Invention: the "yes you locked your car" indicator
If you've bought a car in the last decade, you might have a remote control on your keychain that locks and unlocks the doors. This is convenient -- so convenient that the experience of locking the car is no longer memorable, and I often find myself wandering away from my car and then worrying that I forgot to lock it.
Here's my invention, which I hereby dedicate to the public domain, that helps solve this problem. For 15 minutes after you press the lock button, a tiny green light on the remote control blinks every 5 seconds. Or maybe a little LCD says "Lock OK." Whatever the implementation, when you realize that you don't specifically remember pressing the lock button, you can find out by looking at the indicator. It doesn't guarantee that the car is actually locked, of course; it just confirms that you pressed the button recently, and that's generally good enough for worrywarts like me to relax.
I think this is one of the symptoms that comes with aging.
Can I add a Feature Request?
In addition to an indicator that the car is locked, I'd also like indicators that:
1. Garage door is closed
2. Front door is locked
3. Home alarm system is armed
This would save me many gallons on the U-turns I've made in the past.
Had the same idea, but I need something to help me remember if I closed the garage door or not when leaving the house and also for when I am ready to go to bed. I don't want to have to go back downstairs and go to the garage to check when an ambient orb-like thing could easily monitor it for me.
Dan and Mike, this is exactly the use case for Home Heartbeat, a product that my former employer designed:
http://www.maya.com/web/what/clients/what_client_eaton_hhb.mtml
It basically gives you a little zigbee-based keychain display that tells you the last known state of your doors & appliances. (When you're away from home, it can also text your phone when state changes.)
Great minds think alike!! Any production being done with this? If so, lets start selling it!
Great minds think alike!! Any production on this? If so, lets start selling it!
Found something interesting at http://inventorspot.com/flashbox
FlashBox - Cars Communicator
Some drivers like to use their indicators and like to use them a lot, while others seem to have forgotten all about them. Indicators are one of the most important ways of communicating when on the road, but many choose to ignore them completely. And they can be much more than just lights that blink on and off in rhythmic fashion...
More info: http://www.myflashbox.com
Cheers, R. Benson