Every year, hundreds of adults and children alike are either killed or injured through fires or electrical short circuits caused by power outlets. Brio attempts to change all that and make thousands of households across the world safe from these dangers.
What is Brio?
Brio is a bold, smart, and completely safe electrical outlet that aims to replace outdated outlet technology that is deemed potentially dangerous. With Brio, families across the country can live in peace without worrying about the shock hazards caused by electrical outlets in their homes.
Quick Facts about Brio
So how is Brio different from standard electrical outlets you ask? There are a few quick facts that would help you understand why Brio is different, and better than the standard electrical outlets, you find in homes.
For starters, while standard electrical outlets always remain live at 120 V, Brio maintains a default off state at 0V. Standard electrical outlets cannot differentiate between a wire and a finger, pencil, knife etc. while Brio comes with embedded sensors that can effectively detect a valid plug. This means the outlet will remain off even if you pushed any other object or even your finger in it, thus reducing the risks of electrocution considerably.
In contrast to standard electrical outlets that switch on the moment they detect a device, Brio goes into a sensing mode and remains at 24 V. The sensors then check for the correct level of resistance that would let Brio know what kind of appliance it is. This in turn would enable the outlet to dispense only the required amount of power to the device, thereby minimizing short circuits caused by overload.
How does Brio’s technology work?
Brio is very easy to install and remove as a house project with kids. Brio uses a patented microprocessor technology to eliminate all kinds of shock hazards caused by electrical outlets. The embedded sensors present in Brio sense electrical demand and control the power accordingly. The sensors can also effectively differentiate between a power plug and a foreign object.
The more recent developments on Brio’s front have led to the creation of the Brio SAFE, a fully functional outlet that is available via Kickstarter. The creators of Brio are also in the process of developing what they call Brio SMART outlets that do more than just protect your family from electrical shock. These Brio SMART outlets can connect to and communicate wirelessly with sensors around the house, and alert you to potential dangers like fire, flood, carbon monoxide poisoning and even more. A complete Brio home safety net can be created by configuring one or more Brio SAFE outlets and a Brio SMART outlet to work together. The Brio SMART outlet will communicate with the sensors placed around the house. Once you have installed a Brio mobile application on your Smartphone/tablet, Brio starts work immediately, keeping your home and family safe on a real time basis.
If the sensors sense water overflow, smoke, or carbon monoxide gas in the home, they would immediately send signals to the Brio wall unit. The wall unit would in turn, send an instant message to your Brio mobile app as well as to an in-door alarm. This would enable you to react to these emergencies in a timely manner.
Support for Brio
Brio is reaching out for support in order to kick start large-scale production of its outlets. The company currently has two reward offerings for buyers. One can opt to pay either $139 or $269 to get these outlets. With every purchase, Brio will donate an outlet to a childcare facility. The company also plans to work with day care centers and preschools to replace existing outlets with Brio outlets to create safer play environments.
Summary
Electrical outlets in homes are potentially dangerous and can cause electrocution as well as electrical short circuits on a large scale. Brio is an answer to these issues and aims to use its smart outlets to prevent short circuits, electrocutions, fires, floods and carbon monoxide poisoning in homes across the world.
