Skip to main content

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Smelly locks, holograms, a hydration wearable

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion crowdfunding campaigns on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. In this column, we cut through all the worthless wearables and Oculus Rift ripoffs to round up the week’s most unusual, ambitious, and exciting projects. But don’t grab your wallet just yet. Keep in mind that any crowdfunded project can fail — even the most well-intentioned. Do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

LVL — Wearable hydration monitor

 

Measuring your body’s hydration is no cakewalk. “Smart” water bottles can tell you how many ounces of liquid you’ve consumed in the course of a few hours — but not how much your body has actually absorbed. That level of granularity usually requires a trip to a medical lab or emergency room. But now, thanks to a burgeoning health startup called BSX Technologies, that might soon change. The company’s new product, the LVL, is the first wearable device that promises to measure your hydration levels in real time.

To achieve this, The LVL uses an advanced infrared sensor that penetrates far beneath the surface of the skin — up to 10 times as deep as the standard green light sensors found in, say, the new Apple Watch or latest Fitbit. This depth allows the LVL to capture spectroscopic images of blood, which can then be used to accurately determine the percentage of water content and heart rate. Perhaps more importantly, though, infrared lets LVL do so more accurately than your average wearable. While most trackers deviate anywhere between 14 to 40 beats per minute from your actual heart rate, the LVL’s measurements are accurate to within 3.

Read more here

Holovect — Holographic display generator

3D hologram generators are something scientists have been trying to nail down for decades now, presumably in hopes of ushering in a utopian future where everyone communicates with each other like the Jedi Council in Star Wars. But unfortunately nobody has really been able to create a true 3D hologram generator yet. Most just rely on cheap illusions like Pepper’s Ghost — but a new gizmo called Holovect might soon change that, and finally bring legit 3D holograms into the mainstream.

Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, the “self-contained, laser-based, volumetric display system” will comfortably fit on your lab bench or desk, and boasts the ability to draw 3D objects in midair using light.

“This is an idea I’ve had for a long, long time,” Ruiz-Avila told Digital Trends. “At university my thesis had to do with holographic chambers and lasers. However, the technology to make this accessible and cheap didn’t exist until very recently. It was only recently that I came back to focusing on this project and, last year, was able to build the very first prototypes.”

Read more here

Aer — Throwable GoPro system

Do you want to get awesome aerial footage with your GoPro without spending hundreds of dollars for a suitable camera drone? Not to worry — a group of enterprising young college students has created a much more affordable product that’ll help you capture creative aerial shots on the cheap. Their invention — called Aer — is essentially a protective foam case with four giant fins on the end. When thrown in the air, the fins create drag that keeps the device facing forward — sort of like a nerf football. To use it, just hit the record button on your GoPro, stuff it inside Aer, and then toss it.

“During a previous project I did last year, we decided to make a small video series using creative cinematography,” Aer co-creator Nick Schjivens said in a video. “We didn’t have the money to buy a professional drone, but we both owned a GoPro. Using a lot of foam padding, duct tape, and cardboard wings to keep it steady, we managed to throw our GoPros through the air. When we looked at the footage, we saw potential for a great product. Two friends joined, we created a real company, and the following year we devoted all our time to developing a durable, consumer-friendly version.”

Read more here

Skunk Lock — Scent-based theft-deterrent bike lock

Believe it or not, there are some thieves in this world that are bold enough to stroll out into the street with an angle grinder and cut through the U-lock on your bike. It’s certainly not a common thing, but some people are just a-holes — so inventor Daniel Idzkowski decided to build a bike lock that could deter even the most brazen criminals from stealing your ride. How? Well, let’s just say the Skunk Lock draws a lot of inspiration from its namesake animal.

Currently seeking funding on Indiegogo, the ingenious design comprises a hardened medium-carbon steel U-Lock that Idzkowski says “comes with a surprise.”  Break, cut, pierce or saw the SkunkLock and you’ll be blasted with a “disgusting” noxious chemical deterrent. Idzkowski claims the odor is so vile it can make you barf, but returning to a vomit-spattered bike should be a small price to pay if it means you’ll still have a bike to pedal home on. In most cases, the would-be thief — shocked by the nastiness of the smell and the attention the chaotic scene is certain to grab — is likely to high-tail it in the opposite direction and leave your bike behind.

Read more here

Invisible Solar — Concealed photovoltaic panels

Despite all the awesome clean energy they provide for their owners, there’s one thing that solar panels are lacking in a big way: aesthetic appeal. They aren’t very inconspicuous when sitting atop the roof of a home — which is a big problem for people and communities that value the aesthetic appeal of their city. So in an effort to alleviate this issue, and make solar power less garish and unattractive, a small Italian company named Dyaqua has developed what it is calling Invisible Solar panels

While they’re not technically invisible, Dyaqua’s panels are cleverly camouflaged to look like wood, concrete, slate, terracotta, or stone — thereby helping them blend in with your home. In addition to being highly inconspicuous, the panels are also quite versatile, and can be installed on a roof, as accents in a front yard, built into a breezeway, or installed as siding. Each piece’s top layer appears opaque to onlookers, yet solar rays still have the ability to seep through to the cleverly disguised photovoltaic cells underneath.

