The technology entrepreneur Lapo Ceccherelli has developed a six-millimeter-wide tracking device that can help you find a lost smartphone or set of keys. When the Filo Tag is attached to valuables, users can press a button on the accompanying smartphone app and the tracker will ring if it is within 80 meters, within Bluetooth range.
The tracker has three other functions. If you lose your phone, you can press a button on the front of the tracker twice and the phone will ring, even if it’s on silent. You can also check the last known location of the tracker, if the item it is connected to is out of Bluetooth range.
Forgetful users can set the app to notify them when they begin to move out of range, so they don’t leave home without important items.
How Does Filo Tag Help you?
The tracker works with Bluetooth Low Energy, a technology that provides similar range to normal Bluetooth, but uses much less energy. This allows the battery to last up to a year.
Initially, Filo hired a Parisian agency to work on the design, but the company soon realized they wanted to collaborate rather than watch from the sidelines.
“We weren’t looking for someone to think for us, we needed someone to work with us, integrating their knowledge and skills with ours,” Ceccherelli said.
Lead designer Emanuele Pizzolorusso said, “I tried to keep the design as clean and bold as possible. It’s a relatively simple object, so the details are even more important.”
Filo Tag was designed and manufactured in Italy, giving manufacturers greater control over quality. Unlike most other trackers, you can replace the batteries when they run out.
The manufacturers made it clear from the start that they did not want to make a disposable device. As IoT technology evolves, the ability to track objects over greater distances and with greater accuracy will increase.
Ceccherelli thinks the trackers will be even smaller, with longer battery life. The team is exploring technologies that may outperform Bluetooth and other current tracking technologies.
Along with technological developments, they expect the use of the tracker to evolve as well.
The tracker is designed to keep an eye on laptops, wallets, keys, etc. However, the makers insist it could also be used to keep pets from straying from the house.
