Crumbly cookies, greasy pizza, or a particularly nasty bout of influenza — these can all leave your fingers covered in muck, and as you may have already learned to your cost, gunk-covered hands can soon lead to messed-up tech gadgets.
To keep your equipment protected from all the mess, Utah-based Open-Vision Labs has come up with the Wype, a “personal desktop snack rag” designed to ensure your fingers always stay clean. At least, that’s the theory.
The Wype is a round piece of custom-made carpet consisting of microfibers that take dirt from your fingers with a quick wipe. It also includes an antimicrobial solution to kill any germs that may have been using your hands as a home.
“If you’re anything like me, you spend a lot of time on your computer, your phone, your gaming console,” Open-Vision Labs’ Seth Konopasek explains in his Kickstarter video. “You know that napkins don’t really get your fingers clean, neither do paper towels or wiping it on your pants. And we all know what happens if you have dirty fingers.” Yes, it screws up your gadgets.
The Wype’s cloth is removable and sits on a secure base that you can place beside your keyboard or console so it’s easy to reach. When it gets so gross that you don’t want to touch it anymore, you can either throw it in the laundry or donate it to scientific research — you never know, they might discover some new strains of bacteria living in there.
The team suggests a variety of scenarios besides PC and gaming sessions where the Wype might come in handy. You can use it to protect your TV controller when you’re snacking in front of the box, for example, or when you’re cooking in the kitchen and using a tablet to read the recipe.
Provided the campaign reaches its $15,000 funding goal, the Wype will be ready to cleanse your fingers in December, 2017. Pledge $15 and you’ll score yourself one Wype set comprising a black base and three covers; $30 will get you double that, while a $40 pledge offers better value for money with three black bases and nine covers coming your way.
