Admit it: at some point in your adult life, you’ve wanted to slap bright, rainbow-colored LEDs on your wrist. Call it a yearning to relive the nights of college raves gone by. Whatever the motivation, few would readily disagree that a lit-up wristband is one of the most festive ideas ever conceived. And now, it’s a Kickstarter reality: the Gemio Band.
The Gemio Band, at its core, is a flexible wristband covered from top to bottom in tiny diodes. It’s capable of reproducing “millions” of colors, and features swappable Tiles — aesthetic components that snap onto the Gemio’s outward skin — in a number of styles. It packs dual batteries that collectively supply between “5 to 6 hours” of power, and a bevy of components to boot: a microphone, accelerometer, optical sensor, Bluetooth 4.0 radio, and vibration motor.
Gemio leverages that hardware to great affect. Lights respond to music and sound measured by the device’s built-in microphone. The accelerometer switches off the LEDs when the band’s not in use. And the optical sensor adjusts brightness, depending on conditions.
But while Gemio’s a capable little bugger in and of itself, the MyGemio phone app is the brains of the operation. It lets you program lighting effects to your liking, and packs presets for those who prefer plug-and-play. One of these, “The Water Effect,” has gradients of blues and greens flow across the band’s 20 LED arrays. Another, “Fire,” turns the Gemio’s lights an ominous orange, red, and yellow, and generates white “sparks” when you give the band a tap.
Gemio’s other feature of note, Light Signals, is a bit more social in nature. They’re preloaded patterns — or custom, if you opt to design them yourself — that you beam to Gemio-toting contacts. You can assign color palette to individual friends, for instance — Gemio will light up when that person’s near — or you can schedule light-up greetings for holidays, birthdays, and other occasions of note. “You can create a real-life network on the go, anytime, even without your phone,” said Gemio. “It’s a whole new way to connect people you meet at events, festivals, and concerts.”
Beyond lighting patterns and Light Signals, the MyGemio app packs an exhaustive array of features. Want to match Gemio’s lights to a shirt or accessory but can’t nail down the palette? MyGemio can parse color values from a picture. Want to quickly get a friend’s attention? You can send them a light-up beacon. And more functionality is due out in the near future, Gemio said.
At launch, Gemio’s shipping with six tile set designs “optically designed to work with Gemio’s LED lighting panel,” and named lightning, hamsa, spiro, pyramid, techtonic, and gems. Also included is a wireless charging dock that, thanks to powerful magnets, suspends the Gemio in air while it rejuices.
Pledges for the Gemio start at $60 on Kickstarter. The first bands are scheduled to ship later this year, in November.
