This smart umbrella will tell you when it's going to rain before it starts
Tired of leaving your apartment only to find it starts raining minutes later? Or are you always buying umbrellas and leaving them under tables in bars? There's a new umbrella that could solve both of those problems.
Oombrella, a smart brolly from Paris-based Wezzoo, launched a campaign on Kickstarter Thursday to bring the clever gadget to life.
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The team behind it claims the umbrella will notify you via an app on your smartphone if it's going to rain in the next 15 minutes as well as let you know on your phone if you've left it behind.
The product also collects weather data on the go -- such as temperature, pressure and light -- and has a screw thread on top if you want to attach a GoPro.
Designed to be robust in windy conditions, the Oombrella has ribs made from kevlar, which the company says can withstand rainstorms, snowstorms or even hailstorms. It also has a waterproof, ergonomic handle and a UV-resistant canopy.
For people who already have a favorite umbrella, Oombrella is also launching a sensor-packed capsule that attaches to any "dumb" umbrella, turning it into a smart brolly.
As umbrellas go, these are not cheap. A super-early-bird offer will set you back €59 ($66), while the capsule-only option is €29 ($32). There are three designs to pick from: white, black or shiny.
At the time of writing, the project, which is the first from Wezzoo on Kickstarter, had €15,478 ($17,458) of its €59,000 ($66,547) goal, with 32 days to go.
Last month, umbrella company Davek launched its Davek Alert Umbrella (after a successful Kickstarter campaign a year ago). Priced at $125, it has a Bluetooth chip, which notifies you before you leave your umbrella behind.
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Blathnaid Healy is the UK Editor at Mashable. She joined the company in October 2014 and is based in the London office. Before Mashable, Blathnaid was Content Manager and COO of WorldIrish, a startup focused on the Irish diaspora. She spent almost five years working at Ireland’s largest media company RTE as a multimedia journalist where she also set up the broadcaster’s first dedicated social media team and project managed output for several high-profile events across web, mobile and social media. Blathnaid has reported from the US, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Romania and, of course, Ireland. And in case you’re wondering, it’s pronounced Blan-id.
