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By Dani Deahl, The Verge
This Indiegogo campaign aims to help people who need to locate their friends and family in a pinch. Lynq is a little gadget that you can clip on your clothes or bag that tells you how far and in what direction other people are without any data connection needed.
The palm-sized device is as simple as can be: there’s only one button, and the sole purpose of Lynq is to show the distance and direction of other people in your group via a tiny circular screen. It uses long-range, low-power frequencies to connect to other Lynq devices and GPS for location, so no phones or Wi-Fi are needed. Lynq says it uses a custom antenna and users will have a closed, private network dedicated to the group.
Up to 12 devices can link together, and each one can be assigned a name. If you want to find a particular person, cycle to the screen displaying their Lynq name and the screen will tell you which direction to walk in to find them, and exactly how far away they are. They should work within a radius of three miles, and you can also set a safe zone (radius from a device) that will send a notification anytime someone breaks the boundary. The Lynq is supposed to have a battery life of up to three days, and can be charged via micro USB.
Lynq could be a great help not just with outdoor group trips (like skiing), but also for parents wanting to keep track of kids, people traveling to remote areas, and friends at festivals (who often deal with minimal reception and directions to meet like “I’m in the middle of the crowd”).
If you want to buy a Lynq, they’re available for preorder at $89 a pop, which is 40 percent off the eventual retail price of $149. The company has actually been around since 2014 and has raised nearly $3 million in funding outside of the Indiegogo, which equals over 1,000 percent funding with two weeks to go. Although there is more foundation to go on here than many Indiegogo campaigns, the usual warning with buying a crowdfunded project does still apply.
