Finally, an open-source smart toothbrush with a subscription plan

Finally, an open-source smart toothbrush with a subscription plan

Timothy J. Seppala

Engadget

If you ever thought to yourself, "Self, I need a crowdfunded toothbrush that tracks my oral activities," you're in luck. The folks at Goodwell estimate that we'll each go through some 300 toothbrushes over the course of our lifetime. As such, it wants to do its part to wage a war against the "planned obsolescence" of traditional fang-cleaning apparatus. For just $69, you get a hollow aluminum handle with a compostable, replaceable, charcoal brush head -- even with a $79 per-subscription for replacement parts that's still cheaper than Oral B's SmartSeries. If you're feeling even more spendy though, you can get what's known as the premium kit, which comes with screw-on attachments for flosser and tongue-scraper accessories for $89.But let's say you really want to know just what you're doing with that fancy toothbrush via the web or your smart device. That option, my friends, will set you back $150, and grant software access to three-axis accelerometer and built-in microcontroller. The whole shebang is open source, so the development community can develop apps to take advantage of the hardware. Of course, none of this will be possible unless the $12,500 crowdfunding goal is reached. But you do want Oral B to have some competition (not to mention cleaner pegs), don't you?
Source: CrowdSupply