If you’ve ever reached into your pocket or bag to grab your earbuds and come up with a handful of hopelessly tangled cord, you know the struggle. There are cases to hold them, but if you’re anything like us, you lose those pretty quickly. The designers behind Helix want to help you keep your earbuds nearby and tangle-free.

In the process, they’ve created a fashion accessory that effectively hides the technological prize inside. The wristband, which comes in a variety of main color/accent color combinations, opens up to reveal a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. With a couple of swift movements you release the earbuds from their storage spot, turn them on, and jam them in your ear-holes.

According to a study that the designers cite, people spend about four hours a day listening to headphones (not true for us in particular because we like to obnoxiously blast our music from our computer speakers, but whatever). As the Helix is still in the design refinement stages, there aren’t any customer testimonials about how comfortable the earbuds are over long periods.

The designers seem to have focused a lot more on the design of the wristband rather than on that of the earbuds themselves, which is a little troubling. The Bluetooth control unit hangs down a bit under the chin, vaguely bringing to mind the little string that holds a kid’s cowboy hat on. Still, the wristband IS very stylish and looks like it could be easily integrated into any wardrobe for any gender.

At the time of publication, the project’s Kickstarter campaign has raised more than double its initial funding goal. When/if the Helix makes it to retail markets, it will retail for $199. For that price, the sound quality had better be totally amazing. The last thing we need is another expensive wearable that we give up on after a few weeks because it proves to be pretty, but not exactly a powerhouse in the functionality department.

The post Wrap Music: This Wrist Cuff Holds Your Earbuds For You first appeared on Gajitz.

Billing itself as the world’s smallest mobile accessory, this eight-in-one micro-gadget carries your cables, serves as an emergency charger and a good deal more, all at (the size of) your fingertips.

“No tangled cable. No mess. WonderCube features a foldout flexible USB cord measuring 3 inches when extended. Neatly folded in just 1-inch, the cube is completely covered without any exposed contacts. It’s incredibly durable and compact. A cable designed to be with you everywhere!”

With a built-in flashlight and all kinds of nooks and crannies, the idea is to replace basically everything you normally take along with you to accompany your mobile electronic devices – the only catch: it is naturally not big enough to hold a charge itself, but can be used indirectly with other batteries to do that job.

“Smart devices are great. They make our lives more convenient and certainly more productive. Yet, they have always come with quite a number of accessories, which individually provide solutions such as charging battery, standing up your phone for the perfect viewing angle, storing and syncing data…etc. However, many of them are bulky and easy to forget.”

Some critics will wonder if it can be done, but the device has already raised close to $200,000 on IndieGoGo, so clearly a good many backers have faith in the execution as well as the concept. Its creators have also built a number of 3D-printed mockups to demostrate its feasibility.

“Once we were set on several key directions, we moved from paper to action. We built quick prototypes using clay and paper, to get a hand-on experience for better understanding the strengths and weaknesses of our concepts. Having evolved through several versions, we moved to rapid prototyping and tested with users. We believe by putting our ideas into actual contexts and by acquiring feedback through user testing, the design evolved to better meet the needs of our users.”

The post Tiny Tesseract: Your Portable Peripherals in a 1-Inch Cube first appeared on Gajitz.

Mood rings, those large domed accessories that change color to somewhat accurately gauge your emotional state, are moving into the technological age. The Moodmetric ring measures your emotional state throughout the day and can provide you with information in real time via a free app, or store it so you can look for emotional trends over days or weeks.

The ring works by measuring skin conductance, one of the metrics used in lie detector tests. Skin conductance reveals how well your skin conducts electricity, which is measured by the amount of sweat-induced moisture on the skin. The idea is that this measurement is closely linked to the wearer’s state of mind.

Moodmetric’s software identifies four different types of emotional reactions to stress; each type affects your life in a different way. The Bear causes others stress by being confrontational or combative. The Dog tries to please everyone and experiences stress when she encounters real or imagined disapproval. The Hedgehog freezes under pressure and defers to others when stressed. The Rabbit feels stressed or anxious pretty much all of the time and avoids conflict whenever possible. By tracking and identifying your typical reaction to stress, the Moodmetric ring can help you make adjustments to your daily emotional state.

The smart ring’s measurement data was tested by an outside source to ensure its accuracy. Of course, no wearable gadget can be a hundred percent accurate in judging your state of mind, but monitoring your stress levels over time can help you learn to lead a calmer, more relaxed life. The ring charges by Micro USB and tethers to your phone via Bluetooth Low Energy. It isn’t available for purchase yet, but the Moodmetric website offers the option to sign up to get an email when the first round of pre-orders opens up.

The post Stress-Measuring Ring Tracks + Records Your Emotions first appeared on Gajitz.

Besides wearing a helmet and protective pads and knowing what you’re doing, there aren’t many ways to make skateboarding a safer sport. It’s inherently dangerous to careen around on a little plank with wheels stuck to the bottom. But inventor Jorge Arjona has come up with a device that could eliminate one of the more serious dangers skateboarders face: rocks.

The Rockochet is a clever little plastic piece that fits on your board’s trunk. It’s kind of like the “cowcatcher” on the front of trains that moves debris out of the way so the junk won’t derail the train. But in this case, the train is a skateboard and the derailing debris is the rocks that can stop a wheel and send the rider hurtling into the air.

While skateboarding is a legitimate (and eco-friendly!) form of transportation, Arjona realized that a lot of skaters also like to do tricks. The Rockochet is lightweight and flexible enough that it won’t interfere with most of those tricks. Experienced skaters say it’s a great way to help beginners build their confidence on a board without worrying about the possibility of a rock wiping them out.

The Rockochet was up for funding on Kickstarter but missed its goal before the funding period was up. We don’t know what will happen to the product in the future, but on behalf of skaters and their worried parents everywhere we seriously hope this product makes it to market soon.

The post Safer Skating: Rock Deflector Keeps Skateboarders Upright first appeared on Gajitz.

What if you never had to decide on a wristwatch design again? Japanese startup Fashion Entertainments teamed up with TAKT Project to produce the FES Watch, a timepiece that changes its appearance as often as you like.

Made with electronic paper, the FES Watch starts out looking completely blank, face and all. The watch’s face and wristband design only appear when you bring your arm up in the classic “checking the time” posture.

Touching the watch’s body changes the design of the face and strap. There are 24 pre-programmed designs that appear out of nowhere and then fade away, essentially creating a new watch each time.

The stated goal of Fashion Entertainments is to create new ways to enjoy digitized fashion. This watch creates a feeling of fluidity and motion that adapts to the wearer’s style rather than requiring the wearer to change accessories to match the outfit of the day.

The post Digitized Time: E-Paper Watch Swaps Designs With a Touch first appeared on Gajitz.