The Brio power outlet knows the difference between fingers and an appliance

The creators of the Brio power outlet designed it so that it would keep children safer around the home. The outlet is a smart and safe one that the designers say can tell the difference between an electrical appliance being plugged into it and a child’s finger, and will only put the power on when it detects an appliance.

[Image Source: Brio House]

The Brio comes with two outlet points and it fits onto the wall just the same way as the standard power outlet. In its default state the Brio is off and there is no electricity flowing through it. It will only turn on the power when it detects there has been an electrical device plugged into it and not small human fingers, a fork, paperclip or any other object.

[Image Source: Brio House]

Normal electrical outlets are always live (120 V) but when the Brio is off, there are 0 V present. When put in "sensing" mode, Brio looks for the right level of resistance, which tells it it's an appropriate appliance like a lamp and not a human finger or fork.

[Image Source: Brio House]

The Brio is on Kickstarter at the moment and you can pre-order one for $39. If all goes as the team plan, the Brio will begin to ship out in May 2015. There are also plans for a second product which will have the name of the Brio Smart and will be able to communicate with sensors around the home and detect such as fire, flood or carbon monoxide. The system would then alert the user through a smartphone app.

[Image Source: Brio House]