past 5 years. they aren't quarter sized, but they're in the glove box out of sight. they work well.
i'm also using a network of hacked seagate dockstars w/ bluetooth usb dongles hidden around the house to detect which part of the house our cellphones are in.
i'm already plotting what i can use these stickers for :)
[+] [-] hmottestad|13 years ago|reply
Also. I think it's a really cool idea and I want one. I would use one to secure a suitcase on a bus from getting nicked when they stop to let someone off.
[+] [-] bemmu|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unwind|13 years ago|reply
I missed details on how the pairing works, for privacy reasons it seems desirable that the tags are locked to (preferably a set of) cell phones.
Some more information about the battery would be nice too, what counts as "usage" for the tag exactly, and do they expose any idea of the battery's state? It would be nice to know that a tag is nearing it's projected end-of-battery, I guess.
Also didn't much enjoy the example with tagging the wife's car. Bleh.
[+] [-] pavel_lishin|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] intended|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lukeholder|13 years ago|reply
These are one step closer.
[+] [-] dave1010uk|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] krisoft|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 54mf|13 years ago|reply
Also, I really hope some of that money goes towards hiring a designer to polish their apps and branding. They certainly have the tech side covered, but style goes a long way. See: Nest.
[+] [-] frankus|13 years ago|reply
It remains to be seen exactly how far they are willing to go with unregistered protocols and custom hardware, but this type of "electronic leash" is an officially blessed protocol, so there should be no issues with their app.
[+] [-] AdamTReineke|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hmexx|13 years ago|reply
They should be able to use the gyro/accelerometer to give their radar 'direction' as well no? You would just need to move around slightly for it to combine the data with the BT signal distance.
Guess it depends on the BT distance resolution.
[+] [-] frankus|13 years ago|reply
Which would actually be a pretty cool project for someone: create a system for triangulating the approximate location of stuff in your house with strategically-placed fixed Bluetooth LE devices ("stuff" in the degenerate case meaning powered-up BLE hardware like an iPhone, or with these sorts of tags, things like keys and pets). Sort of like this project but wit less of the "getting warmer…getting colder" hide-and-seek aspect.
[+] [-] zizzer|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] darknoon|13 years ago|reply
They're still a bit expensive, but I'm hoping the price will approach $1 each in a couple years.
[+] [-] dholowiski|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brador|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dhlabs|13 years ago|reply
i'm also using a network of hacked seagate dockstars w/ bluetooth usb dongles hidden around the house to detect which part of the house our cellphones are in.
i'm already plotting what i can use these stickers for :)
[+] [-] lbotos|13 years ago|reply