Sometimes it can be relaxing to peer into a fish tank and just pass a few minutes in quiet contemplation. Just you and the fish. But if you’re at work, this isn’t really a very practical way of de-stressing.
Luckily for you, Mindworks Innovation Lab has created Aquard.io – a virtual aquarium Web app that’s filled with real fish. We’re not entirely convinced this was conceived as a way of reducing stress, rather than an easy way for the creators to feed their fish; either way, visitors to the site can queue up to be the next person to release a feed.At the bottom of the screen, there’s a handy countdown timer showing you when the next portion of food is due.
The system was created by connecting an Arduino Uno board to an automatic feeder programmed to rotate and drop food whenever a user interacted via the Web app. As feeding time only comes once every hour or so, the team decided to introduce an air pump into the equation, so that visitors can also create their own bubbles.
Some effort has clearly been put in for such a simple task and there are multiple camera angles available and some nice calming music, complete with the option to mute it, which is always appreciated.
It might be the most impressive demo of the possbilities of ‘the Internet of Things’, but it’s a nifty solution to the problem of needing to remember to feed your fish, for the creators at least. For you, it’s just an easy way to spend a couple of minutes feeding some fish.
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