The grow-your-own trend is one that’s really taken off in recent years, and while startups such as the UK’s Allotinabox have provided homeowners with the basic materials to start their own home gardening projects, our latest spotting goes that little bit further. Patch is a self-watering herb planter that makes urban gardening projects easier, delivered through the letterbox.

Now seeking funding on Kickstarter, the 12 x 6 x 6-inch device is made of Tyvek – a type of recyclable paper-like plastic that can be folded into an envelope shape for easy delivery. Once assembled, users can fill it with soil, plant their desired seeds and load the water reservoir. A wicking mechanism means that only the right amount of water is made available to the plants and the device needs filling just once a week. Currently designed to hold herbs and leafy greens, Patch hopes to expand its range in the near future to include devices suitable for growing other vegetables such as peppers and cucumbers. Patch planters retail at CAD 39.95 and come in three different designs – plain white, gray and patterned. The video below shows the planter being assembled:

With more than half of the population of the world now living in urban environments, innovations such as this could help encourage city-dwellers to rely less on supermarkets and be able to know exactly where their food comes from. How else can the urban gardening revolution be supported?

Website: www.letspatch.com
Contact: www.twitter.com/letspatch

It’s a little-known fact that many smartphones today include barometers, quietly recording a wealth of atmospheric pressure data that could be used to improve local weather forecasts. Enter Canadian Cumulonimbus, whose free pressureNET app is designed to collect just such data from Android phones and submit it to meteorological researchers for better forecasting.

pressureNET is “a global network of user-contributed atmospheric pressure readings,” in the words of its creator. Interested users begin by downloading pressureNET from Google Play. A minimum of Android 3.0 is required, but only devices with barometers can contribute data; these include the Galaxy Nexus, S3, S4, Note and Note II, Cumulonimbus says, as well as the Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Xoom and Xiaomi MI-2. Among the app’s features are an interactive Google Map showing locations and submitted barometer readings; graphics indicating current, user-submitted weather conditions; alerts when local pressure drops or rises; reports on current conditions; personalized statistics; and a data visualization map for the app’s global data set, also available on pressureNet’s site. pressureNET’s data is also being live-streamed to atmospheric scientists, meanwhile, for assimilation and processing. The pressureNET project is fully open source (MIT license) and the code is available on GitHub.

Data sourced from the crowds seems to be a popular trend in recent years. App-minded entrepreneurs – one to inspire?

Website: www.cumulonimbus.ca
Contact: software@cumulonimbus.ca

Spotted by: Raymond Neo

When an owner no longer needs an item, it’s often the case that it will be left outside for others to pick up if they can find a use for it. We recently wrote about the Goedzak scheme being implemented in the Netherlands to help pedestrians determine trash that may be reuseable, and now Canada-based app Trashswag is providing a way to let local residents locate streetside items that are available to take.

Based in Toronto, the platform features ‘reports’ of items that are being thrown out, offering images and information about the quantity and quality of the goods. These reports can be submitted by anyone, so if a person passes by an unwanted item on the street they can send a report through the app. Those interested in using the items – which range from wood and scrap metal to furniture and household appliances – can use the Trashswag map to locate them and simply pick them up. Users don’t need to interact with the owner, but the platform does enable them to rate the credibility of the report to help others determine if it’s worth the trip. The app, which works through the Ushahidi mapping software, is available on both iOS and Android devices.

The founders hope that Trashswag will encourage residents to re-use goods that aren’t quite ready for the skip, helping the environment and offering freebies to the local community.

Website: www.trashswag.com
Contact: www.trashswag.com/contact

It’s a well-known fact that pets can reduce stress levels and improve their owners’ health, so we weren’t entirely surprised to see Yale Law School’s library loan out a therapy dog to stressed students a few years back. Operating on a similar principle, Canadian Dalhousie University recently set up a Puppy Room to help de-stress students during final exams.

The idea for Dalhousie’s Puppy Room came from a third-year Environmental Science student and was immediately picked up by the university’s student union, according to a story in the Dal News. Thanks to a partnership with Therapeutic Paws of Canada (TPoC), three dogs were made available for cuddling and play during three sessions at the Dalhousie Student Union in early December. They weren’t actually puppies, since young dogs can get overwhelmed by crowds, and that turned out to be a good thing because the event’s first day alone reportedly drew almost 500 students. Such was the demand, in fact, that the Dalhousie Student Union added free shuttle service to the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals branch as another alternative. The video depicts the Puppy Room in operation:

Similar programs have been spotted in other universities and work places around the continent, including one at Harvard Medical School. How could you turn a love of animals into a stress-relieving business plan?

Website: www.dal.ca
Contact: www.dal.ca/contact_us.html

The 3D printing trend has been going strong for several years already, bringing a whole new world of possibilities to DIY enthusiasts. One enduring sticking point, however, has been the necessity of buying the plastic filament used by 3D printers to bring users’ creations to life. That’s where Filabot comes in, with a desktop extruder that lets users make and reuse their own filament from household plastic recyclables.

The brainchild of Vermont college student Tyler McNaney, the Filabot Reclaimer is a desktop extruding system that can grind milk jugs, soda bottles, unsuccessful prototypes and various other plastic objects to make spools of plastic filament for 3D printers. Different settings on the device accommodate different types of plastics, which are then ground, extruded and spooled. Plastic in chunks of up to three-by-three-inches in size can be ground up; from there the extruder will melt and pressurize the molten plastic to push it through the interchangeable dies. Two dies are included with the Filabot Reclaimer — one 3mm and one 1.75mm in size — each creating a different size of filament. Finally, the spool system will automatically roll it onto a spool after cooling and sizing. The video below explains the concept in more detail:

After a highly successful Kickstarter campaign, Filabot is now gearing up for an official launch. Pricing details are not yet available. DIY entrepreneurs: time to get in line?

