Tech gadgets and gizmos we really could live without

5 Jun 2015

Thanks to crowdfunding, cheap prototyping and clever coders, it’s now easier than ever to launch new tech products to market – but there are some wacky inventions we could really do without.

Smartphones serve but two purposes in the world today. First, they allow users access to far more information and communication avenues than ever before. Second, they sync up to pretty much any wearable you can think of.

Having trouble monitoring your oxygen intake? Struggling to commit to a decision on when to take a deep breath? Fear not, for Spire is on hand/hip to let you know when and how to do so.

For just US$149.95 you can attach a gizmo to your waist, let it track your stress levels and feel the benefits of constant messages to your phone, charged with the task of lowering your anxiety. Sign. Me. Up.

Maybe that isn’t your cup of tea. Maybe tea isn’t even your cup of tea. How about a dry Martini? Well, hold on there, for this is quite a complicated cocktail requiring two ingredients and some shaking.

So, rather than stress you out with all the cocktail instructions needed for an unbearably simple concoction (if you’re not wearing your Spire things could get out of hand), let B4RM4N sort you out.

Utilising a shaker and a smartphone, it tells you when you’ve poured enough gin, vermouth, added enough ice and shook it to the requisite level.

So if you’re a barperson who struggles with all these things no, don’t worry about your abilities in your chosen line of work, get the B4RM4N!

This was on Kickstarter last Christmas and fell short of its US$100,000 target. I wonder will we ever get to “be a cocktail hero”?

And last, but definitely not least, there’s a modern way to get a good, uninterrupted, constantly interrupted night’s sleep with Hush. These smart earplugs are, you guessed it, synced up to your smartphone.

They pump soothing noises into your skull for ten hours, and when you receive a phone call they ring in your ears! Hush, amazingly, raised more than US$500,000 on Kickstarter, and will set you back around US$150 a pair.

What’s great is the video really speaks to us all. We’re all conflicted women, sleeping next to a snoring man with an all-night alarm, next door to a constant rave. Upon putting in Hush, though, we get to hear soothing music that morphs into the neighbours’ house tunes. Which is what we want to get away from. Wait…

Still, at least you get to drown out all that noise your phone makes, buzzing away all night trying to tell you things you don’t need to be aware of. Until you do need to be aware of them, which is when it rings. And wakes you.

Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic’s daily dose of the funny and fantastic in science and tech, to help start your day on a lighter note – because sometimes the lighter side of STEM should be taken seriously, too.

Cocktail image, via Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com