Storing things for rainy days often doesn’t quite work that well, especially since the storage container is easily accessible, and pries open with a simple flick of the chocolate-craving finger. A Kickstarter project dubbed KSafe is determined to change this though, keeping those snacks (or gaming controller) locked and safe until you damn well reach those goals you set yourself.
“We know it is much easier to set goals than it is to achieve them,” notes Ryan Tseng of KSafe.
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“We can start with the best intentions, but then we become distracted, procrastinate or just lose focus. We turned to research from MIT for a solution. kSafe keeps us focused by making it a game, eliminating options to cheat, and rewarding us.”
That’s where the KSafe comes in.
It only unlocked the goodies you’ve stored in the unit once certain goals are met. These can be fitness goals, time-based goals or a number of other factor-based goals.
It’s simple gamification really: you choose the goal, you reach it and the KSafe opens. It might be a bit like bribing a kid to clean a room using a cookie as tasty leverage, but it claims to work just as well for adults.
There’s also an app that allows the user to track the remaining workload needed to unlock the safe, so the user’s always motivated. The philosophy itself though does present a few flaws though. Perhaps down to the human condition, chances are that those using this system will set bars too low in order to access the item locked away, or just not bother locking the item away at all. It’s in interesting study into the human psyche, nevertheless.
For those who couldn’t care about goals, the KSafe can be used as a traditional high-tech lock box with a password, protecting that prized afterhours snack from the cunning stay-at-home roommate.
It’s a novel idea, and something we haven’t really seen on Kickstarter before, but the project has been quite a hit since launch. In just a few days, the KSafe has racked up more than half of its US$50 000 goal, with over 400 backers.
While the first units are scheduled to ship by November 2015, the KSafe can be had for US$79 for early birds. The company has noted that the retail price will be US$129.
