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SciTech

Check out these Arduino-powered friendship bracelets!


 
 
They may not be as high-powered as a smartwatch or even a fitness band, but these high-tech friendship bracelets can have a profound tech-related effect on teen girls.
 
Dubbed Jewelbots, the bracelets have plastic flowers that can be programmed via a smartphone app, their creators said on Kickstarter.
 
"Jewelbots are friendship bracelets for the iPhone era. Technology-enabled jewelry for tween and teen girls, they’re a means of communicating with friends by lighting up when a BFF is near or buzzing to send messages to a pal across the school," said a description of the wearable tech.
 
As of last week, the project already surpassed the $30,000 goal.
 
 
Out of the box, the bracelets can alert a wearer if friends wearing a similar friendship band are nearby. They can also be used to send secret messages.
 
While they have companion apps for iOS and Android, he bracelets need not be tethered to a smartphone all the time - they can create a dynamic mesh network among themselves via Bluetooth.
 
The bracelets can also be programmed via Arduino.
 
But the fun begins when girls learn to code and program the bracelets - the bracelets are capable of:
 
- Instagram notifications
- sending SMS
- getting weather updates
- flying a drone
 
"The girls we know are are curious and creative, just like we were when we were young (and still are!). We wanted to create something that lets them communicate with their friends while discovering the tools of programming," creators Sara Chipps, Brooke Moreland and Maria Paula Saba said on Kickstarter.
 
Fresh thinking
 
Wired.com said the Jewelbots "exhibit some truly fresh thinking about wearable technology," and can hint at devices "far more interesting than today’s computer watches."
 
It said Jewelbot's creators started by looking at products like MySpace and Minecraft that had encouraged youths to dabble in code.
 
"Jewelbots are a thoughtfully constructed Trojan Horse for getting young girls to think about programming," it added. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News