Brio, the smart power outlet that you'll definitely need
If you're a parent of a kid (or even a curious kitten or puppy), one of the fears you probably have is your child playing (or poking or prodding) a live power outlet. What would you say if we tell you that there's (potentially) a product that might eliminate that fear entirely?
The Brio Safe. Never worry about your child's/ pet's safety from wall outlets ever again.
If you've ever feared your kid or pet being electrocuted by a power outlet, we might just have something for you.
It's the Brio! Sure it may have a sort of weird name but it's a pretty good invention...if it gets funded. Yes, Brio is a Kickstarter project but the good news is that it has only about US$10,000 left before it reaches it funding goal, and as of this article, still has 28 days to go. So chances are, the Brio will be a reality soon enough.
What makes the Brio so enticing is that it completely replaces conventional sockets and instead uses its own custom hardware, complete with sensors. It not only stops power from being released when there's nothing in the socket, but it also has the ability to determine what's being inserted into it. So if a fork's inserted, the outlet's still going to remain powerless but it'll power up if it detects a plug.
Installation is said to be pretty much similar to that of a normal power outlet so it should be no problem for an electrician to get the Brio installed where you want. The only drawback is that the Brio seems to only have US sockets so if you do get one, you're going to need to buy adapters for local plugs.
The company behind the Brio, isn't stopping with just preventing electrocutions. If all goes as well, they'll also be releasing another Brio type in the future that will interact with the Brio outlets and using them to sense smoke, carbon dioxide gas and even water.
There'll be two different variations of the Brio outlet. Brio Safe is just the normal wall outlet with the sensors (the one that the Kickstarter is for). Brio Smart (which will also function similarly to the Brio Safe) on the other hand is the nerve center for all the Brio Safe outlets. Signals from the Brio Safe sensors will be transmitted to the Brio Smart, which then sends an alert to a Brio app (coming around the same time as the Brio Smart) for smartphones and tablets that warns you of what's detected.
Right now, it seems only the Brio Safe is being offered on Kickstarter, with $49 being the base price for a unit. Backers of tiers that have the Brio Safe as a reward get theirs in May next year. The current roadmap for the Brio Smart has it starting its design and testing phase next year, with a planned mass release in 2016.
Currently, the Kickstarter is only shipping to the US but if you really want to get it that bad, you can always use freight forwarders like V-post or Comgateway.
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