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Wheresitat?
find that missing item in the junkyard of your life | |
Ok you know how you hoard all sorts of useless tat in the vague possibility of future use and say things like you never know when that will come in handy then many years later when you actually need it you remember you've got one but not where the *@!$ you put it in the first place.
This happens a lot
in our house, but we lose things like scissors and tape and cups and stuff just minutes after we last put them down. The solution: the "Wheresitat". It's a small device that fits snugly over the ear with a little mouthpiece like they had in Captain Scarlet and I think Madonna and Kylie have them. when you are putting something away in a drawer or one of those irritating little pots that people buy you at Christmas you say "knitting needles - cupboard under the stairs behind the stunt kite". Then at some future point in time, you suddenly want to knit something rather than buy one much better made and cheaper from a shop. You just say "knitting needles" and the machine tells you where they are. It's just a little recording / voice recognition thing with data storage/retrieval - probably could be made now by sony or someone. Probably make me a heap o' cash too if I hadn't already blurted out the whole damn thing on the internet of all places. Bah !
FetchBot
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/FetchBot
Part of an integrated support system for the mnemonically challenged. [8th of 7, Oct 04 2004]
Personal Assistant
http://www.halfbake...ersonal_20Assistant
I was gonna let it go but then I read trifles annotation so... [madness, Oct 04 2004]
[link]
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If you're capable of wearing a Wheresitat at all times and recording the location of each object in a clear and unambiguous way, then you would probably be equally able to carry a notepad or Palm Pilot around with you to keep a constant record. The rest of us won't be helped by this idea. |
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Yes, but this is voice activated and handsfree. COuld be networked to my FetchBot (Link). |
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Could be networked with other versions of itself, so you have one (wall mounted) wheresitat in the cupboard under the stairs, another in the kitchen cupboards. Later, when RFID tags become more common, they could 'look' around for items that are near them. |
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Kropotkin - didn't much care for your contribution to the 1935 Moscow General Plan either. Unlike the fiddly palm pilot, this requires no scratching about with stick things or dabbing at very small buttons - also could be made into a very cool fashion accessory - with plastic flowers on and with hair grip attachment so girls could wear em as functional hairwear. Also can be used for remembering phone numbers - say the persons name and the number is read back. I'm not too keen on other people trying to associate my wonderful invention with their own crazy ideas, like that daft fetchbot gadget, although many thanks for your support with Kropotkin, 8th of 7. |
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I wouldn't trifle with [kropotkin] if I were you. |
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And I wouldn't trifle with the collective either. Just a bit of friendly advice. |
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We know. Welcome to the HalfBakery. |
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My grandmother has everything in the house, and I mean everything, listed like a library index. A whole 3x5 file drawer full of alphabetized index cards listing the whereabouts of everything everywhere. It's sickening. |
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This is also the woman who seemingly cooks for days on end before Thanksgiving, and always has placecards for every family member. And she's 87. |
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trifle, I think they meant that a little more light-hearted than you took it. When in doubt here, always look for the pun. |
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// always look for the pun // |
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Yes, it will normally be the glaringly obvious part of [UnaBubba]'s annotation. |
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I'm just annoyed that every method someone invents on this site to help me find my stuff still requires me to put effort in. Who's to say that relying on your memory and the occasional three-hour-long tearing apart of your entire house won't be more efficient when averaged out over time? |
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// still requires me to put effort in // |
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Don't panic, [Kropotkin]. Even now a highly trained HalfBakery action team are on their way to you with an iron lung, an intraveinous nutrition system, and a thought-operated TV remote control. Pretty soon you won't even have to breathe for your elf. Good enough ? |
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Isn't this just a voice-recorder? Sound-activated, with a earpiece microphone... and widely available. |
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// Isn't this just a voice-recorder? // |
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// a little recording / voice recognition thing with data storage/retrieval // |
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There is a freeform database backing the app. It's non-trivial, but Bakeable, at a price. |
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I've never seen one - the key is word association. you would probably have to prepare it by reading a set text into the mike so that it could recognise your voice. Once set, this would also act as a security device, because even if stolen, it would be useless to anyone else, because voice patterns are as unique as fingerprints. You could also get downloads of stuff from the net, like little samples of different types of young peoples dance music. That way, when you want to appear like you're not that old, you can read out the categories of music from the displays in record shops like drum and base, old school, banging house etc and your wheresitat man plays you a snippet of each. You could download poetry works - a short one by each major poet of the last two centuries, then in conversation with a girl you want to impress, say ah yes, Keats, andat that prompt the whereforeartit recites an ode quietly in your ear which you could then copy out loud, as if you actually really knew it !!!
In fact, I'm sure that it could develop into a really cool accessory - you could build mobile phone and web capability into it etc etc and all for £49.99 |
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Nice idea, I've thought of it once or twice myself, with a handheld device that points you in the right direction of the desired object (speed and volume of beeps would change with direction/distance). Of course this one would only work within a certain, limited area. |
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What about a perimeter fence or a grid that tracks the locations? Mabye a little much, though. |
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What would happen if you lost your Wheresitat? |
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I think this is madness, It reminds me of something I have read before though.... Damn I need a personal assistant... |
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