Kyle
Steamboat Springs Colorado startup Ugrokit was founded by the wife and husband team of Carrie and Terry Requist to answer one of life’s most important questions: Dude Where’s My Everything.
Key finders have been around since the 80’s. There were some that worked like the clapper while others responded to a whistle or even others that required you keep track of a button in case you lose your keys. The idea has been refined over and over again. The ZOMM is a great iteration of a keyfinding device but that one uses BlueTooth technology and is relegated to a circular disc like device that is fastened on your keyring.
Ugrokit is different. Ugrokit uses RFID tags that are cheap, flat, washable and can attach to just about everything. The system comes with a Grok which is an orange RFID scanner that attaches to an iPhone (Android later?). You then use as many tags as you would like and you scan them into your iPhone. Once an item is scanned it’s stored and if you can’t locate that item you just wave the scanner around where you think it might be and a series of beeps tells you whether your hot or cold.
More after the break
One of the really interesting things about Ugrokit is you can make inventory lists, which for traveling journalists is the absolute coolest thing. Basically you make an inventory list, for us I’d say it’s my go-bag. You see even though we aren’t doing hard news a lot of times we travel with less than 24 hours notice. I have a bag that is packed all the time called a go bag. So I could inventory everything that’s supposed to be in my go-bag.
– Power Strip
– 4 usb chargers
– Tablet
– Backup laptop
– Business card box
– emergency wallet
– 3 pairs of boxers
– 1 pair of shorts
– 1 pair of jeans
– 1 pair of khaki pants
– 1 formal shirt
– 2 golf shirts
– socks
Before heading out the door I can just hold the Grok up to my go bag and in seconds it will tell me that either yes I have everything or no I don’t have everything.
In a quick conversation with co-founder Carrie Requist I found out that not only does it give me a yes no verification but the app can tell me exactly what is missing. I can also set up an infinite number of lists, so I could do my go bag, my gym bag, my main powerbag and my extended gear bag. Now instead of yelling and screaming at the office “Hey do I have my 70-200 lens” or do I have my spare powerbag batteries, the Grok from Ugrokit will tell me whether I do or don’t. Do you realize how time-saving this is?
It’s $159 for the start up sets and the RFID’s I believe are around $1.00 which makes it easy to tag everything. Another wonderful benefit to the system is that the RFIDs are so small and the Grok is portable so I can even take a few new ones on the road with me. Sometimes I pick up a new shirt or new computer, camera or phone accessory on the road. Now I can tag and Grok things instantly wherever I go. The money I’m going to save from not having to buy socks and underwear alone on trips is going to recoup that $159 ten fold.
The possibilities around the UGrokit system are endless.
The Requists just recently pitched at Jason Calacanis’ Launch event. According to their blog they didn’t get any investment takers immediately but it appears they’ve made some awesome headway. They also returned to Colorado to find over 1000 pre-orders ready to go. Can you tell I’m excited about this one?
For more information visit UGrokit’s website here and watch their video on how it works below:
