Submitted by Frank Macey on
With the iPhone being a portable computer, people are finding new things to do with it every day. Beyond iOS software there are now a number of iPhone accessories that extend the device's hardware as well. Lapka offers a series of five sensors that expand your iPhone's capability to measure certain aspects of your surrounding environment.
Besides having a stylish design comprised of wood and plastic, each sensor delivers information to the Lapka iPhone app through the headphone jack of your iOS device. You can monitor your environment continuously and log data for later retrieval, or take a one-time reading when needed. Each of the five sensors is small because the processing and display of data is all accomplished on the iPhone.
So what exactly can you measure using Lapka sensors?
- EMF: Checks the area for electro-magnetic fields. This sensor measures low frequency and high frequency waves, emitted by everything from appliances and power lines to cell phones. The best places to sleep are those with the lowest EMF pollution.
- Radiation: Yes, a military-grade geiger counter. It may take longer to measure the level of radiation in the area, but the results will be accurate. Anything above a safe background level will register accordingly in the app.- Humidity: Make sure the area isn't too wet or dry for comfort or archival storage of important family heirlooms.
Newest iPhone FAQs
- Organic: Checks your food for artificial fertilizers. No, really. You can stick the organic Lapka into a piece of fruit, and depending on the electrical conductivity it will know the concentration of nitrate ions left behind from non-organic agricultural practices.
- Temperature: You can always get the outdoor temperature from a nearby source via weather apps. Try getting the indoor temperature without a sensor. It might be difficult.
Lapka's Personal Environment Monitor might set you back $220, but several of these sensors purchased individually would cost that much or more. You can even share your obsessive data logging with friends on Facebook, Twitter or email once you've found something interesting. We have the feeling that more sensors will be on the way.