An app for tracing lost/ misplaced keys and other objects?
You’d think that these app developers have lost it completely and don’t know where to stop.
But WAIT!
According to a recent survey conducted by Esure, an average person loses 8-10 objects every week and loses nearly 15 minutes everyday searching for them.
I do that in 2 days! 
A few days back I wrote about Google launching an app that will help trace misplaced Android phones. Towards the end of my write-up, I couldn’t help but wish for an app which could help me trace my lost keys.
I am notorious for losing my cupboard and room keys and lose them several times a day inspite of taking utmost care to keep them safe. Infact, the more I try to keep them in a safe place, the greater are the chances of forgetting where I put them away.
So much so that there are times when I lose both sets of keys! And since that keeps happening once every 15-20 days, I have now mastered the art of breaking open my cupboard locks.
When I read today about an app that will now help trace misplaced keys and other objects, I felt my prayers had been answered and that I probably couldn’t have asked for more.
This new technology can help trace not only keys but also other misplaced objects like remote control (I put it in the refrigerator last time 
), wallets, sunglasses etc.
), wallets, sunglasses etc.
Called FindMyStuff, this new technology has been developed by Florian Schaub at the Ulm University in Germany.
There have been numerous electronic key tracers and key finding apps before this one, most of which worked using infrared technology. Not only is that technology inadaptable but also incapable of giving accurate results. A majority of them work only if the person searching frantically for the lost objects is standing right in front of them.
This new FindMyApp, however, works with Bluetooth technology. Better still, it integrates the ability to search for lost objects with a mobile app thereby making it much more useful while searching for lost/ misplaced keys and other objects.
This technology will involve placing tiny sensors which might be in the form of stickers on the objects which you are likely to misplace most often. The sensors or chips which have been configured with a cell phone or a computer/ laptop/ tablet device will then be able to locate the lost or misplaced objects every time the owner is in a fix.
The sync-ed device will then tell the user, “Your keys are on the dining table” or “Your credit card is in your cupboard” when you have been searching for it all over your office.
“Our system can be retrospectively fitted to be used on wallets and key chains. If you could get the tech smaller, you could use it on sunglasses and things like that. Phone manufacturers can integrate this technology into phones, and you easily make smart furniture by putting antennas inside,” Schaub said. (Source: Times Of India)
The German team which has developed this wonderful sounding app is hopeful of launching it and making it available for users in the market by the end of next month, if they are able to find electronics companies who are willing to invest in it.
Here is a video which shows how this app works.
Schaub estimates the initial cost of the system to be around $58 or £43.
With that price tag I might wait for it to get a little cheaper before I finally buy it and make life much easier for myself. That is partly because that is a lot of money in my currency.
The price notwithstanding, I am sure this wonderful app for finding lost/ misplaced keys and other objects will be hugely popular with others like me who lose a few precious minutes every day searching for their valuables
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