Whether you're a surfer, a sailor or simply a beachcomber, it's important to know the current cycle of the tide at your favorite beach. And while apps do provide that info, the Tidey tidal clock does so in what is claimed to be a much easier-to-understand fashion.
Invented by British sea swimmer, surfer and product designer Gareth James, Tidey uses a home's Wi-Fi network to access an online database of over 1,000 beaches located around the world. When users first set the device up, they use a smartphone or computer to choose their beach (or at least the closest one to it) from that list, which is categorized by country.
From that point on, Tidey's animated RGB LED display continuously shows both the height and direction of the tide at that location – it's claimed to be accurate to within 10 thousandths of a second. If the user relocates, or just decides that they like another beach on the list better, they can change their beach selection via an online setup page.
The device itself is made mainly of 100-percent recycled card stock, along with a biodegradable PLA (polylactic acid) bioplastic screen. At the end of its lifecycle, the whole thing can be returned to the manufacturer for recycling and reuse of its parts. Additionally, in order to save power, it automatically goes into a low-brightness sleep mode at night.
Should you be interested, Tidey is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. Assuming it reaches production, a pledge of £80 (about US$107) will get you one – its planned retail price is £95 ($127). A one-year data subscription is included, after which you'll have to pay £4.99 ($7) annually.
There's more information in the following video.
Sources: Kickstarter, Tidey
