California’s Nascent Objects Debuts 3D Printed Modular Electronics Platform, Shows Off ‘Droppler’ Water Monitoring Device

The excitement–and innovation–just keeps flowing at CES 2016. While many new startups are displaying wares and explaining concepts, we are seeing many new releases and products from dynamic companies we are quite familiar with as well.

Nascent Objects is a company we’ve followed with interest over the past year, regarding their modular 3D printed consumer platform that is often able to offer users a much easier route with product development and electronics. With Nascent modules and shapes, products can be upgraded and customized so consumers gain more use from consumer electronics products for a fraction of the cost. Now, the team is debuting a water monitoring device at CES 2016 which is undoubtedly garnering attention.

The Droppler is a water monitor that tracks consumption. Unobtrusive, and using an advanced audio recognition system, it allows users to keep track of their daily water budget and to change habits when necessary. This is especially applicable to areas like California, where Nascent Objects is based. Developed to help in drought situations, like the highly publicized issue going on recently in some areas of the west, this project already has outside support due to its potential for helping with the water shortage.

The Shock Top Brewing Company, heavily involved with a ‘Shock the Drought’ campaign, has given $50,000 in funding to the Droppler project, in support of fighting the drought in California. (They are also helping reduce the price of Droppler by more than 60 percent, now available for $99 on Indiegogo, and will also include a special bonus Nascent Modularity bundle, either a streaming video camera, or Wi-Fi airplay speakers, to select at checkout.)

Built with Nascent’s modular platform, the Droppler can be transformed. With the use of exclusive packages, users can morph it into a streaming WiFi speaker or even WiFi HD video camera. According the Nascent team, eventually they will be able to transform the Droppler into hundreds of different products, all of which will be offered through their marketplace.

“With Nascent Modules and Shapes, there are endless opportunities for consumers interested in the coolest consumer electronics available. As effortlessly as I can change the batteries on my remote, I can transform a product from a water conservation device, to a bike computer to a drone,” said Baback Elmieh, Founder & CEO of Nascent Objects.

 

“With the Nascent Modular approach, we have entered a new era where consumers don’t have to settle for stand-alone products with predetermined features. Nascent gives users the ability to discover, upgrade, and transform products as their needs change without paying full price for a new device.”

The Droppler is an important product due to the monitoring feature for users–something that has never been available at this level previously. With feedback available in real-time, it offers much greater potential for users to have a good idea of how much water they are really using, and then decide whether to make changes.

“One of the most effective ways to decrease consumption is surprisingly simple,” said Dr. Jiaying Zhao, assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, who conducted a recent study that demonstrated simply making resources visible can substantially reduce consumption. “Making the resource itself visible can substantially reduce consumption. A product like Droppler with its immediate, visual feedback of water use and its ongoing indication of monitoring usage will have a dramatic impact on individual water consumption habits.”

This new product was designed in collaboration with design firm Ammunition and Robert Brunner, and this partnership works successfully to highlight the potential and versatility of Nascent’s expansive products.  Discuss this new device in the Doppler forum thread on 3DPB.com.

Droppler is on display this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in the Indiegogo booth #80546, as part of the “Shock the Drought,” program, aimed to help fight the California drought and beyond led by Shock Top in partnership with Indiegogo, Save Our Water, Save the Drop and Water Deeply.