Skip to main content

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Robo friends for Fido, a smart motorcycle helmet

Best new Kickstarter and Indiegogo Projects
At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion crowdfunding campaigns on the web. Take a visual stroll through the best new Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects, and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. In this column, we cut through all the worthless wearables and Oculus Rift ripoffs to round up the week’s most unusual, ambitious, and exciting projects. But don’t grab your wallet just yet. Keep in mind that any crowdfunded project can fail — even the most well-intentioned. Do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

While the Baby Boomers may have been the result of just that, an entire generation of Americans are now opting out of this allegedly rewarding parenting process and choosing to rear pets instead. Many of these individuals spare no expense when it comes to their beloved four-legged friends. In fact, pet spending has increased every year since 1994 (yes, even during the Great Recession) and in 2016 alone, nearly $63 billion was spent on faithful companions.

That said, any gadget or gizmo that could amuse ol’ Rover — even fleetingly — is worth every penny, and the Anthouse Pet Companion Robot may be the next big thing. Once connected to a smartphone, you have full control over this Robo-petsitter, allowing you to do everything from managing the top speed of the unit to vicariously dispensing treats via the onboard cupboard.

You can also take full advantage of the video monitoring component and snap photos of your pet at will, making it easier than ever to inundate your friends, family, and complete strangers with photos they never asked for. A built-in speaker allows you to whisper sweet nothings to your pet no matter the vast distances separating the two of you. The Anthouse also incorporates a mini-tennis ball launcher, so your dog can play fetch while you’re on the go. And to think, not so long ago, these were once wolves.

Read more here

While there are plenty of wearables on the market to track your fitness metrics while running and even swimming, much of this valuable data goes unmeasured while mountain biking. Thanks to the ShredMate, though, these dark days of unverifiable biking metrics are no more.

The ShredMate sensor straps onto your bike and connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth to measure everything from speed and hang-time during epic jumps to peak G-forces experienced while cornering and landing. The paired smartphone app allows you to visualize the map of a trail and even color codes this route to illustrate how fast or slow you should travel during certain legs.

The ShredMate also incorporates a layer of gamification, so individuals can earn badges as they break previous bests on the trail. As the age old thought experiment goes: If one nails that perfect knee-buckling landing over a 15-foot gap and there’s no available app metric to prove it, did it happen?

If you’re in the market for a new bike, we recently curated a list of the best mountainbikes, as well as a few worthy budget options to chew up the trailhead.

Read more here

Travelmate: A Fully Autonomous Suitcase and Robot

Best new Kickstarter and Indiegogo Projects

With lengthy lines and extensive security protocols, modern air travel is more of a relatable meme than luxury at this point. That said, anything that can help lighten this burden is certainly welcome and the Travelmate Autonomous Suitcase does just that.

The autonomous Travelmate connects to your smartphone and functions either horizontally or vertically to more aptly maneuver even the busiest of airports. And with a top speed of nearly 7 miles per hour, the companion bot should be able to keep up even if you need a little pep in your step in the terminal to catch that connecting flight.

The Travelmate uses machine learning to fine-tune its movements and the onboard battery can be recharged via a standard electrical outlet just about anywhere. The battery life is listed at four hours, and LED lights along the compartment edge change color to reflect the remaining juice for added peace of mind. A built-in scale displays the total unit weight, allowing you to avoid surplus weight charges at the gate.

Read more here

Like virtually all other motorcycle helmets, the CrossHelmet’s corner visor slits sit well behind your temples to give you a natural front and peripheral field of view. But what sets this model apart from the rest of the pack is the rear-facing camera. This added set of optics is combined with a wide-view front-mounted screen to give riders a 360-driving experience.

This flip-down screen also displays other pertinent information like current weather conditions, a compass, and even step-by-step directions to help you reach your final destination safely and efficiently. This helmet also implements CrossSound Control to minimize or intensify environmental noise (such as road, engine, and wind noise) based on the rider’s preferences.

You can easily connect the CrossHelmet with your smartphone and play music, podcasts, and field phone calls via the internal speakers and microphone. For added visibility on night rides, integrated LEDs add a little illumination to keep riders out of harm’s way.

We’ve reviewed plenty of smart helmets for your daily commute and, unlike the CrossHelmet, you can buy all of these right now.

Read more here

Dallon Adams
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Dallon Adams is a graduate of the University of Louisville and currently lives in Portland, OR. In his free time, Dallon…
The best portable power stations
EcoFlow DELTA 2 on table at campsite for quick charging.

Affordable and efficient portable power is a necessity these days, keeping our electronic devices operational while on the go. But there are literally dozens of options to choose from, making it abundantly difficult to decide which mobile charging solution is best for you. We've sorted through countless portable power options and came up with six of the best portable power stations to keep your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets functioning while living off the grid.
The best overall: Jackery Explorer 1000

Jackery has been a mainstay in the portable power market for several years, and today, the company continues to set the standard. With three AC outlets, two USB-A, and two USB-C plugs, you'll have plenty of options for keeping your gadgets charged.

Read more
CES 2023: HD Hyundai’s Avikus is an A.I. for autonomous boat and marine navigation
Demonstration of NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

This content was produced in partnership with HD Hyundai.
Autonomous vehicle navigation technology is certainly nothing new and has been in the works for the better part of a decade at this point. But one of the most common forms we see and hear about is the type used to control steering in road-based vehicles. That's not the only place where technology can make a huge difference. Autonomous driving systems can offer incredible benefits to boats and marine vehicles, too, which is precisely why HD Hyundai has unveiled its Avikus AI technology -- for marine and watercraft vehicles.

More recently, HD Hyundai participated in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to demo its NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system for recreational boats. The name mashes together the words "neuron" and "boat" and is quite fitting since the Avikus' A.I. navigation tech is a core component of the solution, it will handle self-recognition, real-time decisions, and controls when on the water. Of course, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes with HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation solution, which we'll dive into below -- HD Hyundai will also be introducing more about the tech at CES 2023.

Read more
This AI cloned my voice using just three minutes of audio
acapela group voice cloning ad

There's a scene in Mission Impossible 3 that you might recall. In it, our hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) tackles the movie's villain, holds him at gunpoint, and forces him to read a bizarre series of sentences aloud.

"The pleasure of Busby's company is what I most enjoy," he reluctantly reads. "He put a tack on Miss Yancy's chair, and she called him a horrible boy. At the end of the month, he was flinging two kittens across the width of the room ..."

Read more