07 July 2010

The Findometer



The contraption pictured here was the first patented version of a Findometer. Its inventor, Julius Gronsonby, labored over it for nearly a decade. Cumbersome and not always reliable, it functioned rather like a Geiger counter and was limited to extracting small objects embedded in floor carpeting. Flagging sales, high production costs, and limited capabilities eventually led to its demise.

Flash forward to 2010. The 21st century heralds a wave of technological gadgets the like of which humanity has never seen. Somewhere out there... somebody is working on the modern prototype of the Findometer. Here are the anticipated technical specs and proposed functionality:

1. New name: iFind

2. Size: more or less that of an iPhone

3. Wireless

4. Indoor-Outdoor Capabilities

5. Waterproof, Fireproof, Shock Resistant

6. Detection Range: 100 yards

7. Primary Detection Capabilities:
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral (old dried carrot in fridge, earring back, lost hamster, etc.)

8. Secondary Detection Capabilities: Temperature, Age, Date of Disappearance

9. Add-Ons: Users can purchase special apps such as the Doc App, capable of carrying out refined searches according to content and appearance of misplaced documents (shopping list + written in pencil + coffee stain on top right corner, etc. ) The Pic App even allows the user to make a rough sketch of lost object in order to narrow the search field.

10. Voice Response: iFind not only responds to verbal clues, it will begin by suggesting likely hiding places for the lost object, e.g.:

USER: Where the heck are my **%/·# reading glasses?
i-FIND: Touch the top of your head lightly.
USER: Oh.

Whoever is working on this... get cracking! (And while you're at it, do come out with a model that can be used by the post office, airline baggage handlers, and students who frequently misplace their homework.)