Twine

http://supermechanical.com/twine

Twine fits into a seemingly new product category that I am sure will take off as competition arises and costs drop: small, configurable Internet-enabled sensors. Housed in a small and robust casing and powered by internal batteries, Twine can sense the world around it and take action based on certain user programmed conditions. For example, you might use the moisture sensor to alert you via SMS if your ficus is too dry or your basement is too damp. Although not available until May, the promo materials show an intuitive web-based interface for configuring the device, meaning that it ought to be useable by students of almost any age, and teahcers of almost any ability. If you are interested in facilitating really open ended student projects this may be a worthwhile investment, offering a great way to promote laterall thinking, creativity and problems solving. One question I have is whether Twine logs the data it captures, as this would really enhance its cross-curricular value.

If you are interested in building a similar device from a kit, check out Botanicalls.

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