Luggage That Is Getting Much Smarter

It is true that the airlines have made advancements in baggage tracking. It is also true that this doesn’t always work (changing carriers, airline personnel not scanning the tags at each location, etc) and it is a pain to have your luggage lost/delayed. It seems as if at least one company realizes that it is time to make a switch to luggage that is much smarter – in fact, this luggage will even know your trip plans and weigh itself!

Bluesmart – the Smart Luggage

– Bluesmart Crowdfunding Link

The Bluesmart carryon

This is an Indiegogo project that just launched this morning. It seems as if I am not the only one that would like to see luggage become more innovative – the crowdfunded project met its goal in a little over two hours! That is really incredible! The nice part is that you can still participate up until November 24 and that will allow you to lock in at a price that is 1/2 off their suggested retail.

BTW, since I started writing this post, funding has jumped $16,000!

What Does It Do?

This carry-on sounds like it will do a lot of stuff! It will be great if they can make good on all of it. Much of the feature-set is found in the app which will allow you to:

• Check can check its location (they are promising to cover the globe eventually with that ability)
• Check the weight of a bag
• Have proximity alerts (just in case you are one of those who tend to walk away from your bag)
• Unlock/lock your bag remotely (and it will be approved by the TSA)
• Track the trips (it will remind you of where you are going – through TripIt implementation – and show you where you, and your bag, have been)

It will also charge your electronics, with the statement that it can charge your phone up to 6 times. It will also have a special area for your electronics so you can unload them quickly at security and repack.

As for dimensions, it is 21.5” x 14” x 9” and weighs 8lbs. That sounds about on-par with other bags and should work with the dimension rules of many airlines.

Price

If you want to get in on this, you can contribute to the project for the cost of $215, which is the cheapest available cost for the bag. There estimated delivery is not until August of next year – hopefully, they can keep with that timeframe! I am excited to see this!

Will It Work?

It all sounds great and they have reported that they already have great prototypes and a great team. So, the electronic aspect sounds well covered. I am curious how well made the bag itself is. As one who has been through several bags, I know this is not a bag I would simply go through. It had better last me a very long time for all of this tech!

I would also like to see this come to another size bag as well. I never check my carry-on, so the location data would be nice in case of an emergency, but it would be nice to have on checked bags as well.

HT: Engadget