Vigo Energy Gauge Monitors Your Alertness, Nudges You Awake

Do you ever find yourself nodding off into a brief nap while driving a car, sitting in a lecture or listening to your spouse? It’s fine if you’re comfortable with crashing a car, missing the lessons or sleeping on the couch. If you aren’t however, the Vigo can help you avoid those momentary lapses.

A wearable device billed as an “energy gauge,” it looks like one of those Bluetooth headsets people who look like they’re talking to themselves regularly walk around with. And, unsurprisingly, you can use it exactly for that purpose, letting you take calls and hold conversations hands-free, all while looking like you belong in an asylum with your imaginary companions.

Aside from facilitating wireless calls, Vigo will actually track your alertness and provide a nudge when it detects that you need a little jolt to stay awake. Put it on any time you need to stay awake for extended periods and you’ll have an electronic companion constantly nagging on your case. To perform the special function, it detects patterns in your blinking and your body’s movement, using readings from its onboard six-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, and infrared sensor to quantify your current levels of alertness.

To nudge you into wakefulness, it will either vibrate (onboard vibration coin motor), light up (integrated RGB notification light), or stream a song from your phone. You can fiddle with the nudge settings from the accompanying smartphone app, where you can also set the device’s sensitivity levels. Aside from that, the app will continually process your cumulative readings, then use that to provide a clear picture of your existing patterns and suggest possible changes in your routine.

Vigo is currently raising funds for a production run on Kickstarter. Pledges to reserve a unit starts at $59.

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