Are you the type to lose things easily? If you are, then know that you’re not alone!
I’ve been constantly losing gear throughout my entire professional career. Often, it’s because I’m so focused on what I’m doing that my gear kind of just ends up being left all over the place. And then, when I pack things up after today’s studio session or gig, I’ll unknowingly end up noticing that I’ve left certain important equipment behind!
This is an issue that I’ve been aware of having my entire life. But, unfortunately, awareness hasn’t actually done much to significantly reduce the risk of losing essential equipment while I’m in the field or traveling.
But alright, enough of my ranting, let’s actually start talking about the product that I’m hoping to recommend to everyone at the end, called GearEye!!!
Introduction | What is GearEye?
In the simplest words possible, Gear Eye is a gear tracking system.
Breaking that down, it’s a product that was developed to allow you to keep track of all your equipment! It comes in the form of a kit, with the main device being a portable dongle that serves as a ‘scanner’ for your gear and additional tags, called RFID tags, that go on your gear and serve as ‘tracking devices’.
Who is GearEye best suited for?
GearEye was created for on-the-go professionals that are constantly having to lug around their gear in order to do their jobs efficiently.
According to the CEO of GearEye, Julia Lerner (who was the one to come up with the idea of GearEye in the first place), she worked on this product to help those who, much like herself, have a tendency of being distracted away from the “little things” because they’re focused on something else.
What does GearEye offer for on-the-go professionals?
GearEye offers these professionals a way of managing their equipment easily and effectively. As a smart gear management system, it was created to work with the GearEye app, which will allow users to completely take control of their essential gear.
Will GearEye really reduce your worries and help you focus on using your gear instead?
In my opinion, yes! The product showed a lot of promise from the beginning, with GearEye’s crowdfunding campaigns having received thousands of backers and hundreds of thousands of dollars in support. It took a while for the GearEye company to get it out, but it’s now evident that that extra time had not been spent idly.
As it stands now, GearEye is worthy of being called a ‘Complete Gear Management Solution’! The GearEye company seriously worked hard to get this to come out just right!
How Does GearEye’s Smart Gear Management System Work?
GearEye, as mentioned, comes as a kit. In the GearEye Kit, there are three items that work together as tracking equipment to allow you to keep an eye on all of your valuable gear.
We’ll be talking about these three things in more detail below after sharing some insights into the manufacturing process of GearEye (revealed by CEO Julia Lerner in an interview with ValiantCEO after the initial release of the product):
GearEye | Background
As mentioned previously, the GearEye project came into being thanks to the crowdfunding campaigns that the GearEye company launched in 2015. Back then, it was announced as a double release with both the GearEye scanner design that we see now and a smartphone case model that was eventually abandoned.
There were other considerations to be made besides this fact. With GearEye Inc. carefully taking into account both value and usability so that they would be able to make their promise of their affordable Smart Gear Management System a reality.
We’ll share some of these things below when we break down the GearEye Kit in more detail, starting with the GearEye Scanner!
(By the way, you can still see the initial Kickstarter campaign if you want to learn more about what the project looked like in the beginning!)
The GearEye Dongle | Gear Scanner for Tracking Missing Gear!
The main device that you get with your GearEye kit is the GearEye Dongle, also called the GearEye scanner. This product is relatively small (you can fit it in your smallest messenger bag or, even, your pocket with no problem!) but it packs quite the punch.
You can purchase this scanner separately, but it comes with both the GearEye Starter Kit and the GearEye Pro Kit! (You can also get this dongle in both a white and a black version!)
How does the GearEye Dongle work?
As mentioned, the GearEye dongle serves as the focal point for all of your gear. It works hand in hand with the GearEye app and your phone’s smart sensors in order to find missing items.
The tracking system used here relies on Radio Frequency Identification or RFID technology to connect with the tags that you stick on all of your essential gears. (They use different RFID technology based on your specific country’s regulations, but they all work the same!)
How to use the GearEye Dongle?
The GearEye dongle works as a handheld device. It’s recommended that you keep it in your gear bag for the most part (especially if you’re going to make use of GearEye’s automatic tracking system) but when it’s time to actually go looking for missing gear, you’ll have to have the dongle in hand to be able to use it effectively!
RFID Tags | GearEye’s Affordable RFID GearTags
The next item — or items rather — that are included in the GearEye kits are RFID tags.
If you want specific numbers, the GearEye Starter Kit includes 15 regular tags (4 slim, 4 large, 4 medium, and 3 small) and 5 metal tags (2 small and 3 big). And, as for the GearEye Pro-Kit, that comes with 30 regular RFID tags (8 Slim, 8 Large, 8 Medium, and 6 Small) and 10 metal tags (4 small, 5 big, and 1 slim).
The regular tags come with the highest quality adhesive available. Allowing them to be easily attached to plastic, wood, and all sorts of other materials. Meanwhile, the metal tags are there for metal items and/or metallic gears.
These tags can also be purchased separately and are pretty affordable. Allowing you to keep your gear safe without having to worry about breaking the bank, as tracking is low cost per item.
How do the Gear Tags work?
Much like the dongle, Gear Tags makes use of RFID technology in order to work. More specifically, they are passive RFID UHF stickers which also means that they are battery-free (unlike the more commonly used and more expensive BLE tags).
How to use GearEye’s Gear Tags?
This is pretty straightforward as well! As each RFID tag comes with a powerful adhesive, all you really need to do is peel off the protective plastic from the RFID tag and then attach it to the gear that you want to keep an eye on.
GearEye tracks your equipment through these RFID tags, so make sure that you put them on properly!
GearEye App | Completing GearEye’s Smart Gear Management System
The GearEye app doesn’t necessarily come with the physical kit, but it completes the GearEye standard pack regardless! This app works on both iOS and Android devices and will serve as the main hub of activity on which much of the tracking system will rely on.
How does the GearEye App work?
The GearEye app will need to be installed and downloaded on your smartphone. After which, you’ll need to make sure that the GearEye dongle in your kit is properly connected to it through Bluetooth! Of course, based on the permissions that you give, the app will tap into some of your device’s features (i.e., location tracking and notifications) to enhance GearEye’s scanning accuracy, so make sure to allow said permissions when prompted!
How to use the GearEye App?
The GearEye app is fairly intuitive. Much of the functions are ‘one-click’ types, allowing you to proceed with your gear management without having to worry about the details too much!
There is a bit of set-up. That is, you’ll have to personally scan all of your gear into GearEye’s tracking system the first time (after sticking the RFID tags on them accordingly). However, after that, you can begin using the app freely for its gear tracking capabilities.
As an extra note, you can organize all of your equipment in customized lists or gig-specific groups for easier management! It’s really great for differentiating the gear that you’ll be taking with you for say, small gigs vs larger gigs.
The Bottom Line:
I’ve really been enjoying having GearEye along with me while working! With it, I can let go of some of the tension that I’ve always been holding because of my tendency to lose my equipment and just focus on what I’ve got to do.
I highly recommend it for this reason! Especially if you’re like me and you’re constantly replacing equipment because of an easily distracted mindset.
