Wimbag: The device tells you where to find your lost suitcase

If you’ve ever traveled and have gone through the stressful time when the airline confirms you who have lost your suitcase and do not know when you will be able to recover, if it ever appears, you’ll want to have a tracking device, especially for your suitcases. Wimbag is such a device seeking funding on Kickstarter whose function is precisely that: to tell where your luggage at all times.

The device itself looks like a tiny hard drive and has a battery of 1000 mAh, which offers a range of up to five days according to its creators. How does it communicate with the user? The basic model, which costs about $ 60, includes a SIM card (free the first six months and then pay about 20 euros per year or 2 euros per month), as it uses GPRS for the position thereof.

There is a more advanced model, from $ 70, which incorporates GPS , ideal for those traveling by road and need a more accurate location in areas of low coverage.

Both the basic device as the GPS are automatically deactivated during the flight thanks to that incorporates, as explained to us by the creators of Wimbag. In addition, they are able to tell whether a case has been opened to notify the owner, in this case thanks to the light sensor included, and if it is moving, being all controlled from a mobile app.

We spoke with Santiago Alvarez, one of the project leaders, and we have asked what makes this device different from others that, although a priori are simple, offer similar functionality. “We want to differentiate ourselves with something that is still not doing anyone, that is, to the possibility that if lost, can manage the recovery of the case directly from the application”, says Santiago, although this need “to have some traction”.

“We have 2 preliminary agreements with European companies, but we need to reach a number of milestones in the coming months so that they can be accomplished in closed deals”, he added. For now, as we say, they are seeking to fund through Kickstarter and they have already raised $ 2,400 of the 50,000.

More information | Wimbag