By Matthew Gooding, Cambridge News
The Zing is the first of a range of products being developed by MvBii Ventures. It can be worn as a watch, a pendant or kept snuggly in your pocket, and monitors your mood using a range of built-in sensors to offer you an insight into your daily life.
It is packaged with an accompanying app and website which means you can link your Zing with friends and send each other video messages, music and even virtual kisses.
Ludo Chapman, of MvBii Ventures, said the Zing was meant as a fun, alternative to high-end products such as the Apple Watch – and at a price of £49.99 it will certainly be better for your bank balance.
“From talking to users we know our product fills a clear gap in the market for wearable products which are stylish, affordable and relevant to people’s day-to-day lives,” he said.
“We want to appeal to mainstream customers and especially younger people. With Zing you don’t need to carry around thousands of pounds worth of electronics with you or be into marathons to get the best use out of our product.
“Our technology uses an innovative mix of sensors and clever software to offer users first and foremost fun, as well as insight into their lives – it’s a great way to lighten up your day, communicate and share with your real friends, and get access to web entertainment to match your mood.”
Indeed, Zing’s website will be packed with amusing videos that you can send to your friends to make them giggle. Ideas suspects cats in amusing locations will be heavily involved. The device has motion sensors built in, meaning messages can be dispatched at the flick of a wrist.
Justin Pisani, who founded the company, said Zing is meant to allow people to connect with a small group of close friends, rather than the long list of relatives and acquaintances you tend to accumulate on Facebook. So it’s a perfect alternative to your Whatsapp group, and there should be no danger of accidentally blowing a kiss to your granny.
He added: “We were making wearable sensors way before they were so popular. We were among the very first to put wearable monitoring into the home to look after people with long-term illnesses back in the 1990s.
“Our work has been used everywhere from war zones to the edges of the earth’s atmosphere.
“It was talking with my daughters which triggered the idea for Zing, and we thought that a gadget-orientated, data-heavy measurement device or phone on the wrist wasn’t the way to go.”
The first batch of Zings have just rolled off the production line, and the firm hopes to start taking orders in the near future.
Find out more and register for details of the product’s pre-sale at mvbii.com.