Read more here

Drew Prindle
Former Senior Editor, Features
Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…
Zoox recalls robotaxis after Las Vegas crash, citing software fix
zoox recall crash 1739252352 robotaxi side profile in dark mode

Amazon's self-driving vehicle unit, Zoox, has issued a voluntary safety recall after one of its autonomous vehicles was involved in a minor collision in Las Vegas. The incident, which occurred in April 2025, led the company to investigate and identify a software issue affecting how the robotaxi anticipates another vehicle’s path.
The recall, affecting 270 Zoox-built vehicles, was formally filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Zoox said the issue has already been addressed through a software update that was remotely deployed to its fleet.
Zoox’s robotaxis, which operate without driving controls like a steering wheel or pedals, are part of Amazon’s entry into the autonomous driving space. According to Zoox’s safety recall report, the vehicle failed to yield to oncoming traffic while making an unprotected left turn, leading to a low-speed collision with a regular passenger car. While damage was minor, the event raised flags about the system’s behavior in complex urban scenarios.
Establishing safety and reliability remain key factors in the deployment of the relatively new autonomous ride-hailing technology. Alphabet-owned Waymo continues to lead the sector in both safety and operational scale, with services active in multiple cities including Phoenix and San Francisco. But GM’s Cruise and Ford/VW-backed Argo AI were forced to abandon operations over the past few years.
Tesla is also expected to enter the robotaxi race with the launch of its own service in June 2025, leveraging its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. While FSD has faced heavy regulatory scrutiny through last year, safety regulations are expected to loosen under the Trump administration.
Zoox, which Amazon acquired in 2020, says it issued the recall voluntarily as part of its commitment to safety. “It’s essential that we remain transparent about our processes and the collective decisions we make,” the company said in a statement.

Read more
Mitsubishi’s back in the EV game—with a new electric SUV coming in 2026
mitsubishi bev 2026 momentum 2030 line up

Mitsubishi is officially jumping back into the U.S. electric vehicle scene—and this time, it’s not just dipping a toe. The company confirmed it will launch a brand-new battery-electric SUV in North America starting in summer 2026, marking its first fully electric model here since the quirky little i-MiEV left the stage back in 2017.
The new EV will be a compact crossover, and while Mitsubishi is keeping most of the juicy details under wraps, we do know it’ll be based on the same next-gen platform as the upcoming Nissan Leaf. That means it’ll ride on the CMF-EV architecture—the same one underpinning the Nissan Ariya—which supports ranges of up to 300+ miles. So yeah, this won’t be your average entry-level EV.
Designed in partnership with Nissan, the new model will be built in Japan and shipped over to U.S. shores. No word yet on pricing, battery size, or even a name, but Mitsubishi has made it clear this EV is just the beginning. As part of its “Momentum 2030” plan, the company promises a new or updated vehicle every year through the end of the decade, with four electric models rolling out by 2028. And yes, one of those might even be a pickup.
Mitsubishi says the goal is to give customers “flexible powertrain options,” which is marketing speak for: “We’ll have something for everyone.” So whether you're all-in on electric or still into gas or hybrid power, they're aiming to have you covered.
This mystery EV will eventually sit alongside Mitsubishi’s current U.S. lineup—the Outlander, Outlander PHEV, Eclipse Cross, and Outlander Sport—and help the brand move beyond its current under-the-radar status in the electric world.
In short: Mitsubishi’s finally getting serious about EVs, and if this new SUV lives up to its potential, it might just put the brand back on your radar.

Read more
Toyota unveils 2026 bZ: A smarter, longer-range electric SUV
toyota bz improved bz4x 2026 0007 1500x1125

Toyota is back in the electric SUV game with the 2026 bZ, a major refresh of its bZ4X that finally delivers on two of the biggest demands from EV drivers: more range and faster charging.
The headline news is the improved driving range. Toyota now estimates up to 314 miles on a single charge for the front-wheel-drive model with the larger 74.7-kWh battery—about 60 miles more than the outgoing bZ4X. All-wheel-drive variants also get a boost, with up to 288 miles of range depending on trim.
Charging speeds haven’t increased in terms of raw kilowatts (still capped at 150 kW for DC fast charging), but Toyota has significantly improved how long peak speeds are sustained. With preconditioning enabled—especially helpful in colder weather—the new bZ can charge from 10% to 80% in about 30 minutes. Also new: Plug and Charge support for automatic payment at compatible stations and full adoption of the North American Charging Standard (NACS), meaning access to Tesla Superchargers will be standard by 2026.
Under the hood, or rather the floor, Toyota has swapped in higher-performance silicon carbide components to improve efficiency and power delivery. The AWD version now produces up to 338 horsepower and sprints from 0–60 mph in a brisk 4.9 seconds.
Toyota didn’t stop at just the powertrain. The exterior has been cleaned up, with body-colored wheel arches replacing the black cladding, and a sleeker front fascia. Inside, a larger 14-inch touchscreen now houses climate controls, giving the dash a more refined and less cluttered appearance. There’s also more usable storage thanks to a redesigned center console.
With the 2026 bZ, Toyota seems to be responding directly to critiques of the bZ4X. It’s faster, more efficient, and more driver-friendly—finally bringing Toyota’s EV efforts up to speed.

Read more