A quick turn in the weather can bring undone even the most carefully planned loads of washing, so detergent maker Omo is tapping into the Internet of Things (IoT) to offer a helping hand. Peggy is a smart clothes-peg prototype that uses a number of sensors and local weather information to tell you when the washing is dry and ping you when rain's on the way to prevent you drying the same load twice.
Peggy looks something like a regular (oversized) clothes peg, but packed inside are light, temperature and humidity sensors, along with a Wi-Fi chip and lithium-ion battery. By accumulating data through these sensors and connecting to the internet, it keeps an eye on local weather conditions and sends an alert to the user's smartphone when the black clouds start rolling in.
But this is only one part of Omo's vision for how we'll do laundry in the IoT era. The app also taps into its wealth of weather knowledge to tell users the best time to do the washing, pushes a notification to the phone when the cycle is complete and tells you how long it will take to dry on the line in current conditions.
And Peggy isn't afraid to advise on non-laundry matters either. It will even ping users when the skies are clearing up and suggest outdoor activities for the family. We're not sure this offers much more than a regular weather forecast or an inquisitive look out the window, but it is in keeping with Omo's marketing ploy for Peggy: making things easier for time-poor parents.
The connected clothes peg is currently in testing with those interested in taking part able to register their interest via the source link below. News.com.au reports that the market price for Peggy would be in the tens of dollars and that Omo would work to extend the battery life before a commercial launch of the product, with the current prototypes requiring daily recharging via USB.
You can check out the peggy promo video below.
Source: Omo