Website: www.filabot.com
Contact: www.filabot.com/contact.php

Spotted by: Murtaza Patel

Government innovations such as Egypt’s Cairo Transport App Challenge have seen the crowds tapped for solutions to traffic congestion. However, the City of Calgary is now making use of their citizens’ communication tools by trialling its Bluetooth traffic tracking program, harnessing data anonymously from drivers’ cell phones.

The Canadian authority has installed the system along the Deerfoot Trail in Calgary, which picks up publicly available information from drivers passing through with the Bluetooth on their phones enabled. Using this data, the system determines how long it takes the average driver to travel down the trail, therefore providing real-time information on congestion, which is then broadcast on electronic signs located at the side of the road. According to the developers, the system is able to filter the transmissions given off by drivers from those by pedestrians. The system will be in operation between 6:30am to 6:30pm, Monday to Friday for the duration of the trial.

The system aims to help drivers make better decisions when traveling around Calgary, reducing congestion and motorist frustration. The information could also be used when planning new roadworks in the region. One for your part of the world?

Website: www.calgary.ca
Contact: www.calgary.ca/General/Pages/Contact-Us.aspx

Spotted by: Smith Alan

Adding a gamification twist to gift-giving, the Canada-based Vouchr app is now enabling locals to give venue recommendations as presents.

Those offering gifts can choose an experience they’ve enjoyed in the past and then upload a photo and a note explaining why it’s a good place to go – whether it’s an off-the-radar restaurant or a particularly good yoga class. Users can then set how much credit they want to offer their recipient and the voucher can then be sent to a contact. Alternatively, adding an competitive edge to the gift redemption, the gift can be uploaded onto Facebook and the first friend to take a trip to the location can pick up the credit. In order to encourage gift-giving, the app also gives each user a created-to-claimed ratio and creates a league table among friends to show who is the most benevolent.

The app offers a unique gift-giving experience by enabling people to create their own vouchers for the places they like and want to share with others, while also boosting local business. Are there any other ways to put a twist on gift giving — and not just for this festive period?

Website: www.vouchr.ca
Contact: douglas@vouchr.ca

Spotted by: Murray Orange

Not long ago we wrote about CallApp, a caller ID application that displays contacts’ social media information, and recently we came across a like-minded effort in the world of contact management. Going beyond just social media integration, Canadian Cardign adds a facial recognition capability that lets users put a face to each name.

Now available for iOS, Cardign is a free mobile app that aims to let users capture and add contacts quickly and easily using facial recognition. To add a new contact, Cardign users begin by snapping a photo of that person using their iPhone. If the contact has already signed up with Cardign, the app will automatically recognize his or her photo and retrieve the corresponding contact information and social media profiles. In cases where the contact hasn’t yet started using Cardign, the user must enter in their name and email information and add them to the app’s dedicated address book manually, according to a BetaKit report. Either way, from there on Cardign keeps information on the user’s contacts continuously updated. The video below explains the premise in more detail:

An Android version of the Cardign app is reportedly coming soon, and future revenue plans include embracing a freemium model. App-minded entrepreneurs: one to get involved in? Everyone else: one to try out at your next networking event?

Website: www.cardign.com
Contact: jldavid@cardign.com

Spotted by: Murray Orange

Projects such as Renew Australia have already tried to make use of urban space that is temporarily empty. Looking for a more long-term solution to the problem of housing in the university town of St John’s, Newfoundland, Home Share aims to connect students looking for affordable accommodation with those over 50 living alone.

The idea behind the scheme is that those attending college in the region will be looking for cheap rent, while older homeowners whose children are also away to study will have a space in their home. Students benefit from comfortable accommodation that is much less expensive than the town’s average private rented property prices and the elderly benefit by having company and someone who can help them around the house. Users simply apply with their details and state whether they are a student or an over-50 and Home Share makes the match.

The project has already received backing from partners such as the Government of Canada and Memorial University. As rent prices increase in many areas of the world, one to replicate in your community?

Website: www.homesharenl.ca
Contact: coordinator@homesharenl.ca

Spotted by: RP

It’s long been known that a spoonful of sugar helps the proverbial medicine go down, and perhaps one of the best illustrations is the use of gaming in education. Canadian SMARTeacher has now come up with a novel twist on that concept, by developing a PC math game that not only recognizes children’s emotions as they learn, but also adapts the game accordingly.

Targeting children aged 6 through 11, SMARTeacher’s Prodigy game software for PCs and Macs uses an immersive approach and a wizard fantasy world to teach kids more than 200 math skills spanning grades one through five. Aligned with Ontario’s Math Curriculum and the Common Core State Standards, Prodigy has been found to improve kids’ skill proficiency by 15 percent and to increase the number of kids who “like” or “love” math by 24 percent, the company says. What’s particularly compelling about the game, however, is SMARTeacher’s wireless emotion-sensing bracelet, due in early 2013, that uses lie-detector technology to recognize kids’ emotions. So, for example, if a child is beginning to feel frustrated, the game might offer a hint in response; if he or she is feeling bored, it will step up the difficulty level. Results-driven reporting is also available to help parents and teachers keep tabs on kids’ progress. The video below explains the premise in more detail:

Beta pricing for unlimited play on Prodigy begins at CAD 13.95 per month per child; special household pricing for homeschoolers is also available. Education entrepreneurs around the globe: time to add a dose of emotional sensitivity to your own offerings?

Website: www.smarteacher.ca
Contact: info@smarteacher.ca

Spotted by: Murray Orange