Skip to main content

This space-age suitcase boasts GPS, biometric locks, and a built-in power bank

cool techhigh tech features space case suitcase 1
Image used with permission by copyright holder
In the past couple years, luggage has experienced a technological revolution. Sensor-studded smart suitcases have been popping up all over the place lately — but this one from Planet Traveler USA just might be the most impressive one yet.

The Space Case 1, as it’s called, is equipped with a laundry list of high-tech features — including digital biometric locks, GPS, a digital lift-less weighing system, a power bank, Bluetooth, speakerphone, motion sensors, and anti-theft alerts. It even comes with a personal assistant that works through your smartphone. The suitcase of the future has arrived.

Planet Traveler has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Space Case, and based on the overwhelming response from the crowdfunding community, it seems to be a really in-demand gadget. The company’s initial funding goal was $50,000 and it’s already raised over $540,000 with eight days remaining.

Here’s how the Space Case 1 works. To open it up, you’ll first need to run your finger over the biometric scanner or use your accompanying smartphone app to scan your prints. Next, just pack up your case. But don’t go overboard and get stuck paying those overweight luggage fees. Planet Traveler implemented a Digital Self Scale into the Space Case  –with integrated sensors right in the wheels– that weighs your suitcase without even placing it on actual scale. Just fire up the accompanying smartphone app to see the weight

If you’re delayed at the airport and need a charge, the suitcase is equipped with two external USB charging ports and a rechargeable 15,000 mAh battery. Planet Traveler even set you up for less waiting around at the luggage carousel, wondering which suitcase is really yours. The mobile app will send out an alert when your luggage is on the carousel, and even if someone else tries to get away with it. Sounds simple enough, right?

If you want to order the Space Case 1 on Kickstarter you’ll cough up anywhere from $330 for a simple carry-on to up to $1,100 for a full four-piece customized set that includes two carry-ons and two full-sized suitcases. It’s a bit on the spendy side for sure, but hey, if you’re keen on revolutionizing your travel routine with some super-cool technology, then the Space Case 1 might be worth looking in to.

Nicolette Emmino
Nicolette is a technology writer, but wishes the days of paperback books and print newspapers were still thriving. She’s a…
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards
Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

Read more
Digital Trends’ Tech For Change CES 2023 Awards
Digital Trends CES 2023 Tech For Change Award Winners Feature

CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.

Read more
AI turned Breaking Bad into an anime — and it’s terrifying
Split image of Breaking Bad anime characters.

These days, it seems like there's nothing AI programs can't do. Thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, deepfakes have done digital "face-offs" with Hollywood celebrities in films and TV shows, VFX artists can de-age actors almost instantly, and ChatGPT has learned how to write big-budget screenplays in the blink of an eye. Pretty soon, AI will probably decide who wins at the Oscars.

Within the past year, AI has also been used to generate beautiful works of art in seconds, creating a viral new trend and causing a boon for fan artists everywhere. TikTok user @cyborgism recently broke the internet by posting a clip featuring many AI-generated pictures of Breaking Bad. The theme here is that the characters are depicted as anime characters straight out of the 1980s, and the result is concerning to say the least. Depending on your viewpoint, Breaking Bad AI (my unofficial name for it) shows how technology can either threaten the integrity of original works of art or nurture artistic expression.
What if AI created Breaking Bad as a 1980s anime?
Playing over Metro Boomin's rap remix of the famous "I am the one who knocks" monologue, the video features images of the cast that range from shockingly realistic to full-on exaggerated. The clip currently has over 65,000 likes on TikTok alone, and many other users have shared their thoughts on the art. One user wrote, "Regardless of the repercussions on the entertainment industry, I can't wait for AI to be advanced enough to animate the whole show like this."

Read more