THE FUTURE IS HERE! Technology, Innovations and Wanderlust make for a heady combination and they are certainly shaking things up for the global traveller. Here are some inventions that are changing the way we travel and in the not so distant future, are going to be as standard as sunscreen in the travellers packing list.
Laptop Bags That Charges As You Go: These Phorce bags are essentially traveling battery packs for everything from laptops to phones to music devices, and they can charge as many as four devices at once, giving up to 110 hours of extra power. North Face has also produced one in a backpack form and comes with a “Joey” pocket in the front that can give most devices 3.5 full battery charges. Importantly, the lithium batteries also supposed to be able to cope with a lot of bumps and watery adventures.
The Tag For Your Belongings: If you’re the kind of person to leave stuff behind when you exit a hotel room in a flurry, a smart tag for your belongings might be a good idea. The Treasure Tag from Microsoft is designed to find stuff you’ve lost and notify you where you’ve left it — both of which are pretty useful for travellers living out of a suitcase. It works by attaching ‘tags’ to four of your most important possessions (yes, there are only four at a time, so focus on the stuff you always lose) and tuning them to an app on your smartphone.
Sea to Summit Pocket Shower: No matter how far off the beaten path you wish to go, a hot shower is always an appealing prospect. The Sea to Summit Pocket Shower weighs about 110 grams, provides an eight-minute shower, and can by suspended from nearly anything. The black fabric bag (which can also be used as a waterproof travelling bag) will heat the shower water naturally if left in the sun during the day.
The Smart Suitcase: An IndieGogo campaign has unleashed the Bluesmart, a suitcase with pretty impressive features. The Bluesmart can be locked and unlocked via your phone, weigh its own contents and charge your devices. By connecting to a smartphone app, it also can be tracked worldwide. Additionally, it has also been approved by the airport regulators worldwide.
The Real-Time Translator: Indiegogo is the site of this particular idea, too —Sigmo is designed to be a small, handheld real-time (as you speak) translator for 25 languages. It’s like having your own personal translator! It’s tiny — barely the size of a square of chocolate — and can be used with earphones or speakers and during phone calls. Apparently, it just uses Google Translate at the moment, but is working to incorporate weird idioms and phrases in the future
Nubrella: The Nubrella is a handy gadget you can use without needing the use of your hands. It functions like a hoody and is worn like a back-pack, so that your hands are free to carry luggage with ease through the rain, while making rainy-day camping and hiking a whole lot easier. A handsfree umbrella – revolutionary!
Sleep and Walk Suit: SelkBag is the original sleep wear system which allows you to wear your sleeping bag, offering maximum mobility and comfort in periods of rest. It’s like a body suit, which allows you sleep in, eat in, walk in – do pretty much anything in. There’s no more need to lug around sleeping bags and warm clothes, because this suit gives it to you all-in-one. The feet and hands are even detachable. Not meant for all occasions maybe, but certainly handy for the lazy nomads among us.
Lily Camera: Drones have been changing the way we approach photography for the last few years, but Lily Camera does better than that – it overcomes the age old dilemma of whether to capture the once-in-a-lifetime holiday or to live it. It lets you literally throw the camera in the air – it needs no controls or monitors, it just follows your every movement to ensure all your precious moments are recorded for posterity!
Folding suitcases: And once the holiday is over, one of the most tedious things is to unpack and find a way to store your empty suitcase. But this hard luggage by Néit enables you to collapse your bag and even hang it in your wardrobe, just like a shirt! It has a frame that can collapse into a flat and non-clunky board which can be hung in your closet, solving the ever annoying suitcase pile ups in the off season!
OR you could just rent a suitcase from Bragpacker and achieve the same thing, ofcourse 🙂
Rest assured, we are trying our best to get our hands on these products and list them right here on Bragpacker for you. Watch this space!