Whether it’s where you find out that your boss just had mac and cheese for dinner, or how you found out about the King of Pop’s recent death, Twitter continues to be the cool kid on the new media block.
This trendy web application, which allows you to post what you’re doing now in 140 characters or less, is also the source of inspiration for hardware hacking geeks. Here are just a few tweet-friendly gadgets that are making headlines on the web.
Post your heart rate to Twitter
The latest Twitter tech tool is from the Land of the Rising Sun. This Japanese device is called the Akiduki Pulse box, which syncs up to a heart rate monitor to let your friends and family know that you’re still alive and kicking. The tech-savvy group behind this gadget plans to sell the box commercially, but no word yet on the price tag. Of course, broadcasting your heart rate to the world is not on everyone’s wish list, especially knowing that any technical malfunction could send friends and family into panic!
Tweet kicks from the womb
For some parents-to-be, even 3D ultrasounds aren’t enough to stay on top of their baby’s progress. To solve this problem, NYU grad student Corey Menscher rigged up a high-tech belt for his pregnant wife that notified him when their unborn baby kicked. Menscher called the device the Kickbee, which sent messages to the father’s phone via Twitter. Although a product like this won’t be easy to find on store shelves anytime soon, if it does hit the market, one can only request that GPS is an add-on for the plugged-in Dad-to-be.
Teach your teddybear to tweet
Just when you thought these Twitter hardware hacks couldn’t get stranger, the Twittering Teddy comes along. The Bear itself doesn’t send out tweets, but instead he reads aloud the tweets of the people you’re following. If this Teddy 2.0 sounds interesting, the good news is that there are how-to video instructions online so you can hack together your own version. You do have to cut open the stuffed animal to perform this hack, so it’s probably not a good idea to experiment with your kid’s favourite toy.
It’s tough to say how well these tweaked-out gadgets actually work, but it’s safe to say that they’re leading the way for a new generation of devices that interact intimately with your online life.