Twine will rig up anything with sensors, send online alerts

Twine might not be the only way to let you know when someone’s at the door, but it’s probably going to be the coolest. If funded, the Kickstarter project from Supermechanical will be a small square box tricked out with Wi-Fi and a whole array of expandable sensors that emails, tweets or texts you when tripped. The upshot is that you’ll be able to connect pretty much anything to the internet and receive updates on it wherever you are — potential usage scenarios include being alerted when your laundry is finished, or when your basement is flooded.

Initially, the box will ship with an accelerometer and temperature sensor, with moisture sensors and magnets among the future expansions planned. The best feature may not be the hardware, though, but a user-friendly web interface that will allow you to easily set up your notification parameters. As Supermechanical puts it, no “nerd degree” is required to get your alerts. It sounds like the hard part will be thinking of all the possible ways to slot Twine into your life — if your mind’s ticking already, a pledge of $99 will secure you a single box once the $35,000 Kickstarter goal is met.