What could be easier than writing a shopping list with a pen and paper? Well, maybe nothing, although the makers of Lystr would beg to differ. Their device plugs into a wall outlet in your kitchen, creating a shopping list on your smartphone by scanning barcodes and listening for its name to be spoken.
Lystr sits in standby mode when not in use, but springs to life when a product's barcode is manually passed in front of its LED reader. It then connects to your home Wi-Fi network, automatically adding the item to a shopping list app on your iOS or (soon) Android phone.
A beep and a green light indicate that the product was successfully scanned and added.
For things that don't have barcodes – or for times when your hands are full – you can simply say "Hey Lystr, add tomatoes" (or whatever the case may be) into the device. That item will then be added to the list in real time.
The free app allows you to do things like sharing your grocery list with whoever ends up doing the shopping, adding items by typing them in, or creating custom shopping lists for certain stores. It's also possible to add another Lyster device to your account.
If you're interested in getting a Lyster, it's currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. A pledge of US$79 will get you one, when and if it reaches production. The estimated retail price is $119.
Source: Kickstarter
